News

The Russell Library, in collaboration with UGA’s Institute on Human Development and Disability and the Georgia Disability History Alliance, is hosting the second annual Georgia Disability History Symposium.

 Titled “The History of Mental Illnesses in Georgia: Moving Away from a Difficult Past,” the symposium will feature an honest and open discussion of the history of mental health reform and the impact of systemic, legal, and legislative changes. The day will conclude with a look ahead at the opportunities and challenges facing mental health advocates in Georgia.

 An exhibit of items related to the history of mental health in Georgia from the Russell’s Georgia Disability History Archive will be available for viewing.

Foxfire, a project begun to inspire North Georgia students that gained national attention documenting the cultural heritage of southern Appalachia, is the focus of a University of Georgia exhibit on its 50thanniversary.

An opening reception for “Foxfire: 50 years of Cultural Journalism Documenting folk Life in the North Georgia Mountains” is scheduled for Sept. 29 from 6-9 p.m. at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The exhibit uses photos and artifacts, including textiles, homemade toys and tools and a moonshine still, to illustrate how Foxfire has documented folk life and customs.

Foxfire began with students collecting  oral histories of North Georgia residents and publishing them in a magazine format, beginning in 1967. The project quickly gained national attention and anthologies of the articles the students produced made best-seller lists.

It’s National Service Dog Month and National DNA, Genomics and Stem Cell Education Month. Please stop by the Curriculum Materials Library and see the book displays on these topics curated by our student worker, Kiara Portillo. We’re in 207 Aderhold and offer thousands of children’s books & K-12 textbooks. Discover our new arrivals by clicking on the CML tab.

A new exhibit that explores the evolution of campaigning for political office in Georgia opens today in the Russell Library Gallery. On the Stump: What Does it Take to Get Elected in Georgia? invites visitors to step into the shoes of a candidate and onto the campaign trail: from the initial decision to run, to crafting a strategy, winning the nomination, shaking hands, kissing babies, and everything in between.The display considers the social, cultural, and political history of a state in motion from 1900 until 2012.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development has declared 2016 to be “The Year of Georgia Music.” Inspired by this theme, the staff of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection has created an exhibit featuring highlights from the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Bill Anderson, and Cindy Wilson and Keith Bennett collections, a display guaranteed to keep Georgia music on your mind.

A collection of photographs and oral historical accounts provide fresh insight into President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s relationship with his adopted state in a book out now from the University of Georgia Press.

A President in our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia,  was researched and written by Kaye Lanning Minchew,  who retired in 2015 as the executive director of the Troup County Archives. A book talk with Minchew will be held Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Open free to the public, the talk will be followed by a reception.

Georgia has been blessed historically with an abundance of water, but is quickly becoming familiar with water scarcity problems. Exploding growth and development in the north and increasing irrigation needs in the south are causing demand for water to increase.

“Every Drop Counts: Managing Georgia’s Water Supply,” the annual exhibit from the Stephen Elliott Draper Center and Archives for the Study of Water Law and Policy,  guides you through the many challenges facing Georgia’s water policy, how it is implemented today, and possibilities for the future. Items on display include a rainwater barrel, fire hydrant, local water samples, photos, maps, and illustrations.

The University of Georgia Libraries and the UGA Center for Teaching and Learnin​g (CTL) announce a new faculty development opportunity for individuals who teach full-time at The University of Georgia. The Special Collections Libraries Faculty Fellows Program provides instructional support and a $2000 financial stipend to faculty who wish to develop new courses or redesign existing courses to make significant use of the collections and resources of the University of Georgia’s three special collections libraries: the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Richard B.

The Peabody Archives is a unique collection of media history, housing over 90,000 programs submitted to the Peabody Awards since its inception in 1941. What makes the collection exceptional is the breadth of stories through which their contributors have made a claim for historical significance. Items from local broadcasters, in particular, carry special value due to their rareness (Peabody houses the only remaining copies), as well as the fact that local broadcasters were much more active in telling local stories through original programming several decades ago. As such, the Archives is a distinctive repository of cultural memory that challenges our understanding of who and what we are as a nation and what we think we know about television and its role in recent American history.

Country music star “Whisperin’ Bill” Anderson will return to Athens Sept. 7 to perform specially selected songs and read from his well-received autobiography, now out from the University of Georgia Press.

Known as “Whisperin’ Bill” to generations of fans for his soft vocalizations and spoken lyrics, Anderson is the only songwriter in country music history to have a song on the charts in each of the past seven consecutive decades. A UGA graduate and member of the Grand Ol’ Opry, Anderson will be at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries for the event, which begins at 4 p.m.  It is open free to the public and a reception will follow, giving visitors an opportunity to see an exhibit drawn from Anderson’s collection of memorabilia. Reservations are requested by Aug. 31 to Leandra Nessel at libdevelopment@uga.edu or (706) 542-3879.