Arkansas in modern America, 1930-1999 / Ben F. Johnson III.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, Ben F., 1953-

Series:

Histories of Arkansas

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arkansas--History--1865-.

Arkansas.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 275 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Fayetteville : University of Arkansas Press, 2000.

Summary:

This elegantly written narrative traces Arkansas's evolution from a primarily rural society in the early 1900s to its expanding manufacturing economy and its growing prosperity and parity with the rest of the nation. Ben Johnson explores the influence of federal-state relations, beginning with the New Deal programs of President Franklin Roosevelt and continuing through the administrations of native son Bill Clinton. With particular sensitivity, he examines organized labor in the timber industry and in row crop agriculture; school desegregation, "white flight," and the private academy movement in the delta region; the growth of Wal-Mart and the poultry industry in the northwest section of the state; and the expansion of outdoor recreation and tourism as lakes were constructed and game populations rejuvenated.

This book is particularly impressive for the breadth of its scope. Johnson offers detailed information on women, music and literature, organized religion, environmental trends, and other important cultural influences.

Contents:

1 Depression Arkansas: A Season Without Rain 1

Before the Flood 2

The Old Politics Survives the New Deal 12

Land and Labor 23

The Quest for Tradition and Identity 33

When Electricity Came to Arkansas 45

2 Wartime Arkansas: Eroding Barriers 51

Questions of Loyalty 53

Mobilization: Changes at Home and Work 59

Industrialization without Revolution 72

Sounding the Trumpet: Early Civil Rights Struggles 82

3 Arkansas at Midcentury: Manufacturing Opportunity 91

The Managerial Reform of Government 94

Land of Opportunity 111

The Springtime of Moderation: Early School Desegregation 124

4 Arkansas Divided 129

Lines of Resistance: The Little Rock Crisis 131

Urban Reform, Urban Renewal 148

Politics after Segregation 161

Many Rivers to Cross: The New Environmentalism 175

5 An American State 185

Uneven Progress 188

Life in the New Arkansas 210

State Government, National Politics 224.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-257) and index.

ISBN:

1557286175

1557286183

OCLC:

43968755