Ed Friend Visual Materials, 1918-1990
19 boxes, 10 linear feet
3,351 photographs, 3,948 negatives, 1,502 slides, 4 films

Administrative Information

- Access Restrictions
- User Restrictions
- Processing Notes
- Copyright Information
- Preferred Citation

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

Home

Organization and Arrangement

Related Collections

- In Russell Library
- In other repositories

Series Descriptions

Access Points

Folder List

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

User Restrictions: Library acts as “fair use” reproduction agent.

Processing Notes: All films have been transferred to videotapes, ½” and ¾” (master). Patrons will have access to the videotapes, but not to the original film.

Copyright Information: Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Preferred Citation: Ed Friend Visual Materials, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

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BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE:

Edwin Hugo Friend, Sr. was born on October 1, 1912 in Fincastle, Virginia. He graduated from Tech High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and later attended Georgia State College. In the early 1940s, Friend served with the Army Air Corps 342nd Bomber Squadron. While in service, he discovered his photographic skills and applied them toward the war effort. Upon his return to the states, Friend worked for the Georgia State Game and Fish Commission as a conservation officer. During his travels in this position, he developed a fascination for wildlife photography. Friend also became very involved in Georgia politics. During the administrations of Governors Marvin Griffin, Herman Talmadge, Ernest Vandiver and Carl Sanders, he served as their official photographer. As a result of an automobile accident in 1962, he retired from his state job. Later in retirement, he traveled extensively and proudly proclaimed that he had visited every country in the world. He died on September 6, 1991.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT:

The collection consists of photographs and other visual materials largely from 1943 to 1990. Various mediums include photographs, negatives, slides, and film. Included are images of the South Pacific during World War II, Georgia wildlife and nature, various Georgia political leaders, and travels around the world. There are also a few photographs that Friend collected from the World War I period.

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ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT

Arrangement of this collection is by type. There are four series: I. Photographs, II. Slides, III. Films and IV. Informational.

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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN THIS REPOSITORY:

S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers
Carl Sanders Papers
Herman E. Talmadge Collection
Roy V. Harris Papers
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection

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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES:

Georgia Government Documentation Project, Series B: Public figures oral history collection, James A. Mackay oral history interview, March 18, 1986. Special Collection Department, William Russell Pullen Library, Georgia State University
Charles M. Rafshoon photograph collection. Special Collections Department, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University
Lane Brothers Photograph Collection, Georgia State University
Marvin Griffin Papers, Bainbridge College Library, Bainbridge, Georgia

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

I. Photographs
17 boxes, 8.25 linear feet; 3351 prints, 3948 negatives
Ed Friend became interested in photography while serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He continued his creative pursuits while working for the Georgia State Game and Fish Commission, photographing nature and wildlife. Many of his photographs were published in state publications and even the Atlanta Journal. There are color and black and white prints, as well as corresponding 4"x5", 8"x10" and 35 mm negatives to many of these prints. Many have been individually sleeved in a polyester envelope.

A. World War II, 1943-1945
1 box, .25 linear foot
Friend served with the Army Air Corps 342nd Bomber Squadron in the South Pacific. While in service, he became interested in photography and shot many of the locations where he was stationed. Of interest are numerous photographs of the natives of New Guinea, of the destruction of the various areas after the fighting had ceased, and of the men and women who were serving.

B. Georgia Images
5 boxes, 2.25 linear feet
This consists of photographs that Friend created when he worked for the Georgia State Game and Fish Commission and the Office of the Governor. The images include numerous wildlife scenes, nature, hunting, prisons, and everyday life in Georgia. Famous individuals include Will Rogers, Edgar Bergman and Ralph McGill. There is a panoramic view shot of soldiers taken sometime during World War I.

C. Georgia Politicians
2 boxes, 1 linear foot
These are images that Friend created while serving under the Griffin, Talmadge and Vandiver administrations. Various politicians photographed include Roy V. Harris, Garland Byrd, M. E. Thompson and William Hartsfield. Celebrities included are Ed Sullivan, Susan Hayward and General George Marshall. Many of Friends photographs are included in the papers of Herman Talmadge, Richard B. Russell and Ernest Vandiver.

D. Oversized Photographs
21 images, 1 linear foot
These are reprints of images from the first three sub-series. They are 8"x14" black and white prints, possibly used for exhibition purposes.

E. Trips Around the World
3 boxes, 1.5 linear feet
Color and black and white photographs of the many trips Friend went on during his life. There are many photographs related to his numerous trips to Rhodesia, South Africa, the Caribbean, Alaska and Arizona. His vacation slides correspond to the prints. After his retirement, Friend traveled exclusively and proudly proclaimed that he had visited every country in the world. Arrangement is alphabetical by country or state.

II. Travel Slides
1502 slides, 2 boxes, 2 linear feet
This series consists mainly of slides taken by Friend of his travels around the world. Many relate to his visits to Rhodesia, the South Pacific and Alaska. There are also images related to Georgia and its wildlife. Of interest to researchers is a slide presentation that Friend had on his visits to Rhodesia.

III. Films
4- 16 mm films

Highlander Folk School Film (2 copies): While working for the Georgia Education Committee, Friend filmed Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy, Pete Seeger and others at a two-day seminar held at the Highland Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee in 1957. This film was to show King "consorting" with known Communists and to provide proof that Communists directed the Civil Rights Movement. The print version of the film includes still shots of the meeting at Monteagle. A written account of this event can be found in Howell Raines's My Soul is Rested: Movement Days in the Deep South Remembered. A broadside published in 1957 by the Georgia Education Commission (located in the S. Ernest Vandiver Papers in Series I., Subseries A, Box 11 folder 7) provides further information about the content of the Highlander film, albeit from the perspective of an anti-integration agency intent on discrediting the Highlander Freedom School as a tool of the Communist Party.

Georgia Wildlife: While working for the Georgia State Game and Fish Commission, Friend filmed and produced this documentary. This shows nature and wildlife throughout Georgia, beginning in the North Georgia Mountains and ending in the Okefenokee Swamp. Deer, bears, raccoons, foxes, birds, fish, snakes and sea turtles are featured. There is also reference to water pollution and forest fires. There are corresponding photographic shots in Series I.

Rhodesia Unafraid: Made in 1978, this 20-minute color-sound film is credited as "A Friends of the Chaplain Corps Presentation." Its provenance is uncertain. Ed Friend may or may not have been involved in its production, but its theme -- the intertwining of racial conflict with communism -- is strongly suggestive of other of Friends works, such as his Highlander Folk School film from 1957. Of particular interest is the appearance in the film of author Robin Moore (The French Connection, The Hunt for Bin Laden), Reverend Robert Slimp, and Father Dunstan Myerscough and Sister Ermenfried (Catholic missionaries who survived attacks by Zimbabwe nationalist forces). As a propaganda document of Rhodesia's brutal recasting into Zimbabwe, the film is a unique resource.

IV. Print Information
1 box, .25 linear feet
Includes copies of publications where Friend's images appeared, such as the Georgia Games and Fish Commission public bulletin and the Atlanta Journal. There is also a copy of a slide presentation script that corresponds to slides located in Series II.

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ACCESS POINTS

Talmadge, Herman E. (Herman Eugene), 1913-2002.
Vandiver, S. Ernest (Samuel Ernest), 1918-
Griffin, Marvin, 1907-1982.
Seeger, Pete, 1919-
Parks, Rosa, 1913-2005.
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.
Photographers --Georgia.
Documentary photography --Georgia.
World War, 1939-1945 --South Pacific Ocean --Photographs.
Governors --Georgia --Photographs.
Okefenokee Swamp (Ga. and Fla.)
Natural history --Georgia --Photographs.
Zoology --Georgia --Photographs.
Animals --Georgia --Photographs.
Georgia --Photographs.
Georgia --Politics and government --1951-
Georgia --Social life and customs --Photographs.
Civil rights movements --United States --History --20th century.
Zimbabwe --Photographs.
Photographs.
Audiovisual materials.

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FOLDER LIST

Not available at this time. Please contact Russell Library for more information.

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