Irene Holcomb was an ACORN leader in Pine Bluff, Arkansas from 1986 until the end. In 1988, ACORN recruited her to run for Pine Bluff City Council, a seat she won and served on until 2012. In this interview, she talks about her first City Council campaign, including her 8-point platform; when the Jesse Jackson campaign came through Pine Bluff; having the opportunity to meet organizers from around the country at national convenings; hierarchies within ACORN; and strategies she’d like to pass on to young organizers today. This interview may be of interest to those who want to learn about leadership development, ACORN’s relationship to city and electoral politics, and/or the history of community organizing.
Archival Objects
Campaign poster for Irene Holcomb’s run for Ward #1 Alderman in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Poster for Irene Holcomb’s run for Ward #1 Alderman in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Photograph of newspaper clippings about Irene Holcomb’s win as Pine Bluff’s First Ward Alderman.
Newspaper clipping from the Pine Bluff Commericial on April 3, 1994 featuring Irene Holcomb and two young men, Donald and Brian Marks, who, according to the caption, are showing the personzliaed brick bought by the Third Avenue Neighborhood Group.
Photograph of an article from the Pine Bluff Commerical about Irene Holcomb’s win as Pine Bluff’s First Ward Alderman.
Photograph of a newspaper clipping from February 1988 with side-by-side articles: “Holcomb runs for council” and “ACORN tries to bring a corparte pulloter to justice”.
Newspaper clippings from an article in the Pine Bluff Commerical about two candidates for the 1st ward city council seat, Irene Holcomb and Don T. Holden.
Newspaper clippings from the Pine Bluff Commercial on March 18,1988, one a letter from the paper’s editor in support of Irene Holcomb candidacy for First Ward Alderman and the other a letter from Irene Holcomb to the city as “proud candidate”.
Clipping from a February 1988 ACORN publication featuring a photograph of protestors, including Irene Holcomb.
Photograph of an article from the Pine Bluff Commerical on August 4,1987, in which Irene Holcomb––as a representative of West Side ACORN members––is quoted.
Photograph of a newspaper article titled, “Democrats choose Atlanta delegates for ’88 convention,” citing Irene Holcomb of Pine Bluff as an alternate in the fourth district for Jesse Jackson.
Photograph of a newspaper article titled, “Vote on sewer rate in Pine Bluff raises questions of racism,” in which Alderman Irene Holcomb is quoted.
Photogprah of a newspaper political advertisement on Novemeber 5, 1996 for Irene Holcomb’s re-election camapgin for First Ward Alderman.
Photograph of a newspaper clipping from the Pine Bluff Commericial about Alderwoman Irene Holcomb and Alderman Levert Blunt’s return to city council.
Photograph of an article from the Pine Bluff Commerical on October 24, 1996 announcing ACORN’s candidate endorsements, including Irene Holcomb for 1st Ward Alderwoman.
A printout of a Pine Bluff Commerical article from Feburary 22, 2018 announcing Irene Holcomb’s appointment as “Councilwoman Emerita”. This printout was photographed hanging up at the Arkansas Community Organizations (ACO) office in Little Rock, Arkansas.
