George Edward Little (1921- ) General Assembly, House, Papers, 1968-1977 MSA 142

Introduction

This collection documents the activities of a Vermont state representative, George Edward Little (1921- ) during a four-year period, 1969-1972. The papers consist largely of printed materials and newspaper clippings. Little donated the papers to the Vermont Historical Society in 1995 (ms. acc. no. 95.6); they occupy .5 linear feet of shelf space.

Biography

George Edward Little Jr., was born in Burlington, Vermont, on September 8, 1921. He was a printer by occupation. He was educated in schools in Burlington, the University of Vermont (B.A., 1943) and did graduate work at Carnegie-Mellon (1946- 1967). He was a director and chair of the Chittenden Bank; trustee of the University of Vermont, 1968-1974; and a trustee and chair of Trinity College of Vermont. He was a Burlington alderman, 1961-1967; chair of the Vermont Board of Social Welfare; and chair of the Vermont Higher Education Planning Commission, 1983-1984. He served in the U.S. Air Force, 1943-1946.

Little was a member of the Vermont House from District 1-8, 1969-1970 and 1971-1972. While in the House he served on the Appropriations Committees for both terms. He was a member of the in 1983-1984, 1985-1986, 1987-1988, 1989-1990, and 1991-1992. While in the Senate he was a member of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, 1985-1986 and 1987-1988, and the Appropriations Committee, 1983-1984, 1985-1986, 1989-1990, and 1991-1992, and was its vice chair in 1987-1988. He also served on the Legislative Council, 1985-1986 and 1987-1988 and the Judicial Nominating Committee. He was a co-sponsor of the controversial Clean Air Bill that was defeated in 1990 and a supporter of Act 200, the controversial growth planning law passed in 1988.

Scope and Content Note

The papers in this collection were assembled by George E. Little of Burlington, Vermont, from the time he was elected to and when he served two terms in the Vermont House of Representatives, 1969-1970 and 1971-1972. Although the papers consist largely of printed materials and newspaper clippings related to his work with the House Appropriations Committee, there are a few miscellaneous papers that date from a later period, 1973-1977 (Folders 8-9).

George Little served in the Vermont Senate from 1983-1992; papers for this period are in the Vermont Historical Society collection Doc 304. Although the Senate papers consist largely of constituent correspondence, there are only a few letters in the

Vermont Historical Society • Montpelier 05609-0901 George Little General Assembly Papers 2

House papers. One of the few letters is an impassioned plea to save Montpelier`s Pavilion Hotel (May 15, 1969), signed by “A Grass Rooter” (Folder 4).

Miscellaneous materials for 1969-1970 include publications intended for legislative use, such as lists of legislators, standing committees of the House and Senate, a chart of the House, an election calendar, as well as rules for both House and Senate (Folder 5). Printed materials include State of Vermont Economic Indicators compiled by the Economic Development Division of the Vermont Development Department, October 1968-August 1971, and miscellaneous issues of News and Views, General Bulletin, 1971- 77 published by the Associated Industries of Vermont (Folder 8).

Related Collections

The Vermont Historical Society also has a large collection of George Little’s papers when he was a member of the Vermont Senate, 1982-1992 (MSA 304-305, MSA 72-73, Doc 468), a collection of papers from the Vermont Council for Effective Government, 1976-1982, where George Little was treasurer (MSA 224), and two folders of papers relating to the Little Press (Doc 468, Folders 32-33).

Official documents relating to legislative activities in the Vermont Senate, including activities in which Representative Little was involved, are kept by the Vermont State Archives (committee minutes, records of action, and supporting materials) and the Public Records Division (tapes and/or transcripts of committee hearings and files of correspondence between bill sponsors and draftsmen on the Legislative Council).

Organization

The papers are arranged in one chronological series, an arrangement for the most part adopted by the donor.

Inventory MSA 142:1 Papers 1968 2 _____, Jan. 1969 3 _____, Feb. 1969 4 _____, March-Oct. 1969 5 Vermont House, Misc. 1969-1970 6 Papers 1970 7 _____, 1971-1972 8 Miscellaneous, 1968-1976 9 _____, 1974-1976

Priscilla Page January 1996 Biographical information by Deborah Sessions (revised October 2, 2007)

Vermont Historical Society • Montpelier 05609-0901