Arkansas Blog

A friend compiles a calendar of significant -- and quirky -- events in Arkansas history. The entries for Sept. 1:

1854 Harriet Crouse "with force and arms, unlawfully and wickedly did bed to, and live with, one Johnson Kenedy." Indicted and convicted in Dallas County; overturned because no statute on adultery or fornication

1914 Pete R. Stewart, President of UMWA District 21, sentenced to 4 months in Sebastian County jail for contempt after making speech at Hartford on May 26

1973 First public showing of the film Deep Throat at Adult Cinema, 310 Rock Street, Little Rock, operated by Beaver Amusement Corporation

1985 The Arkansas Times publishes Mike Trimble's classic tale of high school football, "Memories Memoirs of a Miner."

1989 Arkansas Education Association threatened legal action against Pulaski County School District for granting leave to former AEA President Ed Bullington to organize rival Arkansas Classroom Teachers AFT

1996 President Bill Clinton headlines a political rally outside the Old State House. Crowd of 5,000 topped the 4,000 at Clinton's October 1991 announcement for president

2000 Troutt Brothers Inc. announced that it had sold the Jonesboro Sun to Paxton Media Group, based at Paducah, Ky.  The Troutt family had been involved with the newspaper since 1901

2000 President Bill Clinton tells Syracuse audience, "I have, for the last 27 years, eaten barbecue for a living. I come from a place where barbecue is not food, it is a way of life. It is a philosophy of human nature."

Our historian friend comments:

I note that today is both the 21st anniversary of the publication of "Memories Memoirs of a Miner" and the 33rd anniversary of the first public showing of "Deep Throat" in Arkansas. I still think the first more artful than the second.