Negro Head Corner, Arkansas Explained

Official Name:Negro Head Corner, Arkansas
Pushpin Map:Arkansas#USA
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Arkansas
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Woodruff
Timezone:Central (CST)
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:CDT
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Elevation Ft:217
Coordinates:35.3439°N -91.3575°W
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:52597

Negro Head Corner is an unincorporated community in Woodruff County, Arkansas, United States, located about north of Augusta.

The area is named for an oak sculpture of a Black man's head that was once displayed at the corner of a farm near the crossroads. It was carved by Wade Antney, who farmed the land first as an enslaved person and then later as the owner.[1] It has been theorized that the sculpture represented Legba, the loa of crossroads in Haitian Vodou.[2] However, due to the presence of Bakongo-based Hoodoo in Arkansas, it is more plausible that the sculpture was a face nkisi, which many Black Americans in the South use for protection, healing and the connection of the physical world to the spiritual world, where the ancestors are said to reside. In American conjure tradition, these figures and charms are often placed in the corner of a house or property, which represents the Kalûnga line and Kongo cross.[3]

Notes and References

  1. The Man Who Lived at Nigger Head Corner . B.J. . Hankins . 5 . . July 11, 1968 . Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine . 67 . 27.
  2. Devil of the Blues . Greg Alan . Brownderville . The Society for the Study of Southern Literature . 36 . 1 . November 2002 . University of Arkansas.
  3. Web site: The Chipstone Foundation . 2024-07-04 . www.chipstone.org.