The Abolitionists

As a slave-owning state, abolitionism was not a strong movement in Arkansas. As William Woodruff, editor of the Arkansas Gazette, put it, “an individual suspected of the taint of abolitionism [should] be banished from the land.” Nevertheless, the abolitionist movement nationwide had a profound impact on Arkansas history. You can find out more about the movement in a screening of The Abolitionists, an American Experience film, at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Ninth and Broadway, on Saturday, February 22, beginning at 1 p.m. Subject expert Dr. Carl Moneyhon will introduce the screening and host a panel discussion afterwards. The screening is made possible through a National Endowment for the Humanities and Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History grant, in partnership with the UALR Center for Arkansas History and Culture and the UALR History Department. I’m John Kirk, of the UALR History Department, and this has been an Arkansas Moment.