Materials in the exhibit have been drawn from several sources in the Special
Collections Division of the University of Arkansas Libraries.
- The J. William Fulbright Papers document the public career of the late J. William Fulbright, Democratic
senator from Arkansas. Fulbright was in Washington from 1943 until 1975
and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the last
fifteen years. The collection consists of 1,400 linear feet of correspondence,
memoranda, legislative bills, speeches, photographs, and other records.
The papers document the internal workings of Congress and its relationship
with the other branches and with government agencies. An important component
of the papers concerns Fulbright's work on the Banking and Currency Committee
and the Foreign Relations Committee. The papers also support research in
Arkansas state politics and personalities and subjects with a regional
focus. The collection includes materials regarding the origin and development
of the Fulbright exchange program, and letters of appreciation from American
and foreign scholarship recipients.
Scholars have visited the collection from institutions in more than
twenty-five states, the District of Columbia, and twelve foreign countries,
including the former Soviet Union, Japan, and Israel. Most of the researchers
have concentrated on U.S. political history and mid-twentieth century foreign
policy. However, Fulbright's intellectual ties with people outside politics
allow researchers from a variety of disciplines to make productive use
of the papers.
The Fulbright Papers are processed and open to researchers. Access is
available through an unpublished twelve-volume finding aid, some of which
is online. Restrictions
limit access to some files.
- The historical collection of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs (CU), formerly the Division of Cultural Relations, documents
the development of U.S. international educational and cultural exchange
activities, including the Fulbright Program. Organized in 1961, it functioned
as a part of the State Department until 1978, when it merged with the United
States Information Agency.
The collection, comprising over 500 linear feet of material dated circa
1938-1983, pertains to academic exchanges, the international visitor program
for foreign leaders, cultural presentations for the performing arts and
athletics, and private agencies cooperating with CU.
An important component of the collection concerns the Fulbright academic
exchange program. The files include program legislation and agreements;
Fulbright Binational Commission and Foundation records and Board of Foreign
Scholarship materials. Other important files pertain to the early programs
with Latin America and Germany and the exchange program with the former
Soviet Union. The finding aid is available online.
- The records of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) document the role of the organization in facilitating international exchange
in higher education. Established in 1947 by the Conference Board of Associated
Research Councils, CIES is a private agency that recommends American scholars
for university lectureships and postdoctoral research abroad and manages
the Fulbright-Hays program for visiting scholars in the United States.
It also provides administrative services for visiting scholars and organizes
conferences which familiarize them with institutions in the United States.
The collection comprises more than 200 linear feet of records documenting
the program histories of participating countries in six geographical areas:
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East-South Asia, East Asia,
Western Europe, and Eastern Europe. Files of the CIES archives include
final reports of American and visiting scholars in which they describe
and evaluate their experiences; annual proposals and reports; grant authorization
documents; and materials regarding the nomination and selection of Fulbright
scholars.
The CIES records are processed and open to researchers. Access is available
through an unpublished one-volume finding aid, also available online.
- The records of NAFSA: Association
of International Educators (formerly the National Association for Foreign
Student Affairs) document the role of the association in international
exchange in higher education. NAFSA is a nonprofit membership association
providing services to professionals in international education, including
workshops, in-service training, national and regional conferences, and
liaison with U.S. government agencies and other educational associations.
Among those served by NAFSA are deans of international education, campus
administrators, admissions officers, teachers of English as a foreign language,
foreign student advisers, and advisers of study abroad programs.
The collection consists of approximately 200 linear feet of records
concerning NAFSA's involvement in the administration of exchange programs
and services, dated circa 1948-1990. Eight major record categories make
up the NAFSA archives.
The NAFSA records are processed and open to researchers. Access is available
through an unpublished one-volume finding aid, also available online.
Access to these and other collections is open to students, faculty, and
others upon application to the staff. To facilitate their work, researchers
are advised to write or telephone the Special Collections Division in advance.
