The Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center was established at the University of Arkansas (U of A) in May 1992. It was authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 which was a reauthorization and expansion of a 1987 law. The US Department of Transportation located the center in Arkansas because of the state’s geographic diversity and existing multi-modal transportation system. The center was named after Arkansas state senators Y.M. Mack and Lawrence Blackwell who had sponsored a bill in 1952 which restructured the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Commission. Beginning on September 30, 2013, three centers were organized under the Mack-Blackwell Center: the Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center (MarTREC), the Southern Plains Transportation Center (SPTC), and the Center for Training Transportation Professionals (CTTP). MarTREC and CTTP are housed at the U of A. SPTC is housed at the University of Oklahoma. The U of A is a regional consortium member of the SPTC.

The center is focused on research and professional training with the intent to improve rural transportation networks and more fully integrate them into the modern economy. This collection contains many of the reports conducted or sponsored by the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center from its inception. The collection also contains newsletters and brochures from the center.