WHEREAS: Pine Bluff was one of the earliest cities established in Arkansas after the then-territory was acquired by the United States. Sitting on the Arkansas River upstream from Arkansas Post, Pine Bluff grew as steamboats docked in the town to load baled cotton; 

WHEREAS: The city was the site of several skirmishes during the Civil War, but expanded rapidly in the latter half of the 19th century, entering its golden age in the 1880s as the agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation industries coalesced into a hub in Jefferson County; 

WHEREAS: Flooding and the Great Depression brought devastation to Pine Bluff prior to the Second World War, but the construction of the Pine Bluff National Guard Armory in 1932 created stable employment for thousands; 

WHEREAS: As the home of the University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff, the city became a center of activism during the Civil Rights Era; 

WHEREAS: Today, Pine Bluff remains a center of education, through UAPB, healthcare, through the Jefferson Regional Medical Center and the National Center for Toxicological Research, industry, with several factories in and around the city, and tourism, as the home of some of Arkansas’ oldest buildings and institutions; 

WHEREAS: Governor Sanders’ “Capital for a Day” program highlights great cities around Arkansas like Pine Bluff and brings senior state government officials into town to meet with their local counterparts; and 

WHEREAS: Pine Bluff will serve as the eleventh “Capital for a Day” under Governor Sanders and will momentarily serve as Arkansas’ seat of government. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, Governor of the State of Arkansas, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the laws of the State of Arkansas, do hereby name Pine Bluff, Arkansas, our Capital for a Day on May 15th, 2024, and invite our senior state government officials to join me in a visit to the city. 

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 13th day of May, in the year of our Lord 2024.