Introduction

In the summer of 2001, the Historic Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Historical Association worked together to present three one-day workshops on the history of slavery in Arkansas. Teachers from around the state attended the workshops, which were held in Little Rock, Helena, and Fayetteville.

This workshop is an accompaniment to the exhibition, "A Slave Ship Speaks: The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie," on exhibit at Historic Arkansas Museum from September 13 through November 25, 2001. The Henrietta Marie exhibit is about a slave ship which sank off the coast of what is now Key West, Florida after selling African slaves in the Americas. Ongoing related attractions include an African house constructed by Heifer Project International (daily, September 13 through November 25) and "Storytelling in the African Tradition" by Curtis Tate or readers from Pryamid Art, Books and Framing (11 a.m. each Saturday, September 15 through November 17). For more infomration, please contact Historic Arkansas Museum by calling (501) 324-9351, visiting the museum's website at www.arkansashistory.com, or sending an e-mail to info@arkansashistory.com

Participants were provided with reading material prior to attending the workshops and came prepared with drafts of lesson plans. Speakers from Arkansas State University and from the University of Arkansas gave lectures on significant aspects of slavery. Curtis Tate and Daryl Minefee provided living history represenations of Arkansas slaves. Following the presentations and the lectures, the teachers worked intensively with Nadyne Aikman and the representatives from the ASU and UA to finalize their lesson plans.

One of the goals of this project was to produce lesson plans and teaching activities that could be disseminated to Arkansas history teachers around the state at workshops as well as through our website. The participants were assigned to devise lesson plans and activities that followed the curriculum guides for Arkansas history and present them to the group.

This volume is the product of that assignment. The enclosed lesson plans and materials are not intended to offer a complete course in Arkansas history at any one level. However, they do cover selected aspects of Arkansas history, and they were written with various grade levels in mind. They may, of course, be adapted to other levels by adding or deleting material.

The roster of our Arkansas history project is included. These are the teachers who devised the lesson plans and curriculum materials contained in this volume.

I would like to thank Dr. Charles Robinson, University of Arkansas, Dr. C. Calvin Smith, Arkansas State University, Mr. Curtis Tate, Historic Arkansas Museum, and Mr. Daryl Minefee, Actor, Little Rock, and Nadyne Aikman of Moody Elementary School, all of whom worked to help make this institute a success. The exhibition and related educational projects were made possible by: Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Natural and Cultural Resources Council, Arkansas Community Foundation's Bridge Fund, Arkansas Historical Association, Entergy Corporation, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cingular Wireless, Comcast Cablevision, Citadel Broadcasting, GM Dealers of Arkansas, Philander Smith College, and Pyramid Art, Books and Framing. National tour sponsor: General Motors Corporation.

Jeannie M. Whayne
Secretary-Treasurer. Arkansas Historical Association
Chair, Department of History
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville