GIFT FROM FORMER SENATOR DAVID PRYOR ESTABLISHES THE ARKANSAS CENTER FOR ORAL AND VISUAL HISTORY AT THE U OF A

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Ð A gift of $220,000 from unexpended campaign funds has been designated by former U.S. Senator David H. Pryor to establish the Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History at the University of Arkansas.

"In serving as a United States senator for many years, I came to appreciate the value of the opinions and experiences of the citizens of this state," Pryor said. "Their stories and memories are certainly worth preserving for future generations."

The Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History will be directed by Jeannie Whayne, chair of the history department, and will be located in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

The mission of the center will be to document ArkansasÕ past through tape-recorded interviews as well as selected video interviews. Under WhayneÕs guidance, graduate students and trained volunteers will conduct interviews with people whose experiences and insights will enhance our understanding of Arkansas history.

"We are extremely grateful to Senator Pryor for his vision in helping to create a program that will both expand and preserve the stateÕs history," said Chancellor John White, who made the announcement in both Fayetteville and Little Rock today.

"The establishment of an oral and visual history program through this gift is most appropriate coming from a true statesman who has been on center stage for a substantial part of ArkansasÕ history. That Senator Pryor holds a bachelorÕs degree in government and a law degree from the University of Arkansas makes this gesture even more meaningful. It will add a new dimension to a fine history department and create a valuable resource for all Arkansans," White said.

Randall Woods, interim dean of Fulbright College, incorporated oral history in his own research for his award-winning biography of J. William Fulbright. "The college is proud to be the home for what promises to be a nationally recognized academic program," Woods said.

The original tapes, duplicates and bound transcripts will be housed in the special collections division of Mullins Library, where almost 1,000 oral histories already may be found. Examples of those include recordings of leading folklorists of the Ozarks region, participants in the Little Rock school integration crisis, KUAFÕs radio series "Ozark Voices", and recordings of Orval Faubus, Dale Bumpers, J. William Fulbright, L. Brooks Hays and David Pryor. The centerÕs holdings will be available to students, faculty and the general public.

Historians and students of the 20th century frequently rely on interviews to augment documentary evidence. Because the documentary evidence Ð such as newspapers and government records Ð provide only limited information, social historians are particularly interested in information that can be secured only from individuals.

Whayne will teach a course in oral history and will guide her students as they conduct their own interviews to add to the collection.

"Through interviews we learn what it was like to grow up during the Great Depression, to experience life on the home front during World War II, or to live through the Central High Crisis in 1957," Whayne said. "Students of Arkansas or Southern history will get first-hand experience in interviewing and learn how to use those interviews in conjunction with documentary evidence.

"Topics may be as broad as individual memories of the Great Depression or World War II, or as narrow as the experience of growing up in a Japanese-American internment camp in Arkansas," Whayne said.

Both the existing and new transcriptions will become a part of the Arkansas Digital Library, a component of the University LibraryÕs web site. The digital library is a growing body of information about Arkansas that is accessible through the web site. This technology will allow the center to provide greater access to much of the edited transcripts and audio and video tapes. The University hopes to attract additional funds to augment and support the work and endeavors of the center.

The earliest organized oral history activity in the United States dates back to the mid-19th century when in California and Wisconsin historians and librarians began a concerted effort to collect interviews with early settlers of the West and Midwest.

The introduction of the telephone and other technological innovations since the 19th century no longer made it necessary to write down everything one saw, did, heard or thought. This situation gave rise to the historical technique that came to be known as oral history Ð the attempt through tape-recorded interviews to document the recent past as completely as possible.

PryorÕs papers from his 18-year tenure as an Arkansas senator, as well as his gubernatorial papers, were recently archived at the University of Arkansas. He donated more than 1,000 boxes of files, detailing his work, including video and audio tapes, along with books, photographs, scrapbooks, microfilm, and other memorabilia that are now part of the UniversityÕs special collections.

Pryor graduated from the U of A in 1957 with a B.A. in government. His career in public office began in 1960 when he was elected state representative. While in the state legislature, he began attending law school at the U of A and received his law degree in 1964.

In 1966, Pryor successfully ran for the seat as representative from ArkansasÕ Fourth Congressional District. He spent six years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1975 Pryor became Governor of Arkansas. His popularity won him 83 percent of the vote when he ran for reelection. In 1978, Pryor began his 18-year tenure as a United States Senator.

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