ARKANSAS
NEEDS FRENCH
AATF
FRENCH ADVOCACY FACT PACK FOR ARKANSAS
This page is simply a set of notes to demonstrate that Arkansas'
connection to the French-speaking world is vital and dynamic, with
institutional, governmental, historical and economic dimensions.
French teachers, students and Francophiles should use these facts to
illustrate the importance of an education including French language and
Francophone cultures. Inluded are the addresses of some who
should support this argument, and of course, links to members of the
Arkansas state legislature.
IMPORTANT FRANCOPHONE GOVERNMENT
OFFICE ADDRESSES
The closest Belgian Consular Representative:
Mr. Jan Verbeeck, Consul
230 Peachtree Street, NW
Suite 2710
Atlanta, GA 30303
Consular office hours 9 AM - 12 PM
Phone (404) 659-2150, Fax (404) 659-8474
E-mail: Atlanta@diplobel.org
Canadian Consulate in Houston
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/houston/menu-en.asp
The Consulate of Canada
5847 San Felipe Street, Suite 1700
Houston, Texas 77057
Tel: (713) 821-1440
Fax: (713) 821-1611
e-mail: hston-td@international.gc.ca
FRENCH CONSULATE
Quebec Trade Office - Atlanta
http://www.mri.gouv.qc.ca/usa/en/atlanta/qui_sommes_nous/index.asp
1170 Peachtree Street N.E.,
suite 250
Atlanta, GA 30339
Tel : (404) 815-4979
Fax : (4048156664
Courriel : qc.atlanta@mri.gouv.qc.ca
FRENCH Offices
Consulat Général de France à Houston
http://www.consulfrance-houston.org/
777 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 600
Houston, TX 77056
Tel. (713) 572-2799
Fax. (713) 572-2911
info@consulfrance-houston.org
Consulat honoraire en Arkansas
- Agence consulaire de Maumelle
Mme Marylou Martin
21 Monarch Drive
Maumelle, AR 72113-66112
Tel (501) 450-1350
EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ADDRESSES
L'ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE MEMPHIS
http://www.people.memphis.edu/%7Ewjthmpsn/alliance.html
Dr. Will THOMPSON
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
The University of Memphis
Dunn Hall 375
MEMPHIS, TN 38152
Tel. (901) 678-3160
Arkansas AATF
http://www.aatf.homestead.com/
Charlette Beillon, President
E-mail: charletteb2004@yahoo.com
Heather J. Tarpley, Treasurer
E-mail: heathertarpley@sbcglobal.net
International Baccalaureate Schools in Arkansas:
Ms Kelly O'Rourke
korourke@mtstmary.edu
Mount Saint Mary Academy
3224 Kavanaugh Blvd
Little Rock, AR 72205
http://mtstmary.edu
Ms Jule Grant
grantj@hssd.net
Hot Springs High School / Middle School
701 Main Street
Hot Springs School District
Hot Springs, AR 71913
http://hssd.net
Ms Becky Rosburg
rosburgb@hssd.net
Park International Magnet School
220 Tom Ellsworth Drive
Hot Springs AR 71901
http://www.hssd.net
More Educational Addresses
Arkansas International Center
http://www.ualr.edu/~lsdept/AIC.html
International Business Schools In Arkansas
http://www.edref.com/college-degrees/business-and-management/international-business/arkansas
National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages (AR reps)
Susan Grier
sgrier@arkedu.k12.ar.us
Arkansas Department of Education
#4 Capitol Mail
Little Rock, AR 72201-1071
Phone: 501-682-4398
Fax: 501-682-4618
Ellen Treadway
etreadway@arkedu.k12.ar.us
Arkansas Department of Education
#4 Capitol Mail
Little Rock, AR 72201-1071
Phone: 501-682-4250
Fax: 501-682-4886
FRANCOPHONE DEMOGRAPHICS FOR ARKANSAS
According to the 2000 census, there are about 7500 speakers of French,
French Creole, and Cajun French in Arkansas
There are nearly 60,000 Arkansas residents who claim Franco-American or
French Canadian heritage.
ARKANSAS FRENCH PLACE NAMES
Some Old French Place Names in the State of Arkansas
http://peace.saumag.edu/swark/articles/ahq/arkansas/ark_frenchnames/frenchnames191.html
The Origin of the Name Arkansas
http://littlerock.about.com/library/weekly/aa051500b.htm
History of Arkansas Co., Arkansas - Arkansas: French interpretation of
a Sioux word "acansa," meaning "downstream place."
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ararkans/history.html
"Colonial Arkansas Place Names (# 139 of the Arkansas Historical
Quarterly)
http://peace.saumag.edu/swark/articles/ahq/arkansas/colonialnames/colonialnames139.html
Foti, Thomas and Gerald T. Hanson. Arkansas and the Land.
Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1992.
Lafayette County, Fayetteville, Maumelle, Crossett, Dardanelle,
Dumas, Paris, Antoine, Belleville, Belview, Blue Bayou, Bayou Meto,
L'Anguille River, Terre Rouge Creek, Bois d'Arc Lake, Lake Chicot,
DeGray Lake, Maumelle
FRENCH MOMENTS IN ARKANSAS HISTORY
1673 - The French came to Arkansas (Marquette and Joliet).
1682 - Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, reaches the Arkansas on
his way to the mouth of the Mississippi, claiming the area fro
France. Visits a Quapaw village.
1682 - Louis XIV granted Henri de Tonti a seigneury on the Arkansas
River.
1686 - Henri de Tonti was the first permanent settler in Arkansas
territory at Arkansas Post.
1687 - Abbe Jean and Joutel reached the Arkans1as River.
1700 - French Catholic missionaries arrive in present-day Arkansas.
1700 - Pierre-Charles le Sueur with 20 men travels up the Mississippi
River as far as the Minnesota River, passing by Arkansas on the way.
1717: Scottish land speculator John Law recruits French settlers for a
colony to be built in the wilderness of what is now Arkansas.
1721 - Bienville send Jean-Baptiste Benard, Sieur de La Harpe to
explore the Arkansas Valley
1721 - Arkansas Post abandoned by 1300 colonists after John Law dabacle.
1721 - Pierre-Charles le Sueur with 20 men travels up the Mississippi
River as far as the Minnesota River, passing by Arkansas on the way.
1721 - A small detail of French soldiers arrives at Arkansas Post and
reports that the Quapaws had relocated their villages on the Arkansas
River, probably for protection against the Chickasaws.
1721 - French trappers have ascended the Arkansas River for some
distance
1722 - Benard de La Harpe explored Arkansas River, named Little Rock.
He proceeds upstream past Little Rock, but encounters no Indian
settlements, like the Quapaw, along the way.
1731: Louisiana, including what is now Arkansas, becomes French royal
colony
1738: French regulars, militia and Quapaw and Choctaw allies begin a
two-year campaign against the Chickasaw, who threaten both residents
and travelers.
1756: Arkansas Post moved to Desha County, across from Big Island.
1753 - Beginning of the French and Indian War (ends in 1762).
1762 - France ceded New Orleans and land west of the Mississippi River
(including Arkansas), but French soldiers remain at Arkansas Post.
1800 - Treaty of San Ildefonso secretly returns Louisiana [incl.
Arkansas] from Spanish to French control.
1803 - The land for Arkansas was bought from France
See Arnold, Morris S. Colonial Arkansas 1686-1804: A Social and
Cultural History. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1991.
French Colonial Arkansas
http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/atufrencol.html
European Explorers in the Mississippi Valley
http://www.uark.edu/depts/contact/explorers.html
The Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial in Arkansas
http://www.lapurchase.org/index.html
ARKANSAS & THE INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS SCENE
US Commercial Service Arkansas: International Business News
http://www.buyusa.gov/arkansas/arknewsletter.html
Arkansas International Trade News
http://www.einnews.com/arkansas/newsfeed-ArkansasInternationalTrade
Arkansas Department of Economic Development - International
http://www.1800arkansas.com/international/
THE CENTERS FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE DEVELOPMENT (Arkansas)
http://asbdc.ualr.edu/bizfacts/5017.asp
Arkansas: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment (November 2005)
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/state_reports/arkansas.html
Arkansas Exports
Arkansas 2003 exports:
total
2,962.2
Canada 807,400,000
Belgium 62,400,000
France 27,800,000
Over 30% of Arkansas's exports went to francophone countries.
Arkansas 2004 exports in millions of dollars
3,122.9 (in top 25)
Canada: 975.4
France 163.4
Belgium 69.9
38.7% of Arkansas export dollars come from French-speaking
countries. That is up.
Arkansas' 2004 exports to France are 588% of 2003's exports.
Canadian Commercial Relations with Arkansas
http://www.canadianembassy.org/statetrade/ar-en.asp
Trans-boarder surface freight values August 2003-August 2004
Canada to Arkansas $914,112,939
Arkansas to Canada $965,287,259
FRENCH-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE - DALLAS (closest to you)
Directrice : Mme Isabelle de WULF
2665 Villa Creek Drive, Suite 214, Dallas, TX 75234
Téléphone 00 1 972 241 0111 -
Télécopie 00 1 972 241 0901
E-mail : info@faccdallas.com
Site web : http://www.faccdallas.com
Foreign-Direct Investment
3.3% of Arkansas's work force work for foreign companies in Arkansas
(2002)
This figure might be changing rapidly. There was is a recent
study on
Arkansas and the EU (2002)
http://www.eurunion.org/partner/
usstates/Arkansas%20-%20AR%202003.ppt
An Arkansas company that has set up its operations in France
Acxiom Corporation - Little Rock, AR integrates data,
services and technology to create and deliver customer and information
management solutions for many of the largest, most respected companies
in the world.
Canadian companies in AR:
Whisper Creek Log Homes, Hyd-Mech Group Limited, The Bancroft Cap
Company
Ainsworth Lumber Company Ltd. is a Canadian company owns approximately
73000 acres of timberland in Arkansas
January 20, 2004:
Montréal, Canada – Quebecor World (NYSE, TSE: IQW) is pleased to
announce it has signed a multi-year agreement to print telephone
directories for ALLTEL Publishing, a division of ALLTEL Corporation of
Little Rock, Arkansas. Quebecor World will print more than 145 white
and yellow page directory titles for distribution in 37 states.
DIRECT ADVOCACY IN ARKANSAS
Arkansas Representatives to Congress
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=ar
Arkansas House of Representatives
http://www.arkansas.gov/house/general_assy.html