Apollo 11 Anniversary

The university is celebrating the 'one giant step for mankind' that took place in July 1969, including the current "Moon Rocks!" exhibition at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Library curated by Sarah Anderson, UGA graduate student in history:

Anderson curated “Moon Rocks!,” an exhibition hosted by UGA’s Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. Anderson previously worked for two years at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

“Space inspires a sense of adventure and excitement. Astronauts were portrayed as All-American, hard-working, accessible heroes—a person that children could aspire to be. Astronauts provided hope of advancement and achievement for average Americans,” Anderson noted. “The exhibit explores this a little more, as well.”

Ultimately, what she hopes to accomplish with the exhibition is to bring generations together—those who witnessed the moon landing and have their own story of watching it on the television while holding rabbit ears with those who were born afterward and grew up with astronauts live-streaming space station experiments.

“Bringing in an exhibition that can provide that intergenerational experience is really important,” she said. “Something that people can reminisce and visit with their families and learn from their families is really important to do as an institution.”

A momentous occasion and reason enough to visit the Special Collections Library, where there is indeed much to discover and enjoy. Just in the background of this photo is the mural by Art Rosenbaum depicting the political history of Georgia.