Battle of Helena commemoration slated July 4

HELENA-WEST HELENA – The Delta Cultural Center will offer a special program Friday, July 4, at the DCC Visitors Center in commemoration of the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863.

The Battle of Helena was one of three Civil War defeats the Confederacy suffered on that Independence Day – the other two were at Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Dr. Thomas DeBlack, professor of history at Arkansas Tech University and award-winning author, will speak on the events at Helena and the ramifications of the battle.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street in historic downtown Helena-West Helena. The public is welcome and admission is free; light refreshments are to be served. DeBlack will also have copies of his award-winning “With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874” available for purchase and will autograph copies of the book.

“We encourage anyone with an interest in our national, state, and Delta history to attend our July 4 event for what we hope will be a fascinating look at the Battle of Helena,” said Jack Myers, DCC education coordinator.

A total of 7,646 Confederate forces from Little Rock and Jacksonport had marched on Helena in hopes of recapturing the city from Union troops that had occupied the important port city since July 1862. Union forces totaling 4,129 held off the Confederate attack, aided by shelling from the Union timber-clad gunboat “Tyler” and what historians note as important tactical errors on the part of the Confederate command.

Records indicate the Confederacy suffered losses of 1,636 men at the Battle of Helena – 169 dead, 659 wounded, and 786 missing or captured. The Union suffered 57 deaths, 146 wounded, and 36 missing.

DeBlack’s 2003 book “With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861-1874” won the inaugural Butler-Remmel Arkansas History Literary Prize, and “Arkansas: A Narrative History,” the college-level textbook he co-authored, was awarded the Arkansas Library Association’s Arkansiana Prize.

He is a past president and member of the board of trustees of the Arkansas Historical Association, as well immediate past president of the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers. He is also a member of the Southern Historical Association and the Society of Civil War Historians. DeBlack is currently working on a book on the history of the Lakeport Plantation in Chicot County.

He and his wife, Susan, live in Conway with their four-year-old daughter, Susannah.

Gallery hours at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street and the nearby DCC Depot at 95 Missouri Street are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. The DCC is currently displaying the temporary exhibit "Jazzin' Jammin' & Jivin': The History of Jazz on Film" through August 1. The exhibit, a collection of more than 40 vintage movie posters from the Separate Cinema Archive, includes a special focus on Delta native son and Swing Era bandleader Louis Jordan. The centennial anniversary of Jordan’s birth is being recognized around the state in 2008, and a U.S. Postal Service stamp picturing his 1945 musical short, “Caldonia,” is to be released in July. Also at the DCC Visitors Center are "Delta Sounds," a permanent exhibit featuring the many talented performers and musicians from throughout the Arkansas Delta, and "Helena: Main Street of the Blues," an exhibit focusing on the city’s rich musical history, which is to continue through summer 2009. Visitors can also enjoy exhibits on early pioneers, the mighty Mississippi River, and the Civil War in the Delta when they visit the DCC Depot at the end of historic Cherry Street. “King Biscuit Time,” the nation’s longest-running blues radio program, is hosted each weekday at the DCC Visitor’s Center by “Sunshine” Sonny Payne, from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. “Delta Sounds,” hosted by DCC Assistant Director Terry Buckalew and Payne, is broadcast each Friday from 1 to 1:30 p.m.

For more information, interested persons can call the Delta Cultural Center at (870)-338-4350 or toll free at (800)-358-0972 or visit the DCC online at www.deltaculturalcenter.com.

The Delta Cultural Center shares the vision of all seven agencies of the Department of Arkansas Heritage -- to preserve and promote Arkansas heritage as a source of pride. Other agencies include the Historic Arkansas Museum, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the Arkansas Arts Council, and the Natural Heritage Commission.

SPEAKER …. Dr. Thomas DeBlack, professor of history at Arkansas Tech University, will speak on the Battle of Helena during a special commemoration on July 4 at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street in downtown Helena-West Helena.

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