In collaboration with the Eddie Mae Herron Center, the BRTC Foundation sponsors a speaker to celebrate Black History Month. The Black History Month programs are free and open to the public.
Brian Rodgers is back for the 2026 Black History Month Speaker Series.
The Great Migration
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
9:30 a.m.
Randolph County Development Center (RCDC)
Free and open to the public!
The Great Migration refers to the mass relocation of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North, Midwest, and West between roughly 1910 and 1970. This period saw millions of Black Americans move to cities seeking economic opportunities, freedom from segregation, and a better quality of life.
Past Speakers
- 2025, February 27 -- What's in the Pot with Brian Rodgers
- 2024, February 26 -- An Introduction to Arkansas Musicians with Michael Eubanks
- 2023, February 7 -- Frederick Douglass and Zora Neale Hurston
- 2022, February 24 -- A Conversation with the Blues with Terry "Big T' Williams and Jerry Bone
- 2021, February 24 -- My Mississippi is Everywhere: James Meredith and American History with Dr. Aram Goudsouzian
- 2020, February 20 -- A Conversation with Ethel Tompkins of the Hoxie 21
- 2019, February 19 -- From Prison Inmate to College Graduate with Toby Daughtery
- 2017, February 13 -- Celia Anderson
- 2016, February 10 -- Spokesmen for Their Race: African-American Political Involvement in Arkansas, 1868-1893 with Rodney Harris
- 2015, February 10 -- Living History Tribute to Maya Angelou Featuring Dr. Gwendolyn Twillie
