Modern Development

The state gradually began to recover from the crippling effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Development of the railroads in the 1870's opened inland Arkansas to agriculture and industry. Sawmills were built, and lumbering became an important industry. Discoveries of bauxite (1887), diamonds (1906), and oil (1921) aided growth, as did an extensive highway-building program begun in 1915 and a number of soil-reclamation projects. Arkansas, however, remained primarily an agricultural state well into the 20th century.

In 1927 floods inundated about one-fifth of the state, leading to river-control programs. Depression and drought in the 1930's caused much hardship, and some Arkansans migrated to the West. In the 1940's and 1950's, new industries (predomi-nantly those using the state's raw materials) located in Arkansas. But chronic unemployment in older industries and in agriculture continued.

Desegregation of public schools began on a token basis in 1954–55. In 1957 a crisis erupted in Little Rock, when Governor Orval Faubus sought to block court-ordered integration of a high school. Federal troops were sent to enforce the court order. School integration then proceeded at a slow but steady pace.

An economic revival began in the mid-1950's following the creation of the Arkansas Industrial Development Corporation, first headed by Winthrop Rockefeller. Rockefeller became the state's first Republican governor in nearly a century, serving 1967–71.

In 1992 Bill Clinton, the state's governor during 1979–81 and 1983–92, was elected President of the United States. In 1996 Jim Guy Tucker, Clinton's successor as governor, resigned following his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges. The charges resulted from a federal investigation of business dealings involving a real estate firm partly owned by Clinton and his wife.

As of the early 2000s, Arkansas has many challenges ahead. Air and water pollution must be dealt with, more energy is needed, and the farm economy and public education systems need improvement. Some new international trade has been successful and new industry attracted, but while the northwestern end of the state thrives, the Delta counties lose population.