About the ASI Research Room

The ASI is home to an expanded research area where visitors can access a wide variety of research tools and materials documenting events and people in Arkansas from prehistory to the 21st century. The Arkansas materials of the Butler Center and UALR's Archives and Special Collections consist of more than 40,000 books and 10,000 linear feet of manuscript collections and includes personal papers, maps, photographs, letters, diaries, journals, business records, and other first-hand accounts of Arkansas history.

The Research Room is located on the 2nd floor of the Geyer & Adams building and is open Monday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Governors’ Papers

The ASI holds an unmatched opportunity for researchers to study Arkansas's 20th century history through the papers of seven of the state's governors. The collection includes the papers of Thomas McRae (1921–1925); Carl Bailey (1937-1941); of Winthrop Rockefeller (1967-1971); of Dale Bumpers (1971-1975); of Bill Clinton (1979-1981; 1983-1992); of Frank White (1981-1983); and of Jim Guy Tucker (1993-1996).

Genealogy

The ASI Research room provides a great resource for genealogy and family history research. Staff members in the Research room assist visitors in beginning a genealogy or in discovering hard-to-find ancestors. Visitors have free access to online genealogical databases, Arkansas military records, Arkansas marriage records, Freedman Bureau records, county court records for Pulaski County and Perry County, and indexed county historical journals.