Special Collections News

With women’s suffrage artifacts on display in the galleries, the University of Georgia’s Special Collections Libraries will celebrate Women’s History Month this March with a number of special events.

The events, co-sponsored by the UGA Institute for Women's Studies and Lucy Hargrett Draper Center and Archives for the Study of the Rights of Women in History and Law, include a film series and a keynote lecture.

The film series kicks off on March 2 with Iron Jawed Angels, a historical drama based on the suffrage movement in the 1910s. The Monday evening series continues with Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice on March 16, Standing on My Sister's Shoulders on March 23, and Golden Gate Girls on March 30. All screenings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries auditorium. (UPDATE: March 16, 23, and 30 screenings are canceled.)

A University of Georgia collaboration that presented Georgia’s incarceration history in an exhibition and on stage is being honored as one of the top public history projects in the nation.

Archivists with UGA’s special collections libraries partnered with theatre and dance faculty on campus and at Spelman College to engage students in an exploration of reports, correspondence, newsfilm, photographs and other original materials from archival collections documenting the history of convict labor in Georgia. Over the course of three semesters, students and faculty created a devised theatrical performance grounded in that history.

The documentary Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer will be shown  Wednesday, Feb. 6 at the Tate Student Center Theater. A reception will be held at 5 p.m., followed by the documentary at 6 p.m.

There is no cost to attend, but tickets are required. Reserve your ticket: https:// bit.ly/ 2CkXz48

The UGA Libraries host award-winning author Tayari Jones Feb. 7 in celebration of the paperback launch of An American Marriage. Jones was a 2018 inductee into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, but was unable to attend the fall ceremony.  The award will be presented at this event, which is co-sponsored by Avid Bookshop.

The program is from 7-9 p.m. at the Foundry Ballroom (295 E. Dougherty Street, Athens, GA 30606). Tickets are $22 and include a paperback copy of either An American Marriage or Silver Sparrow. Books will be distributed upon check-in to the event.

An American Marriage was selected for the The New York Times' and The Washington Post's Most Notable of 2018 lists and was named 2018 Book of the Year by Apple Books. TIME Magazine selected it as the 2018 Best Fiction of the Year

Do you love history? Are you looking for an opportunity to work in museums and/or archives? Then look no further!

Apply to the Special Collections Student Docent Program today!

Our goal is to recruit UGA students who are committed to leading engaging tours of the Special Collections Building's exhibit galleries for visitors of all ages. Participants in the program will develop skills in archival research, public speaking, and community outreach. They will also gain valuable work experience in both archive and museum settings.

The Women’s March on Washington, D.C. in January 2017 comes into focus in a new exhibit at the University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. “Nevertheless, She Resisted: Documenting the Women’s Marches” opens to the public Friday, Jan. 18. 

The annual display of the UGA Charter will be Jan. 28  through Feb. 2 to mark Founders' Day (Jan. 27), the anniversary of the document's signing. To protect the ink of the parchment manuscript from further fading it is displayed to the public only once a year in the Hargrett Library of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

Freda Scott Giles, UGA associate professor emeritus of theater and film studies and African-American studies, will present this year's Founders' Day Lecture on "W.E.B. Du Bois: Dramatist” at 1:30 p.m. in the UGA Chapel.

Step right up for a look behind the curtain at the shows that once dazzled American audiences in a new exhibit at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. “Under the Big Top: The American Circus and Traveling Tent Shows,” opens to the public on Friday, Jan. 18 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.

The Russell B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies is proud to host the exhibit “Education of the Negro: a depression era photographic study by Horace Mann Bond” featuring over eighty photos from Bond’s field study of black student achievement. Opening on January 18, 2019, in the Harrison Feature Gallery at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries, the exhibition, curated by Gallery L1, Atlanta, offers a glimpse into the lives of African American children in the 1930s.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the UGA Libraries are joining forces with the English Department to offer a host of Frankenstein related activities in the month of October. The Frankenreads events are part of an international celebration organized by the Keats-Shelley Association of America.

On Halloween, Wednesday October 31st our Frankenread will begin in UGA’s Main Library at 8am and continue until 6pm. In the spirit of the novel’s multiple voices, readers will be drawn from across the campus and the larger Athens community. The Frankenread will be accompanied by a slideshow of images drawn from popular culture and curated by Dr. Christopher Pizzino (UGA English).