Materials documenting events in the presidency of Jimmy Carter now available online

Select records documenting events in the presidency of Jimmy Carter from 1977-1981 are now available in the Digital Library of Georgia. There are two collections. The first, Notable Events and Accomplishments of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Administration, 1977-1981, is available at https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/carter_jcpa and pulls together key presidential directives, presidential review memoranda, daily diary entries, and other related materials that describe events such as the Camp David Accords (1978), the hostage crisis in Iran (1979-1981), the Panama Canal Treaties (1977-1978), and the progression of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The second collection, the Presidential Files, Office of the Staff Secretary, is available at https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/carter_pfoss and includes communications to President Jimmy Carter and his senior staff, dating from January 1977-May 1979.

These archival materials are housed at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and provide significant insight into the Carter administration. The research and evidential value span disciplines including political science, public administration, history, international/foreign relations, and archival studies, among others.

Dr. Meredith Evans, Director, Jimmy Carter Library and Museum notes: “These records provide critical documentation of Jimmy Carter’s dedication to democracy and diplomacy locally and globally. We are committed to making these materials accessible and are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Digital Library of Georgia.”


Link to featured images:

Title: A scene from the historic signing of the Camp David Accords.
https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/assets/images/campdavid/nlc07466.13a.jpg


Description: A scene from the historic signing of the Camp David Accords on Sunday evening, September 17, 1978, in the East Room of the White House.


Title:
A National Integrated Telecommunications Protection Policy
https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/assets/documents/memorandums/prm22.pdf

Description: Presidential review memorandum. President Jimmy Carter expresses his concern with the Soviet Union covertly intercepting United States telecommunication systems and requires the Special Coordination Committee to execute a review of previous U.S. counteractions to the USSR.

About the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, houses U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s papers and other material relating to the Carter administration and the Carter family’s life. Visit https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/

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Have a listen: The Georgia Loyalist Delegate Challenge at the 1968 Democratic National Convention

JULIAN BOND TALKS ABOUT SEATING FOR GEORGIA DELEGATION IN CHICAGO, wsbn54386, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1483, 33:50/35:18, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn54386

Exciting news for our colleague Donnie Summerlin!

Our Digital Projects Archivist Donnie Summerlin recently appeared on the Political Junkie podcast to discuss an article he recently wrote, “‘We Represented the Best of Georgia in Chicago’: The Georgia Loyalist Delegate Challenge at the 1968 Democratic National Convention” which appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of the Georgia Historical Quarterly. Ken Rudin, who has hosted the Political Junkie podcast since 2013, is the former political editor for National Public Radio (NPR).

The episode is available at https://www.krpoliticaljunkie.com/episode-338/

Donnie Summerlin’s segment begins at the 36:00 minute mark.

The discussion revolves around how, in August 1968, a group of dissident Georgia Democrats organized a challenge to the state’s certified delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The challenge began as a protest of the politics of segregationist governor Lester Maddox by moderates in the state Democratic party, but it transitioned into a cooperative effort between Georgia’s civil rights and antiwar movement activists to undermine the autocratic influence of party leaders in determining who would represent them at the convention. State representative and civil rights activist Julian Bond led the credentials fight in Chicago that ultimately resulted in the Loyalist challengers earning half the state’s delegates from the party regulars and Bond, himself, becoming the first African American nominated for vice president by a major party in the United States. This effort illustrated the Georgia Democratic Party’s bumpy transition from a conservative organization to a liberal one in the second half of the twentieth century. Additionally, the challenge was a significant event in the eventual reformation and democratization of the Democratic Party’s national delegate and presidential candidate selection process.

Congratulations to Donnie, and thanks to Ken Rudin for a great podcast!

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