The 15th Annual Red River Heritage Symposium will take place on Saturday, July 24, at Historic Washington State Park. The conference topics will focus on the impact of health epidemics and medicine in the Great Bend Region of the Red River. The event will take place at Historic Washington State Park.
Specific topics and speakers include: “Epidemics in the Washington Telegraph” by Josh Williams of Historic Washington State Park; “Shreveport and the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1873” by Dr. Cheryl White of Louisiana State University at Shreveport; “Treating Infectious Disease in Civil War Arkansas: Insights from a Confederate Surgeon” by Dr. Bill Gurley of University of Mississippi; “Better Health Through Illness: How Epidemics Improved Medicine and Healthcare in Arkansas” by Timothy G. Nutt of the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Archives; and “Studying the Yellow Fever Epidemic of the 1870s in Arkansas: Resources from the Arkansas State Archives” by Brian Irby of the Arkansas State Archives.
An all-day Friday and Saturday morning workshop for teachers on resources related to the theme in the Red River Region will take place on July 23-24. Lunch is included both days. A total of twelve credit hours will be available for teachers to earn by attending both days of the symposium. Cost for attending the workshop will be $40. Workshop presenters will include Historic Washington State Park staff, Arkansas State Archives, Arkansas Humanities Council, Rick Evans Grandview Prairie, and John J. Archibald who will do sessions on incorporating epidemic and medicinal topics into curriculum standards for the classroom.
Cost for attendance to the symposium is $30 with an evening meal included. The timeframe for the event is 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 pm. A discount price of $60 will be offered to teachers who wish to attend both the workshop and symposium. Teachers attending both the workshop and symposium will be eligible for twelve credit hours. Check in will begin in the morning at 8 a.m. at the 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse Visitor Center. Registration must be made by July 22. Contact 870-983-2684 to register.