Russell, Mattie U.

Mattie Underwood Russell (1915-1988) was Curator of the Duke University Manuscripts Department from 1952 to 1985. During these years, Russell became a nationally-recognized archivist, and increased the number of collections, implemented a cataloging system, and encouraged researchers to use the materials in the Manuscripts Department.

From the description of Mattie Underwood Russell papers, 1949-1988. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 57225799

Mattie Underwood Russell was born on May 14, 1915, in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. She grew up on her parents' farm, the youngest of 12 children. She attended the University of Mississippi, earning a bachelor's degree in 1939 and a master's degree in 1940, both in history. Russell worked from 1937 to 1943 teaching high school in rural Mississippi, earning her academic degrees during the summer. In 1943, she moved to Durham to attend a summer session for teachers at Duke University, then moved to Mars Hill, North Carolina to teach as a faculty member at Mars Hill College. In 1946 she returned to Durham as a fulltime Ph.D. student and worked in the library at the circulation desk.

While she completed her Ph.D., Russell became Assistant Curator of the Manuscript Department in 1948, and in 1952 she became Curator. In 1956, she completed her Ph.D. degree in history, with a disseration on William Holland Thomas, a white chief of the Cherokee tribe, but it was archives and manuscripts to which she devoted her life's work. As Curator, a position she held until 1985, she improved the scope of the collections exponentially. During her tenure the Manuscript Department grew from approximately 1 million items to over 7 million items. Russell encouraged her staff to provide better access to the collections for researchers through the implementation of a cataloging system. She also mentored new members of the profession through her work at Duke and her teaching. From 1969 to 1978, Russell taught a course on archives and manuscripts at the School of Library Science at the University of North Carolina.

Russell was a member of many professional organizations, including the American Library Association, the Society of American Archivists, the Historical Society of North Carolina, the Southern Historical Association, and the South Atlantic Archives and Records Conference. She served as a representative of the Southern Historical Association on the National Archives Advisory Council from 1977 to 1983. She was named a fellow in the Society of American Archivists in 1979. In 1981, Russell was the only non-faculty member appointed to the Academic Council's committee to study the possibility of locating Richard Nixon's presidential library on the Duke campus. In addition to her professional and university committments, Russell also published many articles in history and library journals.

Upon her retirement in 1985, her colleagues donated money to create the Mattie Underwood Russell Endowment Fund, used to purchase manuscript collections pertaining to the history and culture of the Americas, particularly the United States. Following her death on May 4, 1988, a bequest from Russell's estate to the Endowment was one of the largest contributions Duke has ever received from an employee.

From the guide to the Mattie Underwood Russell Papers, ., 1949 - 1988, (University Archives, Duke University)