LITTLE ROCK -- The public is invited to the Society for the History of Medicine and Health Professions' annual dinner and lecture from 6-9 p.m. April 5 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The meeting will be held in the UAMS Medical Center Lobby Gallery. Parking is available in the Parking 1 deck.

Laura Smith, a history instructor at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, will present the lecture "A Tale of Two Communities: The Business of the Medical School and Physician Respect in the Nineteenth-Century South."

Cost for the event is $25, which includes a reception at 6 p.m., with dinner and a business meeting following at 6:30 p.m. Smith's lecture begins at 7:15 p.m.

Reservations are required and must be made by March 27 by sending a check to the Historical Research Center, UAMS Library, 4301 W. Markham St., Slot 586, Little Rock, AR 72205-7199.

Student tickets cost $15. For more information, contact Timothy G. Nutt, director of the Historical Research Center, at 501-686-6735 or tgnutt@uams.edu.

Society members, campus supporters and community guests are welcome. Dress is business casual.

The annual dinner and lecture is co-sponsored by the UAMS Library's Historical Research Center.

The society provides support for the Historical Research Center in the UAMS Library. It awards an annual research grant to encourage research into the history of the health sciences in Arkansas. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in preserving the history of UAMS and medicine in Arkansas.