Celebrate Arkansas Heritage Month with University Libraries! View the photographs that helped save the Buffalo National River, see our newest exhibit featuring historical maps of Arkansas, or check out one of our featured books on the history of Arkansas – all on display in the lobby level of Mullins Library.
Arkansas Heritage: The Buffalo National River Through the Lens of Ken Smith
Photography and hand-drawn maps of the Buffalo National River are now available for viewing in the lobby level of Mullins Library as part of a new exhibit, “Arkansas Heritage: The Buffalo National River Through the Lens of Ken Smith.”
Photographer and environmental activist Ken Smith hails from Hot Springs. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. It was during his freshman year at the U of A that Smith first visited the Buffalo River with a hiking group.
Upon graduation, Smith took a job as an engineer for the paper mills at Crossett. During this time he first made photographs of and wrote about what would become, in part thanks to his efforts, the Buffalo National River.
In 1961, Smith left Arkansas and became an engineer and park planner for the National Park Service, which would take him many places. His engineering assignments were focused on management of park buildings, utility systems, roads and trails. Park planning often dealt with areas proposed as additions to the National Park system. Overall, his assignments took him to parks as large as Yosemite in California and as small as historic sites in Minnesota and Tennessee. Along the way, in 1967, he took part in planning for a proposed park for Arkansas: the Buffalo National River.
Meanwhile during those years, Smith’s friends in Arkansas were waging a campaign to protect the Buffalo River as a unit of the National Park system. To support those efforts, Smith took leave from the National Park Service to collect information and photographs for the 1967 book The Buffalo River Country to promote creation of the park.
After a 10-year campaign, the Buffalo National River was established in 1972.
Smith left the National Park Service in 1974 to settle in Fayetteville and become a freelance writer, photographer, researcher and environmentalist of the Ozarks, as well as a creator of hiking trails along the Buffalo National River. A life member of the Ozark Society, he served as education director of the environmental organization from 1974 to 1976 and has been an active member of other related organizations. Smith was featured in the 2008 award-winning film The Buffalo Flows: The Story of Our First National River, by U of A professor Larry Foley. In March 2017, Smith was inducted into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for his “tireless advocacy on behalf of the river, devoting countless hours to building trails and promoting conservation.”
The photos and maps in this exhibit show one result of Smith’s freelance activities.
His publications include:
The Buffalo River Country (Ozark Society, 1967); Illinois River: A People River (Ozark Society Foundation, 1977); Sawmill: The Story of Cutting the Last Great Virgin Forest East of the Rockies (University of Arkansas Press, 1986); Buffalo River Handbook (Ozark Society Foundation, 2004); and several reports and newspaper and magazine articles.
Mapping the Natural State: Arkansans Making and Using Maps
From the beautiful to the banal, modest to elaborate, maps have provided Arkansans with a vehicle for more than just understanding the lay of the land. These varied examples of cartography, from before Arkansas statehood until late in the 20th century, served different purposes for the diverse individuals who drew or owned them. In some cases, the significance to the maker or owner is clear; in others, the meaning has become obfuscated over time. The maps exhibited here have provided a method to plan and anticipate future business ventures, documentation for the context of a multitude of flora, a means of communicating the landscapes of past experiences, a record of real estate transactions, and other benefits – known and perhaps unknown – that future researchers may reveal.
In each case, the map, whether scribbled on the back of a cardboard notebook cover or arduously measured and recorded in ink on parchment, provides clues to the life of the individual who deemed it worthy of preserving. Explore the assembled represented terrains and discover the Arkansans who have allowed us these unique perspectives on the past.
This exhibit is available for viewing in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room on the lobby level of Mullins Library.
Featured Books: Arkansas Heritage Month
Stop by the newly redesigned print station in the lobby level of Mullins Library to view featured books on Arkansas history and tourism. These books are available for check out!