Postwar African American Politics in Little Rock- I.S. McClinton

The centennial of former governor Winthrop Rockefeller’s birth in May is followed by the centennial of former governor Sid McMath’s birth in June. McMath led a so-called “G.I. Revolt” in Arkansas as returning servicemen from World War Two sought to reform the state’s politics. African American politics underwent a transformation too. One of the people in the vanguard of this movement was I. S. McClinton who in 1949 formed an organization called the Young Negro Democrats, which later in 1952 became the Arkansas Democratic Voters Association (ADVA). McClinton challenged older black Democrats to take a more assertive stance in pressing for black advancement. He led black Democrats into the Democratic Party of Arkansas in 1950 when it finally allowed African Americans to become members. ADVA was the forerunner of today’s Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus. I’m John Kirk of the UALR History Department and this has been an Arkansas moment.