Accessions and Openings for the 4th Quarter FY 2007
Presidential Libraries
During the fourth quarter, 10,725 pages (6.817 cubic feet) of recent manuscript acquisitions were accessioned.
Notable archival acquisitions this quarter include the papers of Philip S. Brown, an official in the Resettlement and Farm Security Administrations, donated by his daughter Deborah Brown; a collection of 1920s and 1930s radical pamphlets and newspapers donated by State University of New York at New Paltz Professor David Krikun; an accretion to the papers of Adolf A. Berle, Jr., donated by his daughter Beatrice Berle Meyerson; and a 16mm Ectachrome film of FDR's campaign trip to Pittsburgh, PA, October 11, 1940, donated by Michael Kane.
During the quarter, 17 items were accessioned into the museum collection, including 3 new items and 14 previously unaccessioned items that have been in the collection for many years. The new acquisitions consist of two Resettlement Administration posters, donated by Deborah Brown, and a Countess Mara donkey tie once owned by President Roosevelt, donated by Richard and Barbara Wolf.
The printed materials collections added 26 new books, 28 periodicals, and 125 vertical file items during the quarter. Also accessioned into the collection were 3,327 previously unaccessioned books that were identified during the FDR Book Collection project.
The library acquired the Papers of Sally Cahalan, a historian and researcher (2 linear foot, ca. 1948–78), consisting of interviews, reports, printed materials, and other items relating to John Stewart Service. This collection is closed pending processing.
The library acquired the Papers of Donald S. Dawson, administrative assistant to the President from 1947 to 1953 (14 linear feet, ca. 1930–2001), consisting of correspondence, memoranda, handwritten notes, photographs, scrapbooks, reports, and other items mostly relating to Dawson's association with the Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs, and his relationship with his wife, the film star Ilona Massey. This collection is closed pending processing.
The library acquired the Papers of Arthur Ginsburg, a document collector (less than 1 linear foot, ca. 1948–55), consisting of correspondence mostly relating to the 1948 and 1952 Presidential campaigns. This collection is closed pending processing.
Fifty-four new artifacts were accessioned into the museum collection during the quarter. The total artifact count stands at 27,318.
The papers of Samuel H. Butterfield and James Canole were accessioned this quarter as well as an accretion to the papers of Stephen Benedict.
Accessions for the quarter included the philatelic collection of 2,732 items from the Arthur E. Summerfield Papers. This includes First Day Issue cachets, programs, blocks of stamps, albums of stamps all produced during the Eisenhower administration. Included is a collection of Foreign First Day Issues sent to Postmaster Summerfield. Other museum accessions included White House Christmas Gift Prints and Cards produced by Hallmark Cards from 1953 to 1969, total 18,118 items.
The library accessioned 22 textual accessions totaling 178.5 cubic feet including:
- Ten accretions to the Personal Papers of Edward M. Kennedy. Staff files and personal memorabilia. 146.255 feet. Closed.
- An accretion to the Personal Papers of Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister to President John F. Kennedy. Publications, audiovisual materials, and other items. 3 feet. Closed.
- An accretion to the Pre-Presidential Papers of John F. Kennedy. Photocopies of itineraries and press pass for Senator Kennedy's appearances in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Received from J. Sandy Scatena, Advance Man, JFK Campaign, 1960. 0.125 feet. Open.
- The personal papers of Edward Guillon, Deputy Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1960–61), Ambassador to the Republic of Congo (1961–64), Dean, Fletcher School, Tufts University (1964–78). 3 cubic feet. Closed.
- Personal Papers of Robert Shrum, Political consultant, speechwriter to Edward M. Kennedy. Correspondence, drafts of book No Excuses, photographs, and news clippings. 26 feet. Closed.
- Three additions to the Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, including the papers of Mark A. Soden, navy pilot and roommate of Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., crew lists, correspondence, and photos of JPK, Jr. 0.250 feet. Open.
- Five accretions to the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection (RPCV), and 12 oral history interviews. Open.
A total of 67 photographic prints, 84 original photographic negatives, 33.5 hours of audio, and 31.3 hours of moving images were accessioned.
Deeds of gift were completed for the personal papers of Edward Guillon and Mark A. Soden and 12 RPCV oral histories.
The following oral history transcripts were accessioned and are available for research:
McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, 1961–66, three interviews, 119 pages.
During this quarter, the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum added video oral histories with Senator John F. Kerry, an antiwar activist during the Nixon administration; John W. Dean, Nixon-era White House counsel; Lawrence M. Higby, assistant to Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman; Charles W. Colson, former Nixon assistant; Egil "Bud" Krogh, former Nixon staff member; Donald H. Rumsfeld, former Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity; Frederick V. Malek, former Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Paul O'Neill, former Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and John Price, former staff assistant to Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
The library has received a signed deed of gift from Dale and Leonard Adler, daughter and son-in-law of Nixon Presidential photographer Oliver F. Atkins, for seven cubic feet of photographic negatives, transparencies, contact sheets and publications collected by Mr. Atkins from 1941 until his death in 1977.
The Nixon Library also received collections from Lorrin M. Koran (one FRC box on drug policy), Bill Gulley (passenger manifests for First Family travel on military transports), and the Nixon Foundation (Committee to Re-Elect the President files, approximately 275 cubic feet; Nixon political and personal returnable files, 78,000 pages of formerly closed documents).
Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Ford administration (7 cubic feet). Included were speeches, memoranda, correspondence, reports, and other material related to such topics as housing, community development, urban policy, and the President's Committee on Urban Development and Neighborhood Revitalization.
Twelve accretions were added to existing collections, including the David Mathews Papers, Bruce Wagner Papers, Gerald R. Ford Personal Papers, Composite General Accessions, and Composite Grand Rapids Accessions.
The library declared several collections available via a researcher-driven review queue. The collections had been arranged and described by student staff. They are the papers of Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs Max Friedersdorf, 1974–77 (4 cubic feet); the files of Director of Correspondence Roland Elliott, 1974–77, (20 cubic feet); most of the papers of Assistant to the President William J. Baroody, Jr., 1948 (1964–96), covering his government service, 1961–77, (202 cubic feet); and the Clifford Ericson Scrapbook, 1976, on the American Revolution Bicentennial (less than 1 cubic foot).
The library opened 37 photographs in U.S. National Security Council Institutional Files folder "NSDM 313: Establishment of a U.S. Sinai Support Mission."
The library continues to receive material from President Carter's Office and from John Gunther Dean. During the fourth quarter the library received 5 cubic feet of material from Ken Thomas documenting the genealogy of President and Mrs. Carter; an accretion to the Emily Dolvin materials, which includes Carter family memorabilia and a diary of Mary Ida Nicholson Gordy, President Carter's grandmother; and a 7-cubic-foot accretion to the Rupert Cutler papers. The most notable acquisition was 7 cubic feet of family/personal photographs from President and Mrs. Carter.
Michael B. Neal Papers, 1967–74 (less than 1 linear foot). This accession consists of material compiled by Mr. Neal during his work as an advance volunteer for Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial campaign in 1970. He also provided us with California Legislature Handbooks, which provide detailed information regarding the membership of the California legislature during Reagan's term as governor. The handbooks were transferred to our general reference collection in the research room.
The library opened for research Records Relating to the Personal Staff of Former President Harry S. Truman, which are part of Record Group 269: General Records of the General Services Administration (less than 1 linear foot, 1957–72). The records consist of memoranda, letters, and other items concerning the status, pay, and benefits of members of Mr. Truman's personal staff at the Truman Library.
The library opened for research the transcript of trial in the case of United States v. Oscar Collazo, which is part of Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States (less than 1 linear foot, 1951). The transcript documents proceedings in Collazo's trial for murder in connection with the attempted assassination of President Truman.
The library opened for research the Papers of Lyle Watts, Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, 1943–52 (3 linear feet, 1910–62). The papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, photographs, articles, and speeches concerning Watts's career with the Forest Service and government forest policy.
The library opened for research approximately 1,400 pages of recently declassified documents from the Harry S. Truman Papers (Psychological Strategy Board Files, President's Secretary's Files, Korean War File, and National Security Council Files), the Papers of Dean Acheson, and the Papers of Clark Clifford. These declassified materials mostly pertain to U.S. relations with Russia, Germany, and Japan.
The library opened two pages of documents from an accretion to the George Elsey papers. These pages, a vote tally dictated to Elsey by President Truman a few weeks before the 1948 election and a handwritten note by President Truman to Elsey containing Truman's reflections on his historical legacy, were opened during the C-SPAN broadcast that aired on September 21, 2007.
The Nixon Library opened two significant sets of materials on July 11, 2007.
The first set, released by the tapes team in College Park, MD, comprised 11½ hours of taped Presidential conversations, which were made available both in the research rooms in College Park and in Yorba Linda, CA, and on its new web site. The second set, released by the archival staff in Yorba Linda, comprised approximately 78,000 pages of textual materials. These materials had been returned to the Nixon estate in the mid-1990s because they were deemed not to relate to any statutory duties of the President or abuse of government powers as defined by the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (PRMPA) and associated regulations. Selections from these documents were shared online on the Nixon Library web site.
The library opened eight series from White House Files and two donated collections. They include:
- Anne Wexle—Correspondence Files
- Anne Wexler—Department of Commerce Files
- Anne Wexler—Jane Hartley's Urban Policy Files
- Anne Wexler—Subject Files
- Cabinet Secretary—Ed Helminski Files
- Cabinet Secretary—Federal Emergency Files
- Cabinet Secretary—John Hall Subject Files
- Domestic Policy Staff—Natural Resources—Jim Mongan and Joseph Onek
- Mary Hoyt—Subject Files—Donated
- Tim Kraft—Subject Files—Donated