By Will Livingston | Staff Writer

Students looking for sources on a project or are simply wanting to learn more about the history of northeast Arkansas can look no further than Archives and Special Collections. 

Located on the 7th floor of the Dean B. Ellis Library, the archives hold a large collection of history on both Arkansas State University and the entirety of the Arkansas Delta region.

“Our main job is to preserve and make available records that we believe have enduring value,” said Matthew Mayton, the head of archives. “Our primary focus is to preserve the heritage of Northeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta region.” 

The archives staff encourages everyone to come to the archives. 

“We like for A-State students, faculty and staff to come to the archives to research, but we are also keen on having outside researchers,” said Malissa Davis, the archives technician. “We’ve had authors of different books come in to do research over the years. Just about anyone can come and research in the archives.”

A wide variety of majors use the archives, including students from history, heritage studies, political science and more.  

“We’ve also expanded our student usage to the art and design department and mass communications. We get a variety of students who find something here,” Davis said.

A never-ending task of archivists is the preservation of documents and other forms of media, which can be a battle against the elements.

As most of what is held in the archives is on paper, the department uses special acid-free boxes and folders to prevent a chemical breakdown of the documents. Everything is kept dry and at cooler temperatures to prevent damage. 

The archives also hold several special collections of books. Included in these collections are most of the works of children’s author Lois Lenski, who wrote and illustrated several of her books based on rural communities in northeast Arkansas.

Other notable works in the collection include a collection of books on Arkansas, as well as an aeronautics collection donated by Cass Hough, the founder of Daisy Manufacturing and a prominent figure in the industrialization of Arkansas.

Among other media, the archives contain a vast amount of newsreel footage from KAIT 8, the local news station, which has all been digitized. 

Archives began digitizing their records to make access to documents quicker, especially those frequently asked for by researchers. 

“Usually when we digitize things, it’s to make things more accessible. We don’t digitize to preserve the items, just to make them readily available,” Mayton said.

A visit to the archives is currently by appointment only, but walk-in hours will be available for the special collections next semester to bring more students to the archives. 

The archives are for all people curious about the local community and history and all are encouraged to visit and look around.

“It’s kind of a treasure hunt,” said assistant library director April Sheppard. “We’re always finding the coolest stuff in there. If there’s something you’re looking for, feel free to ask.”

To request materials from the collection or to have them ready for a visit, students need to fill out an archives material request form and any researchers who want to visit the archives or special collections department must fill out a research registration form. 

The Archives and Special Collections staff can be contacted at archives@astate.edu. 

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