The David H. Pryor Papers (MC 336)
About the Collection
The David H. Pryor Papers document the life and career of an outstanding politician and statesman. Because Pryor has held key positions in the civic and political life of the state and the nation, the collection offers valuable resources for research in U.S. history and politics, Arkansas history and politics, and public policies relating to such topics as aging, government reform, agriculture, defense, and taxpayer rights.
The papers came to the University of Arkansas Libraries in two stages. Papers from his terms as state representative, U.S. representative, and governor of Arkansas were deposited in the Libraries in 1978. His senate papers came in September 1997, from the National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland, in more than one thousand boxes of letters, reports, files, photographs, books, scrapbooks, microfilm, and memorabilia from his eighteen years in the United States Senate.
About David H. Pryor
David Hampton Pryor was born in Camden, Arkansas, on August 29, 1934, the son of William Edgar and Susan Newton Pryor. His mother, "Susie" Pryor, was one of the first women in Arkansas to seek public office, running for circuit clerk in Ouachita County in the 1926 Democratic primary.
David Pryor attended the public schools of Camden and then Henderson State Teachers College. He graduated in 1957 from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government. In November 1957, he married Barbara Jean Lunsford of Fayetteville; they have three sons—David, Jr., Mark, and Scott. After serving as Arkansas Attorney General from 1999 to 2002, son Mark Pryor was elected in 2002 to return the Pryor family name to the U.S. Senate.
The Pryors founded the Ouachita Citizen in 1957. David Pryor received his law degree from the University of Arkansas Law School in 1964. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began his practice in Camden. He was elected as a State representative in 1960, 1962, and 1964. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from November 8, 1966 to January 3, 1973. In 1974, Pryor defeated Orval Faubus in the primary and was elected to serve as governor of Arkansas 1975 through 1979. He then served in the U.S. Senate from January 3, 1979, until January 3, 1997.
Throughout his tenure in elected office, Pryor worked toward reforming government to better serve the needs of citizens, especially the aged, families, farmers, and small business. In the area of aging, his efforts to reform care for the elderly included serving as an "undercover" nursing home volunteer and enlisting the help of other volunteers to investigate nursing homes through his "House Trailer Committee on Aging" while working to establish an official House Committee on aging. His interest in these issues continued—he became chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging in 1989 and of the White House Conference on Aging in 1996.
Pryor also worked for reform in other areas: the consulting practices of government officials ("the revolving door"), fiscal responsibility in defense spending, pricing by pharmaceutical companies, health care policy, and Senate ethics. He wrote the Taxpayer Bill of Rights enacted in 1988, revised in 1996. Involvement with national issues did not overshadow Pryor's commitment to his motto of "Arkansas Comes First." His popularity with the citizens of Arkansas developed from strong constituent services and promotion of home-state interests, such as trade beneficial to Arkansas and farm bills helpful to rice, cotton, and soybean growers. He is highly regarded for his dedication to public service, respected for his conscientious leadership, and admired as a statesman who cares for individuals.
Pryor's post-senatorial roles began in 1997 with his service as a Fulbright Distinguished Fellow of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, affording students opportunities to learn about his first-hand experiences of and his insights into the political world. Pryor provided initial financial support for the establishment of the University's Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History in 1999, and he continues to serve on its Advisory Board. Also in 1999, Pryor became a fellow at the Institute of Politics of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and for the years 2000 and 2001 served as the institute's director. In 2004 he was named founding dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. He continues his service to the state of Arkansas and to higher education as a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees.
Access
A descriptive finding aid to the collection is available on the Special Collections website.
Access to the David H. Pryor Papers is open to students, faculty, and others upon application to the staff.Researchers may direct inquiries to Special Collections, but extensive projects will require a visit to the department. To facilitate their work, researchers who wish to use the papers are advised to email, write, or telephone the department in advance.