Traditions

Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol’ Boys Defined a State

Brooks Blevins, professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University, explores Arkansas’s image and stereotypes through the years. Recorded in 2009.

Gone to the Grave: Ozark Funeral Customs, 1850–1950

Independent researcher Abby Burnett discusses the Ozark traditions during death and how these helped people cope. Burnett was recently featured in “Silent Storytellers,” a documentary produced by the AETN about the history and culture of Arkansas cemeteries. Recorded May 19, 2010.

“Been A Busy Day”: The Milton Cooper Diaries

In 1984, at the age of 70, Madison County farmer Milton Cooper began keeping a daily diary. His entries describe a way of life common to many Ozark rural families, but rarely chronicled. Shiloh Museum outreach coordinator Susan Young shares some of his entries. Recorded August 18, 2010.

Uncovering Ozark Coverlets

Marty Benson and Laura Redford, members of the Northwest Arkansas Handweavers Guild, share findings from their study of some three dozen hand-woven coverlets in the Shiloh Museum collection. Benson and Redford are experienced weavers and weaving instructors with an interest in history and historic textiles, and both are volunteers at the Shiloh Museum. Recorded January 15, 2014.

The Ordinary Life of Extraordinary Minnie

Brooks Blevins, professor of Ozarks studies at Missouri State University, discusses the life of Minnie Atteberry, a Searcy County, Arkansas, farm woman who kept a daily diary from the 1930s into the 1960s. The Atteberry diaries were donated to the Special Collections Department of Mullins Library at the University of Arkansas by Searcy County historian James Johnston in 1993. Recorded October 21, 2015.

Nothing Here is Arbitrary

Historic preservation consultant Joan Gould shares some of her experiences in documenting pre-Civil War architecture in Northwest Arkansas. Recorded January 17, 2017.