Dean Rusk Personal Papers, 1885-1995

Summary

Creator:
Rusk, Dean, 1909-1994
Date:
1885-1995
Extent:
71.75 Linear Feet (146 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Dean Rusk Personal Papers, RBRL055DR, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The bulk of the papers of Dean Rusk document his service to the University of Georgia from 1970 to 1994. There are also some files that relate to his charge as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1952-1961, and as United States Secretary of State, 1961-1970. The collections includes correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, printed material, reports, class notes and schedules. Original order of the collection was maintained. Newspaper clippings have been copied onto bond paper for protection of content. Photographs, audio material and memorabilia have been removed from the papers for preservation purposes and inventoried.

Biographical / historical:

Dean Rusk was born on February 9, 1909 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He attended Lee Street Elementary and Boys' High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Rusk obtained an A.B. degree from Davidson College, North Carolina in 1931, and a B.S. (Rhodes Scholar) and M.A. in 1933 and 1934 from St. John's, Oxford, England. He returned to the United States to become Associate Professor of Government and Dean of Faculty at Mills College, Oakland, California, from 1934 to 1940 and studied law at the University of California, Berkeley, class of 1940.

Rusk served in the United States Army from 1940 to 1946 in the China-Burma-India theater. At first he served with the Third Infantry Division, then later with the Military Intelligence Service. Rusk was released from duty with the rank of colonel.

After his military career ended, Rusk joined the Department of State from 1947 to 1952, as Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs and for Far Eastern Affairs. From 1952 to 1960 he was president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Rusk to the office of Secretary of State. He remained in this position until 1969, through the administrations of Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Rusk was in office during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, when East Germany began constructing the Berlin Wall, and as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was also Secretary of State during the height of the Vietnam Conflict.

In 1970, Rusk came to the University of Georgia's School of Law as the Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, and he later established the Dean Rusk Center for International and Comparative Law. Rusk served the University of Georgia until his death on December 20, 1994.

Rusk married Virginia Foisle in June, 1937. They had three children together, David Patrick, Richard Geary and Margaret Elizabeth. In 1990, As I Saw It , the book he co-authored with his son, Richard, was published.

Arrangement:

The papers are divided into six series: I. Rockefeller Foundation, II. U.S. Secretary of State, Department of State, III. Law School Files, IV. General Office Files, V. Speeches/Publications, VI. Administrative. VII. Photographs, and VIII. Artifacts.

Access and use restrictions

Restrictions:

Though the collection is open for research, reference copies of the audiovisual recordings are available upon request. Research requests will be filled as soon as possible and will be dependent upon the condition of the recordings.

Terms of access:

It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission to reproduce material for publication. Persons wishing to reproduce materials in the Russell Library collections should consult the Director. Reproduction or quotation of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Preferred citation:

Dean Rusk Personal Papers, RBRL055DR, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries.