Black students and locals fought for equity for decades in Jonesboro Public Schools, according to history professor

Heather McNamee, an assistant professor of history at Washington State University, gave a talk Wednesday afternoon at UA Little Rock Downtown, where she discussed the long fight for racial equity in Jonesboro Public Schools.

McNamee, a former Arkansas State University professor, is also the Central Arkansas Library System’s 2025 David Stricklin Fellow . This fellowship through the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies will allow her to continue her research work about African American history and educational equity in northeast Arkansas.

McNamee began her talk by thanking Black locals in Jonesboro for sharing their stories with her.

Born and raised in Jonesboro and the product of Jonesboro Public Schools, McNamee said that when she started looking into official Arkansas history scholarsh