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  ABOUT THE SOUTHERN TENANT FARMERS MUSEUM
 

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Hours of

Operation:

 

Monday-Saturday

9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Closed major holidays. 

For special programs call:
870-487-2909

 

 

 

 

 

The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza opened in 2006 in the historic Mitchell-East Building.

 

During the 1930s, this building housed the dry cleaning business of H. L.. Mitchell and the service station of Clay East, two of the organizers of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union in 1934.  Their building served as the unofficial headquarters for the union until offices were moved to Memphis for safety.

 

Museum exhibits, located in the Mitchell-East Building, focus on the farm labor movement in the South and the tenant farming and sharecropping system of agriculture.

 

The museum also includes the adjacent historic Tyronza Bank building. Facades of the bank and the Mitchell-East Building have been restored to their 1930s appearance, while the bank interior has been modified to include a reception area, gift shop, office and classroom.

old mitchel station image

modern gas station image

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clay East's service station in 1934 and today.

 

Stories are told through historic photographs, artifacts related to tenant farming, oral history excerpts, 1930s news reel footage, and interactive exhibits featuring STFU songs, poems, and interviews with former union leaders. 

 

H. L. Mitchell's dry cleaners in 1934 and today.

 

Southern Tenant Farmers Museum

117 Main Street, Tyronza, Arkansas 72386

Telephone:  870-487-2909;  Fax 870-487-2910

 

 Please e-mail problems, comments and suggestions

 regarding this site to Linda Hinton                                                                         Return to Arkansas State University Home Page