You are cordially invited to meet the authors of African Americans of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County on Saturday, February 9, 2013.  Join Jimmy Cunningham, Jr. and Donna Cunningham for the book signing and discussion beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the UAPB Small Business Incubator Complex at 615 Main Street in Pine Bluff, AR.

 

Pine Bluff has been one of the Arkansas Delta's most culturally rich areas since its inception in 1829. Serving as a haven for runaway slaves during the late years of the Civil War, the area attracted droves of African Americans throughout the Delta and south Arkansas.

 

Brimming with talent and expectations, they and their descendants traveled a road full of extremes. Although they endured what appears to have been the largest mass lynching in US history in 1866, they also attained one of the largest per-capita concentrations of black wealth in the entire South by 1900.

 

As the hands that labored in the area's boundless cotton fields and sawmills joined with the hands that held books at the state's only historically black public college, astonishing accomplishments were churned out in every imaginable field.

 

Naturally, the area's Delta roots made its blues, jazz, and gospel contributions a source of pride with native or area-affiliated artists receiving multiple Grammy awards and nominations, as well as other distinctions.

 

Highlights of African Americans of Pine Bluff and Jefferson County include:

• Music, Art, and Entertainment
• Business and Professions
• Military and Civil Defense
• Race, Civil Rights, and Civic Leadership
• Education and School Life
• Religion