The Marianna Cut-Off: The Old South in Marianna
Lee County, Arkansas was named for Robert E. Lee at its founding, and by its folklore, at the suggestion of a Black resident, which highlights …
Education
A Delta Afternoon: The Ghosts of Earle
On September 10, 1970, the Rev. Ezra Greer and his wife, Jackie, who was a candidate for mayor of Earle, Arkansas, led a march from …
A Delta Afternoon: The Sad Death of Parkin
The Cross County, Arkansas town of Parkin is yet another rural town ravaged by Arkansas’s forced school consolidation law. The loss of its local schools …
A Delta Afternoon: Wynne’s Abandoned Childress High School
I had been told that Wynne, Arkansas once had a number of juke joints in its northwestern section, which was the town’s Black community. But …
The Fading Ruins of Turrell, Arkansas
Turrell, Arkansas, about ten miles north of Marion, is like a number of East Arkansas Delta towns. Once dependent on agricultural, it is fading away …
Remembering the Lost Legacy of Bartlett’s Shadowlawn High School
Although I went to Shadowlawn Middle School north of Ellendale in the 1979-1980 school year, I was not aware there had ever been a high …
A Day for Isaac Hayes in Covington’s Frazier Park
Despite being forever associated with Memphis and Stax Records, Isaac Hayes was born near Rialto, Tennessee, just north of Covington, and is arguably Tipton County’s …
Celebrating Freedom in Benton County on the Fourth of July
Benton County, Mississippi has always been a rough place. Formed out of part of Marshall and Tippah counties, it sits in the middle of the …
A Delta Journey: Early Sunday Morning in Rayville and the Ruins of Thomastown
As I headed east on Old Highway 80 from Monroe on a sunny Sunday morning, I decided to spend some time looking for things to …
A Delta Journey: A Chilly Homecoming in Grambling
When I woke up in West Monroe, the first thing I noticed was how extremely chilly it was, and that didn’t improve all that much …