Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Archives and Special Collections will contribute to “Arkansas’s Reel History: A Documentary Film Festival,” hosted by the Arkansas History Commission and State Archives on Saturday, Oct. 10. The free festival will feature rare historic footage from across the state and will be held from 1-6 p.m. at the Ron Robinson Theater at 100 River Market Avenue in Little Rock.

“We are pleased to be a part of this event to bring attention to the need for preservation of these valuable, yet under-utilized archival materials,” said Dr. Wendy Richter, associate professor and archivist in Ouachita’s Riley-Hickingbotham Library.

Two Ouachita films will be shown during the festival. One three-minute film of a pageant dates back to 1936 and was created for Arkadelphia’s celebration of the state’s statehood centennial. A longer film, running about 30 minutes, features Thanksgiving events in Arkadelphia in the late 1940s and early 1950s such as parades, Ouachita Baptist University/Henderson State University rivalry football games and activities leading up to those events.

Richter will introduce the films from Ouachita’s archives and participate in a panel discussion addressing the conservation and preservation of archival film footage in personal collections.

“This is a new genre of event for the Arkansas History Commission,” said Dr. Lisa K. Speer, director of the commission. “We are excited to be collaborating with other Arkansas archives to present this film festival during Archives Month to promote the importance of preserving film and moving images before it’s too late.”

Other agencies contributing footage to the festival include the Arkansas History Commission, The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, UALR’s Center of Arkansas History and Culture, the Garland County Historical Society and the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections. This event is funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council, the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Additional footage that will be screened includes: historic footage from Dunbar High School in the 1940s; Nashville, Ark., in the 1950s; Arkansas politics; the1953 Little Rock Christmas parade; the Buffalo River in the 1960s; folklorist Mary Parler scouring the Ozarks for folk songs; and Hot Springs in the 1930s and 1940s.

The event is free and popcorn will be provided. For more information about the symposium, call 501-682-6900 or email [email protected].