Photograph, David Pryor

 
Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Collections Categories Exhibitions Bibliography Favorites About
Image Not Available for Photograph, David Pryor
Photograph, David Pryor
Image Not Available for Photograph, David Pryor

Photograph, David Pryor

Object number2015.010.18
DateJune 14, 1971
Associated LocationWashington, D.C.
MediumPaper, Ink
Dimensions7 × 10 in. (17.8 × 25.4 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
Terms
    DescriptionA black and white photograph of U.S. Representative David Pryor standing in front of his Committee on the Aged house trailer next to Professor Anna Mary Wells of Rutgers. The house trailer was set up after Pryor was stalled in his attempts to create a House Committee on the Aging. The trailer was manned by volunteers and situated a few blocks from the Capitol. The photograph was taken June 14, 1971. It is an Associated Press WirePhoto.

    David Hampton Pryor was born on August 29, 1934 in Camden, Arkansas. Pryor graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1957 with a degree in government. While in college, Pryor was heavily involved in student government, an interest that began in his childhood due to his family’s substantial involvement in public service. On November 28, 1957 Pryor married Barbara Jean Lunsford. Shortly afterward, they moved back to Camden where Pryor started and edited The Ouachita Citizen until its conclusion in 1962. In 1960, Pryor (D) was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives. While serving as a House Representative, Pryor attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville to complete a law degree which he received in 1964. Pryor later was elected to the United States House of Representatives after the retirement of Oren Harris in 1966 and was reelected twice. Pryor lost to John L. McClellan in the 1972 election for the United States Senate. After practicing law for two years, Pryor ran for Governor of Arkansas in 1975 and was elected as the state’s thirty-ninth governor. Pryor continued reforming the state government with calling a constitutional convention in order to reform the state constitution, created a state natural and cultural heritage program, and appointed a large number of African Americans and women to high-profile positions. However, Pryor was unable to pass his “Arkansas Plan”. After serving as governor for four years, Pryor was elected to the United States Senate in 1978. After retiring from the U.S. Senate in 1996, Pryor taught at his alma mater and later became the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2000. Pryor also donated his unexpended campaign funds to the University of Arkansas to promote historical archiving; in 2005 the program became the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Oral and Visual History. In 2004, Pryor was became the inaugural dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, serving until 2006. Pryor published his autobiography, A Pryor Commitment, co-written by Don Harrell in 2008. Pryor was also appointed the interim chair of the state Democratic Party following the shooting death of Bill Gwatney.
    Status
    Not on view
    Collections