The Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University–West Plains will host a public presentation on the rise and fall of the Ozarks Regional Commission (ORC) at 6 p.m., Tuesday, July 15, at Garnett Library, 304 W. Trish Knight St.
The presentation, titled “Modernizing the Hills: The Creation and Early Years of the Ozarks Regional Commission,” will be led by historian Joe Hutchison of Evening Shade, Arkansas. Hutchison will explore the federal government’s mid-20th-century attempt to modernize the rural Ozarks economy through the Ozarks Economic Development Region (OEDR) and the ORC, both established under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965.
The ORC aimed to improve infrastructure, tourism, and education across a 125-county region in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Despite these efforts, the commission was disbanded in 1981 under President Ronald Reagan. Hutchison will examine the reasons for its collapse, including internal dysfunction, limited funding, and its failure to deliver meaningful aid to the region’s neediest communities.
Hutchison, a board member of the Ozarks Studies Association, holds degrees in history from Williams Baptist University and the University of Missouri-Columbia. He begins his doctoral studies at Mississippi State University this fall. He has presented at several regional history conferences and is the 2024 recipient of the Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives Award.
The event is free and open to the public, with light refreshments provided. For more information, contact Rebekah McKinney at 417-255-7949 or RebekahMcKinney@MissouriState.edu.
