Saturday, December 01, 2001

Richard B. Russell Library forms partnership
with the "Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies"
December 2001

The "Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies" and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia have forged a partnership to chronicle Georgia’s rich history in the civil rights movement. The new venture, focusing on the "unsung foot soldiers" of the movement, will establish UGA as one of the premier institutions in the nation for the study of civil rights.

The foundation for the project is "Foot Soldier for Equal Justice: Horace T. Ward and the Desegregation of the University of Georgia," the award-winning documentary by UGA social work professor Maurice Daniels. Research from this documentary yielded more than 30 rare interviews of civil rights figures in Georgia and from around the country, including Ward and fellow federal judge Constance Baker Motley, attorneys Donald Hollowell and Vernon Jordan, U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge and former Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver. The vision of the Foot Soldier Project is to expand this endeavor to collect additional archival and documentary materials that can be used by researchers involved in issues dealing with civil rights, social justice and policy reform.

For further information, please refer to the official UGA press release (12/19/01).

Monday, October 01, 2001

2001 Russell Symposium
October 3, 2001

This year's 2001 symposium examined "The United States, NATO, and European Security in the 21st Century" and the critical issues surrounding the September 11 terrorist attacks, NATO, and international security. The Russell Symposium occurs biennially and focuses on public policy, in which Senator Russell had particular interest. Hosted by the Center for International Trade and Security and planned under the direction of Gary Bertsch, University of Georgia professor and Director of the Center for International Trade and Security.

With a keynote address by Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe General John R. Galvin, the panel was moderated by Stephen M. Walt, Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and featured Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ambassador of the Republic of Ukraine to the U.S.; Geza Jeszensky, Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary to the U.S.; Sven Jurgenson, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the U.S.; Peter Gooderham, Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington; and Michal Wyganowski, Counsellor at the Polish Embassy in Washington.

Recent syposiums have focused on "U.S. Security interests in the 1990s," "Security Challenges in the Post-Cold War World," and "US Policy toward China." Commencing in 1993, the Russell Foundation, along with the University of Georgia, has sponsored three Richard B. Russell Public Symposiums. Named for the late Senator Richard B. Russell, who chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee for sixteen years, the symposiums are a discussion of public policy in which Senator Russell had particular interest. All of the Russell Symposium proceedings have been televised, published, and distributed widely in government and academic circles.