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Jefferson County,Arkansas is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas in the area known as the Arkansas Delta that extends west of the Mississippi River. Jefferson County consists of five cities,two towns,and 20 townships. The county is bisected by the Arkansas River,which was critical to its development and long the chief transportation byway. In 2020,Jefferson County's population was estimated at 67,260. Its county seat and largest city is Pine Bluff. Jefferson County is included in the Pine Bluff metropolitan statistical area. The county seat and the most populous city is Pine Bluff.
Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area. The population of the city was 41,253 in the 2020 census.
James Paul Clarke was a lawyer and politician from the Arkansas Delta during the Progressive Era. He served in public office over a period of almost 30 years,rising from the Arkansas General Assembly to Attorney General of Arkansas and later 18th Governor of Arkansas,ending his career in the United States Senate. In a period of Democratic Party hegemony known as the "Solid South",Clarke blended positions of the budding Populist movement,such as free silver and railroad regulation,with white supremacy and his gifted skills as an orator to popularity and electoral success.
The flag of Arkansas,also known as the Arkansas flag,consists of a red field charged with a large blue-bordered white lozenge. Twenty-nine five-pointed stars appear on the flag:twenty-five small white stars within the blue border,and four larger blue stars in the white diamond. The inscription "ARKANSAS" appears in blue within the white lozenge,with one star above and three stars below. The star above and the two outer stars below point upwards;the inner star below points downwards. The flag was designed by Willie K. Hocker of Wabbaseka,a member of Pine Bluff Chapter of the Arkansas Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
More than 1,500 African American officeholders served during the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) and in the years after Reconstruction before white supremacy,disenfranchisement,and the Democratic Party fully reasserted control in Southern states. Historian Canter Brown Jr. noted that in some states,such as Florida,the highest number of African Americans were elected or appointed to offices after the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The following is a partial list of notable African American officeholders from the end of the Civil War until before 1900. Dates listed are the year that a term states or the range of years served if multiple terms.
Wade Hampton Kitchens was an Arkansas lawyer and politician. He served as an infantryman and officer in the Arkansas State Guard and the United States Army during three conflicts and practiced law on two continents before entering politics in Arkansas. Kitchens served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1929 to 1933,and won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1936.
William Lee Cazort,Sr. was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Johnson County in the Arkansas River Valley. Winning a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1915,Cazort became a rising star in Arkansas politics for the next eight years. He was defeated in the 1924 Democratic gubernatorial primary,but served as the fifth and seventh Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1929 to 1931 under Governor Harvey Parnell and from 1933 to 1937 under Governor Junius Marion Futrell. Cazort also sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1930 and 1936,but failed to gain necessary statewide support and withdrew before the primary both times.
Earnest E. Brown,Jr. is an American lawyer and professor who has served as a prosecutor,judge and state legislator.
Stephanie Anne Flowers is an American attorney and Democratic politician,serving in public office since 2004. Flowers started in politics when she was elected in 2004 to the District 17 seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2011,she was elected to the Arkansas State Senate where she remains presently.
Cecil Lewis Alexander is a former influential Democratic politician and lobbyist in Arkansas. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives,serving from 1963 to 1979,including a term as Speaker of the House. Alexander later became a lobbyist followed by a tenure as chair of the Arkansas Racing Commission.
Hardin Kimbrough "Kemp" Toney was a Democratic politician from Jefferson County,Arkansas. He represented the county in the Arkansas Senate from 1905 to 1913,and the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1931 to 1949.
John Gray Lucas was a lawyer and a state legislator in Arkansas during the early 20th century. He was appointed Assistant U.S. attorney in Cook County in 1934. Born in Marshall,Texas,in 1864,he eventually moved to Pine Bluff,Arkansas. He graduated from Branch Normal College of Arkansas Industrial University. He then got his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1887,graduating with honors as the only African-American student in his class. He moved to Chicago.
William Henry Grey was a state legislator,storeowner and church leader in Arkansas. He served in various elected and public offices in the state during the Reconstruction era. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas calls Grey "a tireless fighter for the rights of freedmen." In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans who served in the Arkansas House. His gravesite in Magnolia Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Samuel H. Holland was a state senator in Arkansas in 1873 and,for a special session,in 1874 during the Reconstruction era. He also served as a teacher,sheriff,jailer,and principal. He taught at the Howard School,named for Oliver O. Howard,until it was closed by the school board in 1871. The school building was used by the United Sons of Ham,a secret African American benevolent organization. He was involved in the establishment of millage fees to fund area schools.
George Waltham Bell was an American doctor who served in the Arkansas Senate from 1891 to 1895. He was a graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He served as president of Southland College.
Christian Heinrich "Henry" Thane was a wealthy businessman and bank owner in Arkansas. His Craftsman-style home,Thane House,was designed by Little Rock architect Charles L. Thompson. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Robert W. Glover was a teacher,postmaster,tax assessor,judge,state legislator,and Missionary Baptist pastor in Arkansas. He served in both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly.
L. J. Maxwell was a state legislator in Arkansas. A Republican,he represented Jefferson County,Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1874 and 1875. Another African-American Legislator Ned Hill also served in the House from Jefferson County for the same two year period.
Lincoln Maupin Cummings was an American lawyer,judge,and politician in Fayetteville,Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas General Assembly from 1935 to 1943,in the Arkansas National Guard during World War II,and as a circuit judge for almost 30 years after returning to Fayetteville.
References
- ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 242–245.
- ↑ Priest, Sharon (1998). Runnells, Jonathan (ed.). Historical Report of the Arkansas Secretary of State. Office of the Arkansas Secretary of State. p. 243. OCLC 40157815.
- ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 238–239.
- ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 236–237.
- 1 2 "Minorities in the Arkansas Senate". Arkansas Senate.
- ↑ Williams, Bettye J. (January 22, 2020). The Pioneers: Early African-American Leaders in Pine Bluff, Arkansas: Freedmen, Newly Freed, and First/Second Generation, Born from 1833-1892. Archway Publishing. ISBN 9781480871922 – via Google Books.
- 1 2 "Richard A. Dawson - Arkansas Black Lawyers". arkansasblacklawyers.uark.edu.
- ↑ "SOS" (1998) , pp. 238–239.
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