Established in 1971 to collect the “living histories” of the late Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr.’s family, friends, and associates, the Oral History Program is Russell Library’s oldest operating unit. Since then, the Oral History Program has grown and evolved to document thousands of voices at the intersections of politics, policy, culture, and society. Politics and public policy projects such as Documenting Congress, Reflections on Georgia Politics, Senate Staff, Two-Party Georgia are featured prominently. Additional collection strengths include the African American experience, Georgia music history, and the UGA Student Veterans Oral History Project.

Since 2017, the Russell Foundation has generously provided more than $150,000 to fund for oral history projects at the Russell Library documenting the role of Georgia and Georgians in politics, policy, and public life. The Russell Foundation’s ongoing support makes it possible for the Russell Library to capture, preserve, and provide access to these high-quality, video and audio oral history interviews.  

To learn more about oral history at the Russell Library, please visit https://www.libs.uga.edu/russell-library/oral-history. To view oral history collections and watch past interviews, visit https://georgiaoralhistory.libs.uga.edu/.