UGA Special Collections Libraries

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The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies is an archive of political and historic primary documents relating to the modern American political system. The Russell Library is one of three Special Collections Libraries located in the Richard B. Russell Building on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens. The address is 300 S. Hull Street. The Russell Library is a department within the University of Georgia Libraries that reports to the University Librarian.The Russell Library is a charter member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress.HistoryFoundingDuring the 1960s representatives of the University of Georgia Libraries corresponded with Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr. on several occasions about donating his papers. In 1969 a group of Russell's friends persuaded him that a foundation should be established to document his life and career. In June 1970 the Richard B. Russell Foundation was incorporated under the laws of the state of Georgia.After the senator's death in 1971, the Russell Foundation and its first chair, U.S. senator Herman E. Talmadge, raised a significant endowment to establish the library and to fund a Russell Chair in American History at the university. Working with the University System Board of Regents and University of Georgia officials, the foundation trustees agreed to locate the Russell Library on the ground floor of the university's main library, with its own entrance. In 1974 the executors of the Russell estate turned over the Russell collection to the foundation, which then transferred it to the university. The Russell Library was dedicated in June 1974.