Name: Tolliver, Fran
E-mail: fatolliver@ualr.edu
Topic: Arkansas Black Pioneers: A History of
African-American Colonies in Arkansas. LESSON PLAN #2: THE
COLONY AT THE DUPRIEST PLANTATION, SETTLED 1880.
Grade: Grades 7-12
Time: 2 hour presentation
Ark. Hist. Framework:
1.1.12./1.1.13./1.1.14./3.1.8./3.1.9./3.1.11./6.1.8./6.1.10./6.1.15.
Objective: The student will be able to identify various
regions of early Arkansas as these regions relate to African
American colonies that settled in Arkansas after the Civil War. The
Colony at Rose Bud-Mount Vernon in White County, was settled
1880. One hundred families walked from Atlanta, Georgia,
following the Civil War. Photographs and text provided in
handouts.
Set: Begin with the 5/6 regions of Arkansas and their
characteristics. What characteristics were important to the
early African American settlers as they made their way to these
regions? Why did they choose to settle in the regions that
were near water, roads and railways. Brainstorm.
Materials: Website, selected maps, atlas, overlay maps of
railroads, tributaries, and Arkansas outline map. See
Teacher’s website and Power Point presentation (a copy may be made
or you may link to this website). Handouts available and
transparencies will be furnished on request. Text (Donald Davis),
drawing paper, crayons, pencils, pocket folders, glue, magic markers.
Key Terms: Overland, settlers, primitive trails, food, goods,
hunters, traders, slaves, folklore, master, oxen, census, rocky slope,
black pioneers, Cadron Creek, pastoral, Colony, Civil War, oral
history, Georgetown, Mt. Vernon, Lollie Plantation, White River,
Julius Rosenwald, archives, document, oxen, midwife, sharecropper,
discrimination, sawmill, sugar cane, cotton, landlord, burial crypt,
lynching, harvest, bottoms, anecdote, legend, interview.
Key Facts:
- 1743 Francis Francoeur estate inventory filed, documenting
property in “Francoeur Township,” White County.
- 1789 U.S. Post Office at Georgetown named “Nigger Hill.”
- 1844 Georgetown Land Office Private Survey Map #2416,
White County, records meets & bounds of Franeoeur settlement.
- 1877 Early Settlement on White River at Georgetown
documented in The Melbourne Clipper.
- 1879 Jerry Nix walked from Atlanta, Georgia, with his son,
William Alf Nix. Their travels lasted one year. They
brought with them their dogs, Liz and Lyle.
- 1880 Mt. Olive Bedford Chapel Founded when about 100
other family members arrived from Atlanta, Ga., to settle The Colony
in White County.
- 1895 U.S. Federal Land Grant #1205694 recorded in Book
A-92, White County, to William Alf Nix.
- Telmon Boyd Nix born; midwife Octavia Dupriest assisted at birth
on the plantation settled by African Americans (The Colony).
Activities: Students will first review all regions of Arkansas, using
map outline of the state and locate the areas described in
presentation, discuss key terms and facts. Students will then write
reflective journals (short paragraphs) describing The Colonies and its
settlers. Students will complete pre and post assessments. Video
documentary will be viewed with the segment on Lollie
Plantation-Faulkner County.
Students will complete their “neighborhood mapping” activity in segment
#3 and assemble portfolios about their “family story” interview.
Students will have the opportunity to interview a family (or
extended family) member and write a three point enumeration essay in
narrative form, third person, telling an oral history of their family
member.
Students will have an opportunity to design their own “coat of
arms” to illustrate the values adopted by student’s family that tells
a story of “who, where, what.”
Closure: Students will interview extended family members or senior
citizens within their communities who have stories to relate. A
discussion concerning writing the narrative is necessary, using Donald
Davis’ text, “Telling Your Arkansas Stories.” Students will
share stories and use photographs, artifacts, or drawings to create
individual portfolios, using methods introduced by the National Writing
Project, based on material developed by the university of California
at Berkeley and described by the Carnegie Corporation as the “best
large scale effort to improve composition writing in the country."
Assessment: Pre and post assessment will be administered. Handouts
will be developed by presenter.
Resources: Cox, Betsy. Ed. A Look Back: A history of the town of
Mount Vernon.
Arkansas Tax Records. White County, AR. White County Public
Library.
Davis, Donald (2002). Telling Your Arkansas Stories.
Arkansas Heritage Edition: August House. Little Rock, AR.
Lankford, George. E. (1995). Cultural Encounters in the Early
South: Indians and Europeans in Arkansas. “Almost Illinark.” Ed.
Jeannie Whayne. University of Arkansas Press.
Muncy, Raymond. L. (1976). A Frontier Town Grows Up with
America. Searcy: Harding Press.
Presley, Cloie. (1964). “Arkansas Census Made 1749.” White County
Heritage, Vol. II, Ch. 2. Searcy, AR: White County Historical Society.
Tolliver, Frances A. (2001). “The Lost Black History of
White County,” Ed. Unpublished manuscript. University of
Arkansas at Little Rock: Little Rock, AR.
United States Original Land Records. White County, AR.
Microfilm, 1851-1871, #1025694, [A-92].
Websites:
For more information, contact Fran Tolliver at the Writing
Department, University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Rm. SU-B 100, 2801
University Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72004 (501) 569-3160.
” Frances A. Tolliver, 2002
-----------------