Head of Arkansas Heritage Dept. speaks at Marion luncheon

Head of Arkansas Heritage Dept. speaks at Marion luncheon

Hurst: ‘ Our job is to protect the best of Arkansas and to tell that story’

news@theeveningtimes.com

There aren’t many jobs in state government that would tempt Stacy Hurst to leave her family business.

But when Governor Asa Hutchinson asked her to take over the Department of Arkansas Heritage in January 2015, as someone who loves history and the arts and Arkansas culture, she couldn’t say no.

“It’s only the coolest job in all of state government,” Hurst said. “Our job is to protect the best of Arkansas and to tell that story. So that is what we do every day.”

Hurst joined the Marion Chamber of Commerce as the keynote speaker at its recent luncheon and discussed the role of the Arkansas Heritage Department and how it can help communities preserve and enhance its culture and history.

Prior to her appointment, Hurst, who is from Pine Bluff, worked for 19 years managing the family flower business, Tipton & Hurst, and served on the Little Rock city council for 11 years and as vice mayor in 2007-2008 where she was the liaison to the Arts and Culture Commission.

“I’ve spent my adult life promoting and caring for natural and cultural heritage,” Hurst said. “So I had a real interest in it.”

Arkansas Heritage Department has eight divisions, 200 employees, and a $36 million budget, which is funded through federal grants, conservation tax, real estate transfer tax, and the general fund.

The agency recently moved into a new $6.5 million headquarters which will save taxpayers $400,000 annually in rent.

Among its divisions, The Historic Preservation program manages all of the historic buildings in the state. Arkansas has about 2,500 properties listed on the National Historic Register. They also give out grants under the Arkansas Main Street program for historic preservation. HURST

The Natural Heritage Commission manages 65,000 acres of land that is home to threatened or endangered species and plants.

“They’re sort of a low key group,” Hurst said. “But they do important work. So we have botanists. We have aquatic biologists, and a number of scientists that work to protect lands and plants and animals across Arkansas.”

The other two divisions are the Arkansas Arts Council and the State Archives.

Arkansas Heritage also operates

four museums: Historic Arkansas Museum,

which tells the story of frontier Arkansas and is home to the oldest buildings in the state including the Hinderliter Grog Shop, which Hurst likes to think of as “the Doe’s Eat Place of its day,” and the largest collection of Bowie knives; the Old State House, which Hurst said is “the most beautiful and iconic structure in all of Arkansas,” has a popular exhibit of dresses worn by the state’s first ladies. The building was built in 1833 and served as the original state capital until it became a museum in 1947. It is also where on Dec. 4, 1837 House Speaker John Wilson stabbed one of his fellow lawmakers, State Rep. John Anthony, in the heart with a Bowie knife after an altercation; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in downtown Little Rock, which was founded by former

slaves John Bush and

Photo by Mark Randall

Chester Keatts, who sold life, health, and burial insurance to African Americans at a time when those services were rare for the state’s black citizens, has a number of exhibits telling the story of African Americans in Arkansas; and the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, which tells the story of the Arkansas Delta with an emphasis on the Civil War, Blues music, and agriculture.

“So we are in the business of protecting Arkansas’ natural and cultural resources and to tell that story to Arkansas and beyond,” Hurst said.

Hurst said Gov. Hutchinson told all of his cabinet members to go out and do more with what they have, and as a result, they have a number of new projects that the department is undertaking.

One of those is the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, which was launched last year. The initiative recognizes restaurants, food entrepreneurs, and food-related events in four categories: Hall of Fame Restaurant, People’s Choice, Proprietor of the Year, and Food Event of the Year.

“It started because one of the governor’s staffers saw an ad for the Alabama Barbecue Hall of Fame,” Hurst said. “So I got together a group of foodies and historians. People love to talk about food. It’s a conversation starter. But it also tells a good story about the history and culture of communities and people.”

Hurst said they got over 300 nominations last year.

Honorees included Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales in Marianna; Lassis Inn in Little Rock, which is famous for its big bone Buffalo fish; Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, which may be the oldest African-American owned restaurant in the country; and the Cave City Watermelon Festival.

“We’ll be doing that again this year and adding a few more categories,” Hurst said.

Another project is the restoration of the Jacob Wolf House in Baxter County. Wolf was a state assemblyman who in 1829 got the government to establish a courthouse in Izard County. The building is the oldest structure standing west of the Mississippi River.

“The reason it was built there is because the White River was the I-40 of its day,” Hurst said. “Baxter County owned it for many years but couldn’t open it to the public. It just sat boarded up and was inaccessible. So they gave it to Arkansas Heritage so we could open it to the public.

We have a historic site manager and are making improvements to it. In October we will have the governor up and be opening.

So we are excited about that.”

Hurst said Arkansas Heritage Department will also begin a historical marker program similar to the one they did during the Civil War Sesquicentennial to denote different historical sites around the state.

“We will have matching grant money to get the markers paid for and in place,” Hurst said. “We hope to launch that by the first of the year.”

Hurst said protecting and promoting Arkansas’ history helps build communities and spur economic development, and that the agency has a number of ways they can partner with cities to help them grow the arts and promote and protect their history and natural heritage.

“Edmond Burke once said that “society is a partnership between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are yet to be born,’” Hurst said. “We believe our job is to protect the best of Arkansas and to tell that story. So that is what we do every day.”

By Mark Randall