Congressional Papers Roundtable NEWSLETTER Society of American Archivists Summer 2014

From the Chair: CPR Elections 2014 By Betsy Pittman

Spring has finally arrived and that means it’s time to look The Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the 2014 slate forward to the Annual SAA of two candidates for Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect and four candidates Conference. This year we’ll be for two positions on the Congressional Papers Roundtable (CPR) in Washington, D.C., which Steering Committee. All the candidates have experience with con- presents a variety of opportuni- gressional papers and a commitment to professional service. Please ties for the members of CPR. review the candidate information included in this issue of the news- In addition to possibly check- letter to make an informed decision. ing in with potential donors, I hope you’ll plan on attending Voting for the election will take place online and will occur via the the pre-conference program to Society of American Archivists (SAA) web site. SAA staff will be held on August 13, 2014, in make online ballots accessible to CPR members during the first the Capitol Visitor’s Center. week of July. The Nominating Committee will issue reminders Registration forms for the pre- about the ballot on the CPR discussion list and will announce the conference meeting will be dis- election results as soon as SAA makes them available to us. tributed via the CPR listserv after June 23, 2014. Anyone Thank you to all the members who submitted nominations and to with questions should contact all the candidates for agreeing to run for office! me directly at [email protected] or 2014 CPR Nominating Committee (860) 486-4507. Leigh McWhite, Chair Audrey McKanna Coleman The program committee is try- Brian Keough ing something a little different this year. In order to provide a (Candidate statements are found on pages 3-7) substantial program on topics highlighted in the recent membership survey, the Program In This Issue: and Electronic Records Com- mittees have developed a full day of presentations and dis- From the Chair.……….…1-2 SAA 2014 CPR……………...8-9 cussions at an off-site location. CPR Elections…..…..……...1 Sen. Kaufman E- Records...9-11 Registration information and forms for the pre-Conference SCPC hosts ACSC…………2 Institutional Updates…....12-17 (Continued on page 2) Candidate Statements...... 3-7 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014

(From the Chair, continued from page 1) gram, Laura Litwer of Texas A&M Commerce program will be distributed through the CPR and Debbie Davendonis-Todd of Baylor’s Poage listserv. Legislative Library. Laura spoke about the inter- personal skills that need to be cultivated by archi- The Business meeting, scheduled for Friday, Au- vists on a panel about the future of congressional gust 15, 2014, will be held at the conference ho- archives. Debbie, along with Sarah D’Antonio tel and will also have a program presentation as from the Dole Institute at the University of Kan- well as the usual reports of activities and issues sas, spoke about the exciting and innovative out- needing membership input. Everyone has been reach programs at their institutions. busy this year and I look forward to catching up with you all in D.C.! The program opened with a keynote address de- livered by former Democratic National Party -Betsy Pittman chair Don Fowler. Seven panels considered the work of congressional chiefs of staff and campaign managers, outreach, books and documen- taries, the future of congressional archives, and “bridge” collections (non-legislative collections like League of Women Voters and political car- toonists). In addition, two former members of Congress spoke about their experiences having their papers collected. Program participants included former Hollings chiefs of staff Joey Lesesne and David Rudd; Congressman Floyd Spence chief of staff Craig Metz, whose dead-on impersonation of Strom Thurmond made him a favorite of the audience; campaign manager South Carolina Political Jamal Gunn; Congressman Bryan Dorn biog- Collections hosts rapher Jack Roper; and USC Professor of Library and Information Science Jennifer Marshall, who Congressional Archivists gave scholarly context to the discussion of the future of congressional archives. South Carolina Political Collections (SCPC) at the University of South Carolina held a success- Attendees received a tour of SCPC and we were ful and memorable 11th Annual Meeting of the surprised that the group seemed enamored with Association of Centers for the Study of Congress our two-case exhibit just outside our processing (ACSC) from May 14 to May 16. The conference area illustrating the steps in processing a major drew 42 congressional archivists, library adminis- collection. We copied the concept from the Dole trators and congressional staff to Columbia. As Institute and it sounds like the exhibit will soon we work in a U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings-centric be replicated at a number of our sister institu- universe here at SCPC, we were pleased to see tions. folks responsible for the papers of Hollings’ men- tor, Richard Russell of Georgia; his mentee, Joe We began planning for this years ago, when we Biden of Delaware: and close friends, Daniel In- first learned we would be moving to a new state- ouye of Hawaii, Ted Stevens of Alaska, and of-the-art facility. The meeting was all we ex- Chris Dodd of Connecticut. pected it to be and certainly solidified our standing as a leading congressional repository. SCPC is gaining a reputation as an incubator of future archival leaders and we were proud to see -Contributed by Herb Hartsook two former SCPC student assistants on the pro- and Lori Schwartz 2 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 include promotion of the holdings through social CPR Candidate media, engaging undergraduates on campus to Statements promote the use of primary sources, and main- taining active contact with the Oklahoma Con- gressional delegation. Candidates for Chair-Elect What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- (2 Candidates) mittee? I am an enthusiastic advocate for the preservation Robert A. Lay and use of Congressional collections. These collections are vitally important to understanding Title: Archivist politics, government, and legislation in the Unit- Institution: Carl Albert ed States, and their preservation rests solely on Congressional Research the energy of Congressional archivists. We repre- and Studies Center, Uni- sent different repositories of differing sizes and versity of Oklahoma availability of resources, but we share a common Education: BA and mission. My work with ACSC, as well as my pre- MA in History, Louisi- vious experience with four sizeable Congression- ana Tech University al collections at different repositories, makes me well-suited to encourage greater cooperation. Biography: Robert has served as an archivist at the Carl Al- What would you like CPR to accomplish in the bert Congressional Research and Studies Center next 3-5 years? at the University of Oklahoma since 2011. Previ- Highlighting the work of Congress should, like ously he was an assistant archivist at the Robert Congress itself, be a collaborative effort. I would J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, like to see Congressional repositories of all sizes and was a processing archivist for the papers of more actively engaged with one another, as a net- Senator John B. Breaux at Louisiana State Uni- work of archives rather than silos of political in- versity Libraries. He currently serves on the ex- formation. I believe that new technologies and ecutive committee of the Association of Centers initiatives such as encoded description, open da- for the Study of Congress and has been a member ta, virtual reading rooms, and social media pre- of the Academy of Certified Archivists since sent excellent opportunities to knit these collec- 2012. tions together to provide the most complete pic- ture for our patrons, whether they are sitting at a What is your experience with Congressional table in our reading rooms or on a couch in their Papers? living room. I have worked exclusively with Congressional collections since 2007, including the papers of Marc Levitt Senators John B. Breaux and Robert J. Dole, and Congressmen Glenn English and James R. Jones. Title: The Direc- In my current capacity as Archivist at the Carl tor of Archives Albert Center, I spearheaded an effort to migrate Institution: Rob- the Center’s finding aids from HTML to Archon. ert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Currently, I am working with colleagues at Studies neighboring institutions to develop policies for Education: BA from Michigan State Universi- the preservation and access of electronic records ty (Political Science Pre-Law); MA from Villa- in Congressional collections. My outreach efforts nova University (History); MSI from the Univer-

3 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 sity of Michigan (Archives & Records Manage- I would like to see the CPR push to build a better ment and Museum Studies) understanding and rapport between Members of Congress and repositories that hold their papers. I Biography: would also like to see a movement to extend legal Marc is the CPR liaison with the SAA standards protection over the so-called "personal papers" of committee, is serving on the Executive Commit- members to better preserve the transparency and tee for the Association of Centers for the Study foundation of our representative democracy. of Congress, and has recently joined the Society for History in the Federal Government. He has consulted with other institutions to help establish Candidates for their archives including the Robert H. Mollohan Steering Committee Family Charitable Foundation, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Shepherd Uni- (4 Candidates) versity itself. In May of 2013, Marc spoke on a panel at the U.S. House of Representa- Debbie Davendonis-Todd tives Legislative Data and Transparency Confer- ence about the processes and challenges of ar- Title: Bob Bullock Archi- chiving constituent correspondence. Marc also vist volunteers for SkyTruth, a non-profit group pro- Institution: W.R. Poage moting environmental awareness and protection, Legislative Library, Baylor and is a published poet and photographer in University the Anthology of Appalachian Writers series. Education: BA in History, Beloit College and MLIS, What is your experience with Congressional University of South Carolina Papers? My experience with congressional papers began Biography: at NARA's Center for Legislative Archives Debbie is the Bob Bullock Archivist at the W.R. where I worked on their "Next Generation Find- Poage Legislative Library at Baylor Universi- ing Aids" project and did research for the Capitol ty. Debbie joined the faculty of Baylor in No- Visitor Center's rotating exhibits. I came over to vember 2012. Prior to Baylor, Debbie worked as the Byrd CLS immediately after finishing that the political papers archivist at the University of internship, and have worked exclusively with Florida where she processed the papers of Sena- congressional papers since 2010. tor Bob Graham. She is an active member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- and is a member of the Society of American Ar- mittee? chivists Committee on Advocacy and Public Pol- I believe I can bring some new perspectives to icy. Debbie attended the University of South the Steering Committee, and an enthusiasm to Carolina where she received her MLIS and make the electronic records of congressional col- worked as a graduate assistant at South Carolina lections more reliable, authentic, and accessible Political Collections. to researchers. I've been working with the constituent management systems data for more than What is your experience with Congressional two years, including all the opportunities and Papers? challenges those systems create in their current My passion for political collections and pro- incarnation. cessing skills come from my time at South Caro- lina Political Collections as a graduate assistant What would you like CPR to accomplish in from 2008 to 2010. Highlights of my work in- the next 3-5 years? clude a digital exhibit, William Jennings Bryan

4 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 Dorn: In His Own Words and processing pro- to explore the role of education through primary jects including the Allard H. Gasque Papers (U.S. sources. I would like to see a guide produced House of Rep.,1923-1938), the Jack Bass Papers with tips and tricks to maximizing exposure (writer and one-time congressional candidate), while balancing other repository responsibilities. and a subject guide to Senator Hollings’ collec- Opportunities are ripe for collaboration with col- tion about his role in the Base Realignment and leagues in government documents and the educa- Closure (BRAC) process and its effects on South tion field. Bolstering our outreach efforts Carolina’s military installations. Following grad- through clever and engaging use of our primary uation in 2010, I was selected for a two-year pro- source material will help carry our repositories ject to process the papers of Senator Bob Graham into the future. at the University of Florida (UF). At UF, I had the opportunity to work closely with the Graham Jack Komos family and also the Graham Center for Public Service fielding research questions and providing Title: Archivist, Sen- tours. In 2012, I joined the staff to the W.R. ator Daniel K. Inouye Poage Legislative Library at Baylor University as Papers the Bob Bullock Archivist. Today, I oversee the Institution: Archives processing activities at the Poage Library includ- and Manuscripts De- ing our most recent congressional collection, the partment, University papers of U.S. Representative Chet Edwards. of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Education: B.S., Phi- What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- losophy, University of mittee? Wisconsin-Madison (2002); MS, Information and I believe my contributions to be fresh, yet Library Science, With Distinction, Pratt Institute grounded in a strong foundation of this unique (2005). field. I have the perspective of an individual who has worked on congressional papers in both pub- Biography: lic and private institutions, as well as a time- Jack is currently an archivist at the University of limited position. My work at three different con- Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he is processing the gressional repositories has strengthened my rela- congressional papers of the late U.S. Senator tionships with colleagues and deepened my field Daniel K. Inouye. Prior to this, Jack completed a experiences. In the larger archival world, I am a records management project at the Hawaiʻi State member of the Society of American Archivists Archives, and he also spent many years at the Committee on Advocacy and Public Policy Wisconsin Historical Society, where he pro- (CAPP). As a member of CAPP, I have an “ear cessed State government record collections, and to the ground” to the latest advocacy efforts of managed and helped to preserve a large collec- the Society. I also have a record of service to tion of rare newspapers. Jack also lived in New CPR beginning as intern in 2010-2011 and cur- York City, where amongst other things he in- rently serving on Advocacy Task Force. Overall, terned at the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Med- my approach to my committee work is sincere, ical Library, and processed administrative rec- focused, and enthusiastic. ords at a preparatory school. Jack has a bache- lor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of What would you like CPR to accomplish in Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in In- the next 3-5 years? formation and Library Science, With Honors, The mission of archives is evolving from “paper” from Pratt Institute. Jack is a member of the Soci- to “people.” Our collections provide an excellent ety of American Archivists, the Association of springboard to connecting with various constitu- Hawaiʻi Archivists, and the Academy of Certified encies. Emphasizing connections to patrons is a Archivists, which awarded Jack last year's ACA passion of mine. To that end, I would like CPR 5 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 Legacy Travel Award. Laura Litwer

What is your experience with Congressional Title: Processing Archivist Papers? Institution: Texas A&M I am currently processing the congressional pa- University-Commerce pers of the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye, which Education: BA, History and include records on the Watergate hearings, Iran- MLIS, University of South Contra hearings, and Abscam hearings, as well as Carolina other policy and administrative files, and an extensive collection of audio and video recordings Biography: relating to the Senator's activities. My extensive Laura Litwer is a processing past experience processing papers of state legis- archivist at Texas A&M University-Commerce, lators has prepared me well for dealing with the where she is processing the personal papers of types of records found in the Inouye papers. Congressman Ralph M. Hall. She previously worked as both a temporary processing archivist What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- and a graduate assistant at South Carolina Politi- mittee? cal Collections. She earned a MLIS and a BA in First and foremost, I would bring to the Steering History from the University of South Caroli- Committee much energy and willingness to con- na. She is a member of CPR’s Electronic Rec- tribute and help in any way that I can. I am en- ords Committee and the Association of Centers thusiastic and I like to get things done, and be- for the Study of Congress. cause of this I think that I could make a significant contribution to the Committee. In addition, What is your experience with Congressional although I am fairly new to the world of Con- Papers? gressional papers specifically, I believe that my I have been processing the papers of Congress- experience in the archives profession generally man Ralph M. Hall at Texas A&M University- would help me to understand and deal with the Commerce since June 2013. From June 2010- issues that face the Steering Committee and the June 2013 I worked at South Carolina Political members of CPR. Collections, where I obtained experience apprais- ing and processing portions of congressional col- What would you like CPR to accomplish in lections, as well as working with a number of the next 3-5 years? other political collections. I think that the most important accomplishment that CPR could make in the next three to five What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- years would be to significantly increase its out- mittee? reach to and communication with its members, so My experience spearheading efforts to develop a that information about best practices, develop- comprehensive set of electronic records policies ments in the field, continuing education opportu- and procedures for my department and service on nities, and relevant events are shared widely. I CPR’s Electronic Records Committee have pre- think that activity of roundtables outside of the pared me to help the roundtable continue address- annual meetings varies considerably, but there is ing the electronic records issues faced by its much potential for a roundtable to be a well- members. My experience working at A&M- informed, conversant, and active group of profes- Commerce would also enable me to represent sionals at all times, and I think that increasing well the needs of small and medium-sized institu- CPR's outreach efforts would only help to foster tions holding congressional collections. such a community, and in turn contribute to the professional lives of its members. What would you like CPR to accomplish in the next 3-5 years?

6 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 I would like to see CPR make significant strides cess of taking over the curatorship of the political in developing and disseminating resources for papers at UNH and developing plans for pro- managing congressional electronic records, par- cessing our unprocessed collections and making ticularly those related to the preservation and ac- our holdings more accessible. In addition I have cess of CMS/CSS records. I would also like to done reference work with our holdings and have see the roundtable continue its efforts to cultivate reworked finding aids. productive relationships with other organizations that can help CPR meet its goals (e.g., SAA’s What do you bring to the CPR Steering Com- Electronic Records Section) and develop more mittee? outreach and education initiatives to promote the What I would bring to CPR is a new-to- use of members’ congressional collections. congressional-papers perspective. My main interest is connecting patrons to the vast amount of Elizabeth Slomba information found in Congressional Papers. For example, in my institution, patrons often use our Title: University Archivist/ political collections to research local environment Professor issues and I would like to see how to foster more Institution: University of use of political papers by patrons in different New Hampshire fields of study and research. For these reasons, I Education: Mount Holyoke, am interested in developing programming and BA in Latin and Greek; Uni- information on access issues and how to do out- versity of Virginia, MA in reach for political collections. Latin; University of Mary- land, MLS with concentration What would you like CPR to accomplish in the in Archives next 3-5 years? I would like to see CPR develop more program- Biography: ming aimed at access to collections and to in- Elizabeth Slomba has been at the University of crease a broader understanding of who cares for New Hampshire since 1999 as the University Ar- political papers and who uses them. The chivist in Milne Special Collections and Archives roundtable already is doing very good work and I and is easing into curatorship of the department’s would like to see CPR continue to build on past congressional papers. She has held positions in successes and its work in educating and support- New England Archivists, notably serving as Pres- ing those who care for congressional papers. ident, and served as chair of SAA’s Preservation Section. Recently she co-authored with Pam Hackbart-Dean How to Manage Processing in Archives and Special Collections (SAA: 2012). The University of New Hampshire proudly hous- es the Warren Rudman Papers, John Durkin Pa- pers, Thomas J. McIntyre Papers and Norris Cot- ton Papers.

What is your experience with Congressional Papers? The very first processing work I ever did was on the Senator Byrd Papers at UVA where I was drafted to weed the nut files. Later I worked with the Spiro Agnew Papers at Maryland while a student in library school. Currently, I am in the pro-

7 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 Congressional Papers Roundtable Pre-Conference Schedule August 13, 2014 Capitol Visitor’s Center, Washington, DC Room SVC201-00 Center hours are 8:30-4:30 for those who may wish to take a tour http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/plan-visit#.U5CXufjD-Uk

9:00-9:30 Registration and coffee

9:30-11:00 Oral History and Congressional Collections

Andrea L’Hommedieu, University of South Carolina Donald Ritchie, Senate History Office

Presentation and discussion of planning, budgeting and conducting oral history programs. Speakers have extensive practical experience in working with congressional offices and repositories to document individuals, and Congress in general, through oral/ video history projects.

11:15-11:45 Electronic records survey report

11:45-1:15 Lunch

1:15-2:30 Vendor Demonstrations

Vendors who support House and Senate constituent services systems (CSS) will demon- strate their software. The vendor representatives will walk through modules commonly used by Members’ personal offices, explain program func- tions, capabilities and depend- encies, and discuss CSS use in active offices.

2:45-4:00 Roundtable Discussion

Participants discuss issues surrounding acquisition, processing, and researcher access to CSS data obtained by congressional repositories as part of Members’ personal papers. Marc Levitt, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, and Jim Wil- liams, archivist at the Albert Gore Research Center, will frame the discussion with brief presentations on their efforts to make CSS data usable in archival environments. Other participants include: Daniel Bennett, consultant for the Byrd Center, and Doug Harris, political scientist at Loyola University, Baltimore.

8 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 Congressional Papers Roundtable Business Meeting August 15, 2014 Marriott Wardman Park Hotel 4:00 – 5:30 pm

4:00 – 4:30 Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call Photograph Presentation by Beverly Brannan and Connie Cartledge

4:30 – 5:30 News, Announcements and Reports

Arranging, Describing, and Providing Access for Electronic Records at the University of Delaware: Opening the Papers of Senator Edward E. “Ted” Kaufman by Danielle Emerling

In March 2014, the University of Delaware Library opened the Edward E. “Ted” Kaufman papers for research. At an event celebrating the opening, the Library also lauded its first fully processed and accessible collection of electronic records. Four computers lined the walls of the Special Collections reading room so that guests could pe- ruse the 68 gigabytes of legislative, press, and personal files that were included in the Kaufman papers.

Before making the electronic records accessible, the congressional papers archivists processed the records and worked with Library IT staff to create the reading room workstation.

In the CPR Fall 2013 newsletter, the report “Establishing Electronic Rec- ords Management at the University of Delaware” described the transfer, accession, and appraisal of the 90 gigabytes of electronic records included Four electronic records workstations were set up in Special Collections with the Kaufman papers. After ap- reading room for the opening of the papers. One workstation remains in the praisal, the records totaled 60 giga- reading room to serve users. bytes. In December 2013, the Library

9 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 received an addition to the Kaufman papers that included more electronic records, bringing the electronic records to a total of 68 gigabytes.

Following accession and appraisal, the archivists began arranging the records in the “working” archive. The original order of the records included top-level files called “Legislative Archive,” “Scheduling Ar- chive,” and “Press Archive.” Other top-level files were labeled topically (e.g. Wall Street) and by date. The archivists maintained the original order of the “Legislative,” “Press,” and “Scheduling” files, though “Scheduling” was renamed to “Personal_Political” to reflect the same series in the papers. All other files were arranged within these three directories.

The archivists then scanned the records for Personally Identifiable Information (PII). It was noted in the Fall 2013 newsletter report that the open source software BitCurator was unable to process the files. While the exact reason for the failure remains unclear, there are plans to install the newest version of the software to attempt another scan of the files and to better diagnose the problem. In place of BitCu- rator, the Library purchased Identity Finder software, which was able to scan the entire file structure. Identity Finder identified 36 Social Security numbers; 1 credit card number; 22 bank account numbers; 5 dates of birth; 11,079 phone numbers; 7,614 email addresses; and 2,733 addresses.

The archivists gave higher priority to reviewing Society Security numbers and financial information, checking each individual instance. They gave lower priority to contact information by quickly scanning the Identity Finder list output. Most of the Social Security numbers and financial information identified were false positives, meaning that Identity Finder found numbers that merely followed the same pattern as Social Security and credit card numbers. Most contact information was associated with federal and Delaware government agencies, Senate and House staff, and journalists and media outlets. The archivists removed information as necessary in the user copies of the files by making notes that information had been redacted.

Additionally, to provide more descriptive file names and to replace inappropriate file naming charac- ters (e.g., %,#,!), the archivists used the tool Renamer, which allows bulk renaming of files through a find and replace function. Most image files originally were named generically, such as “DSC_01,” so

Left: The reading room workstation consists of a computer, wireless mouse and keyboard, and headphones. Right: The computer hard drive, user server, and server switch are stored in a locked server cabinet in the reading room.

10 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 the archivists also used Adobe Bridge to review file metadata, extract creation dates and event information, and batch rename files with these details added to the file names.

While processing the records, the archivists also developed an access model and worked with Library IT staff to implement it: the result was a dedicated, read-only computer workstation in the Special Col- lections reading room. The workstation runs Ubuntu, a Linux-based, open source operating system that connects to the “user” server. Users cannot modify records and are unable to take notes on the machine. The machine is not connected to the Internet, and users do not have access to ports so that files cannot be copied.

Users browse directories and files as if they were looking through a directory on their own hard drive. Access is facilitated through a Firefox browser, which plays mp4 and mp3 files and opens PDF and JPEG files. Microsoft Office files open automatically in LibreOffice, a free office suite.

A copy of the files in the “working” archive is stored on the “user” server. Some file formats could not be opened on the reading room workstation be- cause Firefox did not have the appropriate plugins. Various video formats, for example, had to be converted to the mp4 format using the open source tool HandBrake.

The archivists also developed a registration process that mirrors current reading room registration practices and an application form for obtaining copies of records.

A Firefox browser on the reading room workstation allows users to browse The Kaufman papers finding aid, directories and files. Shown above are files in the “Press electronic rec- which is available online and on the ords” subseries. reading room workstation, includes the electronic records as a subseries of the appropriate series. For example, “Personal & Political electronic records” is listed as a subseries of the “Personal & Political files” series. Detailed scope and content notes, as well as access information, are provided at the subseries level.

Archivists Danielle Emerling and Tammi Kim continue working to improve the user experience with the Kaufman electronic records. They plan to determine if some of the electronic records can be made available online, develop a web form to facilitate record copying requests, and create a user tutorial for the reading room workstation.

11 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 INSTITUTIONAL UPDATES

University of South Alabama As the official repository of the records of the The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manu- GAGOP (1981-1997) and the Georgia Democrats script Library at the University of South Alabama (1975-2008), the Russell Library seeks to provide in Mobile, Alabama, has recently acquired the access to these collections to fill in existing re- papers of former District 1 Alabama congress- search gaps and contextualize collections already man Jo Bonner. The collection consists of 309 available for research; provide an in-depth re- boxes of material generated during Bonner's 10- source for analyzing the transition of the Georgia year career (2003-2013). The papers remain from a “one-party” state that favored Democrats closed and probably will not be open until late to a state that is heavily weighted toward the Re- 2015 or early 2016 as The McCall Library is ful- publican Party; and highlight the influence of na- ly engaged at present with an impending move. tional party platforms and agendas at the local Researchers interested in accessing the collection and state levels. should contact The McCall Library's director, Carol Ellis, at [email protected]. “There has been significant research interest in ~Carol Ellis these papers, so we are exceptionally happy to receive this grant from NHRPC,” said Sheryl B. Richard B. Russell Library for Vogt, director of Russell Library. “The funding support allows us to make these papers available Political Research and Studies more quickly and to move forward in identifying and locating missing documentation. Given the Russell Library receives NHPRC grant for work to be done with the born-digital records in records of Georgia Democrats and Republi- this project, we hope our staff can provide leader- cans ship in solving many of the complex issues in The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Re- preserving and providing access to electronic research and Studies is pleased to announce it has sources of this nature.” received a grant of up to $58,777 from the Na- tional Historical Publications and Records Com- The records for both parties will be open for re- mission (NHPRC) to process the records of the search by January 2015. Democratic Party of Georgia (Georgia Demo- crats) and the Georgia Republican Party For more information on the Richard B. Russell (GAGOP). This one-year project will make these Library for Political Research and Studies, visit important records available to researchers for the http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell/. first time. ~Mat Darby

With this generous funding, the Russell Library W. R. Poage Legislative Library hired Angelica Marini as the project archivist to perform detailed processing and basic preserva- John F. Kennedy: His Life - His Presidency - tion on roughly 200 linear feet of records. These His Legacy collections complement the Russell Library’s al- In remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the ready rich holdings, which focus on the dynamic assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Poage Li- relationship of politics, policy, and culture, and brary transformed the W. R. Poage Exhibit Gal- provide a valuable resource for researchers inter- lery to honor JFK's life and legacy. The exhibit ested in the development of modern Georgia pol- features a life-size cutout of President Kennedy itics and public policy. 12 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 (Poage Library, continued from page 12) ries of that fateful day. Other events included a next to a Kennedy Rocker replica where visitors visit by 55 members of COPA, the Coalition on can sit and have their photos taken. The main ex- Political Assassinations, and tours by several ed- hibit gallery also includes a vintage-style record ucation classes, honors college students and Uni- player playing Kennedy speeches; an original versity 1000 classes. Teletype machine with both AP and UPI Tele- type printouts; an "eternal" flame; and a Wall of Remembrance where visitors can post their mem- ories of Nov. 22, 1963. There are also two iPad stands with a selection of short videos about President Kennedy's life and death.

Bob Bullock Archivist Debbie Davendonis-Todd [back left, facing group] addresses Dr. Rebecca Flavin's University1000 group. This was the first trip to Poage Library for many of these freshmen.

"Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement"

The library foyer and book vault contain exhibits After more than a year of planning the related to assassination research dating back to "Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement" ex- Nov. 22, 1963. There are dozens of 3" glass hibit opened in February. 1964 was a significant slides from the papers of John Nichols, M.D. il- year in America. The assassination of President lustrating the wounds of Texas Gov. John Con- Kennedy shocked the nation during a period nally who was sitting in front of President Ken- when great social change was taking place. The nedy. In the book vault is a display of 12 cameras Civil Rights Movement, which received a strong like those used along the route of the motorcade impetus from Martin Luther King’s March on near the Texas Book Depository. Each camera is Washington in 1963 and his visit to the White identified with the name of the person who used House, was a significant part of these changes. that type camera along with a photograph taken by that camera.

Since 2004, Poage Library has become a central repository for JFK assassination research materials. While many of the collections begin with an in-depth study of the assassination, much of the research branches out examining the life of the President. Additionally, a number of our congressional collections compliment the Kennedy era allowing us to explore the policies and presidency of JFK. On Nov. 22 we held a daylong com- memoration with speakers sharing their memo-

13 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 (Poage Library, continued from page 13) are currently processing not only the papers of The success of Martin Luther King and others former congressman Chet Edwards, but also six who quietly changed America along with the pas- JFK research collections. Without the new com- sage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 deserve to pact storage, there would be no room for these be commemorated as America continues to come new collections. to terms with race relations in a culturally diverse society," said Ben Rogers Director of the Poage Library

The exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement with photographs, interactive video and other artifacts which will be on display through June 2014. One wall includes the verse of Langston Hughes interspersed with images from the period, editorial cartoons from the 1960s, a case about Waco native Doris Mil- ler, a section dedicated to controversial Black Like Me author John Howard Griffin, and more. An online component to the exhibit exposes visitors to the holdings of the Poage Library and other Baylor libraries containing civil rights materi- Chet Edwards on campus als. One collection in particular, the Black Gos- Chet Edwards, Poage Distinguished Chair of pel Music Restoration Project, has direct ties to Public Service, was in-residence for a week in the Civil Rights Movement in that many of the February and March. He taught eight classes with "B" sides of gospel music from this era recorded professors in political science, history, education, songs integral to the movement. Selections from social work and Religion. Chet also met with this collection can be heard as part of the exhibit faculty about specific projects in the School of and are on display. Social Work, the Religion department and the School of Education. Students were also a priori- Erik Swanson, a museum studies graduate stu- ty and he met with such varied groups as Law dent at Baylor and curator of the exhibit, was students, Economics majors, members of the stu- moved by the spirit of those involved in the Civil dent chapter of the NAACP, International stu- Rights Movement, "The courage of leaders such dents, Poage Washington Interns and the Veter- as Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, and Roy ans Transition Mission’s group. In addition to Wilkins, as well as that of average men and meeting with student groups, Chet also had one- women who put their jobs, families, and lives on on-one mentoring meetings with twelve students. the line for economic and racial equality, inspired me during the process of creating this exhibit. Courage in the face of adversity is, in my opin- ion, the true legacy of the Civil Rights Move- ment.”

At Last! Room to Grow! Thanks to wonderful support from Standing Committee members and Dean Orr, we've in- stalled compact shelving! Months of planning and years of fundraising culminated in new shelving by Southwest Solutions that will double our storage capacity. This is good news since we

14 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014

(Poage Library, continued from page 14) tary Affairs sub- Ever the student himself, Chet made time to meet committee and the with Moffat Zimba, president of Northrise Uni- House Foreign Af- versity in Zambia, tour the HOT Regional Histo- fairs committee. He ry Fair and attend a lecture by Alexander Ogo- was an active voice rodnikov, a Russian religious dissident, at the in the Arab Boycott, Keston Center. Greece-Cyprus Af- fair, and Israeli Poage Library to celebrate 35 years rights —a popular On a beautiful day in stance in his home September 1979, the district. His collec- W.R. Poage Legislative tion strongly docu- Library and Graduate ments consumer ad- Research Center opened vocacy, internation- its doors with the papers al issues, and local of Congressman Poage. issues in Queens and Fast forward 35 years, Brooklyn, including the Poage Library is a controversial co-op/ thriving archive and re- condominium con- search center, boosting versions and the hundreds of researchers in the past three decades. closing of Flushing Home to 12 congressional, 12 state legislative, 4 Airport. judicial and several supporting collections, the Poage proudly tells the story of modern political This year marks the history rooted in Central Texas. end of the 30-year re- Rosenthal Campaign Brochure ~Ben Rogers striction on House committee records, and so presented a good time Benjamin Rosenthal Library, Queens to process the collection. The Benjamin Rosen- thal Papers are comprised of 85 linear feet of ma- College, City University of New York terials (mostly from his last 10 years in Con- gress). Queens College does not have any full- The Queens College Department of Special Col- time archival staff, but the school does have a lections and Archives is happy to announce the Graduate School of Library and Information Sci- commencement of processing Congressman Ben- ence with an Archives Certificate program. The jamin Rosenthal’s Papers, the namesake of the graduate school and the archives have collaborat- library. Congressman Rosenthal represented ed to create an “experiential learning” compo- New York City in the U.S. House of Representa- nent of courses that bring students into the ar- tives starting in 1962, when he replaced outgoing chives for training and supervised processing. Representative Lester Holtzman in a special elec- Through this method, 16 linear feet of the Benja- tion. Rosenthal was extremely popular in his dis- min Rosenthal Papers have been processed in the trict and was reelected 10 times; he served until past two semesters. This innovative processing his premature death in 1983, just days after the th plan is being presented at the 2014 New York 98 Congress was sworn in. His papers were do- Archives Conference in a poster entitled: nated to Queens College the next year. “Processing Congressman Ben Rosenthal’s Pa- pers: An Experiment in Experiential Learning”. While in Congress, Rosenthal fought fiercely for We plan to have the collection open for research consumer rights, struggling but ultimately failing by Summer 2015. to make a Consumer Protection Bureau. He sat ~Alexandra Dolan-Mescal on the House Commerce, Consumer, and Mone-

15 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 Robert J. Dole Archive & Special During the past semester we hosted several K-12 groups and are looking forward to continuing Collections partnerships. Over spring break we welcomed elementary-aged Boys and Girls Club members Throughout the past winter and spring, the Dole for gallery activities, gifted students from Sea- Archive & Special Collections, part of the Robert man Middle School in Topeka, KS, for additional J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of History Day research, and honors politics stu- Kansas has been busy sharing our collections dents from Bishop Seabury Academy (Lawrence, with researchers and public audiences of all ages! KS) for research instruction and support.

Programming Research In March, the Dole Archives partnered with the We recently awarded our 2014 Research Fellow- University of Kansas Alumni Association for ship to Amanda C. Demmer, a doctoral student at “Your Story, His Story, The Legacy: Snapshots the University of New Hampshire studying in Time from the Dole Archives,” a public event American history. Her dissertation, ‘The Last about Dole’s 1965 visit to KU’s campus show- Chapter of the Vietnam War’: Normalization, casing the archives alongside the personal reflec- Non-governmental Actors and the Politics of the tions of KU Alumni Keith Wood, Bob Miner, Human Rights, 1975-1995, explores how domes- Elizabeth Schmidt, and Larry Meeker. tic groups and institutions influenced the normalization process – including the resumption of of- We welcomed Amy Herman, our 2014 Dole Ar- ficial diplomatic ties – between the United States chives Visiting Fellow, in May. She spent two and Socialist Republic of Vietnam. We also days at the Institute discussing her innovative Art awarded a travel grant to Ryan Whalen, a JD- of Perception training program with various PhD candidate at Northwestern University. His groups, including the KU Undergraduate Honors project, The History of the Bayh-Dole Act’s Program and ROTC members. Herman’s pro- March-In Rights and the Future of their Use, gram teaches professionals from a wide range of aims to examine the legislative intentions behind backgrounds – like military, intelligence and first the march-in provisions of the Bayh-Dole Act. responders – to enhance their observation and communication skills through visual collections Archives staff has also been busy behind the materials. scenes, processing several new collections. The Robert J. Dole Speeches Collection finding aid Youth Outreach went up early this year, providing folder-level We sponsored the Robert J. Dole Congressional description for nearly 40 years of Dole’s speech- History Prize at the Kansas State History Day es. We completed processing on the Alec competition again this year. The prize is award- Vachon Papers this spring. Vachon was a legis- ed to three junior or senior division entries that lative aide to Senator Dole for disabilities issues. discuss the United States Congress or legislation. We anticipate that his collection will be of in- Sadie Keller from Lawrence High School was creasing interest as we prepare to commemorate this year’s first place winner for her live perfor- the 25th anniversary of ADA next year. We have mance, The Americans with Disabilities Act: The also recently added the Robert J. Dole Press Clip- Social Mandate That Defines the Responsibilities pings, over 2,900 clippings complied by the Rus- of All to Protect the Rights of Some. Prizes were sell Public Library (primarily from Kansas news- also awarded to Kaylee Berroth, Seaman Middle papers) that are digitized and full-text searchable. School, for PMRC: Their Fight for Music Cen- All Dole Archives finding aids can be found at sorship Rights, and Kim Jalosjos, Seaman Mid- www.dolearchivecollections.ku.edu. dle School, for The Voting Rights Act of 1965: ~Sarah D’Antonio Ensuring the Vote for African Americans.

16 Congressional Papers Roundtable Newsletter Summer 2014 University Archives and West Flori- Anyone interested in seeing the research project portfolio the class produced or the project itself is da History Center, University of welcome to contact Dean DeBolt at West Florida Libraries, Pensacola [email protected] . ~Dean DeBolt The University Archives and West Florida His- tory Center, University of West Florida Librar- ies, Pensacola, holds the papers of Congress- man Robert L. F. Sikes, who represented the 1st Congressional District of Florida from 1941 through 1978. In 2003, the Sikes Family do- nated his Congressional papers as well as other personal papers to the UWF Library. The collection comprises some 700+ document cases or roughly 250 cubic feet of materials.

In the Fall 2013, Dr. Jenna Emery, Assistant Professor in Political Science, used the papers as a project for her Research Methods class. Twenty-eight students were each assigned 20 boxes or twenty archival hours per student with a minimum of two hours per week. This re- sulted in 560 hours of processing and analyzing the collection

Dean DeBolt, University Archivist, provided a training class, emphasizing handling, original order, preservation issues, and rough inventory guidelines. The goal of the class was to help students learn to analyze and think about the materials they were working with. Dr. Emery hoped the students would be inspired by “the excitement of discovery’ as well as give students an opportunity to look at quantitative analysis in research.

In making a statistical analysis of the contents, students found that correspondence with con- stituents took up 31% of space while correspondence with non-constitutents took up 27%. Remaining parts consisted of legislation, research studies, meeting notes, speeches, and photos.

Dr. Emery has indicated she will pursue a simi- lar project in the future as a means of introduc- ing her classes to archival materials as well as getting them to think about quantitative analysis of political information.