A beloved downtown institution is in turmoil, and the whole city is talking about why.
A Black woman who worked at the Old State House Museum since 2011 resigned this week, saying she overheard racist comments about slavery at a staff meeting. Her resignation letter — obtained through a Freedom of Information request — quotes remarks including tired-of-talking-about-slavery sentiments and a claim that Arkansas is a white state. She addressed it to the interim director and copied the head of Arkansas Heritage.
The resignation lands amid deeper chaos at the museum: the former director was fired in April, no permanent replacement has been named, and the state isn't commenting.
The Old State House isn't just any building — it's where Arkansas history lives, including the harder chapters. When the people telling that history say they can't stay, it forces a reckoning about who's in the room and what's being said.
This is the story everyone at the Little Rock dinner party is discussing this week.