The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has announced a $2 million gift from former Tyson Foods chairman Don Tyson to endow the Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History.

With the gift, the center, which was founded in 1999 and is a collaborative effort of University Libraries and the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, will be able to hire additional staff and support their travel across the state to acquire and record the many perspectives that are of historical significance to Arkansas. The gift will also help provide the equipment necessary to make high-quality video recordings and support efforts to locate historic photographs and images that can be copied and added to the collection. The center will be renamed the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in honor of the former Arkansas senator and his wife, who provided significant initial support for the center from the senator's unspent campaign funds.

"This center provides a real opportunity for all citizens of Arkansas to preserve our history for future generations," said Don Bobbitt, the dean of Fulbright College. "The Tyson family's generosity will go a long way toward ensuring that the University of Arkansas will be a leader in the preservation of our collective heritage."