Years and theyre strong and they kind of stick with us, no matter what we do, as you have seen you go outside this museum and you travel around northwest arkansas, theres fortune 500 companies, theyre a Major Research university, theres all kinds of businesses and industry and hightech stuff going on out there but those images, those stereotypes, will theyll stick with us and theyre kind of theyre part of our story. We begin our tour of the local Literary Community with a visit to the university of Arkansas Library. To learn more about the life and accomplishmented of jay William Fulbright. James William Fulbright was a longtime senator serving arkansas from 1944 until 1974. 30 years. Before that he was a representativea u. S. Representative from the north arkansas area. He was president of the university of arkansas, the Youngest University president in the United States at the time. From 1939 to 1941 and worked for the department of justice, rhodes karl, a distinguish el alum of the university of arkansas, star football player, president of the student body, writer, and he is an amazing guy. Also a native of fayetteville. He was a very distinguished guy. He really important stuff, stuff that has lasting implications. A leader in international affairs. He was the longest serving chair of the formulations committee for the u. S. Senate, which particularly during the cold war is one of most powerful position necessary United States and the world. You can a key in negotiations and development of diplomatic policy. So he had that role. He was also fierce advocate for the states and for the people of arkansas. So, as a representative he was a dynamic political figure, as u. S. Senator a leading figure nationally. Senator full bright gave his parents the university of arkansas lie flare 1972. Then we acquired different additions to the collection over decades. So, we have a selection of those. Its a very large collection and then associated archives to go along width. I with looked at everything related to senator fulbright and programs we would be here weeks and weeks and months and months. Instead well look at highlights in the papers as well as images and the books that the senator wrote. A couple of other thing toy height lows checks at the university of arkansas. So what we have here is one of the really important images that we were able to preserve and save withty fulbright papers and this one has what would turn out to have decades of significance. This is the senator full bright with President Trumpan and william benton, fulbright is witnessing truman signing the fulbright act. This is the act that establishes what question come to understand to be the foughtbright program later. Then sin thence school from around the world, more than 150 countries participate in the Fulbright Program. It is one of the most Impactful InternationalExchange Programs in the history of the world. So he was elected to the house of representatives for northwest arkansas, representing news d. C. In 1942. Just left his role as university pratt, university of arkansas, and he was only a rep from 1942 until 1944. But within that time he did some pretty impressive things. He started laid the groundwork for the Fulbright Program later and also was instrumental in the United States participation in what we have come to understand as the the unite nations and he encouragings the United States to help establish this International Body to resolve issues, to help nations get along to use Diplomatic Solutions instead of real to avoid another world world war. So he was a very young representative from his state in washington, presenting an idea, very forcefully making the argument for an idea of what would become one of the foundational institutions that shaped the rest of the 20th 20th century and 21st 21st century, which is the ununun, united nationsun, this is africa senators papers which is a Pivotal Moment in his career also and sheds light on what the u. S. Senate perhaps used to look like or what it could be at its best moments. So, right over here is senator green from illinois, republican, and he is hand over the gavel for the Foreign Relations committee to senator fulbright. And then looking onunder a couple of northworthy individual, you have the guy about to become president , john f. Kennedy and then the guy going to become three years after that, which is us is Lyndon Johnson so johnson is the majority leader in the senate because the democrats have taken control of the senate. And fulbright has become the chair of the Foreign Relations committee. This is 1959 and he remains chair the longest continuous run of anyone as chair of Foreign Relations, 1959 until his resignation forgot senate . 1974. This graphic is from 1963. Very significant scrapbook in that its the documentation and the official copy given to the senator of the sign offering the Nuclear Test Ban treaty. We have senator fulbright then the premiere of the soviet union, khrushchev right here in the middle. Khrushchev looks serious, always looks serious, full bright u. S. Pleased. One thing was helping diffuse conflict and helping diplomacy lead the United States and other nations to avoid very real nuclear annihilation. These are documents from the fulbright papers that show the complexity of his political position as a southern senator, also the compromises and maybe some of the maybe if you would term it, mistakes that even as distinguished leaders a senator fulbright make over a long political career. So, right here, is the southern manifesto, or draft of the southern manifesto, which several different senators signed on to gave remarks on the senate floor, basically opposing brown vs. Board of education, and the federal intervention into School Segregation in the south. Several of the senators would have said on a personal level they werent opposed to racial equality or school integration, but that their stance was, as many of us have heard before, its a states rights approach, states rights opposition. Didnt think the federal government or Supreme Court should be forcing integration. Senator fulbright signed on to the southern machine fess stow and throughout his keir next 1960s, as he became very well thought of and revered for his stances against things like the vietnam war, this would dog him hater in his career. After he left the senate, its something his career would be stained by. His opposition to full integration early on. He was a u. S. Senator from arkansas. And the state of arkansas does have a unique distinction in that some of our Smaller School districts embraced integration right after the 1954 and brown v. Board but as of 1957 and 1958 with the little rock crisis the state has come to an understanding the white majority was opposed to integration, especially in the way it looked like it was having with federal enter generalization, National Guard troops and all of that. So physical bright made a political calculation. Over here is writing he did to help shape the southern manifesto in a different way. In a way you could think of this as caveats. So he is softening the manifesto, didnt what it to be about racial equality or racial inequality. Wanted to just to be about federal intergeneralization and opposing force integration. Were looking at a photograph from our picture collection at the university of Arkansas Library of special collections. It and documents what former for raise youre back fans is one of this more important event happening ear, or one of the most disappointening, when the university of arkansas hosted what was called game of the center. A regular season game between the number one and number two teams in the country, texas and arkansas. So it was an important game and everybody wanted a ticket, and if you were a political powerhouse at the time you were able to get a ticket. And so actually we had some really remarkable people attend the game. In the stands rite here, all signature together, we have senator fulbright right here in his fine hat. Observing the game. Closely observing it. We also have the current president at the time in 1969, richard nixon, attending the game. And we have this gentleman over here, with the beautiful beat texas button, thats john paul hammersmith, a congressman, the person that bill clinton would lose his First Political race against. Future president s. George h. W. Bush is right there attending as well. Looking towards the camera, and then the guy our library is named after, who is president of the university at the time, david mullens. All right here watching the Football Game together. The proud moment at the university of arkansas, even though we did end up losing that game in a thriller of a game. So what we have hear are two letters of several, actually, in the fulbright papers from president johnson. Johnson was a long time leader in the senate, majority leader in 1950s and then became president after kennedys assassination, and he and fulbright, both as southern senators, had a very close relationship and were good friends and a lot of disagreements over their time together as two of the Major Political leaders in the country, and of the letter wed have a selected two that are really telling. This letter right here is on he white house letterhead from johnson, an official letter but you can see its a very long letter. A long piece, to senator fulbright, and what he is doing is explaining the state of asia as he sees it. So johnson hayed has been to asia and had met with World Leaders, met with people, talked with people on the ground and with the military and trying to don vince senator fulbright the people in asia really want us there, want us involved in vietnam, want us supporting cambodia and fighting communism he says the World Leaders in asia approve of the United States evers there. Of douser senator fulbright is quickly coming to the opinion that this is 1966 again thats not the case. The war is a mistake. So, this its a personal letter, dear bill, where Lyndon Johnson is asking well, really just explainingdo not even asking for fulbrights support. Saying this is what is going on for real, the i sigh it. A three page document saying, im trying to understand it. I think what were doing is the right idea. And at the end of it he says, and i wish you could have been there with me. Wish you could have seen what saw. And then a couple years later, a letter dated november 18, 1968, and it begins with ill read it dear bill, congratulations on your reelection. You and i have had our differences of both foreign and domestic issues, yet we both served america in the best way we you now in a period of intense challenge, swift change and, i believe, remarkable progress. And so fulbright has been reelected yet again but johnson takes the time to write fulbright and this is full bright had opposed johnson on many key initiatives but saying, i know we disagreed on so many things but be were both doing the best we could nor country. These or two photographs really of many of senator fulbright with the other famous bill politician from arkansas, bill clinton. Bill clinton and bell fill bright had a very close and friendly and warm mentormentee relationship for decades. So, these are two photographs from fulbrights papers that show fulbright at the very end of his career, really the very already almost hundreds of life, after bill clinton has become the most powerful politician in arrrgh. The exterior fayetteville is defend craig mon fingerprint to him and he governor at the time, bill clinton is there is just sharing one of those warm moments on the dais with his mentor, bill fulbright, and then a couple years later, bill clinton has since become president , in 1992 and this is this travel is from 1993, and clinton has the honor of presenting the president ial medal of freedom to his idol and mentor, bill fulbright. Fulbrights record provides some incite in what nations can do to invest in the future, and he was somebody that really saw a long way, saw a long way beyond just fayetteville, arkansas, international conflict, conflict between nations, culture misunderstandings, these things are human history, will always happen, and nations like the United States and other nations round the world, dont want war, dont want conflict, fulbright is one of those people who shows you how you learn about the world and then how you use your talent and your gift, for him it was scorely research, writing wg and political aclu cue men. Up next we speak if author brooks believe vein to learn about the region and its inhabitants. Ozarkan, i pre the word ozarker, is well issue guess in its simplest put its someone from at the ozarks and but when year dealing with identity, person who is native of the region is more likely to identify themselves as an ozarker or ore sack ozarkan but the region covers most of the southern half of missouri, much of northern and northwestern arkansas, northeastern oklahoma, and the physical ozarks region, even laps over into the very tip of southeastern kansas so it actually covers parts of four different states. The culture ozarks doesnt necessarily correspond with the physical ozarks. There are people who live in the physical ozarks who wouldnt identify themselves as an ozarker or osackan and people who live out of the physical ozarks who would. The trilogy that im working on is called history of the osacks, published by the university of illinois press, and the first volume comes out this year, called the old ozarks and its a history of the ozarks before the civil war. So theres even a brief chapter on prehistory. Im not an anthropologist so thats why its a brief chapter on prehistory but looks at native American Life in the historical period in ozarks, the early settlement of the first europeans who came into the region, who were generally french, who came down the Mississippi Valley and kind of spread westward into the edge of the ozarks, and then, of course, the thousands of u. S. Citizens who poured across the mississippi beginning in he 1790s and continuing into the early 1800s. Were in the shilo museum of ozark history in springdale, arkansas, the premiere museum on the history of the ozarks, from prohistoric days to the 21st 21st century. The term ozarks actually is a kind of cobleding to term here in the Mississippi Valley. It has french and American Indian roots, and has been angelo sized, actually comes from old the old french practice at Arkansas Post on the mississippi river, which is certainly the different region than were good right now, in the delta, across the state from here, but french writers at the post would often sign off their letters aux arkansas, eventually they shortened that to ozarks, and when the british and the u. S. Born citizens started coming to the region they just angeloizeed the spilling into oskid mark but dates back to the arux arkansas auxark and the region is a Highland Region in the middle of the north mesh continent, the only real Highland Region between well, i should say the ozarks in combination with the wash tau mountains which are in oklahoma and arkansas, theyre on the south side of the arkansas river, those the ozarks and the wash taus make up the only Highland Region between the rockies and the appalachians and you get a lot of physical diverse within this Highland Region from prairies, the area that springdale, arkansas, fayetteville, arkansas, where we are today is, is kind of a prairie type area. You go 15miles the south, youre in a more of a mountainous area so theres theres a lot of subregions in the ozarks, like the Boston Mountain south of here and little subregions that give the ozarks region a lot of diversity physically speaking. My interest in the history of the ozarks really dates back to any undergraduate days. I went to school on the knowledge of the ozarks, a Little College called Arkansas College in fayetteville, arkansas and id grownup he ozark. Just didnt really know it. Identity is a funny thing. When i grew up, i associated with the ozarks with places that advertised themselves, kind of brands themselves as part of the ozarks. So we watched tv handles out after springfield, missouri, and always talking about the ozarks in springfield, missouri, so i thought thats where the ozarks must have been was around springfield, missouri, but i was an undergrad, in the library at lyon college and came across a book call the ozarks land alive, written by a gee graph er named milton, and there was a map, and i discovered im from the ozarks. Grew up in ozark but never really knew i grew up in he hills. We were pill people, but never really associate myself with this label, the ozarks and so i got really interested from that point. Thats been almost 30 years ago, and have devoted me life to studying the history and culture of the ozarks, and to kind of try to define what that means and trying to sort out myth and reality in the story of the ozarks. Most of the 19th century settlers and the precivil war settlers in the ozarks came from appalachia or at least came from th