History Lives in the Russell Library

Opening Friday, June 22, 2007 an exhibit featuring the greatest hits from the Russell Library’s rich politicial collections including information about Watergate, Civil Rights, historic political campaigns, environmental and agricultural history, and international relations. Through Friday, December 21, 2007 in the Richard B. Russell Library Main Gallery.

"Integrated in All Respects"

Ed Friend's Highlander Folk School Films

The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies and the Digital Library of Georgia are pleased to announce that Ed Friend's historic Highlander film is now accessible online via the Digital Library of Georgia. "Integrated in All Respects" consists of Ed Friend's film of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee during Labor Day weekend in 1957, and the Georgia Commission on Education's propaganda broadside that features Friend's photographs and stills from his film. Together the film and broadside demonstrate how policymakers in the late 1950s perceived, and attempted to cast, the civil rights movement.

Russell~Roosevelt Public Policy Institute

The National Issues Forums (NIF) discussion model has strong connections to the University of Georgia. After several years of the UGA PPI taking place in Atlanta at the Jimmy Carter Library, in 2006 the Richard B. Russell Library, a political archives and center for research and study of politics and policy, in conjunction with the Roosevelt Institution at the University of Georgia, part of a national network of student think tanks dedicated to influencing national policy through the avenues of public policy and advocacy, have joined together to provide the Russell-Roosevelt Policy Institute.

This institute fosters civic engagement and deliberation among diverse audiences and gives participants the skills to tackle important issues in their own communities. The Russell Library will serve as a repository for materials related to developing civic engagement programming, which will be available to groups interested in developing civic education programming. The 2007 Public Policy Institute in June will be the inaugural program for this joint venture

Carter Exhibit

From Plains to Washington and Points Between: Jimmy Carter’s Political Work in Georgia, 1962-1976

The collections in the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies hold a wealth of material connected to United States President and Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. The beginning of what has become an admired political career is chronicled through the papers of Senator Herman Talmadge, Senator Richard B. Russell, U.S. Representative John Davis, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and many others. Letters, photographs, original editorial cartoons and campaign memorabilia are on display in the Russell Library lobby through March 30.

New Russell Library Exhibit!

Come see our new exhibit in the lobby of Russell Library for Political Research and Studies!

Affecting the Lives of Millions: The Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965

Lights Out!

Power to the People! Film Series

August 22-September 19, 2006
Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.
Athens-Clarke County Library Auditorium
2025 Baxter St., Athens, Georgia

Presented by Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, and Athens-Clarke County Public Library

The Power to the People! Film Series explores the role technology has played in shaping the lives of rural communities in the New South. It offers a mix of commercial features and documentaries that portray the lives of rural Southerners living before, during, and after the arrival of electricity to their communities through the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). Each film night includes archival footage, shorts, or news reels before the main feature. The series is presented in conjunction with the exhibit, Power to the People! Rural Electrification in Georgia, now on display at the Richard B. Russell Library at the University of Georgia.

For more information on this program...

Harold Paulk Henderson, Sr. Oral History Collection

We are pleased to announce that the Harold Paulk Henderson, Sr. Oral History Collection, 1981-1994, is now open for research. The collection consists of oral history interviews conducted by Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr., during his research for two monographs, The Politics of Change in Georgia: A Political Biography of Ellis Arnall (1991) and Ernest Vandiver, Governor of Georgia (2000). Series I documents the life of Georgia governor Ellis G. Arnall (1943-1947), the 1966 Georgia gubernatorial election, and U.S. Senator Herman E. Talmadge, his father (Eugene) and family, and politics in Georgia. Series II documents the political and personal life of Georgia governor S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. (1959-1963) and includes discussion of notable events from his gubernatorial administration, such as public school integration and the Sibley Commission. This collection joins over 120 collections documenting public policymaking and political culture centered in Georgia available for research here at the Russell Library.

View the finding aid...

No Other Road: 1953 Red and Black Editors Stand Up for Equality and Free Speech

In 2003, four courageous editors of the University of Georgia's newspaper, the Red and Black, (Walter Lundy, Bill Shipp, Priscilla Arnold, and Gene Britton) were reunited for the first time at the University of Georgia to reminisce, reflect, and provide critical insight. The public oral history program was the first in a new series sponsored by the Russell Library in association with the Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies. Dr. Maurice Daniels, social work professor, head of Foot Soldier Project, and scholar of civil rights history, and Dr. Kent Middleton, journalism professor and scholar of free speech and free press issues, directed questions; Harry Montevideo, publisher of The Red and Black, moderated the discussion.

Listen to the Podcast!

The Iris F. Blitch Papers

We are pleased to announce that the Iris F. Blitch Papers, 1954-1985 (bulk 1954-1962) are now open for research. A U.S. Representative from Georgia's Eighth District (southeast Georgia), Iris Blitch served for two terms, 1955-1963. As one of only fifteen women members (and the only southerner) in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958, the challenges faced by Blitch and other females in Washington, as well as the public's perceptions, are well-documented throughout the papers. Blitch also sponsored and supported several bills relating to the environment and agriculture in Georgia.

View the Iris F. Blitch finding aid