In her introduction post my colleague Renee James described the breadth and depth of the more than 500 collections that comprise the Greater Arizona Collection. The substantive congressional collections are of particular interest to me as a political papers project archivist. Greater Arizona includes collections from various members of congressional delegations from Arizona in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. In addition, the Chicano/a Research Collection holds the papers of Ed Pastor, who represented the 2nd and 7th districts of Arizona in the House from 1991-2015.
Now, take a moment and think about the kinds of records that might be included in a political papers collection. Did you imagine confidential security reports and closed-door committee meeting records? Well, those won’t be in there. As outlined by governing resolutions, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate members remit these sorts of records to the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate. They are considered the product of the body of Congress and not of the individual congressperson. These administrative offices oversee the final transfer of these records to the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) Center for Legislative Records for long-term preservation and research.
So what are congressional papers collections? For one thing, I’d argue they are much more interesting than the files removed for retention at the National Archives. Don’t tell the Archivist of the United States I said that, though. The papers not retained by the NARA are considered personal papers of the congressperson. Yes! Even though they are largely about politics, they are considered personal papers. In contrast to the federal records, these papers are considered the product of the congressperson and their office.
These collections are dynamic because they reflect not just the policy battles or political party platforms but also the voices of the communities these members of Congress represented. For example: constituent mail is a really unique resource! While it is incredibly dense to work through, it can be really rewarding to see constituents reach out because—regardless of age, gender, race, identity or sexuality—seeing the multitudes of community members engaging their elected officials is pretty powerful.
How do these unusual collections end up at local colleges and universities such as ASU? After many years of archivists’ advocacy (and a lot of time convincing members of Congress to not throw away their stuff!), in 2008 the 110th Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 307, establishing a pathway for a formalized relationship between research institutions and members of Congress to preserve their personal papers.
The next chapter in establishing collections of elected officials is navigating the transition of work from analog to digital! There are so many exciting opportunities for researcher, student and community engagement ahead.
For a working list of congressional collections around the country visit the Center for Legislative Archives.
For more information on the stewardship of Congressional federal records visit the Senate Historical Office and the Office of the Clerk’s Art and Archives Office.
For more information about Congressional collections at ASU Library please go to the Congressional Collections LibGuide, search collections on Arizona Archives Online or submit an inquiry to Ask An Archivist.
—Claudia F. Willett, Project Archivist, Distinctive Collections