Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries Building; a library building dedicated to Richard B. Russell, Jr.
Item
- Legacies Classification
- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
- Title
- Background and Context
- Physical Description
- Creator/Participating Person(s)
- Date created, installed or dedicated
- Historical Period
- Funded by
- Location: Institution, City, State
- Learn More About this Subject
-
Memorial Structure
-
Named Building
-
Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries Building; a library building dedicated to Richard B. Russell, Jr.
-
The Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collections Libraries Building houses the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, including University Archives, the Richard B. Russell Jr. Library for Political Research and Studies, and the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Collection.
The building is named for Richard Brevard Russell, Jr., who represented Georgia in the United States Senate from 1933-1971. Russell supported racial segregation and co-authored the Southern Manifesto with Strom Thurmond. Russell and 17 fellow Democratic Senators, along with one Republican, blocked the passage of civil rights legislation via the filibuster. After Russell's protégé, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, Russell led a Southern boycott of the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Russell served in the Senate until his death from emphysema in 1971.
Senator Russell is a UGA alumnus, having earned his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1918. As a student, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society.
Apart from the Russell Building being named in his honor, Richard B. Russell is also the namesake of the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, one of three repositories located in the building. The Russell Library was established in 1974 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc., Georgia General Assembly, and Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The Library’s original mission was to collect and preserve materials documenting the life and career of Richard B. Russell, Jr., but it has since expanded to become an archive for politics and public policy in Georgia and an array of issues related to the American political system.
-
Three-story library building with an exhibit and event level, classroom space, research rooms, and a state-of-the-art high density vault with 340,000 cubic feet of storage space.
-
Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc.
-
17 February 2012
-
Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc.
Position: 674 (10 views)