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  Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) flyer

  This color guide to the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) and Chronicling America gives an overview of Arkansas's involvement in the project. Print this for students, library patrons, and researchers interested in learning more about the project.

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  Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP) poster

  This color poster promotes Chronicling America and the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project (ADNP). It can be printed to include in classrooms, libraries, research rooms, etc.

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  Chronicling America cemetery research guide

  This one-page color cemetery-specific guide can be used to locate where someone was buried or to learn more about the history of a specific cemetery.

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  Chronicling America comprehensive research guide

  This eight-page color comprehensive guide gives in depth information about how to search on Chronicling America, including more advanced search features.

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  Chronicling America genealogy research guide

  This four-page color genealogy-specific guide provides tips, tricks, keywords, and other information about searching for relatives in historic newspapers on Chronicling America.

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  Chronicling America quick guide

  This one-page color quick guide can be used to introduce students, researchers, and library patrons to Chronicling America.

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  Topic Guide: Apple industry in Arkansas

  Apples were the dominant crop in Northwestern Arkansas in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The apple industry had a significant impact not only in the Northwest but on the entire state, so much so that in 1901 the apple blossom was chosen as the state flower. By the 1930s, however, multiple factors contributed to the decline of Arkansas's apple industry and the apple boom was over.

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  Topic Guide: Black Arkansans in the military until desegregation

  The first all-black military units in Arkansas were formed in 1863 during the Civil War. Though black Arkansans were allowed to join the military, they were typically given inferior jobs and segregated from white troops. Black troops were expected to perform at the same level as white troops while facing unfair and unequal treatment. Despite this inequality, black divisions were an important part of the U.S. military until its desegregation after World War II.

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  Topic Guide: Pearl rush and mother-of-pearl button industry in Arkansas

  Arkansas's rivers and lakes are home to many species of freshwater mollusks that produce pearls. Native Americans were the first to collect pearls in what would later become Arkansas. As European settlers pushed Native Americans out of Arkansas Territory, mussels were largely left alone, and pearls built up for years without being harvested. Eventually the new inhabitants realized that Arkansas's mollusks created valuable pearls, and in the late 1800s the pearl craze began.

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  Topic Guide: Race riots in Arkansas

  Racial tension in Arkansas was high at the end of the Civil War. Though the South had been defeated and slavery was abolished, the lingering effects of slavery and racism continued. The changing economy and polarizing political climate caused social unrest, which turned into racial violence targeted at Black Arkansans. The first race riots and race wars in Arkansas followed soon after.

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  Topic Guide: Slavery in Arkansas

  The first report of enslaved black people in Arkansas Territory came from French colonists in the early 1700s. Slavery was a major part of the early economic development in Arkansas, with significant slave labor occurring on large plantations throughout the state. The use of forced labor allowed for the rapid expansion of cotton farming, which added close to $16 million to the Arkansas economy each year. By 1860 the state was the sixth largest producer of cotton, and 25% of Arkansas's population was enslaved.

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  Topic Guide: Timber industry in Arkansas

  Arkansas’s abundant forests presented obstacles and opportunity for early European settlers. Clearing trees for settlements and farms by axe and saw was slow and laborious, but yielded the raw lumber needed for houses, barns, fences, and furniture. Advances in technology were used to improve timber processing, and by the 1850s steam powered sawmills were common across Arkansas. Despite the increase in output with advancing mechanization, these sawmills could only serve nearby communities because they lacked practical long-distance transportation. This changed after the Civil War, when railroads were built across Arkansas. In the late 1800s, timber companies began using trains to expand their operations and export lumber state and nationwide.