November 28, 2003

The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.

 

November 24, 2003

The Library completed declassification review for the entire collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger Reports on USSR , China , and Middle East Discussions (ca. 4,000 pp.).  The collection consists of memoranda of conversations and related materials compiled for President Ford concerning Secretary Kissinger's meetings with leaders of the Soviet Union , China , and Middle Eastern countries.  The files also contain memoranda of conversations from President Ford's meetings with Soviet leaders at the Vladivostok Summit and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), and with Chinese leaders during his visit to Peking .  Meeting summaries, Kissinger's reports to the President, briefing papers prepared for Kissinger, drafts of agreements and communiqués, public statements, press releases, and press briefing transcripts round out the files.  Important topics of discussion are SALT, CSCE, the Vladivostok Summit, President Ford's visit to China and the normalization process, and the Sinai Disengagement Agreement between Egypt and Israel .  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

 

September 18, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in several folders of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Europe, Canada , and Ocean Affairs Staff: Files . The folders and estimated page counts are: USSR - Soviet Jewry (180 pp.).

 

September 17, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Lebanon (1345 pp.).

 

September 15, 2003

Postmark deadline for applications in the fall round of Gerald R. Ford Foundation grants to support travel to research in Ford Library collections. More information on the grants program.

 

September 12, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Iran (1085 pp.).

 

September 10, 2003

Library staff completed the archival processing and description of the Martin R. Hoffmann Papers, (1962) 1971-1977 (1991).  The collection concerns his work as General Counsel of the Atomic Energy Commission (1971-1973) and in the Department of Defense (1973-1977) where he served successively as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, General Counsel, and Secretary of the Army.  In addition, the collection concerns Hoffmann's work as a member of the Defense Secretary's Commission on Base Realignment and Closure in 1988.  View the finding aid for the collection. .

 

July 8, 2003

The Ford Home Movies Collection, 1954-1971, is open. Nearly all of the thirteen hours of public domain footage is available, with the exception of a small amount of personal footage. All of the film is silent. Subjects include, among others, Interparliamentary Union trips to Europe and Asia; family vacations at Ottawa Beach, Michigan; holidays and family celebrations at 514 Crown View Drive in Alexandria, Virginia; President and Mrs. Ford 's parents; sporting activities, including Mrs. Ford golfing; and definitive proof that the Fords drove Fords.  A summary of the films is available on a database or by printout.

 

June 16, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Syria (1150 pp.) and the Trucial States [Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates] (240 pp.).

 

May 13, 2003

The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.

 

April 25, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Turkey (1525 pp.) and Yemen (50 pp.).

 

March 15, 2003

Postmark deadline for applications in the spring round of Gerald R. Ford Foundation grants to support travel to research in Ford Library collections. More information on the grants program.

 

February, 2003

A visiting State Department declassification team reviewed over 12,000 pages of restricted material from virtually all National Security Adviser Presidential Country Files. They recommended or concurred in declassification of 95% of their equities. Library staff have begun the process of opening these documents to research. Researchers may request that priority in the work queue be given to specific countries by contacting david.horrocks@nara.gov.

January 16, 2003

The Audiovisual Department has opened the David Hume Kennerly Collection for research.  The Kennerly Collection contains several thousand black and white negatives and corresponding contact sheets, plus color slides.  Included are photographs of Vice President Ford; a post-presidential trip by President and Mrs. Ford to the Middle East in 1978; the 1980 Republican National Convention; and portraits of various Ford family members.  Mr. Kennerly served as President Ford's White House photographer between August 1974 and January 1977. His photographs from that time period are part of the White House Photographic Office Photographs.

January 14, 2003

The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Switzerland (1125 pp.). The bulk of this material does not relate to U.S. relations with Switzerland . Instead it consists of cables to the State Department on international conferences and meetings that took place in Switzerland .  Among such meetings the largest quantities of material relate to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the Middle East (especially Israel and Egypt ).  With the completion of the processing of the Switzerland file, all folders in this collection are now open to research (although individual documents are still closed). See the collection finding aid

See News Notes for Ford Library Researchers for the year 2002