HIST 7900 Theory and Practice-special collections resources: Special Collections-Russell Library

Research Consultations 

Using the Collections  Everything you need to know about searching and requesting materials using Russell Library finding aids, creating and accessing a research account, understanding what is available online, options for making copies of materials, and dealing with rights issues. 

The Russell Library’s instructional team promotes student success by collaborating with and supporting course instructors to develop archives-centered encounters ranging from single sessions to semester-long projects.

Russell Library Archives-Centered Instructional Collaborations:  

• Design course-specific, active-learning sessions to strengthen critical thinking skills using carefully curated selections of materials that can help deepen students’ understanding of subjects, time periods, and document formats.  

• Guide students in searching and discovering materials within the Russell Library’s holdings by using online databases and search strategies.  

• Coordinate classroom logistics and reservations

• Provide archives-centered pedagogy workshops for new instructors

For general queries related to instruction, please  contact Jill Severn at jsevern@uga.edu or 706-542-5766. 
To schedule instruction session(s), please use the Russell Library Instruction Request Form and allow at least 10 days advance notice to avoid scheduling conflicts. 

Georgia Oral History

The Georgia Oral History catalog is the online portal for discovery of, and access to, digital oral history interviews and collections in the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Walter J. Brown Media Archives at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries.

Many interviews feature enhanced access in OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer). OHMS interviews have clip-level, synchronized description with segment titles, keywords, and other metadata, including full transcripts when available. 

Contact:

clopez@uga.edu

Special Collections Libraries

300 S. Hull St.

Athens, GA 30602

706-542-5782

Overview

The Russell Library maintains over 500 archival and manuscript collections and from politicians, political parties, public policy organizations, federal and state appointees, and political observers and activists from modern Georgia (1900-present).

The scope of the Library's collections is both deep and varied. The collections provide significant documentation of the broad spectrum of political activities of modern Georgia through more than 1000 oral history interviews and over 20,000 linear feet of correspondence, speeches, drafts of legislation, domestic and foreign policy papers, polling data, campaign materials, sound recordings, electronic records, photographs, film, graphic materials, artifacts, and artwork.

The collections also document the global relationships and interests formed by Georgians through political action, Foreign Service, trade, and other activities. Some collections include family papers and business records.

The collections in the Russell Library showcase a rich array of material that tells the story of modern Georgia politics (1900-present) and policy making from the grassroots of communities and towns to the golden dome of the state capitol in Atlanta, to the great halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.  and to countries around the world.  Politics and policy are part of everything that matters to Georgians and we are pleased to share some of the most interesting, unexpected, and noteworthy examples of this engaging history. The Russell Library collects across these 6 broad areas: 

The Politics of Peace and War
The role of politics in Georgia’s participation in international affairs, defense, diplomacy, and military engagement

The Politics of the Public Good
The role of politics in morality issues connected to religion, health, civil liberties,  and civil defense

The Politics of Economy
The role of politics in shaping economic policy, activism and practice on the local, state, and national levels

The Politics of Politics
The role of politics in campaigning, voting, and elections in Georgia and by Georgians

The Politics of the Environment
The role of politics in shaping environmental policies, activism, and regulation in Georgia, the United States, and the world

The Politics of Social Relations
The role of politics in shaping policy, activism, and engagement around human rights movements (civil rights, women's rights, disability rights, Hispanic/Latinx, rights, LGBTQ+A rights, among others)  in Georgia as well as nationally and internationally