COLLECTION FINDING AID
BIRGE S. WATKINS FILES, 1974-77
Staff Assistant
Office of Economic Affairs
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
Routine scheduling correspondence and other letters drafted for L. William Seidman's signature, Seidman schedules, reference files of press releases and similar nearprint material, and material on office procedures.
QUANTITY
4.0 linear feet (ca. 8,000 pages)
DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession numbers 77-101 and 2006-11)
ACCESS
Open. Some items are 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Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 Barbara J. White, February 1983; revised by William H. McNitt, March 2013
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INTRODUCTION Birge S. Watkins, a 1971 graduate of Alma College, began working for L. William Seidman in 1972 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In September 1974, he volunteered to aid Seidman with the Economic Summit and was then appointed to Seidman's office as staff assistant for scheduling.
As staff assistant, Watkins drafted replies to requests for appointments, appearances and White House tours. He also drafted responses to uncomplicated letters regarding economics and routine matters. Many form letters were used.
A key part of this collection is what appears to be a complete set of Seidman schedules.
Related Materials
(February 1983)
The primary related collection is the L. William Seidman Files.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Subject File, 1974-77.
(Boxes 1‑6, 2.4 linear feet)
Letters, memoranda, schedules, reports, speeches, resumes, and form responses. The majority are photocopies of documents to and from Seidman's office. Most concern scheduling issues: requests, follow-up, thank-you, and schedules. Some general memoranda on the EPB, and personnel matters containing resumes and intern information are included. Two subject areas containing extensive information, mostly reports and press releases, concern minority business enterprise and youth employment. There is a small amount of Watkins' own correspondence and one unidentified speech.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Conference File, 1975-76. (Box 7, 0.4 linear feet)
Proceedings, briefing papers and books, news articles, and one transcript. Briefing papers and books of three conferences on consumer representation plans held in January 1976 contain operational information needed to run the conferences and include itineraries, biographies, floor plans and transportation. There are proceedings for 1975 conferences on Capital Investment and Employment and on Domestic and Economic Affairs.
Arranged chronologically.
Chronological File, 1974-77. (Boxes 8‑9, 0.8 linear feet)
Copies of largely routine outgoing letters and memoranda, drafted by Watkins for Seidman's signature. There are occasional attachments.
Arranged chronologically.
Seidman Schedules, 1974-77. (Box 10, 0.4 linear feet)
Typed daily schedules for L. William Seidman, often annotated with handwritten additions and changes. Note: This series was received later than the rest of the collection and only opened to research in March 2013.
Arranged chronologically.
CONTAINER LIST
Box 1 - Subject File
- Council on International Economic Policy (1)‑(2)
- Economic Policy Board ‑ Agendas
- Economic Policy Board ‑ General
- Economic Policy Board ‑ Organization/Decision Making
- Economic Policy Board ‑ Speech and Travel Schedules
- Federal Grants
- First Lady
- Form Response ‑ Draft Letters, Conference on Inflation
- Form Response ‑ Draft Letters and Forms
- Form Response ‑ Manual, Vice President
- Media Lists
Box 2 - Subject File
- Minority Business Enterprise (1)‑(10)
Box 3 - Subject File
- Newswire Reports, 12/76 (1)‑(8)
- Personnel (1)‑(2)
- Personnel ‑ Interns
Box 4 - Subject File
- President's Schedule (1)‑(12)
- Presidential Schedule ‑ Requests
- Presidential Trip, 11/1‑2/76, Grand Rapids
Box 5 - Subject File
- Productivity Growth ‑ Report, 10/74 (1)‑(2)
- Public Members Association of the Foreign Service
- Scheduling
- Seidman, L. William ‑ General
- Seidman, L. William ‑ Personal
- Seidman, L. William ‑ Scheduling
- State Department
- State of the Union Follow‑up, 1975
- State of the Union Follow‑up, 1976 (1)‑(2)
- Vice President
- Watkins ‑ Correspondence
- Watkins ‑ Speech (Unidentified)
- White House Press Releases and Fact Sheets
- White House Staff Memoranda
- White House Tours
Box 6 - Subject File
Box 7 - Conference File
- 5/19‑20/75 ‑ National Conference on Capital Investment and Employment ‑ Proceedings (1)‑(2)
- 10/7/75 ‑ Mid‑Appalachia White House Conference on Domestic and Economic Affairs ‑ Proceedings
- 1/21/76 ‑ White House Conference on Consumer Representation Plans
- ‑ Briefing Paper (1)‑(2)
- 1/23/76 ‑ White House Conference on Consumer Representation Plans
- ‑ Briefing Paper (1)‑(2)
- ‑ News Clippings
- ‑ Stenographic Transcript
- 1/29/76 ‑ White House Conference on Consumer Representation Plans
- ‑ Briefing Book
- ‑ Briefing Paper (1)‑(2)
Box 8 - Chronological File
Box 9 - Chronological File
Box 10 - Seidman Schedules
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