Name: Tolliver, Fran Tolliver
E-mail: fatolliver@ualr.edu
Topic: Arkansas Black Pioneers: A History of African-American Colonies in
Arkansas -GEORGETOWN SETTLEMENT PRE CIVIL WAR--LESSON #1
Grade: Grades 7-12
Time: 1 class period two hour presentation
Ark. Hist. Framework: Arkansas History Frameworks:
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. Three colonies will be presented: The Colony
at Rose Bud-Mount Vernon in White County, Lollie Plantation in Faulkner County,
and Georgetown-Nigger Hill (White County. Video on Lollie Plantation.
Teacher’s Website available with additional links and electronic data with photographs
will be introduced.
Set: Begin with the regions of Arkansas and discuss the 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.
What routes overland were available to them during the time period in which
they traveled?
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.
***See author of this lesson plan for additional electronic materials
available—maps, census records, narrative texts, photographs taken by author of
this lesson plan. Hard copies are also available for handouts to
participants who attend this session.
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, “Free
Isaac,” “Brother T,” “AuntMandy Harlan.”
Key Facts:
<sum> 1743 Francis Francoeur estate inventory filed, documenting
property in “Francoeur Township,” White County. See Morris Arnold’s Book.
<sum> 1789 U.S. Post Office at Georgetown named “Nigger
Hill.”
<sum> 1844 Georgetown Land Office Private Survey Map #2416,
White County, records meets & bounds of Franeoeur settlement.
<sum> 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. See research, “The Lost BlackHistory of White County,”
written by Frances A. Tolliver and published by White County HistoricalSociety
in 2002.
® 1880 Mt. Olive Bedford Chapel Founded when about 100 other
family members arrived from Atlanta, Ga., to settle The Colony in White
County.
See photograph taken by Fan Tolliver of monument dedicated to original
settlers.
®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). See oral history
recorded by Fran Tolliver and published by the White County
Heritage.
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.
CD ROM WILL BE EXPLORED ON INSTRUCTOR’S TEACHING WEB SITE FOR PRESENTATION
ON FAULKNER COUNTY—LOLLIE PLANTATION.
CD Rom will be explored on instructor’s teaching web site for presentation
on THE COLONY IN WHITE COUNTY.
Handouts of maps, census, and photos will be handouts (hared
copy)
Students will complete their “neighborhood mapping” activity in segment #3
and assemble portfolios about their “family story” interview.
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. See author
of this lesson plan—handouts will be provided.
Resources: Resources:
Arnold, Morris S. and D. Core. (1986). Arkansas Colonials 1684-1804.
Gillette: Grand Prairie Historical Society.
Borengasser, David. (2001). “Descendants of Lollie.”
Unpublished Master’s Thesis submitted to the University of Central
Arkansas. Conway, AR.
Brother T. Interview June 26, 2002, at Conway, AR.
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.
Faulkner County: Its Land and People (2002). Faulkner County
Historical Historical Society: Conway, AR.
Hatfield, Gene. Interview June 26, 2002, at Conway, AR.
Hawkins, Abraham Lincoln. Interview June 7, 2000 at Mount Vernon,
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
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