He holds a BA from Southern Methodist University, an MSE from Ouachita Baptist University, and a PhD from the University of Arkansas. DeBlack taught in the public schools in Arkansas for twelve years. He is currently president of the Arkansas Historical Association and the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers. He is co-author of Arkansas: A Narrative History (2002), and author of With Fire and Sword: Arkansas 1861–1874, (2003). In 2003, Arkansas: A Narrative History was named the winner of the Arkansas Library Association’s Arkansiana Prize, and With Fire and Sword was the first winner of the Butler-Remmel Arkansas History Literary Prize.