`,54.,";.7^..*'S4 tii,..,,,nP^` 51'40 DOCUMENT 'RESUME SO 020 584 AUTHOR Coren, Robert W.; AndOthers the United States Senateat TITLE Guide to the Records of the National Archives,1789-1989. Bicentennial Edition. Administration, INSTITUTION km,s,ional Archives and Records Washington, DC. REPORT NO Senate-Doc-100-42 PUB DATE 89 Representatives Guide, see SO202 NOTE 367p.; For House of 585. PUB TYPE Reference Materials - General(130) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. (Administrative Body); Library DESCRIPTORS *Archives; *Government Materials; National Libraries;Primary Sources; *Research Tools; *UnitedStates History IDENTIFIERS Congress; *Senate ABSTRACT Nearly 20,000 cubic feetof U.S. Senate records are currently entrusted to the careof thF; Nar.ional Archivesand Records Administration (NARA). Thisguide to those recordsis divided into 22 Congress and chapters. Chapter 1 describesthe published records of information related published researchtools. It provides general system, the about the National ArchivesSenate file classification arrangement of theunpublished paper records,and how to access the describe the records of each Senate records. Chapters2 through 1 Archives has records Senate standing committeefor which Ole National system in 1816 to 1968. from the beginning ofthe standing committee committees and each is There is one chapter for.ach of the standing 19 describe divided into chronologicalperiods. Chapters 18 and and the joint records of the Senateselect and special committees the noncommittee committees of Congress.Chapters 20 and 21 concern Chapter 22 discusses records and executiveproceedings of the Senate. 1969-1988. the committee and noncommitteerecords of the Senate from this time, but they Most of these records areclosed to research at about materials thatwill are describedbriefly to inform researchers includes as appendices be available in thefuture. The guide also of secretaries of the lists of majority andminority leaders, a list Congress, a glossary of Senate, beginning andending dates for each legislative and archival termsused in the guide, aselected finding aids to bibliography, a list ofpublished and unpublished Senate records, and a listof National Archivesmicrofilm publications of Senate records.(a) Reproductions supplied by EDRS arethe best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** , ""`' "' et' J, .4 4SV2cksor -- _ - S' I.12 4. DEPARTMENT OF BDUC0.(10N P Mc* of Educational Research and Improvement I4, -EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION-, Ili:- CENTER (ERIC) --Jhis document has been reproduced as I!it;' eceived from the person or organization ! 11 originating it - '0 Minor changes have beenmade to improve i 1 reproduction Quality , 7 I Points of view or opinions Mated in thisdccu ment do not necessarily represent official i 0E91,1:45It!Oh Or policy I ._- .. _ 4 4:' ,,,fV",k db. 2 Guide to the Records of the United States Senate atthe National Archives 1789-1989 Bicentennial Edition Robert W. Goren, May Rephlo, David Kepley, and Charles South National Archives and Records Administration Prepared under the direction of Walter J. Stewart Secretary of the Senate 1989 U.S. Senate Bicentennial Publication #7 Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Guide to the records of the United States Senate at the National Archives, 1789-1989. (U.S. Senate bicentennial publication ; #7) (S. doc. ; 100-42) Bibliography: p. Indudes index. 1. United States. Congress. Senate--Records and correspondence -- Catalogs. 2. United States. National Archives and Records Administration -- Catalogs. 3. United StatesPolitics and governmentSources-- BibliographyCatalogs. I. Goren, Robert W., 1950- . II. United States. Congress. Senate. III. Title. IV. Series. V. Series: Senate document (United States. Congress. Senate) ; 100-42. CD3042.S46U54 1989 328.73'071 88-36037 mar FOREWORD When the Senate of the First Congress adjourned itsinitial session on September 29, 1789, Secretary of the Senate Samuel A. Otis took custody of its permanently valuable records for safekeeping. A quarter century later, as hostile British armies advanced on Washington, a quick-thinking clerk in the Secretary of the Senate's office commandeered a wagon and evacuated the Senate records to the safety of the Virginia countryside. His fast action saved those priceless documents from the conflagration that swept the Capitol Building on August 24, 1814. In the decades that followed, successive Secretaries assisted with the transfer of noncurrent records to the Capitol's attic and basement storerooms. Over the years the combined forces of war, vermin, moisture, and souvenir hunters took their toll on these unique documentary resources. In 1927, a young clerk in the Secretary's office went to a storeroom in search of some older files. As he cautiously opened the door, he saw papers stacked in boxes and strewn on the floor. He looked down to see that he was standing on an official-looking document. He later recounted that the document bore two very important markings: "The print of my rubber heel and the signature of Vice President John C. Calhoun." Said the clerk, "I knew who Calhoun was; and I knew the nation's documents shouldn't be treated like that." Thus began a search and salvage operation that brought together in one place several thousa 1 feet of the Senate's historical records. Yet, the storage environment in the Capitol remained unsuitable. In 1936, Senate officials looked with interest at the facilities of the newly opened National Archives building. Early the following year, an Archives' appraiser examined the Senate collection and found that many records were dirty, water-damaged and brittle. In spite of their poor condition, the examiner concluded: "From the standpoint of historical as well as intrinsic interest, this is perhaps the most valuable collection of records in the entire Government. It touches all phases of governmental activity, and contains a vast amount of research material that has never been used." On the strength of that report, the Senate agreed in March 1937 to send these records, amounting to 3,600 cubic feet, to the National Archives for proper care. In 1946, Congress included in a major legislative reform statute a provision that "The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, acting jointly, shall obtain at the close of each Congress all the noncurrent records of the Congress and of each congressional committee" for transfer to the National Archives. Subsequently, the Senate incorporated into Rule XI of its Standing Rules the portion of that statute relating to Senate records. In 1950 the National Archives published a "Preliminary Inventory" of its Senate holdings. By then they had grown to 6,558 cubic feet, covering the period 1789 through August 2, 1946. Significantly, the inventory's terminal date coincid- ed with an event that marked what we would today consider as the start of the modern congressional era. On August 2, 1946, President Harry Truman signed the Legislative Reorganization Act. That landmark statute streamlined Congress' institutional structure and provided much-needed professional staff expertise. In the years ahead, these actions would significantly increase the volume and quality of Senate records. % In 1982 a special Senate Study Group, charged with planning activitiesto commemorate the Senate's 1989 bicentennial, recommended publication ofa greatly expanded and updated guide to noncurrent permanent Senate recordsat the National Archives. By then the Senate's records exceeded 20,000 cubic feet. The panel's final report concluded: "Dating from 1789, these materialsare fundamental sources for the study and understanding of the Senate's history and role in the legislative process and of the general history of the American people. They are a 'uasic component in the Senate's institutional memory." Since 1983, the National Archives has accordeda high priority to the preparation of this Guide. Special acknowledgment is dueto the leadership of former Archivist of the United States Robert M. Warner. Asa member of the Senate Bicentennial Study Group, he provided the institutionalresources and creative support necessary to transform this project from proposalto reality. Additional thanks go to his successors, Dr. Frank G. Burke and Don W. Wilson, and to R. Michael McReynolds, director of the National Archives' Center for Legislative Archives. Within that Center, I particularly wish to commend the valued contributions of Robert Coren, David Kepley, George Perros, Mary Rephlo, Edward Schamel, and Charles South. As a major component of the Senate's Bicentennial commemoration, this Guide is intended to serve as a companion to the Guide to Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives and tworecent Senate publications prepared in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate. Theyare the Records Management Handbook for United States Senate Committees (Sen. Pub. 100-5, 1988) and the Guide to Research Collections of Former United States Senators, 1789.1982 (Sen. Doc. 97.41, 1983). These publications and corresponding archival effortsare meant to facilitate greater research into the history of the Senate and to preserve more systematical- ly the records of the modern Senate. Weare determined to leave for future generations even richer documentary resources that thosewe inherited from the two centuries of legislative records-keeping