News

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Ryan Anderson

June 12, 2023

An area near the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in northeast Arkansas is going to get a bit of a touch-up.

Workers will renovate grain bins across from the museum in Tyronza, work that would restore the historic character of the Tyronza Commercial Historic District.

The Arkansas State University board of trustees approved the renovation project at a meeting Thursday in Beebe.

“The grain bins will serve as a large-scale exhibit of agricultural history and methods that would add new depth to the interpretation of the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum,” according to the Arkansas State University System. The interior of the largest grain bin would house critical visitor services, including accessible restroom facilities.

ASU received a grant of $1,916,383 from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, which will cover the renovation, according to the ASU System.

The museum — which has exhibits that focus on the farm labor movement in the South and the tenant farming and sharecropping system of agriculture — opened in 2006 in the historic Mitchell-East Building in Tyronza.

JONESBORO — Southern Tenant Farmers Museum (STFM) officials will host a celebration honoring the 15th anniversary of the center, Wednesday, Oct. 6. The event is from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the STFM, 117 S. Main Street, Tyronza.

The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum is a part of the Arkansas Heritage Sites of Arkansas State University.

“I am looking forward to the celebration of our 15th anniversary,” said Heritage Sites executive director Dr. Adam Long. “We have several new components to the museum. Oral histories are now available on surface tablets placed throughout the museum and exhibit panels containing our original content have been updated.”

Several events are planned, including live entertainment by Charley Sandage. Sandage grew up in rural Hot Spring County, Arkansas. After undergraduate work at Henderson State, a hitch in the U.S. Army, and two graduate study stints at UA-Fayetteville, he went to a career mainly in teaching and administration at several Arkansas public schools, colleges and universities. Exceptions included time at AETN and on staff at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View when it first opened.

Retirement afforded him time to expand on a 25-year old project called “Arkansas Stories,” based on original songs about people and events in Arkansas history. Long-form projects currently growing out of that interest include two musicals, one historical novel, and a concept for programming at A-State’s STFM.

Free tours will be available during this time along with a lunch of soup beans, cornbread, and cobbler provided by Armor Bank of Tyronza. Recent renovations of the museum were made possible by a private donor. 

Museum director Penny Toombs added, “One of our additions is a timeline.  This digital program provides guests with the history of the Mississippi Delta, beginning with the 1500s. New additions also include artist renditions of farm tools, a front facade of a tenant farming house, and space for traveling exhibits. I hope people come out on Oct. 6 to see the renovations, have lunch, and enjoy the music of Mr. Sandage.” 

The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum was the second A-State Heritage Site to open, in 2006. The museum enhances knowledge and understanding of tenant farming and agricultural labor movements in the Mississippi River Delta. The museum is located in the historic Mitchell-East Building in Tyronza, with the restoration of the building and development of the museum made possible through grants from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council and a “We the People” Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Heritage Studies Ph.D. program at Arkansas State utilizes the sites for opportunities for research, independent study, practicums, field work and hands-on experience for students. In addition to the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, other Heritage Sites include Historic Dyess Colony: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home, Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, and Lakeport Plantation. 

04/19/2017

JONESBORO – People traveling on I-555 through Tyronza now know there is a first-class attraction to visit at Exit 8.  Highway signs pointing the way to the Southern Tenant Farmers Museum made their appearance on Wednesday, April 12.

Thanks to the long-term efforts of State Rep. Dwight Tosh and Arkansas Highway Commissioner Alec Farmer, along with additional financial support from First Delta Bank, Ritter Communications, and the City of Tyronza, funds were contributed to produce, install and maintain the signs along both sides of the interstate and at the exit ramps. 

Travelers can take a break from driving between Jonesboro and Memphis and learn about an important part of Arkansas and U.S. history.   The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum preserves the legacy of tenant farming, sharecropping and agricultural labor movements in the Mississippi River Delta. 

The nation’s first agricultural union involving black and white farmers in the same organization, along with women in leadership positions, was established in Tyronza in 1934.  The museum is located at 117 S. Main Street in Tyronza, in the building that once served as informal headquarters for the union.

The Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, which opened in October 2006, is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site.