Nelson Hackett Event on Friday to Feature Delta Bluesman and NWA Black History

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Delta bluesman Keith Johnson, a nationally and internationally renowned blues musician, will headline the Nelson Hackett Celebration reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 16, at the Music Education Initiative's Juke Joint exhibit in the atrium of the Pryor Center in downtown Fayetteville.

The reception is the final piece of the larger celebration, which will mark the unveiling of the new Nelson Hackett historical marker and Nelson Hackett Boulevard street sign — a partnership between the U of A's Nelson Hackett Project and Fayetteville's Black Heritage Preservation Commission.

The celebration will also feature educational programming about Black history and life in Fayetteville, all of which begins at 4 p.m. The full schedule of events, listed below, is free and open to the public.

Documenting Nelson Hackett & Fayetteville's Black Heritage
4-5:30 p.m. at the Pryor Center for Arkansas Visual and Oral History featuring:

• Sharon Killian on Fayetteville's East Mountain Cemetery
• Chris Huggard and Jerry Moore on Rock Van Winkle, an enslaved NWA man turned respected businessman
• Kim Jansen on the current status of Black people and life in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas
• Mike Pierce on Nelson Hackett's story and legacy

City of Fayetteville Historical Marker & Street Sign Unveiling Ceremony
6-6:30 p.m. at the Downtown Square Gardens featuring:

• Mayor Lioneld Jordan, City of Fayetteville
• J.L. Jennings, Black Heritage Preservation Commission

Reception & Celebration
6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Juke Joint exhibit in the atrium of the Pryor Center featuring:

• Music from Delta bluesman Keith Johnson
• Refreshments from Rollin' in the Dough, a Black-owned local bakery

Johnson is a singer, songwriter and musician from Mississippi and is the great-nephew of blues icon McKinley "Muddy Waters" Morganfield.

The city's Black Heritage Preservation Commission, with the help of the Nelson Hackett Project, has led the way on the historical marker and street renaming project to recognize Hackett's history and his ultimate influence on international relations and law.

The slate of events is made possible thanks to the generosity of the U of A's Department of History, African and African American Studies Program, Arkansas Humanities Center, Pryor Center and Fulbright College Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Community members throughout Northwest Arkansas are encouraged to attend all the events during the celebration.