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Bill Shipp Papers

Bill Shipp Papers

Descriptive Summary

Title: Bill Shipp Papers
Creator: Shipp, Bill, 1933-
Inclusive Dates: 1980-2009
Language(s): English
Extent: 9 box(es) (8.25 linear feet and 1.5 megabytes)
Collection Number: RBRL030BS
Repository: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: Bill Shipp, a prize-winning reporter and editor, has covered Southern politics and government for three decades. He is president and CEO of Word Merchants, a publishing company. The collection consists of columns and newsletters that document Shipp's writing and editing. These articles focus on government and politics on the local, state, and national level.

Collection Description

Biographical Note

Bill Shipp is a prize-winning reporter and editor who has covered Southern politics and government for three decades. He is president and CEO of Word Merchants, a publishing company.

A native of Marietta, Georgia, Shipp attended Emory University, where he was managing editor of the Emory Wheel, and the University of Georgia, where he was managing editor of the Red and Black. He served in Germany in the U.S. Army, and is married to the former Renate F. Reinelt of Heidelberg, Germany. The Shipps have two daughters and three granddaughters.

Shipp spent nearly three decades on the staff of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, where he also served as associate editor and city editor. Shipp first joined the Constitution as a reporter in 1956. During his tenure at the Atlanta newspaper, he covered the beginning of the nation's manned space program, the civil rights movement, and several national political campaigns. He carried out assignments in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Central America. He resigned his position as political editor in 1987 to start Word Merchants.

Shipp's company produces Bill Shipp's Georgia, a weekly newsletter on Georgia politics and government. Shipp also is associate editor of Georgia Trend Magazine. Shipp writes a twice-weekly column that appears in more than sixty Georgia newspapers. He is a regular panelist on "The Georgia Gang," a weekly commentary on news and politics, which airs Sundays on WAGA-TV (Channel 5) and MediaOne in Atlanta. Shipp has been a contributing editor to Atlanta Magazine. He also has written a regular column on regional politics for AT&T's Interchange online service.

The Georgia Magazine Association named Shipp "best serious columnist" for his essays in Atlanta Magazine. The association also gave Shipp the "Best Column/Department" award for 1994 for his work in Georgia Trend Magazine.

Shipp is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, a former member of the Board of Governors of the Atlanta Press Club, and a former director of the Georgia YMCA. Shipp wrote Murder at Broad River Bridge, a non-fiction account of a slaying by the Ku Klux Klan in northeast Georgia. He was a founding director of Longstreet Press, a book publishing company.

Scope and Content

The Bill Shipp Papers consist of columns, newsletters, and magazines that Mr. Shipp wrote and edited. These works focus on government and politics on the local, state, and national level.

Organization and Arrangement

The papers are divided into four series: I. Columns, II. Newsletters, III. Georgia Trend, and IV. Speeches.

The types of materials include clippings, columns, newsletters, magazines, and digital files. Original order of the collection was maintained.


Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

Series I. Columns. Series III. Georgia Trend, and Series IV. Speeches contain digital files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that not all file formats are currently supported by the library for research use.

Preferred Citation

Bill Shipp Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.

User Restrictions

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

Copyright Information

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 permission. 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.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2008.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Editors -- Georgia.
Energy development -- Law and legislation -- Southern States.
Georgia -- Economic conditions.
Georgia -- Politics and government -- 1951-
Journalists -- Georgia.
Mass media -- Law and legislation -- Southern States.
Southern States -- Politics and government -- 20th century.
Speeches.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1981-1989.
United States -- Politics and government -- 1989-1993.

Related Collections in this Repository

Clifford Baldowski (Baldy) Editorial Cartoons

Gene Bassett Editorial Cartoons

The Walter A. Lundy Files, Red and Black (Fall 1953) Integration Issue

Related Collections in Other Repositories

S. Marvin Griffin Papers, Bainbridge College Library, Bainbridge, Georgia

Bill Shipp Oral History Interview, Ray Moore Oral History interview, 1987 May 8, Politics and the Media Oral history Collection, 1987-1993, Special Collection Department, William Russell Pullen Library, Georgia State University

Griffin Bell Papers, Law School, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia


Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

Series I. Columns, 1980-2009

4 box(es) (4 linear feet and 650 kilobytes)
The Columns series includes clippings and printed and digital versions of columns Mr. Shipp wrote. These columns appeared in more than sixty Georgia newspapers. There are several columns related to President Jimmy Carter, Senators Herman Talmadge, Sam Nunn, Mack Mattingly, Wyche Fowler, Congressman Newt Gingrich, Governor Joe Frank Harris, Governor Zell Miller, Attorney General Mike Bowers, Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy, and other prominent Georgians. Common subjects include political races, the state budget, crime and the prison system, the increasing power of the Republican Party in Georgia, and the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta. There are also columns from AT&T's newsletter, for which Shipp wrote a regular column on regional politics, as well as from Atlanta Magazine.
Arrangement is chronological.
This series contains digital files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that not all file formats are currently supported by the library for research use.
boxfolder
I.1 1-8Columns, 1980-1986
I.1 9Columns - Marietta Daily, 1987-1988
I.1 10-15Columns, 1989-1991
boxfolder
I.2 1-33Columns, 1992-1997
I.2 34Columns - AT&T, June 1, 1995-August 12, 1996
Common subjects include candidates for U.S. president and race.
I.2 35Columns - Atlanta Magazine, 1989-1992
I.2 36-37Columns, 1997
boxfolder
I.3 1-15Columns, 1998-2005
boxfolder
I.4 1-8Columns, 2005-2009
electronic_records
ER 1[Columns] [digital files], 1990-1993
Subjects include Governor Zell Miller, biographies of politicians, and political races.
electronic_records
ER 2[Atlanta Magazine] [digital files], 1990-1992
Most articles are profiles of Georgia politicians, including George Berry, Wyche Fowler, Jr., Governor Joe Frank Harris, and Georgia Supreme Court Justice Charles Weltner, as well as collections of quotes from Georgia politicians and analysis of the kind of politician that wins in Georgia.
 

Series II. Newsletters, 1987-2005

3 box(es) (2.25 linear feet)
The Newsletters series includes copies of three newsletters: Southeastern Business Alert, Southeastern Regulatory Alert, Bill Shipp's Georgia, and InsiderAdvantage Georgia. The contents cover events and developments on federal, state and local levels.
The Newsletters series is divided into three subseries: A. Southeastern Business Alert, B. Southeastern Regulatory Alert, C. Bill Shipp's Georgia, and D. InsiderAdvantage Georgia.



Subseries A. Southeastern Business Alert , 1990

The Southeast Business Alert was first produced in September 1989, and was published until December 1990.
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II.1 1Southeastern Business Alert, September 25-December 1990



Subseries B. Southeastern Regulatory Alert , 1989-1992

The Southeastern Regulatory Alert, first published in July 1989, was a monthly newsletter on energy and communications regulations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
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II.1 2-5Volume 1-4, 1989-1992



Subseries C. Bill Shipp's Georgia , 1987-2005

Bill Shipp's Georgia was first produced on August 31, 1987. It is a weekly newsletter on political and economic developments shaping the future of Georgia.
boxfolder
II.1 6-17 Volume 1-10, 1987-1997
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II.2 1-11Volume 11-16, 1998-2003
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II.31-5Volume 16-18, 2003-2005



Subseries D. InsiderAdvantage Georgia , 2005

InsiderAdvantage Georgia succeeded Bill Shipp's Georgia beginning with the April 14, 2005, issue (volume 18, number 15). The newsletter continued to focus on Georgia political news and analysis.
boxfolder
II.35-6Volume 18, 2005
 

Series III. Georgia Trend, 1991-2003

2 box(es) (2 linear feet and 150 kilobytes)
The Georgia Trend series consists of columns and copies of the magazine. It is a monthly publication that focuses on Georgia business and politics. Mr. Shipp is the associate editor for this publication, and he contributes a monthly column on government and politics.
Arrangement is chronological.
This series contains digital files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that not all file formats are currently supported by the library for research use.
boxfolder
III.1 1-14Georgia Trend, 1991-1999
boxfolder
III.2 1-16Georgia Trend, 2000-2003
electronic_records
ER 3[Georgia Trend] [digital files], 1991-1992
Subjects include Atlanta, careers of individual politicians, the waning power of the Georgia Democratic Party, and the Public Services Commission.
 

Series IV. Speeches, 1990-1993

0.001 gigabyte(s)
Series IV. Speeches contains copies of speeches given by Shipp to civic and community groups about Georgia state politics, especially the 1990 gubenatorial campaign and the transition from Governer Joe Frank Harris to Governor Zell Miller.
Arrangement is chronological.
This series contains digital files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that not all file formats are currently supported by the library for research use.
electronic_records
ER 4[Speeches] [digital files], 1990
Most are variations on one of three speeches: the upcoming governor race and issues facing the state, the implications of the election and Governor Harris's legacy, and balancing the right to information and the right to privacy in journalism.
electronic_records
ER 5[Speeches] [digital files], 1991
Most are variations on a speech about Governor Miller's campaign promises from his book The Georgia That Can Be. Other subjects include the value of community newspapers, Miller's legislation for environmental protection, and Shipp accepting an alumni award from Marietta High School.
electronic_records
ER 6[Speeches] [digital files], 1992
Subjects include analysis of voter surveys prior to the election and implications from the election results.
electronic_records
ER 7[Speeches] [digital files], 1993
Subjects include the increasing power of the Georgia Republican Party, Zell Miller's future, and open records laws.