HELEN M. COLLINS FILES, 1974-77

Helen Mary Collins was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, December 1, 1935, and subsequently attended State Teachers Colleges in Lowell and Salem. She began her career as a secretary and, in 1961, joined Columbia Broadcasting Systems in New York City. By 1963 she had advanced to CBS production secretary in Los Angeles. From 1963 to 1971 she held various production positions in California. In July 1971 she joined the White House staff as production assistant and secretary.

During the Ford administration Helen Collins served as television coordinator under Robert Mead, television advisor to the President in the Press Secretary's Office. Mead was asked to come to the White House after his CBS coverage in Russia, France and Belgium of President Nixon's June 1974 trip. He served from September 1974 to August 1976.

As television coordinator, Collins provided routine production support for presidential television appearances and handled administrative duties. Her responsibilities included managing arrangements between the agencies involved to organize each production; setting up technicians' appointments, admittance and security; handling physical preparations including providing equipment and preparing diagrams; arranging press coverage; and occasionally assisting in advising the President on aspects such as clothing. Her administrative duties covered payment of invoices, responding to tape and film requests, and compiling summaries.

The Collins files consist mainly of materials created or accumulated while coordinating presidential television coverage. They document the day - to - day routine of production. The materials consist of contacts with the media and other government offices; texts of speeches and interviews; and schedules, agendas, briefing papers and lists of personnel for specific appearances. The majority of the file covers events in 1976, especially the Republican National Convention, Ford's acceptance speech, the campaign, debates, election night, and major addresses and interviews during this period. Although the materials mainly reflect routine matters, occasional evaluations of and approaches to successful campaign strategy via the media occur. A few memoranda from Robert Mead are included. There are also some materials relating to administrative matters.

Related Materials (May 1984)
Related materials consist of other files of the press office staff and White House Central Files category PR (Public Relations) which includes information on broadcasts and telecasts.