GERALD R. FORD SCRAPBOOKS, 1929-2007

The Gerald R. Ford Scrapbooks provide an overview of Ford's public life from high school through his post-presidential years.  The seventy-four large bound volumes and over 80,000 pages of unbound material consist mostly of newspaper and magazine clippings, but also include photographs, souvenir programs, invitations, holiday and courtesy messages, notes, correspondence, and assorted other memorabilia collected by Ford and others. Some of the contents from the period 1929-78 are reproduced on 35 mm microfilm.

The Scrapbooks consists of several segments: the bound volumes, the items that were either tucked between the bound volume pages or came loose or unglued, and loose items that Ford’s post-presidential office began to send to the Library in 1978. Each segment is generally in chronological order, but there are anomalies at various points. The 1929-78 microfilm edition was created by the Ford Library and is described in greater detail below.

As a whole, the Scrapbooks contain a significant number of unique printed materials not readily available elsewhere, and extensive press coverage of Ford and his family.  There are four volumes from 1929-48 relating to Ford’s early life through his election to Congress, including his wedding to Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Warren in 1948. There is also a 1941 album documenting Ford’s leadership in the “Curbstone Quarterbacks,” an organization of football fans in Grand Rapids.

Thirty-four volumes collected by his staff document his service in the House of Representatives from 1949-73.  Two additional volumes from the same period pertain to reviews of his book on the Kennedy assassination, Portrait of the Assassin (1965), and the 1972 Fifth District congressional race.

Ford's staff continued to assemble Scrapbooks on his career throughout his vice presidential, presidential, and post-presidential periods.  This group of thirty-three Scrapbooks from 1973-78 provide an overview of Ford's activities and those of his family as reported by the national writing press.  Numerous local newspaper clippings document regional reporting on domestic trips, and there are sometimes foreign press clippings from overseas trips.

Most of the Scrapbook materials from 1978 to the present were not mounted in bound volumes, but are a loose file of memorabilia, and newspaper and magazine clippings.  About one-half of the clippings are from local papers and concern Ford visits.  The remainder are divided about equally between California dailies and weeklies and national press, especially the Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek.  Ford and his staff sent loose scrapbook materials to the Ford Library on a periodic basis.  After receiving the materials Library volunteers would clip and file those items relating to Ford and his family.

Inventory of Correspondents

An inventory of correspondents is available for scrapbook volumes 2 to 35, January 1949 to October 1973. The inventory is not an exhaustive list of correspondents contained in this segment of the collection. The demographic information provided on correspondents may not have been updated since the inventory was created (ca. 1978).