COMMON, 1998-2013
Sub-Series
Identifier: CAC_CC_20121_0001_0002
This series is characterized by correspondence, statements, and reports. The COMMON series consists mainly of letters, emails, and documents created by John Sullivan and his staff to help him carry out his role as a Congressman from 2002-2012. Dispersed throughout the series, but most prominent in the Correspondence subseries, are response letters to constituents who have contacted John Sullivan’s office. The “PUBLIC” folder within this subseries contains a significant sample of letters received by the office from 2004-2005. Letter templates and address lists stand as supporting documents for this function. The most frequently addressed issues include commerce, the War on Terror, health care, energy, and immigration. Many letters and emails are also devoted to appropriations. Reports on current events, such as those on the conflict in the Middle East prepared by Legislative Assistant John Rainbolt, Congressional Research Service reports, and National Republican Congressional Committee Issue Lists, evidence the research required for Congressmen to stay informed. Scheduling Sullivan’s many meetings and speaking engagements comprises another major activity undertaken by Arden Herrington and other schedulers; it is represented by talking points, memos, spreadsheets, and emails concentrated in the Correspondence and Email Archives subseries. Media planning activities carried out by Sullivan’s Press Secretary, Shane M. Saunders, can be observed in spreadsheets and news articles throughout the series, tracing coverage of the representative in the Media subseries. This series also features pictures of visitors to John Sullivan’s office, his family, his trip to Iraq in 2004, and his attendance at major events, such as the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and the annual White House picnic in 2004. Many of these notable photos can be found in the “Tidwell” folder in this subseries. Backups from an old server span from Steve Largent to John Sullivan’s time in office in the Server Backups subseries, and documents related to hiring, training, and arranging for flag requests and tours are in the Administration subseries.
Dates
- 1998-2013
- Majority of material found within 2002 - 2005
Conditions Governing Access
Some portions of this sub-series are closed to patrons until 2023. They include:
(01) Administration
(02) Correspondence
(03) Email Archives
(04) Reports and Statements
(05) News
(07) John Sullivan
(08) Server Backup
(09) Loose Files
Please contact an archivist for further details.
(01) Administration
(02) Correspondence
(03) Email Archives
(04) Reports and Statements
(05) News
(07) John Sullivan
(08) Server Backup
(09) Loose Files
Please contact an archivist for further details.
Extent
12 Gigabytes (13,905 items)
Arrangement
The graduate assistant grouped the files in this series according to their function and format. There are nine subseries in this series: (01) Administration, (02) Correspondence, (03) Email Archives, (04) Reports and Statements, (05) News, (06) Media, (07) John Sullivan, (08) Server Backup, (09) Loose Files. The original arrangement of files within folders in these subseries has been maintained. Folder arrangements are usually topical or chronological, though most files were titled in a consistent fashion. See the Processing Information section of the finding aid for additional information.
Processing Information
The COMMON series originally consisted of 66 folders and 129 additional items not contained in a folder. The folders generally have descriptive titles, but no consistent pattern was evident. I initially considered arranging the folders chronologically or according to the creator of each folder, but after describing the 66 folders, the folders could not be arranged as neatly in those orders as planned. Instead, I devised the current arrangement of nine subseries. The subseries are based on the function and format of the files with the goal of breaking the series into smaller logical chunks so researchers can narrow down the scope of their search. The subseries titles are based on my perception of the function the documents I have placed in each based upon examination of the documents themselves and research about John Sullivan’s DC and district office staff. The John Sullivan subseries is an exception to this pattern and includes folders attributed to John Sullivan by their title. Similarly, files that were not sorted into folders on the hard drive are placed in a subseries for Loose Files in order to retain some semblance of the original arrangement. I transcribed the folder titles exactly as they appear unless otherwise noted. The following folders originally included in the COMMON series have been removed: ClientApps, APPS, Drivers, housecall, admin, iPod_Control, Office General, netlogon, Spyware Removal Tools, ACSDIAGS. These folders contained applications and automated server administration processed and logs that fall outside of the collection scope. Many folders were duplicated within this series. I deduplicated the files in this series according to the following parameters. Only deduplicate at the folder level or above. Only deduplicate folders that fall within the same subseries. Though the subseries do not reflect any original arrangement in the COMMON series, because they have been created to help researchers narrow down their results, I did not feel it was reasonable to assume that researchers would check more subseries than necessary. So, I prioritized locating the information over avoiding spending time reviewing the same materials. My final criteria for deduplication was to retain the most complete or the most recent version of the files.
Repository Details
Part of the Carl Albert Center Congressional and Political Collections Repository