COLLECTION FINDING AID



THEODORE C. MARRS FILES, 1974-76

Special Assistant to the President for Human Resources
Public Liaison Office



CONTENTS

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


View digital copies of the documents releated to Indochinese Refugees


SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Marrs handled White House liaison with interest groups not specifically assigned to other staff members of the Public Liaison Office. These associations were interested in veterans affairs, military matters, Indian affairs, medicine and health, education, religion, ethnic affairs, old age, and business. Among the issues he handled were Vietnam War amnesty, military personnel missing in action in Southeast Asia, and Indochina refugees. The Marrs Files include much substantive material and are a significant research resource.

QUANTITY
45.6 linear feet (ca. 91,200 pages)

DONOR
Gerald R. Ford (accession number 77-107)

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Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.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 William McNitt, January 1990
[s:\bin\findaid\marrs, theodore - files.doc]


BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION


Theodore C. Marrs


Aug. 29, 1918 - Born, Rutherfordton, NC

1937 - Completed pre-med course, University of Tennessee

1940 - M.D., University of Tennessee

1944 - Completed his residency at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI

1945-53 - Medical practice in pediatrics, Montgomery, AL

1953-63 - Medical officer, U.S. Air Force Reserve

1961 - Called to active duty with Alabama National Guard during the Berlin crisis

1963-64 - Special Assistant to the Surgeon General of the Air Force

1964-70 - Deputy for Reserve Affairs and Education, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force

1968 - Promoted to Brigadier General, U.S. Air Force Reserve

1970-74 - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs

May 1974-July 1976 - Special Assistant to the President for Human Resources

1976-? - Physician, Indian Health Service, Albuquerque, NM

1990 - Died, Albuquerque, New Mexico


INTRODUCTION

Theodore Marrs' Files document his 1974-76 work on White House liaison with approximately 160 special interest groups and associations and include material on the government programs and issues that most interested them.

Marrs' Role in the Ford White House
Many of Marrs' colleagues in the Public Liaison Office specialized in liaison with groups representing only particular segments of society. For instance, one staff member worked only with women's organizations and another exclusively with business and trade associations. Marrs had the title Special Assistant to the President for Human Resources and, unlike his colleagues, he dealt with a variety of organizations:

Growing out of his work with military, veterans, and ethnic groups, he had special responsibilities for such matters as the Vietnam War amnesty program, MIAs, Indochina refugees resettlement, and illegal aliens. Marrs' office was also in charge of coordinating White House efforts relating to the Bicentennial celebration and for liaison with the National Alliance of Businessmen.

Marrs handled liaison with interest groups by arranging meetings with the President, representing the President at conferences, requesting Presidential messages for publications or conventions, setting up briefings and special White House tours, and corresponding about issues of concern to the organizations. In the year 1975 alone, Marrs met with representatives of these organizations in 650 individually scheduled meetings and conducted 27 meetings between the President and association representatives.

Another tool employed by the Public Liaison Office was the "Tuesday at the White House" and "Wednesday at the White House" meetings. The weekly Tuesday meetings generally were three hour sessions with about 70-90 individuals representing interest groups and associations and several administration officials. Each meeting focused on a specific issue, such as bilingual education, and was intended to foster an exchange of ideas and meaningful dialogue. Wednesday meetings, generally held every other week, served a similar purpose, although the sessions were sometimes longer and the number of invitees smaller. Between the first "Tuesday at the White House" meeting in January 1975 and Marrs' departure from the White House in July 1976, his office conducted more than 25 such meetings.

Marrs' staff included his deputy Milt Mitler, who handled most of the work on the Bicentennial, and his secretary Velma Shelton, who handled much of the routine work, especially that involving the production of congratulatory letters and certificates for those involved with the National Alliance of Businessmen. Marrs reported to Assistant to the President for Public Liaison William J. Baroody, Jr.

Early in 1976, President Ford appointed Myron Kuropas to the newly created position of Special Assistant to the President for Ethnic Affairs, so Marrs gave up his responsibilities in that area. In July 1976 Marrs left the White House staff and became a physician with the Indian Health Service. Since most Bicentennial programs were winding down by that time, Mitler was free to assume most of Marrs liaison activities. Bradley Patterson of the Presidential Personnel Office took over Indian affairs and Thomas Aranda assumed Marrs' role on illegal aliens.

Scope and Content of the Marrs Files
The Marrs collection is strongest on military and veterans matters. Marrs had strong ties with such groups, having previously served in the Defense Department handling reserve affairs.

Veterans and military organizations took a strong interest in, or even strongly opposed, President Ford's proposal for an amnesty program for Vietnam War draft evaders, and Marrs became heavily involved in that issue. His files include correspondence with veterans groups and materials on the organization and operation of the Presidential Clemency Board. Of special note are the letters from individual veterans who returned their military medals and certificates to the White House in protest against the amnesty program.

The Marrs Files also contain significant materials on liaison with the families of military personnel who were captured or missing in action during the Vietnam War. The families urged greater efforts by the U.S. government to learn the fates of MIAs and POWs and distrusted Defense Department explanations. Included is material on the House Select Committee, the possible appointment of a Presidential board or commission, and liaison with the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia.

After the fall of Cambodia and South Vietnam in the spring of 1975, Marrs became White House liaison with the President's Advisory Committee on Refugees. His files document the organization and operation of that committee, including some minutes of meetings. There is also information on the parole authority under which the refugees were admitted to the United States, the interagency task force that ran the program, and Marrs' visit to the refugee camp at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

Another well-documented area of Marrs' work was his liaison with Native American organizations. His Indian Affairs Subject File concerns a wide variety of issues and projects, including Indian-owned businesses, economic development, consumer education, land claims, and problems on specific reservations. Possibly due to Marrs' background as a physician, there is much on Indian health matters, the American Indian School of Medicine, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and the Indian Health Service.

Marrs files on most other topics tend to be much smaller in volume. For instance, his materials on health matters or ethnic affairs might consist of several hundred pages in scattered folders in the Subject File, Organizations File, Conference File, and Tuesday at the White House File.

When Marrs left the White House staff in July 1976, some of his files were dispersed to other White House staff members. Thomas Aranda received Marrs' files on illegal aliens and Milt Mitler acquired some files on the MIA issue.

Related Materials (January 1990)
The files of several of Marrs' colleagues in the Public Liaison Office are available for research, including those of Milt Mitler and Thomas Aranda who took over portions of the Marrs Files. Some Marrs material is also available in White House Central Files Subject File category FG 6-11-1/Marrs.

Related materials on veterans affairs include the Domestic Council files of David Lissy and White House Central Files category VA (Veterans Affairs). Other major collections on Indian Affairs include the files of Norman Ross and Bradley Patterson and Central Files category IN (Indian Affairs). A closely related collection on ethnic affairs is the Public Liaison Office files of Myron Kuropas.


LIST OF SERIES

General Subject File (Boxes 1-30)

Indian Affairs Subject File (Boxes 31-38)

Organizations File (Boxes 39-56)

Government Agencies File (Boxes 56-58)

Name File (Boxes 59-62)

Conference File (Boxes 63-67)

"Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings (Boxes 68-76)

Trips and Events File (Boxes 77-78)

Geographical File (Box 79)

Chronological File (Boxes 80-93)

Bulk Mail File (Boxes 94-99)


SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

General Subject File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 1-30, 12.0 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, briefing papers, reports, lists, press releases, publications, clippings, and occasional meeting minutes concerning issues, meetings, and events. The primary focus is on military and veterans affairs, including such topics as the President's amnesty program and the MIAs in Southeast Asia. Another major topic is the Indochina refugee resettlement program. The series contains smaller amounts of material on most subject areas of interest to Marrs: health, ethnic affairs, religious matters, aging, etc.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Indian Affairs Subject File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 31-38, 3.2 linear feet)
Memoranda, correspondence, briefing papers, reports, lists, press releases, publications and clippings concerning the federal government's Indian policies and the activities of various tribes. A significant amount relates to Indian health matters, but other concerns include: legislation, land claims, tribal businesses and economic development projects, and problems on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

View container list for this series

Organizations File, 1974-77.  (Boxes 39-56, 7.0 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, schedules, briefing papers, newsletters, and other publications concerning the activities and views on issues of organizations for which Marrs had liaison responsibility. Topics include: veterans affairs, the needs of military personnel, health matters, education, aging, and ethnic matters. A large file concerns interactions, mostly routine, with the National Alliance of Businessmen.

Arranged alphabetically by organization name.

View container list for this series

Government Agencies File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 56-58, 1.0 linear feet)
Correspondence and memoranda between Marrs and government officials along with occasional reports, publications and clippings. Some are routine requests to help individuals referred to the agencies, but other items concern the programs and activities of the agencies.

Arranged alphabetically by agency name.

View container list for this series

Name File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 59-62, 1.6 linear feet)
Correspondence and memoranda exchanged between Marrs and private citizens or, occasionally, government officials. The series is mostly routine in nature, with only occasional folders containing significant issue-related material.

Arranged alphabetically by name.

View container list for this series

Conference File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 63-67, 2.0 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, schedules, briefing papers, and occasional notes on discussions for various meetings and briefings. These meetings were usually held at the White House, often during an organization's national meeting in Washington. President Ford frequently put in a short appearance.

Arranged chronologically by the date of the conference.

View container list for this series

"Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings, 1975-76.  (Boxes 68-76, 3.6 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, schedules, briefing papers, and occasional notes on discussions for these regularly scheduled briefings on single topics for officers of interested organizations. Included are files on both the "Tuesday" meetings and the similar "Wednesday at the White House" meetings.

Arranged chronologically by date of the meeting.

View container list for this series

Trips and Events File, 1974-75.  (Boxes 77-78, 0.8 linear feet)
Correspondence, memoranda, programs, receipts for expenses, and occasional copies of Marrs' remarks for meetings around the country which he attended as a representative of President Ford. No trip files from 1976 were found during archival processing.

Arranged chronologically by date of the event.

View container list for this series

Geographical File, 1974-75.  (Box 79, 0.4 linear feet)
Carbon copies of Marrs' outgoing letters to private citizens. Marrs' staff apparently discontinued this file after August 1975.

Arranged alphabetically by state and thereunder chronologically.

View container list for this series

Chronological File, 1974-77.  (Boxes 80-93, 5.6 linear feet)
Carbon copies of Marrs' outgoing letters and memoranda, including some material dating from the later months of the Nixon administration. A portion of this series post-dates from after Marrs' departure from the White House and reflects the continuing activities of Velma Shelton, his secretary. The originals of incoming letters are often attached to the carbons before August 1975, because his staff did not then use the White House Central Files.

The Ford Library received the series in three separate sequences: memoranda chron (green carbons often with incoming letters), letter chron (green carbons often with incoming letters), and a combined memo and letter chron (white carbons). The first two sequences ended in August 1975, but the third continued until the end of the administration. During processing the Ford Library staff combined the three sequences.

Arranged chronologically.

View container list for this series

Public Opinion Mail File, 1974-76.  (Boxes 94-114, 8.4 linear feet)
Incoming routine public opinion mail addressed to the President concerning three topics: the amnesty program (6.0 feet - mostly August to September 1974, May to June 1975, and December 1975 to April 1976), MIAs (1.2 feet - mostly October to December 1975), and a proposed meeting between the President and a delegation of Oglala Sioux Indians (1.2 feet - mostly November to December 1975). The bulk of the amnesty correspondence from 1974 opposes amnesty, while the later letters are heavily pro-amnesty. This series is currently unprocessed and not available for research, although portions can be made available with significant prior notice.

Sorted by topic, but otherwise unarranged.


CONTAINER LIST

Box 1 - General Subject File

Box 2 - General Subject File

Box 3 - General Subject File

Box 4 - General Subject File

Box 5 - General Subject File

Box 6 - General Subject File

Box 7 - General Subject File

Box 8 - General Subject File

Box 9 - General Subject File

Box 10 - General Subject File

Box 11 - General Subject File

Box 12 - General Subject File

Box 13 - General Subject File

Box 14 - General Subject File

Box 15 - General Subject File

Box 16 - General Subject File

Box 17 - General Subject File

Box 18 - General Subject File

Box 19 - General Subject File

Box 20 - General Subject File

Box 21 - General Subject File

Box 22 - General Subject File

Box 23 - General Subject File

Box 24 - General Subject File

Box 25 - General Subject File

Box 26 - General Subject File

Box 27 - General Subject File

Box 28 - General Subject File

Box 29 - General Subject File

Box 30 - General Subject File

Box 31 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 32 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 33 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 34 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 35 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 36 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 37 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 38 - Indian Affairs Subject File

Box 39 - Organizations File

Box 40 - Organizations File.

Box 41 - Organizations File

Box 42 - Organizations File

Box 43 - Organizations File

Box 44 - Organizations File

Box 45 - Organizations File

Box 46 - Organizations File

Box 47 - Organizations File

Box 48 - Organizations File

Box 49 - Organizations File

Box 50 - Organizations File

Box 51 - Organizations File

Box 52 - Organizations File

Box 53 - Organizations File

Box 54 - Organizations File

Box 55 - Organizations File

Box 56 - Organizations File

Box 56 (Continued) - Government Agencies File

Box 57 - Government Agencies File

Box 58 - Government Agencies File

Box 59 - Name File

Box 60 - Name File

Box 61 - Name File

Box 62 - Name File

Box 63 - Conference File

Box 64 - Conference File

Box 65 - Conference File

Box 66 - Conference File

Box 67 - Conference File

Box 68 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 69 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 70 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 71 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 72 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 73 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 74 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 75 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 76 - "Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House" Meetings

Box 77 - Trips and Events File

Box 78 - Trips and Events File

Box 79 - Geographical File

Box 80 - Chronological File

Box 81 - Chronological File

Box 82 - Chronological File

Box 83 - Chronological File

Box 84 - Chronological File

Box 85 - Chronological File

Box 86 - Chronological File

Box 87 - Chronological File.

Box 88 - Chronological File

Box 89 - Chronological File

Box 90 - Chronological File

Box 91 - Chronological File

Box 92 - Chronological File

Box 93 - Chronological File


THE FOLLOWING BOXES ARE UNPROCESSED, BUT AVAILABLE ON A REVIEW-ON-REQUEST BASIS.

Boxes 94-97 - Bulk Mail File

Boxes 98-101 - Bulk Mail File

Boxes 102-105 - Bulk Mail File

Boxes 106-108 - Bulk Mail File

Boxes 109-111 - Bulk Mail File

Boxes 112-114 - Bulk Mail File