Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

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Muhammed Ali’s lighting of the Olympic cauldron in 1996 signaled the beginning of the Olympic Games — at the same moment, it launched Atlanta to the international stage. Thirty years later, a new exhibit at the University of Georgia Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries looks back on the formative moment in Georgia history and the marathon of preparations leading up to the opening ceremony that would secure the city’s future.

Researchers can now use a modernized search tool to find unique materials preserved at the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries (SCL).

The updated technology allows for easier location of materials from hand-written journals, letters, and business ledgers, textiles, political papers, and other unique items from the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library and the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. (A separate search tool is in place for the Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, the third unit comprising the UGA Special Collections Libraries.)

The revamped search tool known as SCLFind allows for more detailed descriptions and filtering of results, allowing researchers more insight into their searches.

To search for special collections materials, visit libs.uga.edu/scl/research/collections

T. Rogers Wade, distinguished University of Georgia alumnus, civic leader and longtime supporter of the UGA Libraries, died Dec. 7, leaving a lasting legacy marked by public service, philanthropy and leadership across the state.

This article appears on UGA Today

Alumnus, businessman and civic leader T. Rogers Wade has been named the 2025 recipient of the Dooley Friends of the UGA Libraries Award at the University of Georgia, an honor dedicated to the legacy of academic support from legendary Bulldog football coach Vince Dooley and his wife, Barbara.

The first major biography in 20 years on Jeannette Rankin, written by historian Lorissa Rinehart, was released on Election Day 2025. Winning the Earthquake (St. Martin’s Press, November 2025) reintroduces Rankin, the national icon and longtime Georgia resident, who defied all odds to be elected the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress.

On Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m., the annual Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture held at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia will feature a conversation with Rinehart discussing Rankin’s legacy and how her fearless leadership shaped the women’s rights and peace movements of the 20th century. Winning the Earthquake will be for sale at the event, and Rinehart will be signing copies.

Building on their award-winning faculty fellows program, University of Georgia Libraries in partnership with the Office of Instruction and EITS will offer two opportunities for faculty to design new courses centered on unique resources that drive active learning and student engagement.

The Creative Engagement Wing Faculty Fellows program launches in the spring, preparing faculty to use the cutting edge spaces of the new MLC Creative Engagement Wing to facilitate student innovation, collaboration, and hands-on learning.

Former Los Angeles Times Publisher and CNN President Tom Johnson will discuss his new book Driven: A Life in Public Service and Journalism from LBJ to CNN as part of the University of Georgia’s Fall 2025 Signature Lecture series on Wednesday, October 29. The public conversation with Red and Black Executive Director Charlotte Varnum will begin at 4 p.m. at the UGA Special Collections Libraries Building, with a light reception and a book signing to follow.

In a landmark donation that underscores the importance of Latino voices in Southern history, Mundo Hispanico/MundoNOW —Georgia’s longest-standing Spanish-language news organization—has gifted its complete print archives to the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

The collection, representing over 40 years of uninterrupted publication from 1979 to the present, provides an extraordinary, detailed chronicle of Latino life, leadership, and community-building in Georgia and the Southeast. As a primary news source for Spanish-speaking residents for decades, Mundo Hispanico offered vital information, advocacy, and cultural affirmation to generations of immigrant families and new Americans.

Deborah Blum, celebrated author of The Poisoner’s Handbook and The Poison Squad, will return to Athens, where her investigative journalism career began, for a discussion about the science and safety of food.

The Sept. 23 event, which has been designated as a University of Georgia Signature Lecture, will serve as Blum’s induction into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, as well as the annual Food, Power, and Politics Lecture sponsored by the Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

University of Georgia Associate Provost & University Librarian Toby Graham has announced the appointment of Dr. Ashton Ellett as the director of the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

Ellett, who has served as the Russell Library’s politics and public policy archivist since 2018, will also oversee the Georgia Capitol Museum in Atlanta as part of his new role. He succeeds Sheryl Vogt, who recently retired after marking 50 years with the Russell Library, one of three special collections units within the University of Georgia Libraries.