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SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHIVISTS
Congressional Papers Roundtable
Newsletter
March 1998
Table of Contents
Note from the Chair
St. Paul
20 Feb. 1998
Dear Colleagues,
It has been a somewhat bleak winter, and not (for once) because of the
weather in Minnesota. As all of you know, Cynthia Miller's position as
archivist for the U. S. House of Representatives was effectively abolished
by the House Oversight Committee—a huge loss to all of us who are involved
in preserving the papers of representatives, not to mention the threat to
the preservation of official House records. As you also know, the
Roundtable steering committee decided to make a strong and vocal protest,
and asked the Roundtable membership, as well as SAA central office and the
National Coordinating Council for the Promotion of History to join the
effort. The response has been remarkable, though as I write this we have
had no indication that we have succeeded in reversing the Oversight
Committee's decision.
We will try to keep you posted on the House archivist situation. Our
ability to do this will be aided considerably if we can expand our
Roundtable e-mail list. It was a stretch to send regular mail to most of
the membership alerting them to the situation on the Hill. As you know,
the Roundtable gets very little monetary support from SAA, so aside from
the newsletter, mailings to the entire membership must be absorbed by one
of our employing institutions. I feel very strongly that the Roundtable
should not wind up divided between those with e-mail (who get all
information) and those without (who get only some information). But the
more members we can reach by e-mail, the more realistic it is for us to
send regular mail with the same information to everyone else. Therefore, I
would like to encourage all of you who have e-mail to send your address to
me () or to Todd Kosmerick ().
Unfortunately, the situation at the House was not the only bad news
recently. The Roundtable also lost an important leader when John "J. C."
Caldwell was killed in an auto accident early in Feb. John had been at the
Carl Albert Center for a number of years before moving back to his home
state of Louisiana. He was a past chair of the Roundtable, and he was a
good friend and colleague to many of the members of the Roundtable. At the
request of the steering committee, I sent a letter on behalf of the entire
Roundtable to John's family, expressing our condolences and our own sense
of loss.
Though there are no signs of spring here (we won't see the grass under the
snow until about May), I would like to look ahead a bit to what I trust
will be better times in the months ahead. One positive development has
been an increasing willingness within SAA to share information with the
Roundtable steering committees and (even more importantly) to solicit their
opinions. SAA is coming to understand fully the importance of Roundtables
and Sections to the membership (and therefore to the organization as a
whole). Moreover, there is a very real possibility (though not yet a
certainty) that the fairly artificial distinction between Sections and
Roundtables will be abolished. For a Roundtable as large and active as
ours, this will probably mean more rather than fewer resources in the future.
As you know, the SAA meeting this year is in Orlando. The Roundtable will
be meeting from 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. on Friday, 4 Sept. Our program will
feature a presentation by Naomi Nelson from the Sam Nunn Papers at Emory
University and Beth Bensman from the Richard B. Russell Library at the
University of Georgia. They will discuss their recent work with electronic
records in Senate offices, particularly trying to make them accessible to
researchers. We will also, as usual, discuss session proposals and conduct
regular Roundtable business. I hope to see you all there!
Mark Greene
Minnesota Historical Society
Correspondence with the House Clerk
Below is the text of the Congressional Papers Roundtable letter (written by
Mark Greene) to Chair Bill Thomas and other members of the House Oversight
Committee. It is followed by the reply of Robin Carle, Clerk of the House,
and the response of the Roundtable:
9 Feb. 1998
Dear Rep. Thomas:
I write as the chair of the Congressional Papers Roundtable of the Society
of American Archivists to you as a member of the House Oversight Committee.
Our Roundtable is composed of those professional archivists from
throughout the country who work to preserve and make accessible the papers
of U. S. representatives and senators. We learned earlier this week that
the Oversight Committee has approved a reorganization of the Clerk's Office
that effectively abolished the position of archivist. This is an almost
unbelievable, and absolutely short-sighted decision that will have
substantial ramifications for the history of the House. The presence on
the House staff of a qualified, skilled, and experienced archivist has been
critical for two decades in ensuring the preservation of increasingly
voluminous and complex records of House Committees, and the papers of its
representatives, for future generations of students, scholars, and indeed
all citizens.
Every one of the members of our Roundtable has worked with—and the
thousands of citizens who come to our repositories to consult the papers of
representatives have benefitted from—the activities of the House archivist.
The House archivist has been an invaluable advocate for, and facilitator
of, preserving the history of the House and its members. Every year the
archivist has advised representatives on the short-term storage of their
records, preventing destruction of important files for apparent wont of
space. And every year the archivist works with representatives and
repositories to ensure that historically valuable records are preserved and
eventually made available to researchers. The archivist is also charged
with insuring that the committees and subcommittees of the House preserve
the records of their activities and properly transfer them to the Center
for Legislative Archives. Once at the Center, House committee records are
preserved for the benefit of the House and the entire nation.
We understand that the new Research and Reference department of the House
Clerk's Office is intended to assume the duties of the archivist. To do
this, the head of that department has been sent to the Modern Archives
Institute. There are three fundamental flaws with this plan. First, the
Modern Archives Institute is not sufficient to fully educate an archivist
to professional standards. In this day and age, a master's-level degree is
usually required. Institute graduates may evolve into fine archivists, and
do so at the National Archives where they are apprenticed to experienced
professionals—but the new "archivist" in the Clerk's office will have no
such tutelage. Second, the new "archivist" replaces one (who was, I must
add, unceremoniously demoted to a paraprofessional position at reduced
salary) with 18 years of experience and national stature in the profession.
Third, the Research and Reference department, having been reduced from
three professional positions to one professional and one paraprofessional,
has no mandate to make archival work a priority. The practical effect will
be for the House to have abandoned any responsibility for its own records
or the papers of its members.
Frankly this is hardly short of shameful. We urge the Committee to
reconsider this decision. The history of the House of Representatives is
surely worth the small cost of a professional archivist.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Greene
Feb. 17, 1998
Dear Mr. Greene:
Your letter of February 9, 1998, to Chairman Bill Thomas has been
forwarded to me so I might respond to your concerns.
For two hundred years, the Clerk of the House has been responsible, by
statute and by Rule, for preserving the records of the House. This is a
serious and significant responsibility which, I would suggest, my offices
have pursued with more vigor in the last three years than was the case in
the last several decades.
The reorganization of several offices within the Offices of the Clerk to
create the Legislative Resource Center was one of a number of actions we
have taken to provide greater support for the efforts of our Members as
well as to broaden the public's access to the House. It would be a mistake
to interpret the reorganization within my offices to be a signal of a
weakening of commitment to archival and historic preservation functions.
As with many things, current technology has dramatically increased access
to information. At the same time, it has made archival issues increasingly
complex. The personnel organizational structure I requested the Committee
accept recognizes the increasingly complex nature of the task. Although I
obviously will not discuss individual personnel actions, I do want to
correct a misconception you harbor about the previous personnel structure. No official position of
"Archivist" existed in the Office of the Clerk either by title or
responsibility. The recently approved reorganization resulted in changes
in pay structure and position descriptions. Appropriate and adequate support
for existing archival responsibilities was considered and addressed.
Your letter also referenced concerns about the continuing education
efforts made available to our management staff. Let me put this training
in perspective. This training is intended to broaden our ability to
continue to improve our support for Members, professional staff and the
public, not to threaten or replace existing staff. Continuing professional
education is something I would expect your organization to applaud.
Finally, in closing let me say I hope my letter has clarified for you and
your organization the recent organizational actions taken within the
Offices of the Clerk. The presentation of, and access to, the rich history
of the House and its individual Members is an important, shared priority
for us. I look forward to a productive working relationship between your
organization
and the Office of the Clerk in years to come.
With warm regards,
Robin H. Carle
2 Mar. 1998
Dear Ms. Carle:
Thank you for your letter of 17 February. We appreciate your taking time
to respond to our concerns. Our deep and continuing concern stems from the
one fact about which you and we agree: that the records of the House, and
the papers of its Members, are of immense importance to the history of our
nation. The presence of a professional archivist—first on the staff of the
House Historian, then in the Office of the Clerk—has been of inestimable
assistance in our work of preserving the papers of Members and ensuring
that official records of the House are transferred to the Center for
Legislative Archives.
We do not question the commitment of the Clerk to the history of the
House. It is not our contention that the purpose of the reorganization was
to weaken the archival responsibility of the Clerk's office—only that such
weakening will be the result. We agree wholeheartedly that "current
technology has dramatically increased access to information" while making
"archival issues increasingly complex." What we find difficult to
understand is how eliminating the one position in the House that was
staffed by a qualified archivist will facilitate your office's grappling
with the complex nature of archival issues in the electronic age. Finally,
we are not protesting the personnel decisions made regarding a specific
individual. It is the reorganization and
reclassification of staff positions that trouble us.
That the Clerk's office had assumed—and "pursued with more vigor in the
last three years than was the case in the last several decades"—the
archival function when the Historian's Office was closed was all the more
reason for us to be shocked upon learning of this last reorganization.
That reorganization eliminated the position held by a qualified
professional archivist; it also eliminated five clerks/technicians—those
who shelved boxes and worked with National Archives staff in transferring
files back and forth from House committees. There is now no position
remaining in the office that will attract or retain an experienced
archivist, and the two-week introduction to archives provided for the LRC
supervisor is inadequate to provide archival and records management
expertise to the House and its members. It is hard for us not to conclude
that the reorganization will result—however unintentionally—in "a weakening
of . . . archival and
historic preservation functions."
We stand ready to provide advice and assistance to the Clerk in defining
and supporting a strong archival function for the House. The records of
the House, and thus inescapably the organization of the Clerk's office
tasked with preserving the history of the House, are important to all
citizens. Therefore, we once again urge you to reconsider the
reorganization.
Yours truly,
Mark A. Greene
Senate Historical Office
The following news comes from Karen Paul:
Heather Moore, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland HiLS
Program, has been appointed Photo Historian in the Senate Historical
Office. She can be reached at .
The revision of Records Management Handbook for United States Senators and
Their Archival Repositories is in the final stages of production. The
chapter on electronic records has been extensively revised.
The Senate currently is developing a Legislative Information System (LIS)
that will make current legislative information available to staff. In
order to make certain that the Senate's permanent records are preserved,
the Historical Office is working closely with the LIS project team and is
in consultation with the National Archives to establish the record copy of
documents represented in the system and to ensure that information in the
system can be preserved and accessed in years to come.
An electronic version of A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE REPUBLICAN
POLICY COMMITTEE, 1947-1997, by Donald A. Ritchie, is available on the
World Wide Web at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/repub_policy/.
VICE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1789-1993 (596 pages, paperbound), by
Sen. Mark O. Hatfield with the Senate Historical Office, is available from
the U.S. Government Printing Office for $50.00 (Order Number 052-071-01227-3).
Society of George Archivists (SGA) Spring Workshop:The Acquisition, Processing and Reference of Legislative Collections
Acquiring and processing congressional and legislative collections can be
among the most daunting of the archivist's responsibilities. While the
collections bring prestige to repositories, they also present challenges
because of in their size, variety of formats, and confidential or
classified files. Working with retiring or recently defeated politicians
may also be difficult for the archivist new to the acquisition and
administration of legislative collections.
This two-day workshop is a program developed under the auspices of the
Society of American Archivists' Congressional Papers Roundtable. It will
address the following issues as they relate to congressional and
legislative collections: contacting and working with retiring politicians,
writing deeds of gift, formulating mission statements and access policies,
appraising the records (with special emphasis on keeping them a manageable
size), processing, and conducting reference and permitting access.
The instructors will be Herbert J. Hartsook, Modern Political Collections,
University of South Carolina, and Cynthia Pease Miller, Office of the
Clerk, U. S. House of Representatives.
The workshop will take place at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in
Atlanta, Georgia, on May 21-22, 1998. Preregistration will be $85 for SGA
members and $125 for nonmembers. If payment is made after May 1,
registration will be $100 for SGA members and $140 for nonmembers. For
further information, contact Pam Hackbart-Dean, Russell Library, University
of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602; (706) 542-0627 (tel.); (706) 542-4144 (fax);
(e-mail).
John Caldwell, 1950-1998
Friends and colleagues were saddened to learn that on Feb. 3, 1998, John
"J. C." Caldwell passed away near Bernice, Louisiana, as the result of
injuries sustained in a car accident. J. C. was an admired and respected
member of many communities, including the archival community. From 1979
until 1992 he was an archivist at the Carl Albert Center Congressional
Archives, University of Oklahoma. He was a member of the Congressional
Papers Roundtable, served as chair in 1991-1992, and contributed to THE
DOCUMENTATION OF CONGRESS. Although J. C. had not been as active in the
profession during recent years (in 1992 he became a professor of geography
at Louisiana Tech University), he continued to maintain contacts with his
archival friends. He was a warm, humorous, and caring man, and anyone who
met him will never forget him.
New Udall Grants Program
The University of Arizona Library Special Collections houses the papers of
Morris K. Udall, Stewart L. Udall, David K. Udall, Levi Udall, Jesse Udall,
and other related historical collections. To encourage scholars to use
these materials, the Morris K. Udall Research Travel Grants and Research
Assistance Grants Program will award three $1000 research travel grants and
four $250 research assistance grants for the first six months of 1998.
Preference will be given to projects relating to issues addressed by
Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall during their long careers of public
service. This includes such topics as the environment, natural resources,
Native American policy, conservation, nuclear energy, American politics,
Mormon history, and biographies.
The grants are open to scholars, students, and independent researchers.
The deadline is open. Application forms and additional information are
available from Roger Myers, University of Arizona Library, Special
Collections, Room C206, P. O. Box 210055, Tucson, AZ 85721- 0055; (520)
621-4345 (tel.); 520-621-9733 (fax);
(e-mail).
Institutional News
(Due to the large amount of news, submissions have been edited considerably.)
The papers of former Sen. David Pryor (D-AR) were recently donated to the
Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries. Pryor is
known for his leadership in health care issues affecting the elderly. He
served from 1978 to 1996, including six years as chair of the Senate
Special Committee on Aging. He was previously a U. S. representative and
Arkansas governor. The Pryor collection contains approximately 950 l. f.
of materials. Pryor has also donated $50,000 to help defray processing
costs and to expedite access.
SOUTHWESTERN ARCHIVIST
Baylor University's Collections of Political Materials has completed
processing of the papers of Rep. John Dowdy (D-TX). While the bulk of the
papers dates from his congressional years (1952-1972), there are also
considerable materials from 1935-1952 when he served as Court Reporter and
District Attorney. The Trial and Imprisonment Series contains documents
from 1970 to 1974 and concerns Dowdy's imprisonment for perjury. Further
information on the collection can be found at the Web site. For additional information
on Baylor's recent acquisitions of political materials, including the
papers of Mayor Mike Morrison of Waco, TX, see
.
Ben Rogers
Update 10/17/00 : The Dowdy papers finding aid is not currently available
online, however, a biography is available.
"Frank Church Abroad" is the title of an exhibit mounted at Boise State
University Library this year. The exhibit features documents, photos,
memorabilia, and other papers from the foreign travels of Frank Church
(D-ID), who served in the U.S. Senate from 1956 to 1980 and was a member
and chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. The exhibit includes a
"World Leaders Quiz," which consists of photos of the senator with world
leaders who are purposefully unidentified. Visitors are challenged to name
these personalities, who include Konrad Adenauer, Moshe Dayan, Margaret
Thatcher, and Imelda Marcos. An answer sheet is available.
Alan Virta
The Burns Library at Boston College has published a guide to the Thomas P.
"Tip" O'Neill (D-MA) Papers, which have been recently processed. These
papers have become the nucleus of the library's Congressional Archives
Collection. The materials were processed with grants from the Andreas
Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Further information about the collection can be obtained from the John J.
Burns Library, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA
02167-3801; (617) 552- 3282 (tel.); (617) 552-2465 (fax).
Burns Library
Carnegie Mellon University Libraries now provide access on the World Wide
Web to portions of the congressional papers of Sen. H. John Heinz III
(R-PA). The URL is http://heinz1.library.cmu.edu/HELIOS. Named in memory
of the late senator, the Heinz Electronic Library Interactive On-line
System (HELIOS) allows users to search, browse, view and print digital
images from the collection. It adds powerful new functions for searching
and retrieving relevant documents using natural language processing
software developed at the university. The initial release gives access to
more than 320,000 pages from the Heinz Senate papers. When the project is
completed, researchers will have access to approximately 1,000,000 pages of
material. The Heinz collection presents a rich and valuable source of
information about the senator's contributions to the U.S. Congress, and
about such social and political concerns as environmental and aging issues,
international trade and finance, and health care. This work to digitize
the archive is supported by the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation,
Heinz Company Foundation, and the Howard and Vira I. Heinz Endowments, with
additional support provided by Carnegie Mellon and CLARITECH Corporation.
For more information or to receive a brochure about the project, please
contact Edward Galloway, H. John Heinz III Archives, Carnegie Mellon
University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Hamburg Hall, Rm. 2504B, Pittsburgh, PA
15213-3890; (412) 268-7402 (tel.); (412) 268-5547 (fax); .
Ed Galloway
The Special Collections Unit at Clemson University Libraries opened the
John Light Napier Collection to the public in June 1997. This collection
consists of the political papers of Napier (R-SC), who served in the U. S.
House in 1981-1982. The papers cover the years 1978-1983 and are organized
into six series: Subject Files, Press, General D.C. Office, Computer Mail,
Florence District Office, and Campaigns. The Subject Files, contain
background information on agriculture, economic recovery, education,
nuclear waste, social security, tax bills, and tobacco.
Also recently opened is the President Pro Tempore Series of the Strom
Thurmond Collection. Thurmond (R-SC) served his first tenure as the Senate
president pro tempore from 1981-1987 and has been serving his second since
1995. The series consists primarily of recommendations for various
government positions, such as cabinet members and ambassadors to foreign
countries.
Due to media interest in Thurmond's Senate career, Special Collections has
produced a Biography Packet, which consists of excerpts from the
Collection Register, photocopies of photographs chronicling the family and
public life of the senator, and a photocopy of the "Southern Manifesto."
For an edition of the A & E television program "Biography," ABC News
Productions is currently utilizing the packet, along with photographs from
the collection.
In Jan. 1998 in Columbia, SC, Special Collections Archivist Matthew Priewe
and University of South Carolina Modern Political Collections Curator Herb
Hartsook conducted a seminar on special and political collections available
at Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.
The Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University, displayed the exhibit "A
Milestone of Service: Strom Thurmond's Record-Breaking Senate Career" from
Sept. 12, 1997, to Feb.27, 1998. On May 25, 1997, Thurmond became the
longest serving senator in U.S. history, and the exhibit provides a brief
overview of his Senate career and the issues and concerns he has been
involved with during each of his five decades in office.
Matthew Priewe
The processing of the Thomas R. Carper Papers is now underway at the
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library. Carper (D-DE) served
in Congress from 1983 until 1992, when he was elected to his first term as
governor of Delaware. The core of the papers is material from Carper's
career in the U.S. House. Nearly 130 l. f. of congressional papers
document his committee work, legislation, and efforts on behalf of
constituents. They reflect issues on banking, environmental and coastal
concerns, fishing and tourism, and many other topics of interest to
Delawareans in the 1980s. Supplemental personal papers reflect campaigns,
and Carper's work as a member of the boards of Amtrak and Jobs for American
Graduates. Gubernatorial papers are not included because by state law they
are transferred to the Delaware State Archives. Once processed and open
for research, the Thomas R. Carper papers will be an important addition to
the Special Collections' primary sources for the study of Delaware politics
and history.
L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin
The new Claude Pepper Library at Florida State University, has begun
receiving several shipments of processed papers, photographs, recordings,
and memorabilia of former Sen. and Rep. Claude Pepper (D-FL). Many of
these materials have been in storage for several years. The collection
will be housed in a new facility, the Claude Pepper Center, which includes
the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and the Claude Pepper
Foundation. The staff will be updating the finding aid to the collection,
which is expected to be accessible on the World Wide Web. Please keep
posted for announcements on the library's opening.
Burt Altman
For several years, staff at the Russell Library, University of Georgia,
contemplated publishing a guide to the library's cornerstone collection,
the papers of Sen. Richard B. Russell, Jr. (D-GA). In 1997, the 100th
anniversary of his birth, it seemed particularly appropriate to bring forth
a publication honoring the senator, his work, and the legacy of his
lifelong public service to Georgia and the nation. The illustrated guide
includes a biography of Russell written by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV),
background information on the formation of the Russell Library, a history
of the Richard B. Russell Foundation, descriptions of each series and
subseries in the Russell collection, an index, a list of oral history
interviews, research policies and procedures at the library, and a selected
bibliography of publications based on research using the collection. Thus
the guide serves not only as a research tool to provide access, but also as
a means to highlight the abundance of materials present and available for
research. Funding for this guide was provided by the Richard B. Russell
Foundation, Inc. Members of the SAA Congressional Papers Roundtable will
receive a complementary copy of the guide this spring.
Also as part of the celebration honoring Russell's 100th birthday
anniversary, the library hosted "The Richard B. Russell Lecture: Civil
Rights, Warren Commission, Vietnam and National Security" on the senator's
birthday, Nov. 2, 1997. The program, funded by the Georgia Humanities
Council, the Russell Foundation, and the Georgia Historical Quarterly,
featured scholars discussing significant transitions in domestic and
foreign policies that occurred during Russell's career and the impact that
the senator made on Georgia and the nation. The program was held in
conjunction with the exhibit "A Century Considered: Richard B. Russell,
Jr., and his Legacy" and the Russell Symposium (a biennial program
sponsored by the Russell Foundation and the Center for International Trade
and Security).
Pam Hackbart-Dean
The University of Hawaii at Manoa Library recently initiated its
Congressional Papers Collection upon receiving the papers of the late Sen.
Spark M. Matsunaga (D-HA). The senator's family generously donated the
papers and presented a gift of $125,000 from the Spark M. Matsunaga Peace
Foundation to support the collection. The collection covers Matsunaga's 14
years in the U. S. House and 14 in the Senate, and consist of more than 800
boxes, more than 3000 published items, videotapes, photographs, and
personal writings of poetry and prose. The senator worked vigorously for
civil rights, Japanese American reparations, peace, and renewable energy
resources. He also led the effort to establish the U.S. Poet Laureate
program in 1985. The papers will be a featured collection when the latest
addition to the Hamilton Library building is ready in 2000. Videotapes
have been inventoried and will be mastered for preservation. Photographs
are being given conservation treatment and will be kept with the papers.
Work on the papers themselves will begin shortly.
Ellen Chapman
The congressional papers of Rep. John Myers (R-IN) were received by the
University Archives at Indiana State University. Myers represented
Indiana's 7th Congressional District from 1966-1996. The collection
contains approximately 271 c. f. of photos, audio-visual material, press
releases, campaign files, constituent case and issue mail, academy files,
project files, committee and subcommittee files, and office files. An
inventory is currently being compiled. The collection is being processed,
and access is restricted at this time.
Susan Davis
Special Collections at Louisiana State University has received its final
shipment of the papers of Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. (D-LA). The
material comprises approximately 1000 l. f. and has been arranged in
general series order. The legislative files are currently being processed.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for
eight years, Johnston was instrumental in national energy policy.
Emily Robison
Former Congressman G. V. "Sonny" Montgomery (D-MS) donated $1000 to the
Special Collections Department, Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi
State University, to be used to hire a student assistant to assist in the
processing of his papers. Montgomery has previously made similar
donations, which have greatly facilitated the processing of the collection.
Mike Ballard
Researchers can now benefit from a new guide from the University of
Oklahoma's Carl Albert Center. The thirty-four-page Archival Resources on
the Great Depression at the Carl Albert Center Congressional Archives
describes in detail the way the Center's archival collections document a
variety of topics on the 1930s, including drought relief and soil
conservation, banking, public works projects, Prohibition, veterans' bonus
legislation, and national and Oklahoma politics. The free guide is
available from the Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma, 630
Parrington Oval, Rm 101, Norman, OK 73019; (405) 325-6372 (tel.); (405)
325- 6419 (fax.); (e-mail).
The Center's new exhibit, "Out of the Darkroom: Shutterbugs Focus on
Politicians' Family and Friends," takes a look at the place wives,
husbands, and children have held in the lives of their glad-handing,
stump-speaking spouses and parents. The exhibit, which is displayed in the
format of a family photo album, will be on display until summer 1998.
The Center has acquired the records of the Sunbelt Caucus, a nonprofit
nonpartisan organization that seeks to provide public policy research and
public education on issues affecting the Sunbelt region and its people.
Its is comprised of members of Congress who represent Sunbelt states. The
collection's 19 c. f. contain administrative and topical files that are
currently closed to researchers.
Todd Kosmerick
The Modern Political Collections, a division of the University of South
Carolina's South Caroliniana Library, recently received the papers of Rep.
James R. Mann (D-SC). The collection documents Mann's campaigns for
Congress and his service representing South Carolina's 4th District from
1969 to 1979. The collection should be open for study early in 1999. It
will have as its strongest element records documenting Mann's key role in
the Judiciary Committee's consideration of the impeachment of Pres. Richard
M. Nixon.
Herbert J. Hartsook
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has received an additional 20
c. f. of materials for the Marilyn Lloyd Collection. Lloyd (D-TN) served
in the U. S. House from 1975 to 1995. The addition primarily contains
newspaper clippings, plaques, and artwork, but it also includes files
relating to the Oak Ridge facility and energy legislation. This
acquisition supplements her earlier donation of 96 c. f. of office files
from 1975 to 1994, including materials on the TVA, Department of Energy,
Oak Ridge and Clinch River Breeder Reactor, the Armed Services Committee,
foreign affairs, and child care.
Mrs. Olive Hunt donated newsletters for the years 1973-1974 and press
releases relating to the service of Rep. Baker (R-TN). The collection has
been catalogued, and a partial index can be viewed on the Web at
http://www1.lib.utc.edu/manuscripts/mss067.
F. Holly Hodges
The Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, has
acquired the papers of former Sen. and Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd
Bentsen, Jr. (D-TX). The collection is estimated to contain 2500 boxes,
making it the single largest at the Center and a major addition to the
Center's growing Congressional History Collections. Financial support from
the Houston Endowment, Inc., has enabled the Center to hire special project
staff to organize the Bentson Collection and make it accessible. The
papers document Bentson's Senate career (1971 to 1992) and his unsuccessful
bids to be a Democratic Party presidential nominee (1976) and vice
president (1988). The collection is especially valuable for its
documentation of the history of energy and trade issues, tax and banking
policy, and the shaping of the federal budget. Because Bentsen was
influential on economic matters, the collection contains abundant materials
relating to the development of American trade and tax policies.
The papers of former Sen. Ralph Webster Yarborough (D-TX) have been opened
to researchers. Although processing continues, a finding aid in the form
of a checklist is available. Yarborough served from 1957 to 1971, and his
papers document a public career that included sponsorship or support for
such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the National
Defense Education Act of 1958, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Cold War
GI Bill of 1969, and the National Cancer Act of 1970. His environmental
legislation created the Padre Island National Seashore, the Guadalupe
Mountains National Park, and the Big Thicket National Preserve.
Former Rep. Eckhardt (D-TX) has donated his papers to the Center. The
collection is featured in the exhibit "Crusade in Caricature: Political
Cartoons by Congressman Bob Eckhardt." Taken from the Eckhardt papers,
other Center holdings, and loans from the former congressman's personal
collection are cartoons, sketches, caricatures, and poems, some tucked away
for years in Eckhardt's files and seen by few.
The Center for American History has remodeled the exhibit at the Sam
Rayburn Library and Museum in Bonham, Texas. The new exhibit is titled
"The House Will Come to Order: The Life and Career of Sam Rayburn," and it
includes an audio tour of the Museum's replica of the formal office of the
Speaker of the House of Representatives. The tour features a 1960
recording of Rayburn describing the furnishings and memorabilia in the
room. The Speaker's papers are now housed in the Center's Congressional
History Collections in Austin.
Sara Clark
Comings and Goings
Diane Dimkoff, formerly of the Center for Legislative Archives, National
Archives, has been reassigned to supervise the staff working in the NARA
research rooms and the NARA library. Therefore, she is leaving the
Congressional Papers Roundtable Steering Committee. Mike McReynolds, newly
deputy director of the Center for Legislative Archives, will take her
place. He can be reached at Center for Legislative Archives (NWL),
National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20408; (202) 501-5350 (tel.); (202) 219-2176 (fax);
(e-mail).
Welcome new members: Matthew Priewe has become the new Political
Collections Archivist at Clemson University. In 1997, Ellen Chapman began
to oversee the Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga Papers at the University of Hawaii
at Manoa Library. Rebecca J. Altermatt is the new Affiliate Assistant
Librarian at the Special Collections of the University of Delaware Library,
and her primary assignment is to process the Thomas R. Carper Papers.
If you know of anyone who would like to join the Congressional Papers
Roundtable, please have them contact Chair Mark Greene or the editor.
Note from the Editor
If you have news for the next issue of the Congressional Papers Roundtable
Newsletter, please submit it to the editor by July 17, 1998. The next
issue will be distributed in August prior to the annual meeting.
Editor: Todd Kosmerick, Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma, 630
Parrington Oval, Rm 101, Norman, OK 73019, (405) 325-6372 (tel.), (405)
326-6419 (fax), (e- mail).
Note from Editor: Some Congressional Papers Roundtable members may still be
using my old e-mail address of kosmerick@uoknor.edu. Effective May 1,
1998, this will be deactivated. Congressional Papers Roundtable members
should use to contact me.
CPR pages maintained by Robin Reeder,
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