James "Jim" Burton Blair was born in Elkins, Washington County, Arkansas, on October 27, 1935, and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
He attended the University of Arkansas and earned a degree in law in 1957. As an attorney, Blair worked on high-profile cases, including Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Robinson, and served as general counsel for Tyson Foods, Inc. In 1980 Governor Bill Clinton appointed him as National Democratic Committeeman.
Blair provided significant funding to build the Fayetteville Public Library. Additionally, he has served on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and on the boards of the Fayetteville Library Foundation, the Fayetteville Education Foundation, the Schmieding Foundation, and the Tyson Family Foundation.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Jim Blair and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Bessie Motley Blair, grandmother of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Volney Motley, Lizzie Motley, and Bessie Motley Blair, grandmother of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, with classmates of Marshall School
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, and friends, 1903
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Schoolchildren and teachers in Marshall, Arkansas, 1905
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Bessie Motley Blair, grandmother of Jim Blair, with her family, ca. 1915
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Marshall schoolteachers and Bessie Motley Blair, grandmother of Jim Blair (1st row, 2nd from left)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, at Ozark Fruit Stand in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, at Ozark Fruit Stand in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, at Ozark Fruit Stand in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Rufus and Bessie Blair, grandparents of Jim Blair, with children and dogs
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Bessie Motley Blair, grandmother of Jim Blair, outside home in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Rufus Blair, grandfather of Jim Blair, outside home in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Joe Blair, father of Jim Blair, in uniform
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Mildred Woolsey Blair, mother of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Joe Blair, father of Jim Blair, in military uniform, Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Jim Blair with his father, Joe Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Jim Blair with his grandmother, Bessie Blair, outside home; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1937
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Jim Blair as a toddler with a stuffed rabbit, 1937
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Jim Blair as a toddler with a stuffed rabbit, 1937
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Jim Blair as a toddler in boxing gloves, 1938
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Jim Blair with his grandmother, Bessie Blair, outside home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1938
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Swimmers with Aunt Mary Grace Blair, Grandmother Bessie Blair, and young Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Jim Blair, 1938
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Jim Blair on street watching monkey perform
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Childhood portrait of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Childhood portrait of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Jim Blair playing piano
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Jim Blair riding piggyback on his uncle, Charles Hugh Blair, near School and Meadow Streets in Fayetteville, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Jim Blair in overalls on steps holding a cat
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Jim Blair with Aunt Mary Grace Blair and Uncle Ray Blair's wife, Sugar
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Jim Blair with his grandmother, Bessie Blair, and family
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Jim Blair at the dinner table with his grandparents, Rufus and Bessie Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Jim Blair, 1941
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Jim Blair with Old Main in the background, 1941
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#39: Jim Blair with his aunt, Mary Grace Blair; Fayetteville High School in background
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#40: Jim Blair with his family: grandmother, Bessie; father, Joe; grandfather, Rufus; and uncle, Hugh Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#41: Jim Blair, August 1946
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#42: Jim Blair as a teenager
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#43: Jim Blair with high school band friends
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#44: Jim Blair with his grandmother, Bessie, at the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#45: Jim Blair portrait
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#46: Graduation day photo of Jim Blair with his grandmother, Bessie Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#47: Jim Blair in graduation cap and gown
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#48: Joe, Hugh, and Jim Blair with 1950 Plymouth; 1955
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#49: Jim Blair and Margaret Gibson wedding, 1957
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#50: Four generations photo: Joe, Bessie, Jim, and baby Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#51: Jim Blair with daughters, Heather and Suzy, 1962
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#52: Jim Blair with kitten, 1972
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#53: Portrait of Jim Blair
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#54: Jim Blair with his wife, Margaret, and three children, 1970
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#55: Jim Blair, law practice portrait
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#56: Jim Blair with his sister-in-law, Becky Ryder at the Whiterock Marathon in Dallas, Texas, 1987
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#57: Jim Blair, late 1970s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#58: Jim Blair photo montage
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#59: Jim Blair photo album page: New Year's Eve party, 2000
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#60: Jim Blair photo collection as it appeared in a 1998 issue of George magazine
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#61: Bill Clinton and Jim Blair as they cheer the passage of a state sales tax, 1991; photo appeared in a 1998 issue of George magazine
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#62: Jim Blair on a float trip in Colorado, summer 1997
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#63: Jim Blair with law partners, from left: Jim Cypert, Jay Tolley, Jim Roy, Judge Mike Mashburn, Jim Blair, and Judge Frank Waters, 2001
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#64: Towers of Old Main Induction 2001; Chancellor John White, Jim Blair, and B. Alan Sugg
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#65: Portrait of Jim Blair, 2002
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#66: Jim Blair and Don Tyson, 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#67: Jim Blair and Bill Clinton, 2005
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#68: Jim and Nancy Blair wedding announcement in Sunny Isles, Florida; December 30, 2005
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#69: Jim Blair receiving Patron Award, 2006 Governor's Arts Awards recipients, Little Rock, Arkansas; October 4, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#70: Jim and Nancy Blair, celebrating Jim's 50th year of law practice, 2007
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#71: Jim Blair and friends: Glenn Sowder, Lewis Ponder "Hot" Johnson, Jim Bexley, Patrick Brosh, Jim Blair, Wayne Barrack, James "Doc" Holliday, and Doy Gillihan, 2007
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#72: Jim Blair at the celebration of his 50th year in law practice, 2007
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#73: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Jim Blair at the Blair Law Center; Springdale, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#74: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Jim Blair at the Blair Law Center; Springdale, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#75: Still-frame from Pryor Center video interview with Jim Blair; Springdale, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#76: Still-frame from Pryor Center video interview with Jim Blair; Springdale, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#77: Still-frame from Pryor Center video interview with Jim Blair; Springdale, Arkansas, 2008
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
