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Exhibits in Special Collections

Current Exhibits | Past Exhibits | Online Exhibits

Current Exhibits in the Libraries

Japanese American Internee breaking ground for a garden at Rohwer.

Internment and Heroism: Images of Japanese Americans during World War II from Special Collections

Special Collections Reading Room, Mullins Library (5/15/2014 — 5/15/2016)

During World War II, more than 20,000 Japanese Americans were involuntarily interned in camps in Arkansas under the War Relocation Authority. Images such as those included here, as well as government documents, camp newsletters, school yearbooks,...    More...

Collection Curiosities

Collection Curiosities: Strange and Unlikely Items in the Archives

Special Collections Hallway Exhibit (2/18/2013 — 10/5/2013)

This selection of curiosities and odd holdings from Special Collections highlights the variety of materials available in the archives and the rest of the University of Arkansas Libraries....    More...

Our Own Sweet Sounds by Robert Cochran

Celebrating the University of Arkansas Press

Special Collections Display West, Mullins Library (6/15/2005 — )

An exhibit of titles published by the Press from its establishment in 1980 to the present....    More...

Past Exhibits

Sonny Boy Williamson in recording studio.

African American Roots Music in Arkansas

Reference Desk Glass Case, Mullins Library (1/15/2013 — 5/10/2013)

This selection from the holdings of Special Collections and the Performing Arts and Media Library celebrates the importance of African American Arkansans in the creation of musical roots whose influence has spread throughout the United States and...    More...

Qa'hila -- Koprino, photogravure print with brown ink, 1914.

North American Indian: Photos by Edward S. Curtis

Main Lobby Area, Mullins Library (11/1/2012 — 4/30/2013)

Edward S. Curtis shaped the fields of photography and anthropology with The North American Indian, a 20-volume series, published in 1930 that represents his experiences documenting nearly 100 tribes in the United States and Alaska. The...    More...

Friedrich Gerstäcker and an alligator on an Arkansas river.

Gerstaecker's Arkansas

Reference Desk Glass Case, Mullins Library (10/10/2012 — 12/31/2012)

This exhibit showcasing editions of the works of Friedrich Gerstäcker held in the Libraries' Special Collections is presented in recognition of "The Legacy of Friedrich Gerstäcker Arkansas and the Wild West" symposium, hosted by the University of...    More...

New Acquisitions, 2011-2012

New Acquisitions in Special Collections 2011-2012

Special Collections Reading Room, Mullins Library (10/5/2012 — 5/1/2013)

This exhibit features notable recent acquisitions to the holdings of Special Collections....    More...

Neil Compton looking down on the Buffalo River form a bluff.

40-50-100: Milestones in Arkansas’s Environmental History

Walton Reading Room Display Case, Mullins Library (9/19/2012 — 11/1/2012)

2012 marks three important milestones in Arkansas's environmental history: 40 years since the creation of the Buffalo National River, 50 years since the founding of the Ozark Society, and 100 years since the birth of Dr. Neil Compton, founding...    More...

Alice Ghostley appearing on the Merv Griffin Show, 1970.

Alice Ghostley: Actress, Comedienne

Reference Desk Glass Case, Mullins Library (8/21/2012 — 10/9/2012)

This exhibit of photographs, playbills, and other memorabilia celebrates the life and career of Alice Ghostley, the Tony Award-winning actress and popular television and film star. Special Collections received the Alice Ghostley Materials (MC1846)...    More...

Caricature of Sid McMath.

Sidney Sanders McMath: A Man for Arkansas at 100

Special Collections Hallway Exhibit (7/15/2012 — 2/15/2013)

This Special Collections exhibit features materials documenting the life of Arkansas's 34th Governor Sidney Sanders McMath....    More...

Special Collections poster celebrating Arkansas Heritage Month 2012.

Arkansas Heritage Month 2012: Arkansans at Work

Special Collections Display East, Mullins Library (5/15/2012 — 10/17/2012)

Special Collections has created a new exhibit celebrating Arkansas Heritage Month 2012, on display in the Reading Room....    More...

Exhibit poster for War and Reflection

War and Reflection: Selections of Rare Books Related to the Civil War from Special Collections

Reference Desk Glass Case, Mullins Library (5/1/2012 — 8/20/2012)

This exhibit showcases rare books that relate to the historical themes of the American Civil War. The rare books holdings of the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections include more than 2,000 titles housed in the department because of...    More...

Daisy Bates receiving the Diamond Cross of Malta from The Philadelphia Cotillion Society in 1958

Crusader for Civil Rights: An Exhibit Celebrating the Life of Daisy Bates

Walton Reading Room Display Case, Mullins Library (2/1/2012 — 4/30/2012)

This exhibit showcases materials from the Daisy Bates Collection (MC 582) and associated collections housed in University Libraries Special Collections in order to celebrate the life and work of Arkansas Civil Rights leader, Daisy Bates....    More...

John Paul Hammerschmidt in the Army Air Corps.

Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt

Walton Reading Room Display Case, Mullins Library (9/14/2011 — 11/1/2011)

From Harrison to Hanoi, this exhibit explores the life of John Paul Hammerschmidt, including 13 terms in Congress, service in the Army Air Corps. and numerous awards and causes....    More...

Miss America Donna Axum at the University of Arkansas in 1964, with UA president David Mullins.

Arkansas’ 1st Miss America: Selections from the Donna Axum Papers

Entrance Display Case, Mullins Library (9/1/2011 — 12/31/2011)

This exhibit created by staff in the Special Collections celebrates one of the Department’s notable recent acquisitions, the Donna Axum papers. The exhibit presents photographs and artifacts from Donna Axum Whitworth’s time as a student at the...    More...

St. James Baptist Church, Fayetteville, no date, MC 1427 Box 4 Album 10 Page 46 William Simeon Campbell Photograph Albums

Religion in Arkansas: History and Heritage

Special Collections Hallway Exhibit (5/1/2011 — 7/31/2012)

Exploring the diverse nature of religion in Arkansas, this exhibit illuminates the role religion has played in Arkansas history from the earliest settlement of several Protestant groups in the region....    More...

Rare books from the Special Collections Department.

Rare Books from Special Collections

Special Collections Reading Room, Mullins Library (5/1/2011 — 5/31/2012)

Special Collections has assembled an exhibit of selections from the Library’s rare book holdings. The exhibit presents examples from the Mary Hudgins Collection and the Pathfinder-Porter Collection....    More...

Senator David Pryor at Desk

Arkansas Politics: Rivalries and Conflict

Special Collections Hallway Exhibit (9/1/2010 — 12/31/2010)

This exhibit from the University Libraries Special Collections Department features events and personalities, 1865-present....    More...

Rural Arkansas: Arkansas Heritage Month, 2007

Roads Less Traveled: The Enduring Heritage of Rural Arkansas

Special Collections Display East, Mullins Library (5/1/2010 — 5/30/2010)

Special Collections has put together a photo exhibit honoring the people of Arkansas, focusing on 1930’s up through the 1950’s....    More...

William Grant Still: Afro-American Symphony, recording by the Fort Smith Symphony

William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers

Entrance Display Case, Mullins Library (4/25/2010 — 12/31/2010)

The William Grant Still and Verna Arvey collection (MC 1125) contains materials that span the 20th century, and it serves as a rare testament to a period of time in which little documentation exists for African-Americans in American history....    More...

Diane Divers Blair 1938-2000

Diane Blair Papers

Walton Reading Room Display Case, Mullins Library (3/9/2010 — 8/15/2010)

As part of the celebration marking the opening of the Diane Blair Papers, Special Collections has created an exhibit filled with mementos of her career as an educator, author, citizen, and friend....    More...

Charles Darwin: Richmond portrait

Charles Darwin Anniversary

Entrance Display Case, Mullins Library (6/1/2009 — 4/12/2010)

2009 represented two important anniversaries in the history of science. Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago and his path breaking On the Origin of Species was published 150...    More...

J. W. Fulbright at desk, University of Arkansas

Highlights from the Collections

Special Collections Reading Room, Mullins Library (1/1/2009 — 4/15/2010)

A selection of images, artifacts, and publications from across the collections.

Online Exhibits and Digital Collections

40-50-100 Exhibit

New!  “40-50-100: Milestones in Arkansas’s Environmental History” contains close to 40 images and documents regarding the establishment in 1972 of the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas as the first “National” river, the creation of the Ozark Society environmental stewardship organization in 1962, and the 1912 birth of Dr. Neil Compton, the founding president of the Ozark Society.  Events commemorating these “40-50-100” year milestones took place in 2012.

Apples

“Fruit-full” Arkansas: Apples is a collection of 69 items on apples assembled from a variety of collections of Arkansas folklore, souvenir booklets, poetry, photographs, speeches, and other documents. Among these are 50 images of apples from color plates in historic nursery catalogs held at the Library of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

BAD Times

The BAD Times digital collection includes twenty issues of newspapers published between 1971 and 1977 by the Black Americans for Democracy, a student organization founded at the University of Arkansas in the late 1960s.

George Fisher

“Drawing Distinctions: The Life and Work of American Cartoonist George Fisher” provides samples of the life and career of a Little Rock political cartoonist whose work documents Arkansas and American history since World War II.

Brooks Hays

Politics and Principles: Documenting the Career of Congressman Brooks Hays” covers Hays' seven-decade career, early life and subsequent work in public service and education. Hays worked in five presidential administrations, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Lyndon B. Johnson, and he personally knew seven presidents, from Harry Truman to Jimmy Carter.

Envelope from Werner Gebauer, 1947

German Prisoner of War Letters” is a collection of 10 letters sent after the war by former German prisoners at Camp Dermott to a prominent farmer and merchant near Parkdale in Ashley County, Mr. E.D. Gregory, on whose farm the men had labored as prisoners.

Memorial Hall, Named for John C. Futrell

Spaces and Faces: Namesakes at the University of Arkansas” highlights the people and places of the University of Arkansas by showing the names behind the buildings.

Students at Commonwealth College

The Commonwealth College Fortnightly offers a first-hand glimpse of life at the labor college, 1926-1938.

Senator Fulbright and Edward Durell Stone

"A Calm Voice in a Strident World: Senator J.W. Fulbright Speaks" presents a collection of selected speeches and images.

Protester at Arkansas AM&N

Land of (Unequal) Opportunity: Documenting the Civil Rights Struggle in Arkansas” offers a variety of records and photographs that document the history of civil rights in the state.

Pryor Center Logo

The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History offers transcipts, video clips, and audio files of oral history interviews on Arkansas topics, including journalism, politics, and popular culture.

Washington County Courthouse, 1980s

Shared History: Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas” offers 500 photographs of the City of Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas Campus. Shared History was funded in part by grants from the Happy Hollow Foundation.

Arkansas Academy of Science

The Arkansas Academy of Science Archive offers volumes 1-60, 1941-2006, of the Academy's Journal (1997 - ) and Proceedings (1941-1996).

Fay Jones Logo

Fay Jones Projects pages present a growing catalog of photographs, drawings, and other materials from the collection of this premier American architect.

KUAF

Ozark Folk Encyclopedia entries are read by archivist Ethel Simpson in this series of podcasts from KUAF Public Radio.

WPA interview manuscript

WPA Early Settlers' Personal Histories of African Americans in Arkansas,” offers transcriptions of questionnaires from interviews with seventeen African Americans interviewed in Arkansas under this project.

Hank Hancocks' Runnin' Razorbacl

A History of Arkansas Razorbacks,” a digital edition of: Hancock, Hank. A History of Arkansas Razorbacks. Abilene, TX: The Author, 1976. (Arkansas Collection LD236.2 .H36 1976.)

Carnall Hall Residents

A Carnall Hall Scrapbook” is drawn from an exhibit commemorating the restoration of the former women's residence as the Inn at Carnall Hall.

Fulbright stamp

The Fulbright Program, 1946-1996,” an online exhibit marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Fulbright Scholarship Program.

Image from Lee Wilson archives

Lee Wilson & Company Archives,” an online exhibit illustrating the role of Lee Wilson & Company in the transformation of the Delta.

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Last updated: August 15, 2012