Narrating Our Past... Navigating Our Future

reating the idea, the legislation, and then the      organization that would address the needs of America's workers was one of the most difficult efforts in American governmental history. Even more difficult was garnering the support of early 20th century lawmakers and U.S. Presidents who believed that labor issues were substantive issues. In 1913 the tide changed for Labor. Act 322 created the Bureau of Labor Statistics, allowing labor a foot into the door of American politics, and the U.S. government.

In 1937, the Employment Security Division (now the Department of Workforce Services), began its legacy of serving Arkansas' under-served, and unemployed. We are happy to share this amazing history with you through Narrating our Past... Navigating our Future; our history in stories and photos. The Legacy Project is an ongoing effort to collect and preserve the Agency's history, and we need your help to make it the best that it can be. We thank you for your past contributions to the Legacy Book, and ask that you continue to contribute your stories, photos, and other historical documents to our archives, by emailing us at: dwslegacyproject@arkansas.gov.