The Division of Arkansas Heritage (DAH) is a division of the

Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism The Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism (ADPHT) is an executive department of the government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is responsible for promoting, protecting, interpreting, and managing the state's natural and cultural ...

of the U.S. State of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

responsible for preserving, promoting, and protecting Arkansas's natural and cultural history and heritage. It was known as the Department of Arkansas Heritage until it was merged with the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism (ADPT) on July 1, 2019, becoming a division of ADPT's successor, the

. The division is headquartered in downtown

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

along the banks of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

. Its headquarters is about 34,000 square feet at 1100 North St. in Little Rock and includes offices, a materials and collections storage facility, a fleet-management physical plant, an herbarium, a library, and multiple meeting spaces available for public use. The Division of Arkansas Heritage promotes Arkansas Heritage Month each May to promote Arkansas history and tourism. It began as Heritage Week in 1982 and expanded into a month-long program in 1998. Each year, DAH selects one of its various agencies to highlight during the month of May. Local entities can apply for and receive grants in order to create specific Heritage Month events, focused on the year's theme. In the past, Arkansas Heritage Month events have included historical biking tours, special exhibits in local museums or libraries, or history

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

s with reenactments and historic activities.

History

The impetus behind the creation of the department was to group together existing state agencies that were culturally oriented. Several legislators sponsored Act 1001 of 1975, which created the Department of Arkansas Natural and Cultural Heritage and brought together six agencies. The name was changed to the Department of Arkansas Heritage in 1985. Anne Bartley was the first director appointed to the Department of Arkansas Heritage in 1975 by Gov.

David Pryor David Hampton Pryor (born August 29, 1934) is an American politician and former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as the 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 a ...

to lead the Department of Arkansas Natural and Cultural Heritage. Cathie Matthews, who held the position from 1997 until 2012, was the longest-serving director. Stacy Hurst, appointed by Governor

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

in January 2015, was its last director as a separate department. Hurst is now the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, in charge of its entire successor department. On March 31, 2016, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson created the Arkansas World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee to lead the state's remembrance of the events of 100 years ago. The committee worked with the people of Arkansas to plan activities, conduct research, and otherwise expanded the understanding and appreciation of the significance of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, until it was dissolved on December 31, 2018. The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame program was founded in 2016 by the Department of Arkansas Heritage to honor the unique foods and food traditions of Arkansas. It was originally made up of four categories for nominations, Proprietor or Chef of the Year, Food-themed Event, Food Hall of Fame, and People's Choice, with a fifth category added in 2017 titled Gone But Not Forgotten. A 13-member committee selects the finalists and winners from the entries. Honorees and finalists are announced at a special ceremony every spring.

Structure

The division consists of eight separate units: four heritage resource agencies and four heritage museums. The division's central office coordinates and promotes all unit efforts to make information and materials about the state readily accessible to all Arkansans through heritage and cultural events, educational resources and special publications. The common goal of all units is to seek out and protect the legacy and lore of Arkansas and what distinguishes it from other states. The heritage resource agencies are: * Arkansas Arts Council (AAC) seeks to advance the arts in Arkansas and provides grants for arts organizations and activities in communities across the state. ACC hosts conferences such as ArtLinks and GetSmart!. Its programs include Arkansas Living Treasure Award, Governor's Arts Awards, Small Works on Paper, Arkansas Artist Registry, and Arts in Education Roster. It was established in 1966 and became part of the Department of Arkansas Heritage in 1975. AAC is also funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. * Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) manages the state's historic and cultural resources, including properties on the National Register of Historic Places, and operates the Main Street Arkansas program, which works with local communities as a resource for revitalization and preservation. The Department of Arkansas Heritage acquired the

Jacob Wolf House The Jacob Wolf House is a historic house on Arkansas Highway 5 in Norfork, Arkansas. It is a log structure, built in 1825 by Jacob Wolf, the first documented white settler of the area. Architecturally it's a "saddle bag", which is a two-story ...

Site and Territorial Courthouse from the Baxter County Quorum Court in 2016. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program operates the site with a historic site manager, offering comprehensive interpretive themes between 1829 and 1863 tied to the historic site. * Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC) was created by the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 100 ...

in 1969 and works to conserve Arkansas's natural landscape by conducting surveys, studies, and maintaining a biodiversity database. Volunteers can assist the ANHC professional staff in surveys or educational resource guides. The commission also created an Adopt-A-Natural Area Program where individuals or organizations can take responsibility for helping ANHC maintain and monitor a specific natural area. ANHC established and maintains the Arkansas System of Natural Areas, including a central repository of rare and endangered species. * In 2016, legislation transferred the Arkansas History Commission (AHC) from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism to DAH, renaming it the Arkansas State Archives (ASA). The ASA keeps and cares for the official archives of the State of Arkansas. Arkansans across the state can access databases and historical materials for genealogy and other research, whether at the Little Rock headquarters or at one of its two branches, Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NEARA) and Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA). Artifacts and records from everyday Arkansans are collected and preserved through the Archives. The Black History Commission of Arkansas serves to collect materials on Arkansas's African American history for the Arkansas State Archives, working to raise awareness of the contributions of African American Arkansans. The heritage museums are: *The

Delta Cultural Center The Delta Cultural Center in downtown Helena, Arkansas, is a cultural center and museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. It is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the culture of the Arkansas Delta. They also partner with other cultura ...

(DCC) chronicles the life and times of the people, traditions, music, and art of the

Arkansas Delta The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of ''The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox'', says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep ...

. The museum opened in 1990 in

Helena–West Helena, Arkansas Helena–West Helena is the county seat of and the largest city within Phillips County, Arkansas, United States."Phill ...

and was added to the Department of Arkansas Heritage the same year. Part of the center is located in the restored 1912 train depot. It's also home to the famed King Biscuit Time radio show. * The

Historic Arkansas Museum The Historic Arkansas Museum, sometimes called HAM, is a state history museum in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum was created as part of the Arkansas Territorial Capitol Restoration Commission, by Act 388 of the 1939 Arkansas General As ...

(HAM) is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and is the state's foremost interpreter of frontier Arkansas, chronicling the social, political, and creative history of the state through the 19th century. It was the state's first history or historic site museum accredited by the AAM. The museum includes four major historic buildings on their original sites and a transplanted 1830s

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

. The Hinderliter Tavern, built in 1827 and the oldest building in Little Rock, remains on its original site on the museum grounds. The museum also houses one of the country's best Bowie knife collections and is home to the

American Bladesmith Society The American Bladesmith Society, or ABS, is a non-profit organization composed of knifemakers whose primary function is to promote the techniques of forging steel blades. The ABS was founded by knifemaker William F. Moran, who came up with the con ...

Hall of Fame. * Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC) tells the story of Arkansas's African Americans from 1870 to the present. Its mission is to collect and preserve African-American history in Arkansas, highlighting achievements in education, the arts, business, and politics. The museum has housed an Arkansas Black Hall of Fame exhibit on the second floor since September 2008. Two former slaves, John E. Bush and Chester W. Keatts, founded the Mosaic Templars of America in 1882. The fraternal organization was established in Little Rock to provide services to

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. The organization expanded to build a three-building complex. The three-story museum stands within the historic site's original footprint after the original building burned down. *

Old State House Museum The Old State House, formerly called the Arkansas State House, is the oldest surviving state capitol building west of the Mississippi River. It was the site of the secession convention, as well as the fourth constitutional convention when dele ...

(OSHM) is the oldest standing state capitol west of the Mississippi. It emphasizes political history, women's history, and historical programming for school children. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1969 and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1997. The building was not only Arkansas's first capitol building, but it also served as the backdrop for

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's presidential election victory parties. It has permanent collections featuring artifacts from Arkansas's first families as well as the state's First Ladies' gowns.

References

{{authority control 1975 establishments in Arkansas 2019 establishments in Arkansas Environment of Arkansas Executive branch of the government of Arkansas Government agencies established in 1975 Government agencies established in 2019 Heritage organizations Organizations based in Little Rock, Arkansas State agencies of Arkansas