Another edition of “Fargo Friday” – where IT2 calls up another Fargo around the country!
This time: Fargo, Arkansas, which we find out is a VERY small community with an interesting history!
In this podcast: Steve Teske from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas
Fargo is a town on U.S. Highway 49 in northern Monroe County, north of Interstate 40. Fargo came into existence due to the railroad industry and later was home to a significant school for African Americans…
Floyd Brown, a recent graduate of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, visited Brinkley (Monroe County) in 1915. He decided to relocate to Arkansas and found a school to be operated similar to Tuskegee. He returned in 1919 with $2.85, and he acquired land in Fargo and began operating the Fargo Agricultural School. For the next thirty years, Brown—along with his wife, Lillie Epps Brown, and a small staff of teachers—taught African-American students English, music, history, mathematics, and science, along with vocational skills including carpentry, plumbing, farming, childcare, sewing, food preparation, and family income management. Unlike similar schools in Arkansas, the Fargo Agricultural School was privately owned and not supported by any religious organization.
Floyd Brown (standing, left of porch) with friends and students in front of the first school building of the Fargo Agricultural School in Monroe County; 1920.
Floyd B. Brown, founder of the Fargo Agricultural School in Monroe County, which provided elementary school and secondary vocational education for African-American students; 1942.
Information & photos courtesy of Steven Teske &
the Encyclopedia of Arkansas
Listen to the other FARGO FRIDAY segments:
Fargo, North Dakota Meets Fargo, Georgia
Fargo, North Dakota Meets Fargo, Oklahoma
(Amy Iler & JJ Gordon are talk-show hosts at 790 AM KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. “It Takes 2 with Amy & JJ” can be heard weekdays 11am-2pm. Check out the show page on
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