Herman E. Talmadge Collection, 1945-1987
2,017 boxes, 1,032.75 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

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Series Descriptions

Audiovisual Materials


Access Points

Folder List
Herman E. Talmadge

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions: Case mail restricted.

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

Processing Notes: Newspaper clippings have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content. Artifacts, photographs, books, and audiovisual materials have been separated for preservation purposes and inventoried.

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: Herman E. Talmadge Collection, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.


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BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE:

It was once said if you were not a Talmadge man you were a communist. The Talmadge dynasty began in 1926 when Eugene Talmadge, Herman's father, was first elected Commissioner of Agriculture. Gene would later be elected governor of Georgia to an unprecedented four terms. For over fifty years the Talmadges dominated Georgia politics until Herman was defeated in 1980.

Born on August 9, 1913, on a farm near McRae, Georgia, to Eugene and Mattie Talmadge, Herman attended public schools until his senior year when his family moved to Atlanta. In the fall of 1931, he entered the University of Georgia. By 1936, he had received his law degree and joined his father's law practice.

After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, Talmadge returned to his home in Lovejoy. While continuing to practice law and to farm, Talmadge took over publishing his father's weekly newspaper, The Statesman, and started a ham-curing business.

Talmadge's first involvement in politics was as his father's campaign manager in 1946. Running for an unprecedented fourth term as governor of Georgia, Eugene Talmadge was elected in November 1946, but was in failing health. As a precaution, a small group of Talmadge supporters started a write-in campaign for Herman Talmadge during the general election. When the elder Talmadge died in December 1946, before being sworn in as governor, the Georgia General Assembly elected his son governor by a vote of 161 to 87. But outgoing Governor Ellis Arnall refused to surrender his office unless it was to elected-Lieutenant Governor Melvin E. Thompson. After a period of uncertainty, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the constitutional portion under which the General Assembly had elected Herman Talmadge did not apply. The court declared M. E. Thompson acting governor until a special election could be held. In September 1948, Talmadge was elected governor and re-elected in 1950, serving until January 1955.

As governor, Herman Talmadge concentrated on improving educational opportunities for children of all races by establishing youth centers, increasing construction of rural roads, and building additional hospitals and health care centers.

When Senator Walter George officially announced his decision not to run for United States Senate, Talmadge started campaigning to take his place. Once again he was opposed by M. E. Thompson, but defeated him in the Democratic primary. With no Republican opposition in the general election in November 1956, Talmadge was elected United States senator.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s ultimately effected equal rights legislation for African-Americans and eliminated segregated public facilities in the South. Although progress toward integrating public schools was achieved, a majority of whites in the South remained adamant in their resistance to desegregation.

As part of that majority, Talmadge had voiced his opposition as early as the 1948 Democratic Convention when President Harry Truman tried to add civil rights to the platform. And in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education , Talmadge authored a book in 1955 about the wisdom of segregated education entitled You and Segregation.

When Talmadge officially began his term as the junior senator from Georgia in January 1957, he immediately joined the other Southern Democrats in their fight against civil rights legislation. "I never read a civil rights bill that didn't destroy more constitutional rights that it purported to give any group."

In response to the crisis of integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, Talmadge proposed a constitutional amendment in 1959 that would have permitted the state and local governments to decide whether or not to keep their schools segregated. This proposal was the first acknowledgment from a southern senator that Brown vs. Board of Education was an established fact.

Having won a seat on the Agriculture Committee in 1957, Talmadge wielded his greatest influence on bills that affected American farmers and agriculture. By 1971, he had become chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Some of his major accomplishments in this area included guiding passage of a series of acts, which established price support programs for peanuts, cotton, wheat, and other commodities.

Talmadge probably achieved his greatest national prominence through his role on the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, which investigated the Watergate scandal and ultimately led to the resignation of the president and vice president of the United States, as well as the conviction of three cabinet members on felony charges. Talmadge thought that the Watergate investigation was one of the most important events in the history of the United States and demonstrated that a republican form of government has a way of correcting the conduct of public officials and alerting others not to make the same mistake.

At the same time he was gaining national recognition, Talmadge was besieged by a series of personal and political tragedies. In 1975, his son Robert drowned in a swimming accident at Lake Lanier; by the fall of 1977, Betty and Herman Talmadge had finalized their divorce; then, in 1978, Talmadge came to grips with a serious drinking problem. Following an alcohol treatment program at the naval hospital in Long Beach, California, he returned to Washington, ready to work, but met with scandal instead. Shortly after returning to the Capitol, Talmadge was accused of misappropriating office funds and campaign donations for his own personal use. The Senate Ethics Committee investigated the allegations and recommended that Talmadge be "denounced" for his reprehensible behavior and sentenced to reimburse the Senate for these controversial funds with interest.

Despite these problems, Talmadge sought his fifth term as senator in 1980, but was rejected by Georgia voters who chose to elect Mack Mattingly to replace him, the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction.

Serving twenty-four years in the United States Senate, Talmadge ranked fifth in seniority among Senate Democrats and seventh overall by the time he left office. Herman Talmadge passed away on March 21, 2002. He is survived by his one son, grandchildren, and wife Linda.

 


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SCOPE AND CONTENT:


The papers of Senator Herman E. Talmadge span the dates 1945 to 1987, with the bulk of the collection representing the years of his career in the United States Senate, 1956-1981, and as governor of Georgia, 1948-1955. The collection consists of nearly 1033 linear feet of manuscripts and also includes photographs, audiocassettes, films, wire and sound recordings, books, scrapbooks, and memorabilia. For the most part, the arrangement of the collection reflects the original filing series of Senator Talmadge's office.

 


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ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT

The collection consists of three records subgroups divided into fifteen series. The first record subgroup is pre-gubernatorial, which reflects his editorial work on The Statesman. The second is gubernatorial. Its series reflect Talmadge's duties as the governor of Georgia and include personal correspondence, subject files and guest registers.

The third record subgroup includes thirteen series that pattern the function of Talmadge's congressional office. The first two series, Early Office and Press Office, document the work performed in the office by Senator Talmadge and his staff. Early Office relates to the Senator's work in the late 1950s. Press Office files record activities in the department and includes information about issues and positions through newsletters, press releases, columns, specialized mailings and speeches; newspaper clippings service files; research information sources and radio and video tape recordings of television interviews.

The next two series were separated from the Legislation Series because of their size and expected research interest. The Civil Rights Series, Series III, pertains to Senator Talmadge's work on civil right issues. These papers detail aspects of the federal government's expansion over state authority in this area and of Talmadge's efforts against such infringement. The Watergate Series, Series IV, includes material related to the Senator's work on the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities and its investigation of the Watergate break-in and cover-up.

Series V. Administration reflects the management of the office and the Senator's personal schedule. Political, Series VI, pertains to Talmadge's campaigning for elective offices. Political Patronage, Series VII, includes files connected to the patronage he exercised by virtue of his position as a United States Senator. Legislation, Series VIII, relates to the central activities of the Senator's office. These files include information related to the development of legislative initiatives and policy positions; legislative issues; research and writing of brief memoranda, speeches and other statements; and voting records. The Personal Series and Mailing Lists Series comprise files that document the personal activities and opinions of Senator Talmadge. They also make up those activities that are not directly associated with "legislating" or furnishing constituent service but are nevertheless part of the routine of every office.

The Flexy Series is cross-reference files of the Senator's responses to constituents and to his colleagues. This series contains files from the automated system that provided a method for creating similar, but individualized letters to Talmadge's constituents. It was used by most senatorial offices to respond to high volume issue mail. The remaining two series, pinks and case files, have not been processed. Case files consist of correspondence dealing with individual military cases, social security cases and the like, are closed because they contain confidential information. Pinks are also cross-reference files of responses to constituents and include some correspondence related to case files, which are closed. Whereas flexys are grouped together by issue, pinks are organized by year and arranged alphabetically. These final two series may be processed at a later date.

Photographs, audio/visual materials, books and memorabilia were separated from the collection for preservation. Inventories of these items have been prepared and are available to researchers.

 


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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN THIS REPOSITORY:

Clifford H. "Baldy" Baldowski Editorial Cartoons, 1948-1982
Ben Blackburn Papers, 1969-1974
 D. W. Brooks Oral History Collection, 1901-
Howard H. "Bo" Callaway Papers, 1965-1976
John W. Davis Papers, 1941, 1958-1974
E. L. Forrester Papers, 1920-1971
 Georgia State Democratic Executive Committee Papers, 1940-1954
Roy V. Harris Papers, 1931-1983
Mack F. Mattingly Papers, 1964-1998
 Erwin Mitchell Papers, 1958-1960
Maston O'Neal Papers, 1963-1970
John L. Pilcher Papers, 1941-1976
Prince H. Preston Papers, 1946-1960
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection, 1903-1974
 Richard B. Russell Oral History interviews,1897-1971
Williamson S. Stuckey Papers, 1966-1974
 Herman E. Talmadge Collection, T. Rogers Wade files, 1978-1980
S. Ernest Vandiver Papers, 1954-1998
Iris F. Blitch Papers
Hugh Peterson, Sr. Papers
Watergate Film Collection
Ed Friend Visual Materials
Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies: Horace Ward Documentary



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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES:

The Georgia Department of Archives and History in Atlanta maintains the official papers of Governor Herman Talmadge.

Richard H. Rich papers, 1902-1981, Woodruff Special Collections, Emory University
William Berry Hartsfield papers, 1892-1980, Woodruff Special Collections, Emory University
Georgia Governors roundtable oral history interview, 1985 Oct. 31, Georgia Government Documentation Project, William Russell Pullen Library, Georgia State University Herman E. Talmadge oral history interview, 1976 June 1, Georgia Government Documentation Project, William Russell Pullen Library, Georgia State University
Georgia's Political Heritage Program oral history interviews, 1985-[ongoing], State University of West Georgia
WSB (Radio station : Atlanta, Ga.), Collection, 1955-1980, Special Collections Department, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University



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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

Subgroup A: Pre-Gubernatorial, 1945-1954
3 boxes, 1.5 linear feet
Prior to his election as governor of Georgia, Herman Talmadge practiced law, farmed, took over publishing his father's weekly newspaper, The Statesman , and started a ham-curing business. Talmadge's first involvement in politics was as his father's gubernatorial campaign manager in 1946. The Pre-Gubernatorial subgroup consists of the subject files for The Statesman and includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed material and photographs. Materials relate to letters to the editor, elections in Georgia and his father, Eugene Talmadge, religion, taxes, communism, and African Americans. Arrangement is alphabetical.

Subgroup B: Georgia Gubernatorial Papers, 1945-1955
25 boxes, 5 ledgers, 14.5 linear feet
After his father's death in 1946, Herman Talmadge began his political career. He filled his father's vacancy in 1947 and served as Georgia's governor until 1955. As governor, Talmadge concentrated on improving educational opportunities for children of all races by establishing youth centers, increasing construction of rural roads, and building additional hospitals and health care centers.

A. Personal Correspondence, 1948-1955
5 boxes, 2.5 linear feet
Personal correspondence, reports, and speeches make up this subseries. Items of interest include a 1948 Governor Inaugural program, a Dedication of the Eugene Talmadge Bridge pamphlet, and a signed Governor's Oath of Office (1948). There are materials that relate to segregation. The Personal Correspondence subseries is arranged in alphabetical order. Gaps exist from files beginning with A to G and U to Z.

B. Subject, 1948-1955
17 boxes, 8.5 linear feet
The subject subseries includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, printed material, and photographs relating to hospitals and health care, budgets, education, elections, highways, schools, taxes and welfare. Arrangement is alphabetical.

C. Guest Registers, 1949-1955
5 volumes, 2 linear feet
Governor Talmadge's guest registers dating from January, 1949 to November, 1955. The guest registers list visitors to Talmadge's office at the Georgia state capitol. Arrangement is chronological.

Subgroup C: United States Senatorial Papers, 1957-1987
1,954 boxes, 1,018.25 linear feet


I. Early Senate Office, 1946-1958
42 boxes, 21 linear feet
This series includes newspaper clippings, reports, printed materials, press releases, speeches and Talmadge's personal notes on various subjects. There is material relating to the budget, communism, the county unit system, education, the Eisenhower administration, farm legislation, foreign affairs, Georgia history, Marvin Griffin, Rule XXII, Melvin Thompson and the two governor controversy in Georgia, the Truman administration and the United Nations.

These papers bridge the period that Herman Talmadge was governor to his first few years as a United States Senator. The press office subseries (1957-1960) and the gubernatorial series coincide with the early senate office subseries. Arrangement is alphabetical by subject.


II. Press Office files, 1957-1980
328 boxes, 159.25 linear feet

The Press Office files include constituent correspondence, grant information, speeches, working files, legislative files, radio and television scripts, news releases, newsletters mailed to Georgia constituents, columns written by Talmadge, and newspaper clippings. The majority of the materials date from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

Constituent correspondence contains information on pending legislation and other issues of local or national concern. Topics include the Vietnam Conflict, the Watergate investigation, and the ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty. Grant files relate to federal aid for projects in Georgia including housing, dam construction, and water systems. Speech files consist of information on speeches Talmadge delivered to various civic, farm, church, and school organizations; local governments; and those to the United States Senate. Topics of the senate speeches include civil rights, rural development, and the Lockheed C-5A.

Working files provide background information on numerous topics including the development of Lake Lanier Islands, forced school busing, the textile trade, the poultry industry, and works incentive program. Also there is information on Talmadge's role in the Watergate investigation, the 1979 Talmadge ethics controversy, the county unit system, segregation and campaign material.

The legislative files consist of correspondence, speeches, new releases, copies of the Congressional Record, and voting records pertaining to legislation of interest to Talmadge, either through authorship or sponsorship.

III. Civil Rights files, 1957-1974
23 boxes, 11.5 linear feet
The Civil Rights files document aspects of the federal government's expansion over state authority in this area, and Talmadge's efforts against such infringement. Included is constituent correspondence, mainly for the year 1968, dealing with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, social unrest, freedom marches, and the Poor People's Campaign. Legislative files contain correspondence, printed materials, and legal opinions pertaining to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, 1964, and 1966, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and busing.

The collection also includes legislative reference service materials, speeches, news releases, subject files, excerpts from the Congressional Record, printed legislation, and newspaper clipping.

IV. Watergate files, 1972-1974
73 boxes, 36.25 linear feet
The United States Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, known as the Ervin Committee, was created in late 1972 by a nonpartisan 77-0 vote. The committee was ordered to investigate the Watergate break-in and cover-up as well as other matters relating to the 1972 presidential campaign. The mandate of the Senate was to investigate thoroughly and hold hearings on the break-in of the Democratic National headquarters at Watergate, the political espionage and sabotage of candidates' campaigns-the so-called "dirty tricks"-and all aspects of campaign financing in the 1972 presidential campaign.

Both Republican and Democratic leadership selected the committee members and gave them broad powers to subpoena witnesses and records as they probed the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington, DC. Senator Sam J. Ervin, D-NC, a former state Supreme Court Justice before coming to the United States Senate in 1954, chaired the special panel. Tapped for service on Ervin's committee were Republicans Howard H. Baker, Jr. of Tennessee, Edward J. Gurney of Florida, and Lowell P. Weicker Jr. of Connecticut, along with Democrats Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, Joseph M. Montoya of New Mexico, and Herman E. Talmadge of Georgia.

The Watergate files reflect Talmadge's involvement with serving on the Senate Select Committee and include committee and subject files, witness information, and proceeding reports. Committee files contain correspondence, legal documents, lists, memorandums, and reports relating to committee business, political espionage, and the Bellino subcommittee. The Bellino subcommittee was composed of Senators Talmadge, Edward Gurnery and Daniel Inouye, and was created to investigate allegations that Carmine Bellino had spied on Republican party campaign officials during the 1960 presidential campaign on behalf of the Democratic party. Major correspondents include Chairman Sam Ervin, Richard Nixon, George Bush, George Schultz, and Carmine S. Bellino.

The subject files consist of witness summaries, statements, exhibits, and correspondence. Materials pertain to illegal campaign contributions by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and Braniff Airways, ITT anti-trust and milk pricing cases, and the Responsiveness Program, an attempt to make government departments more "responsive" to the political needs of Nixon's re-election campaign. The witness files contain biographical sketches, statements, witness summaries, and correspondence of committee witnesses including H. R. Haldeman, John Dean, and John Ehrlichman. Also includes questions asked by Talmadge during the hearings.


V. Administration, 1957-1980
229 boxes, 113.25 linear feet
From 1957 until 1971, the Administration and Press offices shared the same secretary and files. After 1971, the two offices were separated, as were their filing systems. Therefore some of the subseries are identical to those in the Press Office files series.

This series consists of those activities that are not directly associated with "legislating" or providing constituent services but are nevertheless part of the routine of every officeholder.

Also included are visitor cards, guest books, the Senator's appointment books, telephone records, and White House tour requests.

VI. Political, 1950-1980
159 boxes, 80.25 linear feet
This series documents Talmadge's campaigns for the United States Senate seat in 1956 and his re-election campaigns of 1966, 1974 and 1980. Included in this series are correspondence, mailing lists, newspaper clippings, speeches, guest registers, scrapbook, receipts, expenditure reports, printed materials, newsletters, tax returns, and political opinion polls. The purpose of the opinion polls was to reflect support that Talmadge might expect during an election year. There are also materials pertaining to an attempt by some Georgians to persuade Talmadge to run for governor of Georgia in 1966. Arrangement is chronological by campaign.

VII. Political Patronage, 1957-1971
22 boxes, 13.25 linear feet
Many individuals in Georgia and elsewhere sought Senator Talmadge's assistance in winning federal appointments or jobs, and materials here reflect his role in this process. Requests for federal judgeships, federal attorneys and assistant attorneys, federal marshals, Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation committee and Georgia-based postmasters. The files were divided by regions-Northern, Middle, and Southern. Nominations were a standard part of the senator's job, as documented in these files.

VIII. Legislation, 1957-1980
453 boxes, 223.25 linear feet
Senator Talmadge had the most influence on bills that affected American agriculture and farmers. As senator, Talmadge served on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee (1957-1980) and as chairman of this committee (1971-1980), the Joint Committee on the Library (1957-1958), the Rules and Administration Committee (1957-1958), the Finance Committee (1959-1980), the Joint Economic Committee (1965-1973), the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct (1970-1976), the Finance Committee on Veterans' Legislation as chairman (1969), the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (1969-1976), the Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Compensation and Pensions as chairman (1971-1980). He also served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, the Democratic Policy Committee and the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation from 1971 to 1980. Talmadge is probably best known for serving on the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities that investigated the Watergate affair. This investigation ultimately led to the resignation of the president and vice president of the United States and the conviction of three cabinet members on felony charges.

During his twenty-three years as an U. S. Senator, Talmadge felt his greatest contribution was to the Work Incentive Program (WIN). He was also proud of his work that modernized the School Lunch Program and extended health benefits to the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The Legislative series includes constituent correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, and published materials pertaining to legislative activities of the 85th to the 96th congresses. Topics include agriculture, finance, civil rights, environmental monitoring, minimum wage, the Vietnam conflict, the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, the Panama Canal treaty, Talmadge's ethics controversy, and his involvement with the Watergate committee. Also included are Talmadge's voting records and those records of other senators.

Copies of the Congressional Record speeches contain speeches from Talmadge and other senators pertaining to civil rights, Rule XXII (cloture), busing, and the District of Columbia. There is also legislative information consisting of written notes and reports regarding Talmadge's legislative activities.


IX. Personal, 1950-1980
163 boxes, 79 linear feet
The Personal series contains correspondence and material of a personal nature including invitations, greetings, thank yous, condolences and items related to the Richard B. Russell Foundation, which Senator Talmadge served as chairman from 1971 until 1974. Arrangement is chronological by topic.

Especially noteworthy are the subseries Sympathy and Ham Business. Sympathy includes letters of condolence to him and his family relating to the death of his youngest son, Robert, in 1975. The Ham Business subseries contains printed materials and correspondence concerning Talmadge Hams. Betty Talmadge managed the business while the senator worked in Washington. The invitation subseries includes invitations accepted, fulfilled, or regretted.

X. Mailing Lists, 1974-1978
35 volumes, 3 boxes

This series consists mainly of mailing lists for Talmadge's newsletter from 1974 until 1976. Also included are reference guides and computer instructions for compiling the mailing lists.

XI. Flexys, 1965-1980
462 boxes, 231 linear feet
Talmadge's office staff had to coordinate the organization of constituent correspondence records. The tracking system began with attaching the actual letter (incoming and outgoing), along with copies of approved response paragraphs. These materials were then organized under a subject access point. With the adoption of the on-line correspondence management system (CMS) in the 1970s, computer databases became a key component of the correspondence records, and access became more flexible, but dependent on the CMS.

This system provided word processing; the capability of inserting selected, approved paragraphs; personalized salutations and closings; personalized text; the ability to create targeted mailing lists; correspondence records; mail count on issues; automatic filing; and correspondence tracking. The bulk of the collection increased with the on-line system. Currently, efforts are underway to make these records available electronically. However, hardcopies are available in this series.

Topics of interest include tax reform, Vietnam, school desegregation, busing, gun control, social services and the Panama Canal Treaty. Arrangement is chronological.


XII. Related Materials
Related materials are items that by physical form are not part of the papers in the collection, but by content are related to the intellectual content of the papers. Any nontextual materials originally filed with papers were removed for preservation purposes and improved access. These materials include photographs, audiovisual materials, artifacts and books; physical form determines arrangement and storage.


1. Photographs, 1910-1989
2,665 prints and negatives
A collection of over 2,600 unique photographs illustrates the life and career of Senator Talmadge and includes personal photographs as well as those released in public service. Early photographs include images of Talmadge's father, Eugene Talmadge, as a young man in 1910 and span his father's and Herman's political careers.

Contents of this collection range from functions within the Senate, such as Democratic Policy Committee meetings, Senate leadership; White House functions to events such as numerous picnics, dinners, and political rallies; and congressional interns. There are a large number of images of Talmadge with well-known individuals, and some images have been autographed.

These photographs have been arranged in chronological order. Each has been identified by brief description of the photograph, date and size.


2. Audiovisual Materials, 1957-1981
93 audiocassettes, 21 wirerecordings, 13 16mm films, 18 videotapes
The audiovisual materials from the Herman E. Talmadge Collection, 1945-1987 consist of a large number of items in several different formats. The bulk of the collection is composed of audiotape recordings, but it also includes 16mm films, videotapes, vinyl disc recordings, lacquer-coated aluminum disc recordings, wire recordings, and Dictaphone discs.


The audio recordings range in date from a recording of a campaign song for Governor Eugene Talmadge's 1940 campaign to a series of short interviews conducted with Herman Talmadge by various persons in 1980. The majority of the audio recordings, however, are split between the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s (covering the very end of Talmadge's Governorship and the beginning of his tenure as Senator) and the late 1970s (covering the time period of and directly following Talmadge's investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee). Because these recordings cover large spans of time, they address a wide range of subjects and topics and derive from a great variety of sources.


Of the subjects broached in the audio recordings from the 1950s and 1960s, segregation is the most prominent. The topic is discussed in recordings of several radio, television, and personal appearances including interviews on Meet the Press in May and August of 1956 and a WSB radio broadcast of a Senate campaign speech delivered in Rome, Georgia by Talmadge on July 4, 1956.


Topics covered in the recordings from the late-1970s include SALT II, the hostage crisis in Iran of 1979-1981, Cuban refugees, the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, public assistance programs (including the Work Incentive Program), farm price supports, savings account incentives, the military budget, and inflation and the U.S. economy. The recordings are primarily of radio and television appearances on such public affairs programs as “Sound Off” (a WSB radio show), “Georgia Press Conference” (a WTCG television show), “Georgia Roundtable”, “Atlanta Week in Review”, as well as other shows on WXLL, WACX, and WGTV. Apart from appearances to discuss the political topics of the day, however, Talmadge made many appearances on broadcast media to discuss his investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and his personal struggle with alcoholism. Many of those appearances were recorded and are collected here. Also included is a recording of the actual hearing conducted by the Senate Ethics Committee.


Other recordings of note in the collection include a selection of campaign songs for both Eugene and Herman Talmadge's gubernatorial campaigns in Georgia, a speech given by Adlai Stevenson in which he discusses international trade, a recordings of speeches given at Talmadge's 65 th and 67 th birthday parties, dictation by Talmadge of epistolary replies to several constituents, and a lengthy audio letter from Herbert John Schwalert–a retired naval officer who asks that Talmadge authorize the deployment of an expeditionary force in Southeast Asia to rescue American prisoners of war and who performs “Taps” and “America, the Beautiful” on his kazoo, recites the Lord's Prayer, and sings “Old Folks at Home” and “Deep Blue Sea”.


Additional audio recordings on other formats include a collection of wire recordings consisting of an appearance by Talmadge on “Meet the Press” from October 1948, Talmadge's final speech of his 1950 gubernatorial campaign, and additional 1950 campaign speech at Summerville, a speech by Governor E.D. Rivers on from June 1948, an Ellis Arnall campaign speech for M.E. Thompson, Talmadge's 1951 Inauguration Speech, and several other campaign speeches by and debates including Arnall, Thompson, Rivers and Talmadge. Also available are disc recordings of a number of campaign commercials for Talmadge's 1962 run for Senate, a recording of a 1957 CBS program called “The President's Budget: What Should Congress Do?” featuring Talmadge, several radio interviews with Talmadge dating from 1959-1963 (including one for NBC radio on the Supreme Court reapportionment decision), and three commercially produced singles on 45 r.p.m. records (including one by Charlie “The Singing Senator” Albertson).

The 16mm films in the Herman E. Talmadge Collection include a 1951 television program sponsored by the Saturday Evening Post called “Keep Posted: Should Truman be Renominated” in which Talmadge and Governor McMath of Arkansas discuss President Truman; a 1952 appearance by Talmadge on NBC's “The Nation's Press Conference” discussing Senator Russell's campaign for President; a 1960 discussion between Talmadge and Senators Joseph Clarke and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania on the spread of Communism in Cuba, Laos, and Thailand; a 1960 debate on the Civil Rights Bill between Talmadge and Senator Thomas Foley of Washington for “Today”; a 1961 appearance by Talmadge on “Meet the Press” discussing the Civil Rights Bill; a 1961 promotional film produced by Lockheed discussing the C-130 transport plane; a 1962 Christmas address to Georgians from Talmadge; and a 1975 short educational film explaining the free enterprise system that features Piggly-Wiggly Southern of Vidalia, Georgia.

The audiovisual materials in the collection are completed by a small number of videotapes that include a 1977 tape of speeches delivered by Maj. Gen. Charles R. Myer and Col. M.F. Lynes at Fort Gordon Military Base in Georgia, a 1979 television appearance in which Talmadge discusses his investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee, and a recording of a 1980 address by Talmadge before the Georgia General Assembly on the energy crisis.


3. Artifacts
101 items
Senator Talmadge's chair he used on the Senate Floor, a plow from the Red Sea, his campaign ephemera, various plaques, and his official and personal gifts are the principal components of the artifact collection.

Throughout this public service career, Talmadge received many plaques, citations, proclamations, honorary degrees, resolutions, and presentation certificates. Some of the more prestigious were Georgia Forestry Association appreciation award (1980), Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'Rith Atlanta Division 1973 Abe Goldstein Human Relations Award and an Atlanta Braves appreciation award (1971).

All items are inventoried and are accessible by number and by form. Items from the collection rotate in library displays in the exhibit room.


4. Books
The collection includes Talmadge's personal library, office reference volumes, and gift books. All books have been inventoried.

 

 

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ACCESS POINTS

Ervin, Sam J. (Sam James), 1896-1985.
Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994.
Bush, George, 1924-
Shultz, George Pratt, 1920-
Bellino, Carmine S. (Carmine Salvatore), 1905-1990.
Haldeman, H. R. (Harry R.), 1926-1993.
Dean, John W. (John Wesley), 1938-
Ehrlichman, John.
United States. Congress. Senate.
United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities.
United States. Congress. Senate --Cloture.
Braniff Airways.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
Legislators --United States.
Watergate Affair, 1972-1974.
Political corruption --United States.
Finance --Law and legislation --United States.
Governmental investigations --United States.
Legislative hearings --United States.
United States --Politics and government --1951-
United States --Politics and government --1969-1974.
Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968 --Assassination.
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 --Assassination.
United States. Voting Rights Act of 1965.
United States. Civil Rights Act of 1957.
United States. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States. Civil Rights Act of 1966.
Civil rights --United States.
United States --Race relations.
African Americans --Civil rights --Georgia.
African Americans --Civil rights --United States.
Poor People's Campaign.
Civil rights demonstrations --Georgia.
Civil rights demonstrations --United States.
Busing for school integration --Law and legislation --United States.
Busing for school integration --Georgia.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975.
Agricultural laws and legislation --United States.
Panama Canal Treaties (1977)
Grants-in-aid --Georgia.
Textile industry --Georgia.
Cloture.
Congressional records.
Proceedings.
Radio scripts.
Legislative records.
Television scripts.
Speeches.

 

 

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FOLDER LIST

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