Jack E. Hill Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 1968

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

The Jack E. Hill Papers primarily consists of analog and digital videos, correspondence, financial records, grant reports, scripts, digital text files, and research materials from Hill's life and career as an investigative television journalist and documentarian in Arkansas. Hill was primarily known for his work for KAIT in Jonesboro, and for the documentaries he produced in the 1990s and 2000s made through his company, TeleVision for Arkansas. Additionally the collection includes other items from his personal life, including materials and photographic slides from his career in the US Army in the 1960s.

Dates

1945-2013

Creator

Hill, Jack E. (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

Jack Edward Hill was a white male Arkansan broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker. Born in Rogers, Arkansas in 1940, Hill graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1962 and went on to serve a two-year reserve officer stint in Germany with the U.S. Army. Hill went on to receive a Masters degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. After a series of short-term jobs, Hill took a position as a reporter and anchor at KAIT in Jonesboro, Arkansas, reporting on a series of local issues including the quality of local housing and corruption among local government officials, such as St. Francis County Sheriff Coolidge Conlee. Fallout from the latter led to the end of Hill's KAIT career in 1985. Afterwards Hill formed a documentary production company, TeleVision for Arkansas, airing roughly 60 videos on AETN before his 2012 death.

Extent

56 Linear Feet (56 Boxes, 1 Tube, 3 Items)

52.9 Gigabytes (505 Digital Files)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Jack Hill Papers consist of videos, correspondence, financial records, grant reports, scripts, and research materials from Hill's life and career.

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged and described in four series:

Series 1. Audio Visual
Series 2. Film Projects
Series 3. St. Francis County
Series 4. Personal

Acquisition Information

The Jack Hill Papers were donated to the Special Collections Division by his wife, Anne Hill of Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 17, 2013.

Existence and Location of Copies

A number of the videos in the collection have been digitized and are available to view as mp4 access copies in the Special Collections reading room. .MOV preservation copies of these videos are held by Special Collections as well. These copies, as well as the copies of other, born-digital items, are noted at the file level description.

In addition, a selection of Hill's documentaries were edited as part of Robert Cochran's Reporting for Arkansas: The Documentary Films of Jack Hill project, and are freely available online on the Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies website.

Processing Information

Processed by Adam Heien; completed in February 2022. Titles of materials in the collection are transcribed from existing labels and folders as accessioned when possible, particularly for the materials in Series 1.