
Descriptive Summary
Title: Reflections on Georgia Politics Oral History Collection
Creator: Short, Charles Robert, 1932-
Inclusive Dates: 2006-2016
Language(s): English
Extent: 169 interview(s)
Collection Number: RBRL220ROGP
Repository: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: The Reflections on Georgia Politics Oral History Collection consists of interviews with politically prominent Georgians conducted by Bob Short since 2007. Interviewees include former governors, members of both the U.S. and Georgia Congresses, secretaries of state, lobbyists, journalists, lawyers, activists, and relatives of prominent politicians. Included with these oral histories are a few public programs recorded at Young Harris College in 2006-2007. Most interviews were recorded in the homes and offices of interviewees or in the Bob Short Oral History Studio at the University of Georgia. The conversations cover many topics at the intersection of politics and public life in modern Georgia, with a particular strength in gubernatorial contests, the Civil Rights movement, reapportionment, the development of Atlanta, the rise of the Republican party in Georgia, political journalism, and the interaction between religion and politics.

Collection Description

Historical Note

Charles Robert "Bob" Short was born in Clayton, Georgia on April 17, 1932 and educated at Young Harris College, Georgia Southern University and the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. Upon discharge from the Air Force in 1956 he began his career as a sports writer for the Atlanta Journal, and then served in various capacities in the administrations of Georgia Governors Marvin Griffin, Ernest Vandiver, and Carl Sanders. Short coordinated the campaign of Jimmy Carter when Carter ran for governor of Georgia in 1966, and then worked as press secretary for Carter's opponent in that race, Governor Lester Maddox, in 1967 and 1968. In 1968 he was appointed regional director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness -- the forerunner of FEMA-- by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Entering the private sector in the early 1970s, Short worked for Hoffman LaRoche and Hospital Corporation of America, and for his own firm, Investmart, Inc., a marketing consulting business. Short remained active politically, consulting on a limited scale and serving as special assistant to Governor and Senator Zell Miller and Senator Johnny Isakson. Retired to Blairsville, Georgia, Short wrote the only biography of Lester Maddox, Everything is Pickrick (Mercer University Press, 1999), which won him the title "Author of the Year" from the Georgia Writers Association. In 2006 he began a lecture and discussion program at neighboring Young Harris College entitled Reflections on Georgia Politics, and then partnered with the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies to make Reflections an oral history series.

More detailed biographical information for each interviewee can be found in the corresponding individual interview finding aid, which can be linked to through the Reflections on Georgia Politics website.

Scope and Content

The Reflections on Georgia Politics Oral History Collection consists of interviews with politically prominent Georgians conducted by Bob Short since 2007. Interviewees include former governors, members of both the U.S. and Georgia Congresses, secretaries of state, lobbyists, journalists, lawyers, activists, and relatives of prominent politicians. Included with these oral histories are a few public programs recorded at Young Harris College in 2006-2007. Most interviews were recorded in the homes and offices of interviewees or in the Bob Short Oral History Studio at the University of Georgia. The conversations cover many topics at the intersection of politics and public life in modern Georgia, with a particular strength in gubernatorial contests, the Civil Rights movement, reapportionment, the development of Atlanta, the rise of the Republican party in Georgia, political journalism, and the interaction between religion and politics.

More detailed scope and content information for each interview can be found in the corresponding individual interview finding aid, which can be linked to through the Reflections on Georgia Politics website.

Organization and Arrangement

Interviews are arranged chronologically by the date the interview was recorded.

Administrative Information

Custodial History

Reflections on Georgia Politics began in the fall of 2006 at Young Harris College, as a lecture and discussion program hosted by Georgia political veteran Bob Short. In late 2007, the Richard B. Russell Library began producing the program as an oral history video series to further illuminate and personalize the tectonic shifts that occurred in Georgia politics in the late twentieth century

Preferred Citation

Reflections on Georgia Politics Oral History Collection, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.

Processing Notes

Most early interviews were recorded to MiniDV videotape. Beginning with ROGP 111, interviews were recorded as digital AVCHD files. Not all interviews have been transcribed, but for those with transcripts, the bulk of transcription was performed by WordzXpressed in Atlanta, Georgia, a service sponsored by Young Harris College. Transcriptions were formatted and audited by students at the Russell Library.

Copyright Information

Resource may be used under the guidelines described by the U.S. Copyright Office in Section 107, Title 17, United States Code (Fair use). Parties interested in production or commercial use of the resources should contact the Russell Library for a fee schedule.