 Dean Rusk Personal Papers: Collection Summary
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteDean 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. Scope and ContentDean Rusk was U.S. Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969. He also served in the Department of State (1947-1952), was president of the Rockefeller Foundation (1952-1960), and was a professor of international law at the University of Georgia's School of Law. Rusk's papers document his career in these areas and his role as a U.S. foreign policy expert and include correspondence, speeches and testimony, press files, and subject files. Common subjects include trade and peace treaties, the Cold War, nuclear weapons, Vietnam, and a wide variety of other international affairs topics. Organization and ArrangementThis collection is organized into 9 series: Series I. Rockefeller Foundation, Series II. U.S. Secretary of Stat, Department of State, Series III. Law School Files, Series IV. General Office Files, Series V. Speeches and Publications, Series VI. Administrative, Series VII. Photographs, Series VIII. Artifacts, and Series IX. Audiovisual. Administrative InformationConditions Governing AccessThis collection is open for research with the following exceptions: Series IX. Audiovisual: 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. Preferred citationRichard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Copyright InformationBefore 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. Conditions Governing UseLibrary acts as a "fair use" reproduction agent. Finding Aid PublicationFinding Aid prepared by Adriane Hanson and Jordan Graham (student assistant), 2016. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Dean Rusk Oral History Collection Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection William Tapley Bennett, Jr. Papers D.W. Brooks Oral History Collection Related Collections in Other RepositoriesDean Rusk Papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York Dean Rusk Oral Histories, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin, Texas Dean Rusk Files, Department of State Records, National Archives | ||||||||||||||||||||||