Parks Rusk Collection of Dean Rusk Papers, 1891-1985

17 boxes, 8.5 linear feet

Administrative Information

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

Biographical Note

Scope and Content

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Organization and Arrangement

Related Collections

- In Russell Library
- In other repositories

Series Descriptions

Access Points

Folder List

Dean Rusk

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

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

Processing Notes: Photographs have been separated for preservation.

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: Parks Rusk Collection of Dean Rusk Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He attended Lee Street Elementary and Boys' High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Rusk obtained an A.B. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina in 1931, and a B.S. (Rhodes Scholar) and M.A. in 1933 and 1934 from St. John's, Oxford, England. He returned to the United States to become Associate Professor of Government and Dean of Faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1940.

Rusk served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1946 in the China-Burma-India theater. At first he served with the Third Infantry Division, then later with the Military Intelligence Service. Rusk was released from duty with the rank of colonel.

After his military career ended, Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947 to 1952, as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952 to 1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969, through the administrations of Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Rusk was in office during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, when East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also Secretary of State during the height of the Vietnam Conflict.

In 1970, Rusk came to the University of Georgia's School of Law as the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, and he later established the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law. Rusk served the University of Georgia until his death on December 20, 1994.

Rusk married Virginia Foisie in June, 1937. They had three children together, David Patrick, Richard Geary and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1990, As I Saw It , the book he co-authored with his son, Richard, was published.

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SCOPE AND CONTENT:

The Parks Rusk Collection consists of more than 8 linear feet of research materials formed over the years by Parks Rusk on the subject of his brother, Dean Rusk. Included in the collection is a substantial series of correspondence written by Dean Rusk. Many of these letters were written to his parents and to his sister while he was overseas in the 1930's and early 1940's during a period of schooling and military service. The collection also includes family correspondence and papers (from 1893); family photographs; files of speeches, programs, and printed materials (largely dating from 1947-1983); and a very extensive archive of newspaper and periodical clippings relating to the Secretary of State (mostly 1960-1985, with a few gaps.)

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ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT:

The collection is organized into five series: I. Correspondence, II. Rusk Family Papers, III. Speeches, Programs, Printed Materials, IV. News Clippings, and V. Photographs. The arrangement of the papers is topical, chronological thereunder, earliest date first.

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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN THIS REPOSITORY:

Dean Rusk Collection
- Personal Papers
- Thomas Schoenbaum Files
- Oral History Collection

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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES:

Dean Rusk Oral Histories, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin, Texas
Dean Rusk Personal Papers, John F. Kennedy Library, National Archives and Records Administration, Boston, Massachusetts
Dean Rusk Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Dean Rusk Files, Department of State, Washington, DC

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

I. Correspondence
3 folders

Family letters, Dean to parents, Robert Hugh Rusk and Elizabeth Frances Clotfelter Rusk, and to his sister, Mary Margaret Rusk, and other family members, 1931-1951. These letters contain a historical text, tracing the intellectual development of the future Secretary of State. The letters were written while Rusk was at Oxford University (1931-1934), while teaching at Mills College (1934-1940), and while in India and Europe during World War II. They include information on his personal activities, plans and feelings, his political views, and his impression of the areas which he visited and of the people with whom he came in contact.

Letters from Virginia Foisie Rusk to the Rusk Family include typed copies of letters from Dean to his wife during his military service in India. The series documents the growth of the three Rusk children and gives descriptions of the family homes and activities.

As part of the gift agreement, copies were made of some of the family letters. Originals and copies are placed together. Other letters were received by Russell Library only in copy form.

II. Rusk Family Papers
2 folders

One folder consists of anecdotes about Dean Rusk and items of family history, some in letters. One folder contains writings by Robert Hugh Rusk, father of Dean Rusk, including an examination paper from Columbia Seminary, 1898, and a paper titled “Types of the Old and New South,” 1893.

III. Speeches, Programs, Printed Materials
1 box, .5 linear foot

A few items as early as 1935, but mostly dated after 1947. This material consists of transcripts of interview programs, press releases, organizational bulletins, program brochures, invitations, and a few copies of related letters, concerning Dean Rusk. There is a typescript carbon copy of a Rusk speech before the Atlanta Kiwanis Club, June 10, 1947, and a certificate from ROTC training camp at Fort McClellan , July 21, 1930.

IV. News Clippings
15 boxes, 7.5 linear feet

A clipping file relating to Dean Rusk's career makes up the bulk of the collection. They were collected by Parks Rusk over a period of more than fifty years from a wide selection of newspapers and periodicals. Details are provided on nearly every aspect of Dean Rusk's career. These files are a source of documentation on Rusk's role in many major and minor events during the presidential administrations of Kennedy and Johnson (1961-1969). Nearly all are dated and identified as to origin. There are news stories, essays, theme stories, biographical profiles, columns with reference to Rusk, and news photographs.

V. Photographs
36 photographs
This series consist mainly of images of Dean Rusk's family - his parents, brothers and sisters.

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ACCESS POINTS

Rusk family.
Rusk, Virginia Foisie.
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973.
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963.
Mills College.
University of Oxford.
United States. Dept. of State.
United States. President (1961-1963 : Kennedy)
United States. President (1963-1969 : Johnson)
United States. President (1945-1953 : Truman)
World War, 1939-1945 --India.
United States --Politics and government --1945-1969.
Photographs.

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FOLDER LIST

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

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