Peace and Conflict

Peace and Conflict in Northwest Arkansas

This podcast series examines peace and conflict within the history of Northwest Arkansas. The area endured two major Civil War battles and several skirmishes. Tensions ran high as people learned to live together afterward, and life was not easy. Listen to the history of the peace movement in Arkansas and how some moved to the state to escape modern society. Learn about the existence of sundown towns and what life was like for African Americans in Arkansas during the Civil War.

To learn more about the area’s involvement in the Civil War and more, visit our core exhibit at the museum, Civil War to World War I.

A History of the Peace Movement in Northwest Arkansas

Dick Bennett reflects on the peace movement in Northwest Arkansas from 1965 to 2000 in this podcast. Bennett is emeritus professor of English at the University of Arkansas and co-founder and former president of Fayetteville’s OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology. Recorded August 15, 2007.

African American Life on the Ozark Civil War Homefront

Listen to a podcast on what life was like for African Americans in Arkansas during the Civil War. Father Moses Berry, curator of the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum in Ash Grove, Missouri, shares his thoughts. Recorded November 10, 2012. Find out more about how African Americans lived after the Civil War through the history of Spout Spring, a community founded by former slaves.

The Back to the Land Movement: Ozark History and Memories

Local historian Denele Campbell discusses her book, Aquarian Revolution: Back to the Land. This book is a collection of thirty-two interviews with people who moved to the Ozarks in the 1960s in search of a life removed from the trappings of modern society. Recorded June 17, 2015.

Sundown Towns in Arkansas

Dr. Guy Lancaster, editor for the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, discusses his extensive research on “sundown towns” in Arkansas. These towns were named sundown communities because white residents expelled all or most of the town’s African American residents. According to Dr. Lancaster, some 100 towns in Arkansas are suspected to have been sundown towns. Most of them were in the northern and western sections of the state. Recorded March 8, 2011.