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 language, a Dhegiha Siouan language, and referred to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.
Walnut Ridge is a city in Lawrence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 5098 at the United States Census's 2019 estimate. The city is the county seat of Lawrence County. Walnut Ridge lies immediately north of Hoxie. The two towns form a contiguous urban area with approximately 8,000 residents. Williams Baptist University is in College City, a formerly separate community that merged into Walnut Ridge in 2017.
The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA.
Bob Cowley Riley was an American educator and politician who served as acting governor of Arkansas for 11 days in 1975. He had previously been a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1947 to 1951, Mayor of Arkadelphia, Arkansas in 1966 and 1967, as well as the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975. Riley wore a black eyepatch because of an injury sustained in World War II.
Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita River, which forms the eastern campus boundary. It is affiliated with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, a state convention affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Matthew Joseph Shepherd is an attorney from his native El Dorado, Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives for District 6, which includes western Union County. He was elected in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 legislative races.
Stephen Allen Womack is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district since 2011. The district, which was once represented by future Senator J. William Fulbright, covers much of northwestern Arkansas, including Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Springdale, and Womack's hometown of Rogers. A member of the Republican Party, Womack was mayor of Rogers before his election to Congress.
Mark A. Darr is an American politician from Springdale, Arkansas, who was his state's 19th lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2014. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2010 to succeed Democrat Bill Halter. To win the second-ranking post in state government, he defeated another Democrat, state Senator and former House Speaker Shane Broadway by a margin of 51 to 49 percent.
Drew Bowers was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansas in 1926 and 1928.
Jake C. Files is a Republican politician from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Files represented portions of the Arkansas River Valley in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003, and in the Arkansas Senate from 2011 to 2018.
David James Sanders is a former member of the Arkansas State Senate for District 15, which encompasses Conway County and parts of Faulkner, Perry, Pulaski, and Van Buren counties. From 2011 to 2013, he served a term in the Arkansas House of Representatives for Pulaski County.
David Webster Hillman is an American farmer and politician from Almyra, Arkansas, who is a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He has represented District 13 in the southeastern portion of his state since January 14, 2013.
Reginald Murdock is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Arkansas Senate. Murdock previously served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023.
George French Ecton was a civil rights activist and the second African American state legislator in Illinois. He was born a slave in Winchester, Kentucky, in 1846 to Antonio Ecton and Martha George. In June 1865, after the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery, George and a friend received free papers in the mail and set off to escape slavery, as they were still being held in bondage. When they arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, they were hired as deck hands on the steam packet Sherman, working a route between Cincinnati and Wheeling, West Virginia. Later, in Cincinnati, George worked at hotels, including the Broadway House, Walnut Street House, Burnett House, and Spencer House. He became ill with smallpox while at the Walnut Street House, but recovered. He also began to attend night school taught by Luella Brown. He was reported to be a college graduate.
James T. White was a Baptist minister and state legislator from Helena and Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and later the Arkansas Senate in the late 1860s and early 1870s. He was also a member of the Arkansas constitutional conventions in 1868 and 1874. He edited the Baptist newspaper, The Arkansas Review. He was an African-American and a Republican. In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas House.
The Ninety-First Arkansas General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2017 and 2018. In this General Assembly, the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 23 senators were Republicans, 11 were Democrats, and one position was vacant until April. In the House, 69 representatives were Republicans, 30 were Democrats, and one was independent.
The Ninety-Second Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2019 and 2020. In this General Assembly, the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 26 senators were Republicans and 9 were Democrats. In the House, 76 representatives were Republicans, 24 were Democrats. A special session was called in March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim Hammer is a Missionary Baptist preacher and state legislator in Arkansas. He serves in the Arkansas Senate. He is a Republican. He hosts a weekly conservative talk radio show.
Gary Edwin Deffenbaugh is an American politician serving in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
