One of the changes planned by the state Department of Education is to increase the teaching of world history by decreasing the time spent on Arkansas state history. The Legislature, however, mandated in 1997 one semester of state history between seventh and 12th grades. (The law and the new plan are explained a bit differently in another article.)
The Education Department seems to be concerned broadly with a rounded education and narrowly with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Surprisingly, national law does not mandate core recitation of Arkansas facts. Yet one could debate the relevance of the lineage of English kings versus the succession of Arkie governors in the 19th century.
Editorials and most politicians largely favor preserving that single semester of regional history, though Gov. Mike Beebe vigorously supports both sides. It’s a modest amount of time given around a half-dozen subjects a day and 12 years of school. But I’m not so sure.
I recall taking Arkansas history in fifth grade, from Mrs. Floyd, at Ballman Elementary School in Fort Smith. I hated it and the other semester of U.S. history as well. It was the only time in now 18 years of education (19, with kindergarten) that I ever cheated. Mrs. Floyd had us memorize all 50 states and their capitals. I brought in some tiny crib sheet, as a protest. I was not caught and believe today is the first time I’ve come clean. Then, and now, I believe there’s more to American history than Pierre, South Dakota, and Jefferson City, Missouri.
The Arkansas textbook had no jacket or glossy hard cover but was plain black cloth on board. Mrs. Floyd true to form had us memorize the names of the 75 counties and their county seats. I don’t recall cheating on this set. Maybe it was more interesting because a few had two county seats. Mine, Sebastian, was one: Fort Smith and Greenwood. We’re special.
The names of the counties related to the governors, as some counties inherited their monikers. Also what I still recall from 1967-68 is that similarly named towns almost always were elsewhere: Hot Springs is not in Hot Spring County, Bentonville is not in Benton County and Conway is not in Conway County. This has aided my career in Arkansas journalism.
Scholars cannot reasonably argue that recognizing the names of Govs. Archibald Yell and Jefferson Davis (not that Jeff Davis) are going to help a child grow into an engineering or medical career or even one with a future like cell phone sales representative.
Yet, Arkansas history does two things for the child and for his parents. Yes, even those adults who came here — often reluctantly to hear them gripe — from other states and didn’t get the semester themselves. The first is that too much history before college deals too often with large pictures, of rulers and governments, the evolution of agriculture and manufacturing, civil strife and world wars, while small-scale history gives the former needed perspective. Where are the apples the Ozarks once were broadly famous for? A blight, early 20th century. Fort Smith being founded as gateway to the Indian Territory is crucial to understanding both the Louisiana Purchase and federal relations with the tribes already on the continent. Some coal, very little oil in the state; lots of trees.
The second hole state history fills is how it teaches this never has been merely a Southern state. The Mason-Dixon boundary was a line in the silt. The Delta region had slaves then sharecroppers and remains poor, while approaching Missouri the people were both more progressive and Republican (Lincoln was a Republican) and in the 21st century not as wealthy — as we’ve been told. For no obvious reason, time has not really changed that.
How do you like them apples? -30-
