PAMELA A. POWELL FILES, 1973-76

Pamela Powell came to the Nixon White House in February 1973 as an assistant to Counsellor Anne Armstrong. She remained on the staff through the Ford administration. In both administrations, and under both job titles, her responsibilities were very similar. President Nixon had charged Counsellor Armstrong with responsibility for youth affairs, and as her assistant, Powell participated in the activities she later came to direct. When Anne Armstrong resigned in December 1974, President Ford transferred the liaison functions of her office to a recently created Office of Public Liaison headed by William Baroody. He appointed Powell Director for Youth Affairs within this office on January 1, 1975.

As Director for Youth Affairs, Powell was responsible for maintaining liaison with youth organizations and adults working with young people. She facilitated requests for presidential involvement, addressed state and national conventions, arranged for other staff members to speak before groups, and conducted special White House tours and meetings. The Office of Public Liaison hosted a series of "Tuesday at the White House" and "Wednesday at the White House" meetings which brought together representatives from interest groups and members of the Ford administration. Powell planned and participated in several of these meetings which focused on issues important to youth, such as education, employment opportunities, and juvenile justice. She was also concerned with encouraging the involvement of young citizens in the Bicentennial celebration and 1976 presidential campaign.

Early in the Ford administration Powell organized a White House meeting for the national student leaders of the major youth organizations in America. A meeting with the President was held on August 30, 1974. The stated purpose of the meeting was to elicit suggestions for youth involvement in the administration, and to demonstrate the President's support of youth organizations and the part they play in preparing young people for responsible roles as citizens and future leaders. A follow-up conference, called the White House Youth Conference on the Third Century, was proposed for 1976. The files contain material on the 1974 meeting, and an extensive amount of material on the preparatory work Powell completed for the 1976 conference. In spite of all the planning done for the Youth Conference on the Third Century, the conference was never held.

Powell also administered the White House Summer Intern Program. This program enabled a selected group of young adults to participate in the working White House on a daily basis. The files include administrative materials for the 1974 and 1975 programs, and intern name files for 1975. Powell did preliminary work for 1976, but the intern program was not carried out that year.

The Powell Files originally included White House Summer Intern applicant files for 1975 and 1976. Staff at the Ford Library determined that the applicant files did not warrant permanent retention and set them aside for disposal.

Related Materials (December 1994)
The files of colleagues in the Office of Public Liaison are all related. The files of William Baroody and Theodore Marrs are especially useful for information about the Tuesday and Wednesday at the White House meetings. Other staff files relate to liaison with specific interest groups. Additional information about the Office of Public Liaison may be found in the files of Counsellor John Marsh.