Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

Amateur films and filmmaking will be the stars of the day Oct. 21 when National Home Movie Day 2017 will be observed  in Athens at the UGA Special Collections Libraries.

National Home Movie Day is a worldwide celebration of amateur films and filmmaking, held annually in October.  The event provides an opportunity for attendees to bring in their home movies, learn more about their own family films, how to care for films and videotapes, and how home movies have helped capture personal history.

The event will be 2-4 p.m. at the Richard b. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, 300 S. Hull Street, on the University of Georgia campus.  Free parking is available in the Hull Street parking deck. This year’s event is being sponsored by the University of Georgia Libraries’ Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection.

During the era of Prohibition Americans could no longer manufacture, sell, or transport intoxicating beverages. Spirited: Prohibition in America, a new exhibition opening Sept. 1 at the UGA Special Collections Libraries explores this tumultuous time in American history, when flappers and suffragists, bootleggers and temperance lobbyists, and legends, such as Al Capone and Carrie Nation, took sides in this battle against the bottle.

Visitors will learn about the complex issues that led America to adopt Prohibition through the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919 until its repeal through the 21st Amendment in 1933. The amendment process, the changing role of liquor in American culture, Prohibition’s impact on the roaring ‘20s, and the role of women, and how current liquor laws vary from state to state are among the topics addressed.

The Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries at the University of Georgia will host its bi-annual reception celebrating new exhibitions April 13 at
5:30 p.m. The event will include live music, spotlight tours, light refreshments and gallery games. The reception is free and open to the public.

Exhibitions highlighted are: “Necessary Words & Images: 70 Years of the Georgia Review,” “Slavery at the University of Georgia,” “Equality Under the Law: History of the Equal Rights Amendment,” “A Championship Tradition: The NCAA Tennis Tournament in Athens,” "The Art of the Press Kit," and “On the Stump: What Does it Take to Get Elected in Georgia?” and “Olympic Lens: Exploring the 1996 Atlanta Games”

A new program series hosted by the Richard B. Russell Library this April invites attendees to consider the powers and function of the U.S. Congress. Titled Civic Knowledge = Civic Power, the weekly program hosted from 12:30-1:30 p.m. looks to increase civic knowledge on campus and in the community with short lectures and informal discussion with speakers from UGA’s Department of Political Science.  

The powers of the United States Congress are considerable and well established. Congress can collect taxes, coin money, declare war, raise and support armies and a navy, and make all laws necessary and proper to carry out its powers – just to name a few. But understanding Congress cannot be done in a vacuum or just through a listing of powers

Local chefs will once again take on the School Lunch Challenge March 18, creating tasty dishes that meet USDA requirements for the National School Lunch Program. Attendees will have a chance to sample the creations at the cooking competition from 12-1:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Whitehead Road Elementary School.