Special Collections News

A University of Georgia collaboration that presented Georgia’s incarceration history in an exhibition and on stage is being honored as one of the top public history projects in the nation.

Archivists with UGA’s special collections libraries partnered with theatre and dance faculty on campus and at Spelman College to engage students in an exploration of reports, correspondence, newsfilm, photographs and other original materials from archival collections documenting the history of convict labor in Georgia. Over the course of three semesters, students and faculty created a devised theatrical performance grounded in that history.

The documentary Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer will be shown  Wednesday, Feb. 6 at the Tate Student Center Theater. A reception will be held at 5 p.m., followed by the documentary at 6 p.m.

There is no cost to attend, but tickets are required. Reserve your ticket: https:// bit.ly/ 2CkXz48

The UGA Libraries host award-winning author Tayari Jones Feb. 7 in celebration of the paperback launch of An American Marriage. Jones was a 2018 inductee into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, but was unable to attend the fall ceremony.  The award will be presented at this event, which is co-sponsored by Avid Bookshop.

The program is from 7-9 p.m. at the Foundry Ballroom (295 E. Dougherty Street, Athens, GA 30606). Tickets are $22 and include a paperback copy of either An American Marriage or Silver Sparrow. Books will be distributed upon check-in to the event.

An American Marriage was selected for the The New York Times' and The Washington Post's Most Notable of 2018 lists and was named 2018 Book of the Year by Apple Books. TIME Magazine selected it as the 2018 Best Fiction of the Year

Do you love history? Are you looking for an opportunity to work in museums and/or archives? Then look no further!

Apply to the Special Collections Student Docent Program today!

Our goal is to recruit UGA students who are committed to leading engaging tours of the Special Collections Building's exhibit galleries for visitors of all ages. Participants in the program will develop skills in archival research, public speaking, and community outreach. They will also gain valuable work experience in both archive and museum settings.

The Women’s March on Washington, D.C. in January 2017 comes into focus in a new exhibit at the University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. “Nevertheless, She Resisted: Documenting the Women’s Marches” opens to the public Friday, Jan. 18. 

The annual display of the UGA Charter will be Jan. 28  through Feb. 2 to mark Founders' Day (Jan. 27), the anniversary of the document's signing. To protect the ink of the parchment manuscript from further fading it is displayed to the public only once a year in the Hargrett Library of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

Freda Scott Giles, UGA associate professor emeritus of theater and film studies and African-American studies, will present this year's Founders' Day Lecture on "W.E.B. Du Bois: Dramatist” at 1:30 p.m. in the UGA Chapel.

Step right up for a look behind the curtain at the shows that once dazzled American audiences in a new exhibit at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. “Under the Big Top: The American Circus and Traveling Tent Shows,” opens to the public on Friday, Jan. 18 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

The Russell B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies is proud to host the exhibit “Education of the Negro: a depression era photographic study by Horace Mann Bond” featuring over eighty photos from Bond’s field study of black student achievement. Opening on January 18, 2019, in the Harrison Feature Gallery at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, the exhibition, curated by Gallery L1, Atlanta, offers a glimpse into the lives of African American children in the 1930s.

In accordance with the University's late opening on Tuesday, Dec 11th, due to possible bad weather, the UGA Libraries will be opening at 10:00 a.m. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

The Russell Special Collections Libraries will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving. We will be closed Saturday for the home football game vs Ga Tech. 

We will resume our regular hours Monday, Nov. 26 8 am - 5 pm Monday through Friday and Saturdays 1-5 pm.