Recap: 2014 Scholars & Policymakers Symposium

The two-day Scholars & Policymakers Symposium here at the Richard B. Russell Library came to an end last Tuesday, and it was a success! We were so lucky to have remarkable speakers, panelists, and moderators here to join us for this occasion celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Library. Thank you to all who participated!

Each of the four panel sessions covered one of our established collecting areas: politics of public good, social relations, economy, and environment. By having three panelists and a moderator for each, attendees heard a variety of viewpoints from individuals with different research specialties and life experiences. While opinions of those on a given panel may have differed, each discussion as a whole shed light on the topics at hand.

Throughout the symposium there was praise for the library’s namesake, Richard B. Russell. The event kicked off with opening remarks from Norman Underwood, current chairman of the Russell Library Foundation, who thanked the the Library's director Sheryl Vogt, for giving, “40 years and most of her heart to furthering Senator Russell's legacy and preserving his papers."

Without the strong foundation provided by the Richard B. Russell Collection, the Library could not have expanded in scope and collecting to the wide array of political papers it now holds. And truly, the core of this programming initiative was to recognize the scholarship that has grown from these archival holdings. From discussion of  early transportation efforts, labor unions, and the National School Lunch Program, to the history of race relations in the South, Georgia’s agricultural economy and poultry industry, and national security and foreign relations during the 1950s and 60s -- scholars reported clearly that their explorations through the collections of the Richard B. Russell Library provided great help in producing rich, new insights into modern American history.

Chris Lopez, oral history and audiovisual archivist, was able to record all of the panel sessions. The full video should be up on the YouTube channel soon. In the meantime, our staff has created an audio playlist on SoundCloud. We hope you enjoy the re-listening to the program, or enjoying it for the first time!

Speaker Spotlight: Chris Manganiello

Dr. Chris Manganiello, another one of our featured speakers for the upcoming Scholars & Policymakers Symposium Oct. 27-28, currently serves as Policy Director of the Georgia River Network in Athens, Georgia. In this role Manganiello analyzes government policy and controls, implements communications for the GRN, and organizes fundraising and events. He received his Ph.D. with honors from the University of Georgia. His dissertation, “Dam Crazy with Wild Consequences: Artificial Lakes and Natural Rivers in the American South, 1845-1990,” was awarded the Rachel Carson Prize by the American Society for Environmental History.

Manganiello has written and edited a number of academic publications including “Hitching the New South to White Coal: Water and Power, 1890-1933” for the Journal of Southern History and Environmental History and the American South: A Reader, which he edited with Paul S. Sutter. His other publications include “The Flint River: A Sun Belt River and the Burden of History,” and his contributions to the blog Georgia Water Wire, which details water-related news and policies.

After noticing that there were few written histories of the water resources in the southeastern region of the United States, Manganiello began working on a new book project, titled "Southern Water, Southern Power: How the Politics of Cheap Energy and Water Scarcity Shaped a Region." Noticing that all of the lakes in the southern Blue Ridge and Piedmont were man-made, he began to investigate who created these artificial water sources. This in-progress book focuses on the manipulation of the environment to make cheap sources of energy and how this affects social power.

Manganiello has presented at a number of academic conference panels and presentations concerning regional environmental issues, focusing specifically on concerns of urban drought, river valley wildlife management, and southern waterscapes and lakes. He was awarded the Smithsonian Institution Pre-Doctoral Fellowship by the National Museum of American History for 2008-2009. He was also one of four students at the University of Georgia to receive the Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Award in 2011. He is a member of the American Society for Environmental History and the Southern Historical Association.

Don’t miss Dr. Chris Manganiello’s appearance on the Politics of Environment panel discussion, happening at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28. We hope to see you at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries for the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium next week. And stay tuned to the blog for more speaker spotlights as the 40th anniversary celebrations approach!

Speaker Spotlight: Michelle Brattain

Dr. Michelle Brattain, Associate Chair in the Department of History at Georgia State University, is one of our featured speakers for the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium happening Oct. 27-28, 2014 -- just one week away! Brattain received her bachelor’s degree in United States and women’s history from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and went on to receive her PhD in United States History from Rutgers University. Her research and teaching specialties include modern United States history, the history of ideas about race, Southern history, and the history of labor. She now teaches undergraduate courses on United States history in the 20th century and the history of race and human variation at Georgia State University.

Brattain remains very involved in the writing community both as a writer herself and as a part of the editorial boards for Americana and the Journal of Southern History. She previously worked as an editor for Atlanta History for six years until she moved to the Journal of Southern History’s board in 2007. She has been an editorial board member for Americana for over a decade. In addition to reviewing dozens of books, she has published many works herself. Her recent pieces include “Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism: UNESCO and the Politics of Presenting Race to the Postwar Public” and “Miscegenation and Competing Definitions of Race in Twentieth-Century Louisiana,” along with a handful of others.

Her 2001 book The Politics of Whiteness: Race, Workers, and Culture in the Modern South examines race, specifically in the textile industry in Rome, Georgia from the 1930s to the 1970s. It discusses the relationship between race and class during most of the 20th century. Her thorough research for this book helps to paint the picture of white supremacy in textile mills that ultimately shaped Southern politics. Brattain is currently working on a manuscript titled "What Race Was: Popular and Scientific Constructions of Race in the Postwar United States."

In 2002, she received the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award for the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University. She was named an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Library Resident Fellow by the American Philosophical Society in July of 2003. She has also received multiple grants and awards for her research through Georgia State University.

Dr. Michelle Brattain will speak as part of the Politics of Social Relations panel at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28. We hope you will join us for this and other discussions at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Be on the lookout for more Speaker Spotlights on our blog as we get geared up for the symposium next week!

Speaker Spotlight: Jason Sokol

Dr. Jason Sokol, Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire and author of There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, will be one of our featured scholars at the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium October 27th-28th. Sokol received his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College followed by his master’s and PhD in history from the University of California at Berkeley. He specializes in American politics, race, and civil rights, and conducts research on similar topics including 20th century U.S. history, the Civil Rights Movement, and political & African American history. Sokol is currently teaching courses in history and race relations at the University of New Hampshire.

His first book, There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, studies the full narrative of the Civil Rights Movement by taking white southerner’s experiences into account as well. Sokol combed through newspapers, oral histories, news archives, and other publications to find personal accounts for his book. It depicts the white southerners’ attitudes and actions during the time in their own words, and sheds light on a viewpoint otherwise overlooked. There Goes My Everything was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by Jonathan Yardley in the Washington Post Book World and won the Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award. Sokol’s second book, All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn will be published in December of this year.

In addition to his two books, Sokol boasts a variety of other accomplishments and accolades. His writing pieces have appeared in a number of publications including the Journal of American History, the Journal of Southern History, The Boston Globe, The Nation, and more. He has received fellowships from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University. Sokol is also the recipient of the Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence.

Come hear Dr. Jason Sokol at the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium happening Oct. 27-28, 2014 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Be on the lookout for more Speaker Spotlights on our blog as we get closer to the October symposium!

Russell Library Named Recipient of 2014 Governor’s Award

Russell Library director, Sheryl Vogt (center) posed with
Governor and Mrs. Nathan Deal and the 2014 Governor's Award. 

Governor Nathan Deal has named the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies as one of the thirteen recipients of the third annual Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities. This year’s winners were announced during a ceremony held at the Georgia Capitol on Tuesday, October 7th. Other 2014 winners included individuals and organizations such as The Atlanta Ballet, the Freedom Singers, and the Center for Civil and Human Rights -- all were recognized for their “commitment to preservation and promotion of Georgia’s culture and heritage.”

This year's recipients were said to exemplify Georgia's thriving and always-expanding creative sector with various programs, financial contributions, and active connections and devotion to their communities. The Russell Library was recognized for its 40 years of showcasing Georgia’s political history through its collections, exhibits, symposiums, and programs.

With particular emphasis on the role of Georgia and the U. S. Congress, the Russell Library's collection development and programming focus on the dynamic relationship of politics, policy, and culture—generated wherever public interest intersects with government. The breadth and depth of Russell Library’s collections provide an interconnected framework of perspectives and experiences for understanding the increasingly diverse people, events, and ideas shaping Georgia’s political landscape.

The Library pursues alliances and opportunities for collaboration with individuals and organizations that advance its mission. Russell Library is a founding member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress and a primary partner and official repository for the Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies, a collaborative project dedicated to documenting and chronicling the activity and perceptions of lesser known participants in the civil rights movement in Georgia.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Russell Library is hosting a Scholars & Policymakers Symposium on October 27-28, 2014. Events will include a forum on the library’s beginnings, a documentary film screening on former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and a series of panel sessions focused on the library's key collecting areas. This two day event will feature twenty five acclaimed speakers who will highlight the impact of Russell Library collections.

Speaker Spotlight: Monica Gisolfi

Dr. Monica Gisolfi is another featured speaker at our upcoming Scholars & Policymakers Symposium hosted Oct. 27-28. Gisolfi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

She received her Ph.D. in United States history from Columbia University in 2007 and now teaches history courses on the Gilded Age, the United States, the South, and public & environmental history. She specializes in southern American history and her research interests include the histories of environment, agriculture, and landscape as well as public memory and commemoration.

Gisolfi’s piece “From Crop Lien to Contract Farming: The Roots of Agribusiness in the American South, 1929-1939” was published in Agricultural History and later included in a compilation of writings entitled The Best American History Essays 2008. As Gisolfi writes in her piece, the crop lien system was thought to be the catalyst behind southern poverty and issues in the South. This publication examines the changing agribusiness industry from the crop lien credit system used by sharecroppers and farmers in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries to the multi-million dollar contract farming business today that includes the poultry industry.

Her next piece, “Leaving the Farm to Save the Farm: Poultry Farmers, Contract Farming, and the Necessity of Public Work, 1950-1970” was published in Moving Workers, Moving Capital. Gisolfi is currently working on an untitled book examining the growth of southern agribusiness and its effects on humanity and the environment.

Don’t miss Dr. Monica Gisolfi’s appearance on the Politics of Social Relations panel (Oct. 28, 1:45-3:15PM) at the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium happening Oct. 27-28, 2014 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. And stay tuned to the blog for more speaker spotlights in the weeks leading up to the event!

Speaker Spotlight: Gregory Mixon

You can find Dr. Gregory Mixon, Associate Professor for the Department of History at UNC Charlotte and author of The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in a New South City, on the list of speakers for our Scholars & Policymakers Symposium October 27th-28th. Mixon received his PhD from the University of Cincinnati and now teaches courses on African American history and racial violence at UNC Charlotte. His research and teaching interests include racial violence, race relations, Southern history, urban history, the Progressive Era, and black southern state militias.
His first book, The Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in a New South City, focuses on the tragic event that started on September 22, 1906. The massacre left over 30 people dead and 70 injured. He works to trace the sources of the riot by examining political, social, and urban factors affecting race relations in the early 20th century. While noting the causes most commonly cited, such as the instigation of the press, Mixon also explores the role that white elites in Atlanta played in generating new forms of political and racial divisions that led to the explosive conflict. While this was his first book published, Mixon has written several other pieces for the Georgia Historical Quarterly and Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South.

Mixon is currently working on two additional publications. His second book, tentatively titled We Called It a Band of Brothers, focuses on African American militiamen in the Southern states, specifically Georgia, between 1865 and 1910. During his writing process, Mixon was one of twenty-five scholars invited to participate in the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute focusing on African American Struggles for Freedom and Human Rights from 1865 to 1965. The courses he teaches in 19th and 20th century African American history and his research for his second novel made him a perfect candidate for the month-long institute. Mixon is also writing a political biography on Henry A. Rucker, the only African American to be appointed as a Collector of Internal Revenue in the district of Georgia, from 1897-1911.

Don’t miss Dr. Mixon’s appearance at the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium happening Oct. 27-28, 2014 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. He will speak at the Politics of Social Relations session, from 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. And stay tuned to the blog for more speaker spotlights in the weeks leading up to the event!

Speaker Spotlight: Tammy Ingram

Dr. Tammy Ingram, Assistant Professor of History at the College of Charleston and author of Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930, will be one of our acclaimed scholars for the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium taking place October 27th-28th. In addition to her many scholarly achievements and accolades, she is also a University of Georgia alumna (class of 1998).

Ingram received her PhD from Yale University in 2007. Before coming to the College of Charleston in 2011, she served as the Kirk Visiting Scholar at Agnes Scott College and as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Southern Studies at the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930, Ingram’s first book, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in March 2014. The book uses the Dixie Highway, a largely forgotten 6000-mile network of roads that looped from Lake Michigan to Miami Beach and back up again, as a lens for examining local, regional, and national politics during the Progressive Era Good Roads Movement. The work is one of the few books about the social and political implications of modern transportation policy that does not focus on the Eisenhower interstate highways.

So, why roads? Ingram says her love of and curiosity about roads began during childhood. Her father taught her to drive at a young age and she always loved exploring the back roads near her Georgia home. While researching migration patterns during the early 20th century in the South, Ingram discovered farmers’ constant talk about roads and went on to find that there was little research on early road building. Though some may still question her decision to write on the topic, Ingram has responded simply that, “Ordinary things are interesting if you have enough curiosity to ask questions about them.”

Ingram is currently working on a second book project tentatively titled Dixie Mafia: Sex, Race, and Organized Crime in the South, which offers a broad view of organized crime networks in the postwar U.S. but focuses on the so-called Dixie Mafia. The book examines a series of high profile cases between 1954 and 1987 in order to understand the ways in which fears about crime shaped postwar politics in the South and nation.

In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Ingram has contributed essays and op-eds to publications such as the Huffington Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Like the Dew.

Don’t miss Dr. Ingram’s appearance at the Scholars & Policymakers Symposium happening Oct. 27-28, 2014 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. She’ll speak at the opening session, Politics of Public Good, from 9:00-10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. And stay tuned to the blog for more speaker spotlights in the weeks leading up to the event!

Athens Science Café to Spotlight Nutrition and Childhood Obesity

ATHENS, GA – University of Georgia foods and nutrition professor Caree Cotwright will speak about nutrition and childhood obesity at the October meeting of the Athens Science Café on Oct. 22 at Chase Street Elementary School. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the event will start at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Science cafes are informal meetings commonly held in coffee shops, pubs or community centers where people have an opportunity to learn from and interact with a scientist. Unlike traditional lectures, science cafes involve more open discussion and debate among the audience.

For this event, organizers of the Athens Science Café decided to branch out from their traditional downtown venues. “While we typically hold our cafes at bars and coffeehouses, we welcome the occasional opportunity to develop community partnerships," said ASC representative Stephanie Pearl. “ASC is excited about partnering with the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies and the Clarke County School District for this edition of the cafe.”

On Sep. 26 the Russell Library, a political archives at the University of Georgia, will open the new exhibition, “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch” examining the complicated history of the National School Lunch Program. “We approached the organizers of Athens Science Café about developing an event connected to the issues explored in this exhibit,” said lead curator Jan Levinson. “It seemed only fitting that a discussion about childhood nutrition should take place in one of our local schools.”

The event will take place in the cafeteria of Chase Street Elementary School. Cotwright will give a short introductory talk before leading an informal discussion among participants about nutrition and innovative interventions to combat the problem of childhood obesity. Healthy snacks will be generously provided by Heirloom Café and Fresh Market.

For more information about this event visit the Athens Science Café website at http://athenssciencecafe.wordpress.com or follow @AthScieCafe on Twitter. For more information about the new exhibit “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch” visit the Russell Library’s website at http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell or follow @RussellLibrary on Twitter.

Russell Library to Open New Exhibit, Food, Power, Politics: The Story of School Lunch

The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia will feature the exhibition, “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch” Sep. 26, 2014 to May 15, 2015. The exhibition examines the complicated past of the National School Lunch Program, signed into law by President Harry Truman on June 4, 1946.

With a focus on people and events in Georgia, the exhibition was developed in celebration of the Russell Library’s 40th anniversary in 2014. U.S. Sen. Richard B. Russell, Jr. authored the original legislation establishing the NSLP and played a crucial role in steering it through both houses of Congress. Russell said that the creation of this program was his proudest legislative achievement during his long career in the U.S. Senate.

School lunchroom in Georgia, ca. 1955.
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection, Russell Library

What began as a way to strengthen the nation through better nutrition for school children soon became a complicated program administered by local, state, and federal partners with competing interests. “The story behind this initiative is one of twists and turns, as the program evolved to meet the changing needs of children, politicians, and corporate interests over time,” said lead curator Jan Levinson. A bigger and broader program more than 60 years after its original passage, the National School Lunch Program continues to be a political hot-button today.

In addition to Russell, U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (1968-1979), also played a key role in school lunch. Talmadge’s support of the Childhood Nutrition Act (1966) and subsequent amendments greatly expanded the NSLP, including the creation of the school breakfast program.

The exhibit script was assembled by two PhD students in the University of Georgia’s Department of History: Ashton Ellet and Kaylynn Washnock. Both served as summer interns, conducting research, writing, and editing, as well as selecting original documents and artifacts for display. “We were lucky to have two very talented historians working on this project, and I think the finished product shows their commitment and talent for public history,” said Levinson.

The exhibit features historic images depicting schools and children in Georgia dating back to the 1920s as well as related ephemera, including lunch pails, sample menus, and classroom activity packets.  Letters, speeches, and assorted publications document the legislative battle to create and expand the program from the 1940s to the 1990s, complemented by video and oral histories.
The Russell Library is collaborating with UGA’s Athens Science Café and the Clarke County School District to sponsor an event focused on childhood nutrition featuring speaker Dr. Caree Cotwright, associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, taking place on Oct. 22 at Chase Street Elementary School. Other events complementing the exhibit are scheduled for spring 2015.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through May 15, 2015. More information about the complementary program series can be found by visiting http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell/programs/events.html. The galleries of the Special Collections Libraries are open from 8am-5pm Monday through Friday and 1-5pm on Saturdays. The building is not open on the Saturdays of home football games. Admission is free. For more information contact Jan Levinson at jlevinso@uga.edu or by calling 706-542-5788. To schedule a tour of the Special Collections Libraries Galleries, contact Jean Cleveland at jclevela@uga.edu or by calling 706-542-8079.

40th Anniversary Symposium Scheduled Oct. 27-28

What: Russell Library 40th Anniversary Symposium

Where: Auditorium (Room 271), Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries

When: Oct. 27 (evening); Oct. 28 (8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) Follow us on Twitter (@RussellLibrary) #Russell40

The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies will host a scholars and policymakers symposium to celebrate the Library’s 40th anniversary year on Oct. 27-28, 2014 in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

Richard Baker, US Senate Historian Emeritus, will kick off the symposium with a keynote address at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27. On Tuesday, Oct. 28 scholars from across the country will participate in panel discussions, highlighting their use of Russell Library collections in recent publications. Policymakers will join these discussions, building on the historical context of the themes presented and adding commentary on the creation of related public policy and its oversight. Panels will be organized around the Russell Library’s six key collecting areas: Politics, Social Relations, Public Good, Environment, Economy, Peace and War. 

The keynote address and symposium sessions are free and open to the public and will be held in the auditorium on the second floor of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. For more information contact Jan Levinson at (706) 542-5788 or jlevinso@uga.edu.

And, stay tuned to the blog in the coming weeks as we post updates about our featured speakers! Look for us on Twitter (@RussellLibrary) #RBRL40