Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

COLLECTION FINDING AID

ROLAND L. ELLIOTT FILES, 1974-77

Deputy Special Assistant to the President, Director of Correspondence
White House Editorial Staff

CONTENTS

Summary Description | Biographical Information | Introduction | Series Descriptions | Container List

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Much of the collection is comprised of carbon copies of routine outgoing letters signed by President Ford or Roland Elliott. Also included are administrative materials such as weekly mail reports and analyses, an office manual, form letters, response cards, and attachments used with the letters.

QUANTITY
17.8 linear feet (ca. 35,600 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession numbers 77-97, 90-27, 91-5, 93-28, 99 -6, 99-26X)

ACCESS
Researchers should consult with an archivist prior to their visit in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue. Even after the completion of this review some items may be temporarily restricted under terms of the donor's deed of gift, a copy of which is available on request, or under National Archives and Records Administration general restrictions (36 CFR 1256).

COPYRIGHT
Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain.

Prepared by Andrew S. Hunt, April 2007

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Roland L. Elliott

1937 - Born in Bremerton, WA

1937-1955? - Reared in Fresno, CA

1950s? - U.S. Army service

1960s? - Degree, UCLA

? - 1971 - Director of Alumni Relations, UCLA

1971-74 - Special Assistant to President Nixon

1974-77 - Special Assistant to President Ford

1979 - Died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in Florence, MA

INTRODUCTION

Roland L. Elliott became a special assistant to President Nixon and director of the Correspondence Office in 1971. He continued those duties through the end of the Ford Administration. As director of the Correspondence Office, he supervised the flow of mail to and from the White House, including presidential correspondence. One exception was correspondence between President Ford and his friends and family, which was handled by Personal Assistant to the President Mildred Leonard.

This collection documents Mr. Elliot’s work during the Ford administration. Although many of the materials relate to routine administrative tasks of the Correspondence Office, of particular importance is a survey of the week-to-week concerns of ordinary citizens tallied in regular reports counting the volume of mail by subject.

Two series consist of chronological files of all of the letters sent out by the Correspondence Office over the signature of either President Ford or Elliott, on behalf of the President. Another series contains thank you letters related to trips of President or Mrs. Ford and White House social events.

Also included are copies of form letters and cards that were mailed out to the public relating to a wide variety of topics, from the Nixon Pardon to the Equal Rights Amendment to Mrs. Ford’s dessert recipes; presidential cards related to Christmas, birthdays, weddings, and other acknowledgements; and photographs and publications used as attachments to responses.

Related Materials (April 2007)
The White House Central Files Subject Files contains both incoming and outgoing correspondence, arranged by subject. The White House Central Files Name File provides name access to this correspondence.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

General Subject File, 1974-77. (Boxes 1-9, 3.6 linear feet)
Memoranda written by Elliott and his deputy Anne Higgins, mail analyses (count and subject breakdown of mail received in a given period), and form letters. Included are Bicentennial form letters and speech packets, form letters related to the 1972 Olympic Games, resignation letters, condolence letters, White House Correspondence Manual, and Christmas listings with names and addresses.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.