S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers, 1954-1998
[bulk 1954-1972]
122 boxes, 49 linear feet
13 scrapbooks, 372 photographs, 13 cartoons

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
Ernest Vandiver

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

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

Processing Notes: Newspaper clippings have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content. Photographs have been separated for preservation purposes and cataloged. The scrapbooks eventually will be microfilmed.

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: S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia.


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BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE:

Samuel Ernest Vandiver, Jr. was born to Samuel Ernest and Vanna Bowers Vandiver in Canon, Franklin County, Georgia, on July 3, 1918. He attended Lavonia High School and Darlington School in Rome before attending and graduating from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in history in 1940 and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1942. While a student at the university, Vandiver was the president of numerous campus organizations, including Phi Delta Theta fraternity, Blue Key leadership fraternity, Phi Kappa Literary Society, and the Pan-Hellenic Council. He was also the president of his freshman law class, as well as a member of the Sphinx Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, the Gridiron Society, the Pelican Club, and Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.

After graduation, Vandiver enlisted as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force and received a second lieutenant commission in March 1944. Health complications prevented him from continuing service as a pilot, and he was reassigned as defense counsel for the Air Force in Arizona and later, as a legal advisor to individual airmen. By 1945 and the end of his military obligation, Vandiver left the Air Force at the rank of captain.

Upon return to Lavonia, Vandiver ran for city mayor and won the election unopposed in November 1945. In addition to his mayoral duties, in December 1946, Vandiver passed the Georgia Bar and joined Joseph D. Quillian's law firm in Winder, which then became Quillian and Vandiver in May 1947. On September 3,1947, he married Sybil Elizabeth (Betty) Russell, niece of Senator Richard B. Russell.

In 1948, newly elected Governor Herman Talmadge appointed Vandiver his adjutant general. Only thirty years old, Vandiver was the youngest adjutant general in the nation. In 1952, he took a leave of absence from his post as director of the Selective Service of Georgia to assist in Senator Richard B. Russell's 1952 presidential campaign. In 1954, Vandiver was elected lieutenant governor and served under Governor S. Marvin Griffin, Sr. from 1955 to 1959.

In the most remarkable gubernatorial election landslide in recent Georgia history, Vandiver won the Democratic primary on September 10, 1958. He carried 156 counties, 400 county unit votes, and 499,477 popular votes compared to his two opponents' (William Bodenhamer and Lee Roy Abernathy) total of 120,929 votes. Due to the functions of Georgia's county unit system, Vandiver's primary win meant that he had also won the gubernatorial seat. Vandiver was the last Georgia governor elected under this system, which was abolished in 1963 with the decision of Gray v. Sanders in the U.S. Supreme Court.

When Vandiver came to office in 1959, it was in the midst of a spending scandal throughout Georgia's state departments. He immediately ordered most of the state departments and agencies to reduce their expenditures by ten percent, implemented efficient business practices, and appointed competent directors to the most troubled departments. No further fiscal scandal plagued his administration.

Segregation, described by Vandiver as “the most over-riding internal problem ever to confront the people of Georgia in our lifetime,” was his next major challenge. Under his administration, the University of Georgia was integrated in 1961, ending 175 years of segregated education. In an effort to enforce the federal court order directing Atlanta to desegregate its public schools by September 1961, Vandiver oversaw the entrance of nine black students to formerly all-white high schools.

The Vandiver administration also oversaw the transfer of Georgia's neglected historical records to a new seventeen-story building constructed in Atlanta to house the archives. He also influenced the Georgia General Assembly to increase appropriations and federal assistance to the Milledgeville hospital for the mentally ill.

After his term as governor, Vandiver returned to practicing law in Atlanta, but eventually moved his business back to Lavonia. He again ran for governor in 1966, but was forced to withdraw from the race due to a heart attack. In 1971, he served under Governor Jimmy Carter as adjutant general. In 1972, he ran unsuccessfully for Georgia's senatorial seat left vacant at the death of Senator Russell. Vandiver received twenty percent of the vote in the fifteen-man senatorial race, but ultimately lost to Sam Nunn.

Vandiver has been active in civic and business endeavors in Lavonia and the state. In Lavonia, he has served as chairman of the board of directors of the Northeast Georgia Bank of Lavonia, president of the board of directors of the Lavonia Development Corporation, and deacon in the First Baptist Church. He has also served as president of the Georgia Seed Company and the Independent Bankers of Georgia from 1976 to 1977, as well as been a member of the “President's Club” of the University of Georgia.

The Vandivers lived in Lavonia and had three children: Samuel Ernest III (Chip), Vanna Elizabeth, and Jane Brevard.

Vandiver died in 2005.



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SCOPE AND CONTENT:


The S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr. Papers consist of office files and personal papers including correspondence, speeches, press releases, reports from state agencies, news stories, editorials, photographs, and scrapbooks from Vandiver's career as governor of Georgia (1959-1963), lieutenant governor of Georgia (1955-1958), lawyer, and from his post-career years. There are also materials related to Vandiver's campaign activities, including his campaign for governor of Georgia in 1966 and for the United States Senate in 1972. Series I. Governor's Office Files, 1959-1962, contains Vandiver's unofficial papers. His official gubernatorial papers are located at the Georgia Department of Archives and History in Atlanta, Georgia.

 


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ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT

The collection is organized into seven series: I. Governor's Office Files, 1959-1962; II. Lieutenant Governor's Office Files, 1955-1958; III. Campaigns, 1954-1972; IV. Speech and Press, 1954-1966; V. Legal Office Files, 1963-1966; VI. Related Materials, 1948-1972 and VII. Post-Career, 1992-1998. Series arrangements differ among series and are described in the individual series descriptions.


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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN THIS REPOSITORY:

Erwin Mitchell Papers, 1958-1960
 John L. Pilcher Papers, 1941-1976
Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection
Richard B. Russell Oral History Collection
Harold Paulk Henderson, Sr. Oral History Collection: Series II. S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr.
Ed Friend Visual Materials
Carl E. Sanders Papers
Roy V. Harris Papers
Herman E. Talmadge Collection
Robert G. Stephens Papers
Documentary Oral History Series
- Griffin Bell
- Carl Sanders

 

 

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RELATED COLLECTIONS IN OTHER REPOSITORIES:

Georgia Government Documentation Project, Series A: Georgia Governor's Oral History Collection, Special Collections Department, Georgia State University
S. Marvin Griffin Papers, Bainbridge College Library
Sam Nunn Papers, Emory University
Peter Zack Greer Papers, Georgia Southern University
Griffin Bell Papers, School of Law, Mercer University
Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, Morehouse College
Governor of Georgia Jimmy Carter Papers, Georgia Archives



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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:

I. Governor's Office Files, 1959-1962
73 boxes, 37 linear feet, 2 card files

I. Governor's Office Files is organized into three subseries: A. Subject Files, B. County Files, and C. Personal Files. The series contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports and printed materials and documents Vandiver's work as governor of Georgia.

A. Subject Files is organized three sub-subseries: 1. 1961-1962, 2. 1960, and 3. 1959. Arrangement within each sub-subseries is alphabetical. The files contain information about yearly budgets, education, 1960 legislative apportionment, the highway department, industry, the general assembly, and segregation. There is also a small amount of information on the integration of the University of Georgia and the Commission on Economy and Reorganization. For a retrospective assessment of Vandiver's role in the Martin Luther King arrest in Georgia in 1960, see Series VII. Post-Career, Subseries A. Correspondence.

B. County Files is arranged alphabetically by county. The files consist of correspondence from individuals residing in a particular county. Also included are lists of county officials and legislative members.

 

C. Personal Files is arranged in alphabetical order. The personal files mainly consist of governor's conference information and invitations.


II. Lieutenant Governor's Office Files, 1955-1958
13 boxes, 6.5 linear feet

Series II. Lieutenant Governor's Office Files is organized in three subseries: A. County Files, B. Correspondence, and C. Subject Files. The series documents Vandiver's work as lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Subseries A. County Files is arranged alphabetically by county. Both the county and subject files indicate prospective supporters in his upcoming race for governor.

Subseries B. Correspondence is arranged chronologically and consists of three miscellaneous files from 1958.

Subseries C. Subject Files is arranged in reverse chronological order. Topics relate to the 1958 legislature, rural road bonds, and segregation. Of interest are materials related to Vandiver's pre-campaign political interests, especially in 1958. Both the county and subject files indicate prospective supporters in his upcoming race for governor.

III. Campaigns, 1954-1972
17 boxes, 8.5 linear feet

The Campaign file is organized in five subseries: A. United States Senate 1972, B. Governor of Georgia 1966, C. Governor of Georgia 1958, D. Lieutenant Governor of Georgia 1954, and E. Alphabetical Name File. Vandiver's four major political campaigns are documented in this series. Major types of materials include county files, subject files, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. Files in Series V. Legal Office Files contain frequent references to Vandiver's political interests and should be consulted in connection with Series III. Campaigns.


Subseries A. United States Senate 1972 is organized in five sub-subseries: 1. Announcements, Platform, Speaking Schedules, 2. Speeches and Press Releases, 3. Subject files, 4. Correspondence by county, and 5. Contributions by county. Arrangement within each sub-subseries is alphabetical or in original order. The 1972 United States Senate materials include announcements, platforms, speaking schedules, speeches, press releases, subject files, county files and contribution files.


Subseries B. Governor of Georgia 1966 is organized in four sub-subseries: 1. Correspondence, 2. Letters of Support, 3. Newspaper Clippings, and 4. Platform. Arrangement within each sub-subseries is in reverse chronological order or in original order. The 1966 campaign was aborted in May on the advice of Vandiver's physician. Letters of support began in September 1965, and continued through May 1966. Also included are correspondence, newspaper clippings and platform information.


Subseries C. Governor of Georgia 1958 is organized in five sub-subseries: 1. Post-Campaign, 2. Announcement and Platform, 3. Plans and Speeches, 4. Publicity, and 5. Newspaper Clippings 1956-1958. Files for the 1958 race for governor include announcements, platform, speeches, publicity, newspaper clippings, and post-campaign news stories.


Subseries D. Lieutenant Governor of Georgia 1954 is arranged in reverse chronological order. Material in this series is limited, but does include his candidacy announcement and newspaper clippings.


Subseries E. Alphabetical Name File is arranged alphabetically by surname and by county. A card file of names was kept through the years. Only a partial listing by county has survived.

IV. Speech and Press, 1954-1966
15 boxes, 7.25 linear feet

Series IV. Speech and Press is arranged in reverse chronological order and consists of speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, and rough drafts. All campaign speeches are filed in this series except for those made during Vandiver's race for United States Senate in 1972, which are located in Series III. Campaign.

V. Legal Office Files, 1963-1966
20 boxes, 10 linear feet

Series V. Legal Office Files is organized in two subseries: A. General Correspondence and B. Personal/Political. This series contains the files that Vandiver kept during his years of private law practice, but are not case files. Files in this series contain frequent references to Vandiver's political interests and should be consulted in connection with papers in Series III. Campaigns.

Subseries A. is organized in two sub-subseries: 1. Chronological and 2. Subject. General correspondence is arranged in reverse chronological order and all other correspondence is arranged in alphabetical order by either surname of correspondent, company name, or general subject. The subseries includes materials concerning volunteer and appointive work in which Vandiver was engaged on the state level.

Subseries B. Personal/Political is organized in three sub-subseries: 1. Chronological, 2. Subject, and 3. Invitations, Cards, and Letters of Thanks. Arrangement in sub-subseries 1. Chronological and 3. Invitations, Cards, and Letters of Thanks is reverse chronological order, whereas arrangement in sub-subseries 2. Subject is in original order.

VI. Related Materials, 1948-1972
This series is organized in two subseries: A. Scrapbooks, 1948-1972, B. Photographs, 1957-1972, and C. Editorial Cartoons.

A. Scrapbooks, 1948-1972
13 scrapboooks
This subseries consists of thirteen scrapbooks that document Vandiver's political experience. The scrapbooks contain photographs, newspaper clippings, programs, brochures, and press releases. Topics include the 1962 governor's conference, the opening of I -75, the National Guard, 1958 gubernatorial campaign, and his senatorial race.

B. Photographs, 1957-1972
372 photographs
This series contains 372 photographs and 52 negatives. Photographs were removed from original collection for preservation purposes and separately cataloged. Subjects include Vandiver's 1958 campaign for governor, the 1961 governor's conference, state buildings, and individuals. Each photograph has been assigned a number and given a brief description including individuals, event and date, if known.

 

C. Editorial Cartoons
13 items
All cartoons document Vandiver's tenure as Governor and various campaigns including 1972 Senate race. Six of the cartoons were drawn by Clifford H. "Baldy" Baldowski. The remaining cartoons were drawn by John Redmond, Somerville, and Wells.

VII. Post Career, 1992-1998
1 folder containing 5 items

Series VII. Post-Career was added in March 1998 and includes materials documenting Vandiver's post-career activities. Materials consist chiefly of correspondence relating to Vandiver's account of his participation in the events surrounding the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr. in DeKalb County, Georgia, in 1960. This includes Vandiver's remembrance of the appeal from then-presidential candidate John Kennedy to Vandiver to intercede on King's behalf. Vandiver provides an outline of his participation in the arrangements, which led to King's release from prison. He also discusses the political ramifications of this release for himself and for presidential candidate Kennedy.

 

 

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ACCESS POINTS

Georgia. Governor (1959-1963: Vandiver )
Georgia. Office of the Governor.
Georgia. Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Governors --Georgia.
Georgia --Politics and government --1951-



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FOLDER LIST

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


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