The Black History Commission of Arkansas finalized plans for its next Arkansas Black History Symposium in it's latest commission meeting.

The Symposium will be Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, to be held at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. Ninth St., in downtown Little Rock. The event's theme will be "African American Medicine in Arkansas." Speakers for this symposium will be Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch of Arkansas State University, Dr. Jesse Hargrove of Philander Smith College and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the first African American and 15th Surgeon General of the United States. 

The events will be presented in person and will be made available online; the symposium is free to the public but registration is required. Registration information will be available closer to the date of the event on the Arkansas State Archives website and its Facebook page.

For more information, please contact Tatyana Oyinloye, African American history coordinator for the Arkansas State Archives, at [email protected] or (501) 682-6892.
 
The BHCA is housed under the Arkansas State Archives and meets quarterly. The Curtis H. Sykes Memorial Grant Program has a mission to support African American historic and historical preservation and public programming projects in Arkansas. Grants are awarded year-round and past projects include historical research, exhibits, workshops, publications, oral history interviews, documentary films, and cemetery preservation and documentation.