Lectures

Little Italy was proud to be a part of the Arkansas State Archives event: Arkansas's Italian Foodways.
 

The symposium's theme, Fruit of the Vine: Arkansas's Italian Communities and Foodways, featured presentations by Chris Dorer, Dr. Rebecca Howard, Regina Moyer and State Archives staff member Terra Titsworth.
 

Topics included Little Italy, Arkansas: A Bootlegger's Oasis; Aren't Grits Just Polenta?: Italians in the Ozarks; and Sunnyside: Italian Tradition from Past to Present.  The day concluded with a cooking demonstration by professionally  trained chef, Terra Titsworth, who prepared cannoli.

April 20, 2016 - Not long after Little Italy was settled in central Arkansas, the community became a Prohibition-era oasis for winemakers and consumers. At Legacies & Lunch at the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) Main Library's Darragh Center, 100 Rock St., Chris Dorer discussed his book, Images of America: Little Italy, and his research on the area's history.  

Little Italy, a community in central Arkansas, was settled in 1915 by Italian immigrants. Little Italy's natural resources, population of skilled winemakers, and tolerant lawmakers contributed to the area's reputation during the Prohibition for producing clean alcohol during a time when many people died due to poisonous alcohol sold by amateur distillers. Dorer is a history teacher and chair of the history department at Central High School in Little Rock. Copies of Images of America: Little Italy were available for purchase, and Dorer signed copies after his talk. 

The 2013 Vines that Bind Ramble tour of enduring historic communities in the Arkansas River Valley concluded with a spaghetti dinner provided by St. Francis of Assisi Church and talk by Chris Dorer, author of "Boy the Stories I could tell", a narrative history of the Italians of Little Italy.