December 23, 2004

The "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert Teeter" has been established by the Library and the University of Michigan with gifts from the Teeter Family, the United Parcel Service Corporation, and others. The award of $5,000 will be given annually to support dissertation research on an aspect of the U.S. political process during the latter part of the twentieth century. Award recipients will conduct a portion of their research in the Robert Teeter Papers, 1972-2004, which currently are being processed for partial release. Mr. Teeter, who worked in several Republican presidential campaigns, was one of the nation's foremost public opinion analysts. Details of the award process will be announced shortly. For further information, email the program coordinator.

 

November 10, 2004

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

 

September 17, 2004

The Library has completed the arrangement and description of one of the two series in the Peter H. Sorum Papers.  The series containing case files for advance work for trips by President Ford and his family is open to research, but advance consultation with an archivist is required. During the advance consultation, you and an archivist will plan for the review of the folders that you will want to see. A sufficient advance consultation might be two days or several months, depending upon the complexity of the material, other workload, and the quantity requested. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.

 

September 15, 2004

Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants application deadline.  The deadline for the next round of grants is March 15, 2005 . Grants of up to $2000 are awarded to support research in the holdings of the Ford Library. The grant defrays North American travel, living & photocopy expenses. Further details

 

September 3, 2004

The Library has completed archival processing for the Robert Visser Papers.  The collection focuses on his work as General Counsel to the President Ford Committee during the 1976 presidential election campaign.  Major topics include ballot security, delegate selection and other convention rules, state and federal election laws, Federal Election Commission, campaign finance rules, insurance, volunteers, candidate travel costs, and the campaign organization's incorporation and liquidation. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

 

September 1, 2004

The Library has updated the Selected Documents on the 1976 Campaign page with some additional documents on the election (including the campaign plan for the fall campaign against Jimmy Carter) and improved scans for the documents on the original page.

 

August 30, 2004

Supervisory Archivist David Horrocks was a speaker at the session "Presidential Archives in France and the U.S. : Statute, Acquisition, Access" at the 15th International Congress on Archives at Vienna , Austria .  Also in August, Dave's article on Gerald Ford's law education and practice appeared in America 's Lawyer-Presidents (Northwestern University Press/American Bar Association).

 

August 11, 2004

The Library has completed systematic declassification review of  a  major collection, National Security Adviser.  Memoranda of  Conversations (8 feet).   The collection includes approximately 1100 "memcons" of   President Nixon's and President Ford's 1973-1977  meetings with  senior national security officials, foreign government officials,  and occasional others, including Members of Congress, on  matters of national security or foreign relations.   A "memcon" is a  transcript-like record of conversation prepared from the handwritten notes of a designated note-taker.  The folder for a specific meeting usually includes both the memcons and the notes.  There have been incremental releases from this collection in the past. Click finding aid to learn more about the entire collection .

 

June 30, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. NSC Press and Congressional Relations Staff: Files (3.2 feet).  It contains materials concerning the work of NSC staff members Leslie Janka and Margaret Vanderhye.  Included is foreign affairs press guidance provided to the White House Press Secretary, outgoing letters and memoranda, a small subject file, and memoranda of conversations and briefing papers for presidential meetings with members of Congress on foreign affairs and defense matters. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

 

June 29, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Staff Assistant Peter Rodman: Files (less than 1 foot).  A chronological file documenting handling of letters addressed to Henry Kissinger or Brent Scowcroft and reminders to the National Security Adviser about matters requiring his attention, and a fragmentary subject file concerning several foreign policy issues. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

 

June 28, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the manuscript draft of Edward and Frederick Schapsmeier's book Gerald R. Ford's Date With Destiny: A Political Biography(less than 1 foot).  Some pages of the manuscript bear handwritten annotations by President Ford.  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

 

June 25, 2004

The Library opened two additional National Security Decision Memoranda and added images of them to the website.  The two newly-opened memoranda are NSDM 345 (U.S. Anti-Satellite Capabilities) and NSDM 346 (Security of US Telecommunications).

 

June 25, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the Gerald L. Warren Papers (1 foot).  The collection contains press clippings, interview and press briefing transcripts, speech texts, press releases, and briefing books used by the White House Communications Office during the first year of the Ford presidency, as well as subject files of newspaper articles on the post-presidency of Richard Nixon and on Congress' investigation in 1975 of Northrop Corporation's foreign arms sales.  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

June 21, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the Philip W. Buchen Papers (2 feet).  The collection contains speeches, clippings, correspondence, souvenirs and other material on both social and official matters.  It also includes desk calendars and sporadic diary notes of Mrs. Buchen.  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

May 10, 2004

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

March 26, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders (2 feet). The collection includes a mix of routine and substantive letters and telegrams exchanged between President Ford and leaders of sixty-four countries.  Substantive exchanges address such topics as Angola , the British financial crisis, economic summit meetings, Middle East peace process, OPEC, Cyprus , South Vietnam , NATO, and Soviet influence in Africa and Asia .   For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

March 23, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the David O. Meeker Papers (9.6 feet).  This is primarily a personal reference collection of reports, memoranda, speeches, and briefing and study material from David Meeker's work at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and elsewhere.  Major topics include HUD programs for housing, community development, disaster assistance, national growth policy, urban policy, and the celebration of the Bicentennial. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

March 4, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Transition File (0.4 feet).  The collection contains primarily messages notifying world leaders of the Nixon-Ford presidential transition, but also talking points for President Ford's first meetings with foreign ambassadors as well as substantive State Department briefing papers summarizing US foreign policy on the eve of the Ford administration.  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

March 1, 2004

The Library completed archival processing for the Larry and Pauline Asmus Papers (1.6 feet).  The collection documents the Asmus family's participation on the Bicentennial Wagon Train, especially along the Santa Fe Trail .  For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.

February 9, 2004

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: Egypt (4000 pp.). With this opening, the processing of the collection is complete.   For more details, view the finding aid for the collection. The completion of this collection also means that the Presidential Country Files for all nations are available for research.

January 16, 2004

An article discussing the Library's holdings on foreign affairs and national security matters written by our lead foreign affairs archivist Geir Gundersen, appears in the December 2003 issue of Passport, the newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.  Click here to see the article.

January 15, 2004

The Library opened a newly-designed web presentation of its collection descriptions.  The new format closely parallels that of our publication Guide to Historical Materials in the Gerald R. Ford Library, but we have added links to full collection finding aids and to other web information to make it even more informative than the published guide.

January 12, 2004

The Library completed declassification review and opened memoranda of conversations for meetings held by President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu on June 11, 1975 and August 2-3, 1975 .  These documents are part of the National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations collection.

January 8, 2004

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: Israel (2800 pp.).  In addition, the Library opened two folders on the United States Sinai Support Mission (100 pp.).

 

See News Notes for Ford Library Researchers for the year 2003