“My resignation is not written out of hatred,” she wrote. “It is written out of heartbreak.” Marie Brown-Bealer, an employee at the Old State House Museum, tendered her four-page resignation letter on Sept. 22 after reporting that new leaders permitted insensitive remarks concerning slavery during staff meetings.
The departure of Brown-Bealer, who served as the museum’s administrative coordinator, underscores growing friction surrounding race, heritage management, and institutional leadership within Arkansas cultural agencies. In her letter to interim museum director Laura McClellan, Brown-Bealer explained that the departure of her direct supervisor, former museum director Daniel Cockrell, marked a painful turning point that altered the workplace climate over a six-month period.
Resignation Details and Leadership Changes
Brown-Bealer stated that staff discussions regarding history and slavery had deteriorated under the current administration. According to her resignation letter, which was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Arkansas Times, she overheard unsettling comments during a workplace gathering.
“During a staff meeting with employees,” she wrote, “I heard the words, ‘I am tired of talking about slavery. It’s more to history than slavery,’ followed by ‘Let’s be honest, Arkansas is a WHITE STATE.’”
While she did not identify the person who made the remarks, Brown-Bealer emphasized that acknowledging broader historical narratives should not diminish the significance of slavery. She copied her letter to Marty Ryall, Arkansas Heritage director, among other officials. Efforts by journalists to secure a comment from the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, which oversees the museum, were unsuccessful.
The administrative turmoil follows the mid-April firing of former director Daniel Cockrell. According to state records obtained via an FOI request, Cockrell was terminated over performance and insubordination issues, though his personnel file contained no prior negative write-ups. Cockrell later stated that superiors forced him to fire an employee, Georganne Sisco, whose termination details state officials have refused to release. The state has not yet named a replacement for Cockrell.
Broader Controversies in State History Programming
This personnel shakeup coincides with wider debates over how Arkansas institutions approach racial history. The museum previously faced criticism when a special exhibition created in honor of the country’s 250th birthday omitted any discussion of slavery from its presentation of the state’s past.
Simultaneously, state leadership under Sarah Huckabee Sanders has scrutinized education policies surrounding race. Sanders has challenged educators teaching critical race theory, while the state education department temporarily altered the credit weight for an Advanced Placement course focused on African American studies.
In her closing remarks, Brown-Bealer urged future administrators to prioritize listening over defensiveness. “History matters. People matter. Truth matters,” she wrote. “And the voices of women of color matter. My time at the Old State House Museum is ending. But this is not the end of my story.”
State officials have not responded publicly to the allegations detailed in the resignation letter.
