The University of Arkansas on Monday announced that its David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History is now officially a part of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, again.
The center was started in 1999 as part of the college’s Department of History. The initial concept came from former U.S. Sen. David Pryor and his wife, Barbara, who provided seed money in the form of a $220,000 gift. They didn’t plan to have their name on the center, but a $2 million gift from the Tyson Family Foundation in 2005 created an endowment for the re-named facility.
The financial support enabled the center to buy new equipment and become a part of the University Libraries Special Collections.
Today, it fills a suite of offices and studios at 1 E. Center St. on the Fayetteville Square. The center has a staff of five full-time and two part-time employees, digital video studios and editing suites, plus additional equipment that can produce documentary-quality video interviews anywhere in the state and beyond.
The Pryor Center had been supervised by the chancellor’s office since 2009. Now it will be supervised by the college’s dean, Todd Shields.
The university said this change will benefit students, as archives already produced by the center will be more accessible. Also, students and faculty with expertise will help the center advance and amplify its mission to college, preserve and connect.
The Pryor Center has an online archive of about 70 video interviews plus hundreds of transcripts. More are being processed, and it is home to the KATV archive too.
Chancellor emeritus Dan Ferritor will be serve as a transition advisor to help facilitate the center’s integration into Fulbright College and launch new programs. The university also announced on Monday its new “Pryor Center Presents” speaker series.
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