V. Personal, 1928-1971

Extent:
207 box(es) and (103 linear feet)
Scope and content:

The Personal series contains correspondence and material of a personal nature including invitations, greetings, announcements, commendations, gifts, family material, etc. With the exception of some correspondence with his mother, all family correspondence was removed to Exhibit B and restricted by donor agreement. Arrangement is chronological by latest date; topical subseries are alphabetical within a year.

Especially noteworthy are history, miscellaneous, and trips. While History generally has materials relating to Russell's interest in the subject, specifically the Civil War, Russell occasionally designated certain items to be placed here. For example, at his direction, research and strategy files from the 1960 civil rights debates are located here. Miscellaneous has a significant amount of correspondence from personal friends. Trips contains correspondence and material on all of Senator Russell's trips including those made in his capacity as a member or chairman of a senate committee. For example, correspondence and material from Russell's 1943 global tour of the war front as chairman of a special senate committee to investigate overseas military bases demonstrate the senator's work on such assignments. During many of these overseas trips prior to 1950, Russell had very revealing correspondence with his mother, which is included. Trips are filed under year in which they were made. If more than one trip was made within a year, the trips were filed alphabetically by country within the year.

The invitations include accepted, fulfilled, or sponsored events by the senator. Preferring a quiet evening to work on legislation or to read a book, Russell rarely accepted invitations to social receptions in Washington, but he generally did attend functions that supported the Democratic Party, the state of Georgia, or his family. The posthumous materials contains material relating to the funeral arrangements for Senator Russell and letters of condolence to his family and staff.

Contents

Access and use restrictions

Parent restrictions:
With the exception of some correspondence with his mother, all family correspondence was removed to Exhibit B and is restricted by donor agreement.
Parent terms of access:
Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.