UA Little Rock Historian Rings in America’s 250th with Research on Replica Liberty Bells
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, Dr. Kristin Dutcher Mann, professor of history at UA Little Rock, is helping Americans rediscover a forgotten piece of patriotic history – the Replica Liberty Bells that once traveled the country as symbols of freedom, thrift, and civic pride.
Mann’s research on the 1950 Independence Savings Bond Drive, a massive postwar campaign that sent replica Liberty Bells to each state, the Truman Presidential Library, Annecy, France, and Tokyo, Japan, has resulted in a digital exhibit, and several public lectures. Her biographical entry on William Wilson Campbell, the longtime volunteer state savings bond director, is featured in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Mann’s work will be featured in a forthcoming museum exhibit for the Arkansas State Capitol that will be a part of America 250 celebrations. Her work is helping to illuminate how these bells, forged from the spirit of postwar optimism, continue to shape America’s sense of identity and symbolism today.
Mann recently shared her findings during an “Evenings with History” lecture titled “Selling America on Independence: The 1950 Savings Bond Drive and Its Replica Liberty Bells,” held in November in the Ottenheimer Auditorium at the Historic Arkansas Museum.
“I specifically chose this project knowing that America’s 250th birthday was right around the corner,” Mann said. “Anniversaries are moments of reflection. They invite us to think about who we are, what we value, and how our symbols have evolved over time.”
A Forgotten National Campaign
In the early 1950s, the U.S. Treasury Department faced a challenge. The war bond drives that had helped finance World War II were ending, and officials needed a new way to encourage Americans to keep buying savings bonds. Their solution was a patriotic marketing campaign centered on a timeless symbol: the Liberty Bell.
The Treasury’s Savings Bond Division commissioned exact reproductions of the Liberty Bell for every U.S. state and territory. Cast in France, shipped to the U.S., and mounted on trucks by Navy personnel, the bells toured their assigned states between May 15 and July 4, 1950. These celebrations were accompanied by parades, music, and calls to “Save for Your Independence.”
“The Treasury Department wanted people to see saving as not just a personal virtue but an act of citizenship,” Mann explained. “They linked thrift and patriotism in a very deliberate way. They sold the idea that saving for your family’s future was also saving for America’s future. This savings bond campaign helped shape the idea of the American Dream.”
Arkansas’s replica Liberty Bell now stands as part of the Bicentennial Monument on the State Capitol grounds, where Mann first encountered it while teaching a course called History with Objects. That classroom project sparked what has now become a multi-year national research initiative.
Research That Rings Across the Nation
Mann’s digital exhibit, “Arkansas’s Replica Liberty Bell,” hosted through the ArcGIS StoryMaps platform, has already attracted more than 1,000 views from visitors across the U.S. and around the world. It is the first scholarly resource to compile archival documents and photographs from the National Archives, Truman Presidential Library, and other collections into a public, interactive format.
“This is the first exhibit that makes use of original government records from the National Archives and the Truman Library,” Mann said. “It’s exciting to make that material accessible to everyone — not just academics, but teachers, students, and anyone interested in American history.”
Mann’s semester-long research leave during the fall 2024 semester allowed her to travel to major archives in Washington, D.C., Texas, and Kansas with support from the Moneyhon Research Fund and the Truman Library Foundation.
“It was glorious,” Mann said. “At a teaching-focused university like UA Little Rock, having time for focused research is invaluable. The university’s investment in my work allows me to give back by sharing these stories with students and the public.”
Mann’s work has sparked collaboration well beyond the classroom. She is partnering with the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office and the Daughters of the American Revolution to raise $45,000 for the restoration of Arkansas’s replica Liberty Bell, which has weathered decades outdoors. The goal is to restore the bell in time for it to ring on July 4, 2026, during the America 250 celebrations.
At the same time, Mann is designing a new exhibit called “American Symbols” that will open at the Arkansas State Capitol in summer 2026. The exhibit will explore icons such as the Liberty Bell, the American flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance through interactive displays and digital storytelling, featuring contributions from UA Little Rock students.
“It’s been wonderful to involve students in this project,” Mann said. “They’ve helped research primary sources, design teaching materials, and even attend planning meetings at the Capitol. It’s an opportunity for them to learn how history connects to civic life.”
For Mann, the story of the replica Liberty Bells is a reflection of how Americans have used symbols to define themselves through changing times.
“Each generation sees the Liberty Bell differently,” she said. “In 1950, it was a symbol of postwar optimism and civic duty. In 1976, it became part of the Bicentennial celebration. And now, as we approach America’s 250th, it reminds us to think about what independence and unity mean today.”