Holidays at Heritage Sites: Remembering the Celebrations of Yesteryear

The Arkansas State University Heritage Sites celebrate historical places across the region. Two of the heritage sites, the Historic Dyess Colony: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC), had many holiday traditions and celebrations.

JONESBORO – The Arkansas State University Heritage Sites celebrate historical places across the region. Two of the heritage sites, the Historic Dyess Colony: Johnny Cash Boyhood Home and Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC), had many holiday traditions and celebrations.

“We have some Christmas gifts from Uncle Gus Pfeiffer. These include several books, including one on Arkansas folklore and one filled with his quotations,” said Dr. Adam Long, executive director of the Heritage Sites. “We also have a highly decorated custom Christmas card he sent.”

Long said there are several Christmas traditions that are celebrated at HPMEC.

“We invite local schools to help design our Christmas card. We participate in a holiday tour of homes, and decorate the house in a traditional style,” added Long.

Will Reaves, director of the boyhood home, said he wanted to bring attention to Johnny Cash’s time growing up at the home in Dyess through the words of the song “Christmas as I Knew It,” written by June Carter Cash and Jan Howard.

“In this song, he remembers giving coal oil and nuts to one of their neighbors who didn’t have the money to keep their light going,” said Reaves.

Reaves said the song shares that the Cash family didn’t have a lot of money at Christmas because the cotton crop for the season hadn’t done very well, but they still gave to neighbors in need.

“His brother Roy chopped down a tree and dragged it home, his father shot and cooked a squirrel, his sister Louise baked bread, and his sister Reba decorated the tree with popcorn strings,” Reaves added.

One may visit any of the A-State Heritage Sites. Hours may differ this holiday season from the hours posted on each of their websites. Please visit the A-State Heritage Sites website for information on each of the locations, arkansasheritagesites.AState.edu.

Photo of the cover and inside page of a book. — There are several books that are part of the collection at the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center that were holiday gifts.