J. William Fulbright [1905-1995]

J. William Fulbright [1905-1995] was a US Senator representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975. Fulbright was a Southern Democrat & a staunch multilateralist who supported the creation of the United Nations & the longest serving chairman in the history of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also a segregationist who signed the Southern Manifesto [in 1956]. Fulbright opposed McCarthyism & the House Un-American Activities Committee (UAAC) & later became known for his opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. His efforts to establish an international exchange program eventually resulted in the creation of a fellowship program which bears his name, the Fulbright Program. President Bill Clinton cited him as a mentor. Fulbright wrote "The Arrogance of Power" (1966), "The Price of Empire" (1967), "The Crippled Giant: American foreign policy & its domestic consequences" (1972) & other books.

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April 9, 1905 - Birth of J. William Fulbright [1905-1995], Sumner, Chariton County, Missouri (USA). Fulbright was the youngest of four children born to Jay & Roberta Waugh Fulbright. The family moved to Fayetteville (346 road miles south of Sumner) in 1906. His father was a banker, farmer, and businessman. His mother wrote a column for the family-owned Fayetteville newspaper. Click here for biography of his mother Roberta Waugh Fulbright [1874–1953].

About 1920 - Mock-Fulbright House, 5 Mont Nord, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Unintentional monument. "J. William Fulbright's boyhood home." He entered the University of Arkansas at the age of 16 & was graduated in 1925, the year he left for Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. /// "J. E. Mock built the house about 1908. The Classical Revival-style home features a two-story front porch topped by a triangular pediment & supported by four Ionic columns & two Ionic pilasters. The front door is accentuated with a fanlight transom & sidelights, & Palladian windows flank the central portico on the first floor. A dentiled cornice, quoins & rusticated brick add distinction. Jay Fulbright purchased the home about 1920." Robert Waugh Fulbright lived here until her death in 1953.

1936-1941 -"Fulbright was a lecturer in law at the University of Arkansas from 1936 until 1939. He was appointed president of the university in 1939, making him the youngest university president in the country. He held this post until 1941." Photo shows J. William Fulbright at the University of Arkansas, circa 1939.

August 1, 1946 - "Fulbright Program" signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Became the largest education exchange program in history. Named for Senator J. William Fulbright who introduced the law in 1945. The program makes competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange by students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists & artists. Fulbright goes on to chair the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1959-1974. Today, the Fulbright Program is "sponsored" by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, & administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). /// Lower image is the Fulbright Building in Seoul (South Korea).

October 24, 1951 - "Senator Fulbright with Lewis Webster Jones [1899-1975], president, University of Arkansas. President Jones served on the Board of Foreign Scholarships from 1949 until 1952. An amendment to the Fulbright-Hays Act, signed into law by President George Bush in January 1990, changed the board's formal name from the Board of Foreign Scholarships to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Hoyt Purvis, director of the Fulbright Institute of International Relations, was recently named chairman of the board."

1962 - Fulbright Building, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). "Built in 1962 to house the Fayetteville Public Library. Sits in a leafy residential neighborhood on the edge of the city’s historic district. Surrounded by Victorian houses & Craftsman-style cottages. 'It has always been my favorite building,' says Marlon Blackwell, whose Fayetteville-based practice recently completed the conversion of the library into offices. 'It is sleek and classically Modern,' he adds, pointing to the way it ever-so-slightly floats above the gently rolling terrain in the front and reveals its two-story height in the back. Designed by Fayetteville native Warren Segraves, a contemporary of E. Fay Jones [1921-2004] with a more Meisian sensibility (on whom Blackwell is currently writing a book), the building - which was expanded in 1970 & again in 1992 - epitomizes the architect’s idiom of expressed structures, universal grids & flat roofs. In 2004, having finally outgrown its space, the library moved to a new facility downtown. Recognizing the Fulbright Building’s value, the community looked for ways to reuse, rather than raze it..."

1975-1976 - Clinton House Museum, 930 West Clinton Drive, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Unintentional monument. "Upon completion in 1931 in the Tudor Revival architectural style the house was inhabited by H. H. Taylor, owner of the Fayetteville Daily Leader. Later the house was bought by Gilbert C. Swanson, who was married to Roberta Fulbright, sister of J. William Fulbright. [Gilbert was head of the Swanson frozen-foods conglomerate, and Roberta was the maternal grandmother of media figure Tucker Carlson.] On August 11, 1975, Bill Clinton purchased the house for $17,200.00. Both Bill & Hillary Rodham were teaching at the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975, and they were married in the living room on October 11, 1975. Bill became Arkansas Attorney General in May 1976, & they sold the house in December 1976. Now a museum [which] contains many pieces of Clinton election memorabilia from elections prior to his run for US President. There is also a replica of Hillary's wedding dress on display. Although formerly located on California Boulevard, the street was renamed Clinton Drive in 2010."

February 27, 1977 - Fulbright Association, Washington, DC (USA). "A private, nonprofit organization whose members are Fulbright Program alumni & friends of international education. Supports & promotes international educational & cultural exchange & the ideal most associated with the Fulbright name - mutual understanding among the peoples of the world. Engages current & former Fulbright exchange participants in lifelong experiences that advance international understanding through volunteer service to communities, people-to-people diplomacy & dialogue on global issues. Members form the active constituency for Fulbright exchanges to ensure that they continue to benefit future generations."

1982 - J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). "Named for former University President & US Senator J. William Fulbright. The College has 19 different academic departments. Fulbright College's Creative Writing & Translation programs rank among the top in the nation. In 2005, Fulbright College held the majority of majors at the University of Arkansas."

1990 - Monument to Senator J. William Fulbright, Courthouse Square, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Designed by local sculptor Hank Kaminsky (seated in left image). "The famous Senator sat for this unusual portrait bust on the Town Square of Fayetteville, his home town." Left photo by EWL.

May 5, 1993 - White House, Washington, DC (USA). "President Bill Clinton presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Fulbright at the Fulbright Association's eighty-eighth birthday tribute." Photo shows "two Arkansas Rhodes Scholars - William J. Clinton (1968) and J. William Fulbright (1925) - with [Fulbright's wife] Harriet Mayor Fulbright.

February 9, 1995 - Death of J. William Fulbright, Washington, DC (USA). Died of a stroke at the age of 89. President Clinton delivered the main eulogy at the funeral service in National Cathedral (image). He recalled Senator Fulbright's work for progress & peace & his leadership efforts in helping to found the United Nations, as a driving force behind the Kennedy Center, and in fighting to change the US course in Vietnam. The president cited the Fulbright Scholarship Program as a perfect example of Senator Fulbright's faith - different kinds of people learning side by side, building what he called "a capacity for empathy, a distaste for killing other men, and an inclination for peace." The president also credited Senator Fulbright with inspiring his own political career awarded him the medal of freedom.

After February 9, 1995 - Grave of J. William Fulbright, Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Interrment of his ashes.

February 28, 1996 - Stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Exchange Program, US Postal Service. First day of issue celebrated by a ceremony in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

May 6, 1996 - J. William Fulbright Hall, The George Washington University, 2223 H Street, NW, Washington, DC (USA). At corner of 23rd & H Streets. "The 8-story residence hall was formerly the Everglades Apartments for Nurses & Everglades Hall before being renamed in honor of Fulbright. The Art Deco-inspired detailing includes curved metal surrounding the recessed entrance & cast stone at the roofline with zigzag motifs & vertical banding. It was named a DC historic site on January 28, 2010, & listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 2010.

June 5, 1996 - Dinner marking the 50th anniversary dinner of the Fulbright Program, White House, Washington, DC (USA). President Bill Clinton said, "Hillary and I have looked forward for sometime to celebrating this 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Program, to honor the dream & legacy of a great American, a citizen of the world, a native of my home state & my mentor and friend, Senator Fulbright."

October 24, 1998 - J. William Fulbright Peace Fountain, between Old Main & Vol Walker Hall, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). Designed by local architects E. Fay Jones [1921-2004] & Maurice Jennings. "Constructed in honor of J. William Fulbright [1905-1995], and his belief that 'education, particularly study abroad, has the power to promote tolerance & understanding among nations.' Originally the fountain had water coming up through the middle." Fulbright was president of this university 1939-1941. Click here for webcam. Entry #28 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

October 21, 2002 - Statue of J. William Fulbright, Old Main, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA). In a speech at the dedication, former President Bill Clinton said, "I admired him. I liked him. On the occasions when we disagreed, I loved arguing with him. I never loved getting in an argument with anybody as much in my entire life as I loved fighting with Bill Fulbright. I'm quite sure I always lost, and yet he managed to make me think I might have won." /// Left image shows sculptor Gretta Lange Bader at the statue.

2005 - J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center, 1311 North Lynnbrook Drive, Arlington, Virginia (USA). "A non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to '...foster peace & justice through collaboration., Not related to the Fulbright Scholarship Program, aside from the Fulbright name. Founded by US Senator J. William Fulbright & his wife, current center president Harriet Mayor Fulbright. Supports international collaborations among students, teachers & schools & culturally immersive programs for scholars & world leaders." Co-sponsored Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations, November 1, 2009.