Janis Kearney Interviews

Janis Faye Kearney was born on September 29, 1953, in Gould, Lincoln County, Arkansas.

She earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

She started her career at the Arkansas State Press, which she bought from Daisy Bates. In 1993 she joined the Clinton administration and then became the first presidential diarist in 1995. Kearney completed a two-year fellowship at the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute of African and African American Studies.

She has authored numerous books, including Cotton Field of Dreams and Conversations: William Jefferson Clinton-From Hope to Harlem.

Video

Audio

AUDIO-KEARNEY-Janis-20060227 - 58:37

Transcripts

TRANS-KEARNEY-Janis-Memories-20060227-FINAL

Composite image of early photo of Janis Kearney and still frame from Pryor Center video interview © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#1: Composite image of early photo of Janis Kearney and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#2: Ethel Virginia Curry, mother of Janis Kearney, in her early twenties
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#3: John L. Kearney, first lawyer in Kearney family
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#4: Luther and Emma Curry at Magnolia homestead, ca. mid-1960s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#5: Varner Road, near Gould, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#6: Kearney siblings: Jo Ann, Jerome, Janis, and Jeff, 1967
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#7: Janis Kearney and Jo Ann Lyons, 1972
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Janis Kearney poses for University of Arkansas Razorback beauty photo, 1973 © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#8: Janis Kearney poses for University of Arkansas Razorback beauty photo, 1973
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#9: Janis Kearney and D. K. in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1973
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Janis Kearney in costume for a play at the University of Arkansas, 1973 © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#10: Janis Kearney in costume for a play at the University of Arkansas, 1973
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Janis Kearney, with her sister, Jo Ann, a nephew and sister-in law; Fayetteville, Arkansas © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#11: Janis Kearney, with her sister, Jo Ann, a nephew and sister-in law; Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#12: Sketch of Janis Kearney drawn by Jim Borden, 1979
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#13: Janis Kearney, 1975
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Janis Kearney in costume for a play at the University of Arkansas, 1976 © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#14: Janis Kearney in costume for a play at the University of Arkansas, 1976
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#15: Ethel and James Kearney, parents of Janis Kearney, ca. 1975
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#16: James and Ethel Kearney, parents of Janis Kearney
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#17: Kearney family during Reunion Sunday
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#18: James Kearney, superintendent of Rankin Chapel Sunday School
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#19: James Kearney, father of Janis Kearney
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#20: Janis Kearney with her mentor, Daisy Bates
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#21: Janis Kearney interviewing Governor Bill Clinton
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#22: Kearney brothers with patriarch, James Kearney
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#23: Kearney Reunion in Pine Bluff Park, Arkansas, ca. 1999
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#24: Janis Kearney with Bob Nash on an African safari
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Janis Kearney © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#26: Silas Hunt Legacy Award portrait of Janis Kearney, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Janis Kearney; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006 © Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas

#29: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Janis Kearney; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas