Special Collections News

Dinner, Poetry Reading to Celebrate new Inductees to Georgia Writers Hall of Fame

Submitted by Camie on

The University of Georgia Libraries will celebrate three new inductees to the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame with author discussions and a special dinner this November.

The festivities honor food writer John T. Edge and poet A.E. Stallings, as well as pioneering journalist Julia Collier Harris, who is being inducted posthumously.

Library Partners on Latino, Hispanic History Project

Submitted by Camie on

A statewide initiative is underway to document the contributions the Latino and Hispanic communities have made to the landscape of modern Georgia politics.

The project is being spearheaded by the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia Libraries and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials and GALEO Latino Community Development Fund.

To ensure the most comprehensive documentation and accessibility of the political history of all of Georgia’s citizens, the Russell Library and GALEO will work to identify and document people and organizations representing the interests of the Latino and Hispanic communities. This effort will preserve traditional records and manuscripts and capture oral histories with elected officials, activists and business leaders.

New Exhibit Examines the History of Convict Labor in Georgia

Submitted by Camie on

The University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library takes a closer look at Georgia’s incarceration history in the new exhibit The New South and New Slavery: Convict Labor in Georgia, now on display at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The display examines the forced labor of prisoners in the state from the beginnings of the convict lease system in the 19thcentury until the abolition of the chain gang in 1945.

'Beautiful and Brutal' Exhibit Looks at 2017 UGA Football Season

Submitted by Camie on

As players and fans prepare for the kickoff of the University of Georgia’s football season, the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library plans to revisit recent program history in the new exhibit Beautiful and Brutal: Georgia Bulldogs Football, 2017. The display will open Friday, Aug. 30, at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries at the University of Georgia.

New Exhibit Travels Back to 1979

Submitted by washnock on

There are some moments in history that become powerful touchstones, revisited to reflect and inform a better understanding of the present day. The Russell Library has developed a periodic exhibit series, Now and Then, to revisit pivotal years in modern American history. This summer we invite you to travel back to 1979!

1979 Logo

2019 Lillian Smith Book Award Winners Announced

Submitted by Jan Hebbard on

Virginia Eubanks, Rachel Devlin, and Vanessa Siddle Walker are the 2019 recipients of the Lillian Smith Book Awards. An award ceremony will take place at the Center for the History of the Book on Sunday, Sept. 1st at 2:30 p.m. 

The Southern Regional Council established the Lillian Smith award after Smith's 1966 death. Internationally acclaimed as author of the controversial novel, Strange Fruit (1944), Lillian Smith was the most outspoken of white, mid-20th century Southern writers on issues of social and racial injustice. Today the University of Georgia, the Georgia Center for the Book and Piedmont College join the SRC in presenting the awards. 

New Exhibit to Explore the History of Convict Labor in Georgia

Submitted by Jan Hebbard on

The University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library will take a closer look at Georgia’s carceral history in the new exhibit The New South and New Slavery: Convict Labor in Georgia, opening July 26 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. The display examines the forced labor of prisoners in the state from the start of the convict lease system in 1868 until the abolition of the chain gang in 1945.

Life and Career of Athens Poet with Worldwide Connections Explored in New Exhibit

Submitted by Jan Hebbard on

Poet Coleman Barks has spent the past sixty years exploring the possibilities of American ecstatic poetry. His life and work is the subject of a new exhibition, Praying Aloud in Public: The Papers of Coleman Barks, opening in the Rotunda Gallery of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries on Friday, May 24.

Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Barks studied English literature at University of California, Berkeley, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before joining the faculty of the University of Georgia in 1967. He taught at UGA until his retirement in 1997.