Fred R. Harris riding a combine with Henry Jo VonTungeln (operating the combine) and Dan VonTungeln This photo was taken in conjunction with the El Reno wheat hearings in June 1970
Item — Box: PH 4
Identifier: CAC_CC_026_11_0000_0000_461
The Fred R. Harris Collection, a sizeable collection of 309 cubic feet, covers the period 1963-1976. While the bulk of the materials pertain to Harris's congressional career, the records of the later period, 1972-1976, document both of Harris's presidential campaigns. The Harris Collection also contains invitations, schedules, post office files, clippings, constituent correspondence, government publications, speeches, reports, and legislation
The Harris Collection is especially strong in materials pertaining to Indian affairs, firearms/gun control, Vietnam, and natural resources. Water projects, especially those pertaining to the Arkansas River Basin, Poteau River Basin, Tenkiller Ferry Dam, and the Red River Basin, are also represented. Approximately 2.5 cubic feet of correspondence, speeches, hearing transcripts, articles, and a book manuscript, document the legislation which proposed a National Social Science Foundation.
While chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1969, Harris collected approximately 3 cubic feet of material consisting of correspondence, memos, forms, and miscellaneous items. Topics include: fund raising, campaign financing, DNC films, Richard Nixon, youth leadership and participation, consumer affairs, foreign relations, taxes, Vietnam, the Kerner Commission, increasing party participation, party reform, and various position statements.
The LaDonna Harris Series includes 4 cubic feet of material covering the period 1964-1976 related to the work of LaDonna Harris, Senator Harris's former wife. This material reflects Mrs. Harris's work with social problems, especially mental health and poverty, and Native American issues. An active member of the Comanche tribe, she organized an Indian education project at the University of Oklahoma before her husband's election to the U.S. Senate. In 1965, she expanded this project into Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO), an organization which she served as president. Once in Washington D.C., President Johnson appointed her as one of six Indian members of the National Council on Indian Opportunity. At the time of her husband's presidential campaign, LaDonna Harris was the full-time director of Americans for Indian Opportunity, an advocacy group which she founded and is now based in New Mexico. These files also include materials on the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children, the Women's Advisory Committee on Poverty, and the Southwest Center for Human Relations.
The Presidential Campaign Series includes approximately 20 cubic feet of material related to both Harris's 1972 and 1976 campaigns. Most of the records pertain to the more lengthy 1976 campaign. The types of materials included cover all aspects of a campaign, including clippings, press releases, correspondence, issue information, VIP profiles, schedules, invitations, position statements, memos, manuals, brochures, speeches, and polls.
The Harris Collection also includes a group of 19 maps. These maps include highway maps for several states and cities as well as the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Also included are some building project plans.
The Harris Collection also includes reprints of articles written by Harris as well as the manuscript for his published work, The New Populism. For materials on Harris's early years in the Oklahoma State Senate, researchers are directed to the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, Oklahoma.
In 2011, three cubic feet of files from Gary Dage, legislative assistant to Harris, were added to the collection. The files came to the Carl Albert Center as part of the Glenn English Collection. Dage also worked for Congressman English following his time with Senator Harris. Because this material was from Dage's time with Harris, the decision was made to add it to this collection.
The Harris Collection is especially strong in materials pertaining to Indian affairs, firearms/gun control, Vietnam, and natural resources. Water projects, especially those pertaining to the Arkansas River Basin, Poteau River Basin, Tenkiller Ferry Dam, and the Red River Basin, are also represented. Approximately 2.5 cubic feet of correspondence, speeches, hearing transcripts, articles, and a book manuscript, document the legislation which proposed a National Social Science Foundation.
While chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1969, Harris collected approximately 3 cubic feet of material consisting of correspondence, memos, forms, and miscellaneous items. Topics include: fund raising, campaign financing, DNC films, Richard Nixon, youth leadership and participation, consumer affairs, foreign relations, taxes, Vietnam, the Kerner Commission, increasing party participation, party reform, and various position statements.
The LaDonna Harris Series includes 4 cubic feet of material covering the period 1964-1976 related to the work of LaDonna Harris, Senator Harris's former wife. This material reflects Mrs. Harris's work with social problems, especially mental health and poverty, and Native American issues. An active member of the Comanche tribe, she organized an Indian education project at the University of Oklahoma before her husband's election to the U.S. Senate. In 1965, she expanded this project into Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO), an organization which she served as president. Once in Washington D.C., President Johnson appointed her as one of six Indian members of the National Council on Indian Opportunity. At the time of her husband's presidential campaign, LaDonna Harris was the full-time director of Americans for Indian Opportunity, an advocacy group which she founded and is now based in New Mexico. These files also include materials on the Joint Commission on Mental Health of Children, the Women's Advisory Committee on Poverty, and the Southwest Center for Human Relations.
The Presidential Campaign Series includes approximately 20 cubic feet of material related to both Harris's 1972 and 1976 campaigns. Most of the records pertain to the more lengthy 1976 campaign. The types of materials included cover all aspects of a campaign, including clippings, press releases, correspondence, issue information, VIP profiles, schedules, invitations, position statements, memos, manuals, brochures, speeches, and polls.
The Harris Collection also includes a group of 19 maps. These maps include highway maps for several states and cities as well as the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Also included are some building project plans.
The Harris Collection also includes reprints of articles written by Harris as well as the manuscript for his published work, The New Populism. For materials on Harris's early years in the Oklahoma State Senate, researchers are directed to the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, Oklahoma.
In 2011, three cubic feet of files from Gary Dage, legislative assistant to Harris, were added to the collection. The files came to the Carl Albert Center as part of the Glenn English Collection. Dage also worked for Congressman English following his time with Senator Harris. Because this material was from Dage's time with Harris, the decision was made to add it to this collection.
Dates
- 1963-1976
- Majority of material found in 1966-1976
Conditions Governing Access:
Certain series of this collection are stored off-site and require prior notice to access. If you wish to view these materials, please contact the Congressional Archives staff to arrange an appointment.
The Clippings series is stored off-site.
The Clippings series is stored off-site.
Extent
From the Collection: 401.25 Linear Feet (327 containers)
Creator
- TypeCollection
Repository Details
Part of the Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections Repository