Happy Birthday to one of Special Collections’ favorites, Senator J. William Fulbright!
A portrait of Senator J. William Fulbright from his papers in Special Collections.
In addition to the Senator’s invaluable political papers, and the associated collections related to the Fulbright Program and international cultural exchange, the department remembers his tenure as the youngest university president in the country each day when we see his portrait surveying the reading room (Fulbright’s iconic portrait is included to the right).
Born in Sumner, Missouri, April 9, 1905, Fulbright moved as a baby to Fayetteville, where his father Jay became a prominent businessman and his mother, Roberta, became a civic leader, influential journalist, and newspaper publisher.
Fulbright attended the University School as a child and later became a football star and outstanding student at the University of Arkansas. After attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earning a law degree from George Washington University, he came back to teach law at his alma mater before pursuing the political career that would impact the nation and world so profoundly.
These photographs from Special Collections provide a rare glimpse of Fulbright’s personal life as a young man, as he relaxes with his family or looks out over the beautiful Arkansas landscape. Both of these photos are from the Walter J. Lemke Papers (MC L541), Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries.
The Fulbright Papers, the archives of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, papers from the Council of the International Exchange of Scholars, and numerous other resources preserved in Special Collections, help convey at least part of the indelible impact the proud Arkansan and Razorback had on the nation and the world. Vera Ekechukwu (ekechukw@uark.edu), Fulbright Archivist, assists researchers from around the world in working with the wealth of materials.
The University Libraries make the Fulbright legacy available in many different ways, including working with students and scholarly researchers or providing access to the archival material and sharing portions through digital collections:
- Finding Aids for the William Fulbright Papers
- Research guide for Archives on International Education and Cultural Exchange
- A Calm Voice in a Strident World digital collections of Fulbright speeches
- Digital access to Fulbright Scholar Grantee Directories
For more information on how to access collections related to Senator Fulbright and the Fulbright Program, or any other many resources on the history and culture of Arkansas in Special Collections, contact the department at specoll@uark.edu or 479.575.8444.
And if you are near campus, join the Fulbright Birthday Celebration on Friday, April 8, at 2:30pm in the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center. The celebration, which includes speakers, refreshments, and a cake cutting, kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8, in the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center. A musical ensemble from the Department of Music will add to the festivities, which are co-sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.