See why and how Pine Bluff/Jefferson County has been one of the
Arkansas Delta's most culturally-rich areas since its inception in
1829.
Serving as a haven for runaway slaves during the late years of the Civil
War, the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County area attracted droves of
African-Americans throughout the Delta and south Arkansas. Brimming with
talent and expectations, they and their descendants traveled a road full
of extremes. Although they endured what appears to have been the largest
mass lynching in United State history in 1866, they also attained one of
the largest per-capita concentrations of black wealth in the entire
South by 1900.
As the hands that labored in the area's boundless cotton fields and
sawmills joined with the hands that held books at the state's only
historically black public college, astonishing accomplishments were
churned out in every imaginable field. Naturally, Pine Bluff/Jefferson
County's Delta roots made its blues, jazz, and gospel contributions a
source of pride, with native or area-affiliated artists receiving
multiple Grammy awards and nominations, as well as other distinctions.