Political Science Manuscripts Collections Research Guide

The Booth Family Center for Special Collections in the Georgetown University Library houses a number of manuscripts collections concerning U.S. political science. Manuscripts Collections are generally personal papers generated by an individual or records created by an organization. Such collections can include letters, diaries, drafts of works, photographs, periodical clippings, born-digital documents, and other materials.  As Georgetown University is located in the nation's capital, it is well positioned to acquire collections relating to American political science. Some of these collections are stored in off-site storage, and it usually takes a few business days to recall boxes from off-site storage.

Collection Description: Extensive personal and professional papers of long-time Democratic U.S. Senator from New York Robert F. Wagner. Provides insight into New Deal legislation, especially the National Labor Relations Act, known as the Wagner Act. Includes correspondence from notable New York and national politicians on a wide array of political topics.

Date Span: 1912-1949.

Extent: 588 linear feet.

Collection Description: A portion of the papers of Leon Keyserling, who was a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner. Includes many drafts of bills, such as the Housing Act of 1937 and the Wagner National Labor Relations Act. Also contains correspondence with Wagner and campaign speeches.

Date Span: 1928-1982.

Extent: 4.5 linear feet.

Collection Description for Francis B. Biddle Papers: Personal papers of Francis B. Biddle focusing on his time as a judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1939), his tenure as U.S. attorney general (1941), and his work as a member-judge of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany (1945-1946).

Date Span for Francis B. Biddle Papers: 1912-1968.

Extent for Francis B. Biddle Papers: 22.25 linear feet.

There are two other collections related to Francis B. Biddle:

(1) Collection Description for Katherine Biddle Papers: Correspondence, manuscripts, subject files, photographs, and journals of Katherine Biddle, noted poet and wife of Francis B. Biddle. Katherine's extensive book collection is also preserved in the Booth Family Center. Katherine's books are searchable in Hoya Search, Georgetown University Library's main search function.

Date Span for Katherine Biddle Papers: 1855-1989.

Extent for Katherine Biddle Papers: 34 linear feet.

(2) Collection Description for Biddle Family Letters: Correspondence between Francis and Katherine Biddle, correspondence of George Biddle, and correspondence of other family members. 

Date Span for Biddle Family Letters: 1777-1973.

Extent for Biddle Family Letters: 2.25 linear feet.

Collection Description: First part of the personal papers of Harry Hopkins, Franklin D. Roosevelt's most trusted advisor. Includes appointment books, diaries, drafts of Hopkins' speeches and memoranda, and extensive correspondence with family and notable political figures.

Date Span: 1890-1946.

Extent: 26 linear feet.

Collection Description: Second part of the Harry Hopkins Papers. Includes family correspondence, correspondence with organizations, White House correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and clippings.

Date Span: 1913-1948.

Extent: 4.3 linear feet.

Collection Description: Third part of the Harry Hopkins Papers. Includes family and professional correspondence, typescripts and articles by Hopkins, White House memoranda, and Xeroxed correspondence with notable individuals.

Date Span: 1917-1979.

Extent: 3.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: Fourth part of the Harry Hopkins Papers. Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and photographs.

Date Span: 1917-1989.

Extent: 2 linear feet.

Collection Description: Papers of Robert Hopkins, a U.S. Army Signal Corps photographer and the son of Harry Hopkins. Includes correspondence, subject files, and other materials. Contains a large run of World War II photographs taken by Robert, focusing on the Malta Conference and the Yalta Conference.

Date Span: 1913-2006.

Extent: 14.3 linear feet.

Collection Description: Photographic archives of Barnes Company, which specialized in photographs and capsule biographies of U.S. Congressmen in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Consists of 501 carte de visite photographs.

Date Span: 1875-1880.

Extent: 3 liner feet.

Collection Description: Portion of the papers of William H. Natcher, a longtime Democratic Congressman representing Kentucky's second district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Contains letters from White House officials, U.S. governors, constituents, and supporters. Also includes press releases and printed materials. 

Date Span: 1949-1994.

Extent: 4.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: The Crawford Family Papers contain primary source materials generated by a prominent nineteenth century Georgetown family, the Crawfords. Letters and writings of Richard R. Crawford, who served as mayor of Georgetown in the 1850s, shed light onto his term in that office, his legal career apart from his mayorship, and the community's politics. Richard R. Crawford's lengthy manuscript letter book containing letters he wrote in 1857 and 1858 to the Georgetown Board of Aldermen and Common Council is the most substantial item in this collection

Date Span: 1812-1896.

Extent: 0.5 linear feet.

Collection Description: Correspondence, speeches, legal papers, newspaper clippings, honors and awards, photographs, and personal ephemera concerning the life of the Senator and his family. Includes materials from his work in the Department pf Justice, Connecticut and national Democratic politics, his senatorial campaigns, and his run for the U.S. presidency in 1952.

Date Span: 1930-1953.

Extent: 18.75 linear feet.

Collection Description: Consists of smear literature and complaints; codes signed by various candidates, including Richard M. Nixon; state chapter files; material concerning campaign reform and the Watergate era; FCP programs; project reports; material of the Freedom of Information Act; and material concerning the internal administration of the FCPC, including fund raising projects. The Committee was founded in 1954 to ensure "fair play" in politics.

Date Span: 1954-1976.

Extent: 73 linear feet.

Collection Description: Documents concerning the activities of the Center from its creation in June 1973, through its advocacy of the Federal Election Campaigns Act Amendments of 1973, and the closing of the Center in December 1975. Includes legal records, reference files, correspondence, and financial records.

Date Span: 1972-1974.

Extent: 13 linear feet.

Collection Description: Correspondence, constitutions, by-laws, agendas, minutes, reports, publications, and printed material. The documents concern the organization's administration and its activities. Subject files outline the Association's areas of concern in the District of Columbia, such as health, education, transportation, fiscal management, urban planning, public safety, youth problems, and federal legislation.

Date Span: 1940-1972.

Extent: 7 linear feet.

Collection the Description: First part of the Paul Warnke Papers. The papers document the controversy that preceded Warnke's confirmation as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and his role as a principal U.S. negotiator of the SALT II treaty. Most importantly the collection portrays his continuing role in the non-government arms control movement. There is much on Democratic presidential campaigns, the Vietnam War, and the legal culture of Washington, D.C. Includes appointment calendars, log books, manuscripts, memoranda, printed material, and extensive correspondence

Date Span: 1963-2000.

Extent: 57 linear feet.

Collection Description: Second part of the Paul Warnke Papers. Includes document lists, files concerning Warnke's government service, documents related to the organizations to which he belonged, texts of some of his oral presentations, publications, and a limited amount of correspondence to and from Warnke.

Date Span:1959-1999.

Extent: 2.5 linear feet.

There is a separate Research Guide for sources available on "Government and Politics" in the Georgetown University Library beyond the Booth Family Center for Special Collections.  That particular Research Guide provides information about searching for books, articles, databases, and government publications.