In 1949, U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright enlisted his lifelong friend and fellow Fayetteville native, acclaimed architect Edward Durell Stone, to design a line of modern furniture for Fulbright Industries, an outgrowth of the Fulbright family’s failing manufacturing companies. Fulbright Industries came into being during a time when Stone, as an architect, was already experimenting with the Modernist values of regionalism, vernacular form, and the use of native materials. It was also a time when American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright were designing furniture as extensions of their architecture. Embracing local materials and heritage craft skills, Stone hired esteemed Ozark basket maker George Harrison Gibson to weave the oak wood splints that were used to upholster both sides of works like this plow handle lounge chair. Some of Stone’s designs, including the “Felloe Stool” and lounge chair, incorporated modified wooden parts originally produced for utilitarian farm implements and the curved rims of wagon wheels (felloes). Stone is best known for pushing the boundaries of accepted norms in architecture, including his innovative 1950 Fine Arts Center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where dance, music, theater, fine arts, and architecture were housed together for the first time at an American university. Fulbright Industries’ collection included chairs, stools, tables, couches, settees, sofas, coffee tables, dining chairs, and screens made in hickory, oak, and cherry. Stone’s spare but elegant furniture was well-suited for indoor or outdoor use in any Mid-Century American home. Though Fulbright Industries was not financially viable and Stone’s furniture was only produced for two years, contemporary collectors praise these rare works for their unusual combination of Modern design and heritage craft skills.