Accessions and Openings for the 2nd Quarter 2007
Presidential Libraries
The Hoover Library accessioned a five-foot accretion to the papers of Elliot Rosen, a scholar of the Hoover-Roosevelt transition. The library also accessioned four feet of research files of Mordecai Lee, professor of governmental affairs, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, from his recently published book, Institutionalizing Congress and the Presidency: The U.S. Bureau of Efficiency, 1916–33. In addition, the library accessioned 22 periodicals and six books.
The museum received four significant donations. One consisted of black-and-white framed pictures of Hoover's birthplace and the Hoover blacksmith shop. Another was a donation from Lewis H. Strauss of a one-page (handwritten) note from Hoover to the donor's mother, Alice Strauss. Three aprons and a pair of cuffs that servants wore during the Hoover administration, and U.S. Food Administration certificates with Hoover's signature were transferred from the Hoover archival collection to the museum collection.
The Roosevelt Library accessioned 4,646 pages (2.164 cubic feet) of recent manuscript acquisitions.
Notable archival acquisitions this quarter include scrapbooks, photographs, and other historical materials of Helen Roosevelt Robinson, the daughter of Franklin D. Roosevelt's half brother (donated by her granddaughter Nora Stark); Franklin D. Roosevelt and Al Smith autograph letters, 1924 (donated by the children of Joseph Nicolleti); materials related to the B-17 named My Day after Eleanor Roosevelt's syndicated newspaper column (donated by Charles Bellfy); facsimiles of recently discovered documents related to Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank (donated by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research); photographs and other archival materials that were part of a personal collection of FDR-related items (donated by Mrs. Helene Harris); and a previously unknown photograph and original negative of Franklin D. Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy inspecting the U.S. Navy Base Hospital #5 in Brest, France, August 20, 1918 (taken by Lt. Chester O. Tanner, USN Medical Corps and donated by John D. Tanner).
During the quarter, 430 items were accessioned into the museum collection, including 132 new items and 298 previously unaccessioned items that have been in the collection for many years. New acquisitions include a 1963 bronze bust of Eleanor Roosevelt by Victor Lamkay, a gift from William J. vanden Heuvel, and a metal podium made for and used by President Roosevelt in Kansas City in 1936. The podium was stored at the White House for many years before being transferred first to NARA and then to the library. In January, Helene Harris of Bloomfield, MI, donated a large collection of Roosevelt-era ephemera to the library; her late husband collected the material.
During the quarter, staff added 21 new books, 31 periodicals, and 155 vertical file items to the printed materials collections. In addition, the library accessioned 777 books identified during the FDR Book Collection project into the collection.
The library acquired the papers of Philip M. Stern, a Democratic Party official (less than 1 linear foot, ca. 1949–53). The papers include reports, memoranda, correspondence, printed materials, speech drafts, and memorabilia concerning his service as an aide to Congressman Henry "Scoop" Jackson and his work for the Democratic Party during and after the 1952 Presidential campaign. This collection remains closed pending processing.
The library acquired an accretion to the papers of Henry Reiff, a legal specialist in the Department of State (less than 1 linear foot, ca. 1945–2006). The accretion includes letters concerning the 1945 United Nations Conference in San Francisco, photographs, and newspaper articles. This accretion remains closed pending processing.
The library acquired an accretion to the papers of William M. McCauley, Director of the Bureau of Employees' Compensation (less than 1 linear foot, ca. 1946–64). The accretion includes correspondence, memoranda, handwritten notes, an employment application, a salary schedule, and other materials mostly pertaining to McCauley's Government service. This accretion remains closed pending processing.
Audiovisual acquisitions included 3 photographs from Bruce H. Wingerd; 21 photographs transferred from Lisa Sullivan (Institute) relating to Greta Kempton; and 47 photographs transferred from the Truman Papers, Senate and Vice Presidential File, Correspondence File.
The library accessioned the John Pendergrass collection of campaign materials, from larger posters, street banners, and broadsides as well as World War II memorabilia, which includes a survival kit, Mother's flag, a Nazi spoon with swatiska, and a collection of German currency. An additional accession includes papers from Robert Cutler and Abbott Washburn.
The library accessioned 29 textual accessions totaling 595.75 cubic feet including:
- Ten accretions to the Personal Papers of Edward M. Kennedy. Staff files, 1973–2000, and personal family files. 158 feet. Closed.
- A second donation to the Personal Papers of Kay Halle, journalist, author, socialite, and Kennedy family friend. Correspondence, news clippings, photographs, manuscripts, printed materials, and memorabilia relating to her professional and private activities and interests. 300 feet. Closed.
- An accretion to the Records of the U.S. Presidential Railroad Commission. Published copies of the commission report and public hearings. 25 feet. Closed.
- An accretion to the Personal Papers of Kermit Gordon, Council of Economic Advisers (1961–62), and Director, Bureau of the Budget (1962–65). Personal letters and memorial tribute booklet. 0.25 foot.
- The Personal Papers of Warren Cikins. Personal and professional papers and materials relating to his service on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as legislative assistant to Rep. Brooks Hays (AR), Brookings Institution, and other organizations. 111 feet.
- An accretion to the Personal Papers of Robert Roosa, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs (1961–64). 6 feet. Closed.
- One addition to the John F. Kennedy Tributes Collection, eight additions to the Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, and one addition to the John F. Kennedy Condolence Mail Collection were accessioned, processed, and opened.
- Four accretions to the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection, including three accretions of personal papers (0.5 cubic feet) and one accession of three oral history interviews with:
- James M. Hamill (Peru, 1965–67)
- Wilson K. Mason (Brazil, 1966–68)
- Allen Mondell (Sierra Leone, 1963–65)
The library accessioned and described 337 photograph items (including 80 in digital format), 35 hours of audio, and 36 hours of moving images (VHS and DVD).
Deeds of gifts transferred two personal papers collections and five oral histories of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
The library accessioned the following oral history transcripts:
- L. Wade Lathram, Foreign Service officer, 37 pages.
- George Christian, press secretary for President Johnson, and Harry Middleton, LBJ speechwriter and Director of the LBJ Library, 39 pages.
- Roy H. Millenson, long-time assistant to Jacob Javits and staff director of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, three interviews, 52 pages.
- William McChesney Martin, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, 17 pages.
- Harry Nachlin, crew chief of the helicopter used in LBJ's 1948 Senate campaign, 29 pages.
The library also accessioned the Personal Papers of William M. Blackburn, which deal with the Presidential transition from May to November 1968 (1 cubic inch).
Nixon Presidential Materials Staff
The staff accessioned video oral histories, conducted by NARA, with Art Linkletter, Barbara Franklin, Jerry Schilling, Egil Krogh, Edward Nixon, Linwood Holton, Herbert Klein, John Whittaker, Melvin Laird, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and Jeb Stuart Magruder.
The Ford Library added nine accretions to the collections, including a reading copy of President Ford's address to the 1976 Republican National Convention to the Papers of Stanton D. Anderson. Accretions were also added to the Gerald R. Ford Scrapbooks, Gerald R. Ford Post-Presidential Office Files, Gerald R. Ford Personal Financial Papers, Betty Ford Papers, and Composite General Accessions.
The library received deeds of gift from Sue Terry for letters from would-be assassin Sara Jane Moore, from James Lynn for his papers as HUD secretary and OMB director, and from Judy Plessner for photographs taken of Gerald Ford taken in 1982.
The library received a great deal of material intended for the Ford Family following the death of President Ford. Included were condolence cards, letters, and e-mails; condolence books from funeral homes and other organizations; and government proclamations in honor of President Ford. This material was sent to the museum in Grand Rapids, MI.
The audiovisual department received several offers of audiovisual materials following the death of President Ford. Among them were photographs and other items from the USS Monterey from the daughter of a Ford shipmate.
The library received 10,000 digital photo images of the Ford funeral events: 2,200 from David Hume Kennerly and 8,000 from the Military District of Washington. Plans are under way to produce contact sheets in order to view and organize the numerous images.
The museum received three feet of photographs from the Ford Office. Included were duplicate White House photographs that the office sent out on request and several dozen images that are new to the audiovisual collection.
Ambassador John Gunther Dean added a further accession to the collection of his personal papers. Sixteen CD transcripts from the January 2007 Carter Conference held at the University of Georgia were added to the collections.
The Reagan Library acquired 13 books and 83 serials this past quarter and continues to transfer and catalog books from the remaining gift collections, textual collections and from the post-Presidential donations.
The Bush Library received approximately 2.1 linear feet of textual material for accessioning. These materials consisted of accretions to the George Bush Post-Presidential Collection and Brent Scowcroft Collection.
The audiovisual department accessioned 30 video, 140 photographic, and 31 audio accretions to the George Bush Post-Presidential Collection.
The library inventoried and prepared deeds of gift for the following 14 donors: James Cicconi, Dr. Ester Lee Bearden, Jean Becker, FitzGerald Bemiss, Eric Bing, Mark Fite, Preston Geren, Shirley Green, Henry Hoagland, Robert "Bobby" Holt, Dorothy Bush Koch, Timothy McBride, Patricia Presock, and Robert Strange.
The museum accession, catalogued, and stored 667 post-Presidential artifacts this quarter with 33,787 post-Presidential artifacts processed to date. To date there have been 51,044 artifacts processed.
One accession consisted of four donated pieces (two campaign posters and two campaign pins).
The library opened for research the papers of Eric Fowler, a document collector and local historian in Independence, MO (less than 1 linear foot, 1852–97). The papers consist of a letter from the grandfather of Bess Truman and two grade school registers recording the attendance of Harry S. Truman, his future wife Bess, and other pupils.
The library opened for research the papers of Martha Ann Swoyer, niece of Harry S. Truman (less than 1 linear foot, 1940–91). The papers consist of letters to Swoyer from her Uncle Harry and Aunt Bess, memorabilia related to Mr. Truman, and other items.
The library opened for research an accretion to the papers of the Colgan and Bruner Families, mostly consisting of Harry S. Truman's correspondence with Mr. and Mrs. Rochester C. Colgan II, Mrs. Roy D. (Myra Colgan) Hornbuckle, Benjamin F. Cook, and Murray Colgan.
The library opened for research approximately 55 previously donor-restricted pages from the Stephen Spingarn oral history interview.
The library opened 30 previously closed letters and five manuscripts written by Ernest Hemingway to Marlene Dietrich.
The Archives Division completed processing and opened the papers of Kenneth O'Donnell, President Kennedy's appointments scheduler and trusted adviser.
Marie Hartnett's Administrative Files Series from the 1976 Campaign Collection and Tim Kraft's donated personal papers were opened for research.
The library received approval to open 319,570 pages this quarter in response to FOIA and systematic processing notifications. This is approximately 10 times the amount opened last quarter. The opened material includes select folders from a wide variety of staff and office collections and WHORM Subject File categories. Systematic openings included material from the remaining unopened Speech Draft series and remaining WHORM Subject File SP (Speeches) categories.
The following collections were opened in whole: Francis Hodsoll, Jack Matlock, Kate Moore, James "Bud" Nance, Richard Pipes, and Donald Regan.
Major topics covered in the openings include Abortion, Argentina, Anti-Crime Legislation, Assassination Attempt on Reagan, Biomedical Engineering, British Airways, Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA), Drug Trafficking Law Enforcement, El Salvador, Energy Policy, Family Planning, Iceland, Infant Formula, JCS Meetings, John Kerry, Labor, Margaret Thatcher, Martin Luther King Day, Micronesia, Multinational Force in Beirut, Native Hawaiian Study Commission, NATO, Neil Kinnock, New Zealand, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Poland, School Prayer, Security of National Security Classified Information, Soviet-US Summit NSDDs, United Kingdom, Vetoes, and Whaling.
Staff refiled more than 1,000 pages of formerly restricted P2/P5 materials into the Counsels Office open file.
The library received permission to release the following FOIA requests for research:
- 2000-0233-F (NATO Strategy, 8 pp.)
- 2006-0361-F (VP Quayle 1990 Naval Academy Speech, 22 pp.)
- 2007-0142-F (Khosrow Moghadam, 13 pp.)
Several new Domestic Policy Council collections were opened under systematic processing during this quarter: Kendra Brooks (Subject File, Correspondence, and Printed Material), Chris Jennings (Subject File, Health Security Act), Ira Magaziner (Electronic Commerce), Cynthia Rice (Subject File), and Stephen Warnath (Civil Rights) for approximately 128,800 pages. In addition, over 47,000 new pages were opened in the Holocaust Reparations file.
The following FOIA requests were opened for research during this quarter:
- 2006-0166-F (photographs of meeting between Grand Rabbi of the New Square & President Clinton)
- 2006-0190-F (photographs of President Clinton's trip to Chautauqua, NY, 10/3/96–10/5/96 & the Presidential Debate in Hartford, CT, 10/6/96)
- 2006-0201-F (White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy)
- 2006-0219-F (photographs of speech prep with President Clinton)