Upcoming Deadlines
December 27, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Malaysia (100 pp.).
December 10, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Spain (475 pp.).
December 6, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Pakistan (515 pp.).
November 29, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Azores Islands (25 pp.), Italy (690 pp.), and Portugal (860 pp.).
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November 23, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Afghanistan (135 pp.).
November 16, 2001
The Library completed declassification action and placed into the open files 2,288 pages released under the Remote Archives Capture (RAC) program. All but a few of the documents had been scanned as part of the special Vietnam project. The bulk of the material was from the collection National Security Adviser. Vietnam Information Group Files.
November 8, 2001
The Gerald R. Ford Foundation awarded seven grants in support of travel to conduct research in Ford Library collections. See list of recipients.
October 22, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Bulgaria (10 pp.), Canada (650 pp.), and Czechoslovakia (60 pp.).
October 4, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Thailand (1000 pp.).
September 28, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Middle East – General (800 pp.), Diego Garcia (30 pp.), Kuwait (110 pp.), and Saudi Arabia (1500 pp.). Note: portions of three of these countries had been opened earlier, but additional materials were opened at this time.
September 14, 2001
The Library completed the archival processing of the Stanley S. Scott Papers, (1969) 1971-1977 (20 feet). As Special Assistant to the President for Minority Affairs and in other posts, Scott was a leading White House representative to and advocate for African-Americans. The bulk of the collection spans the late Nixon and early Ford administrations and concerns such topics as the Congressional Black Caucus, the role of African-Americans in the Republican Party and administration, civil rights, and equal employment opportunity. See the collection finding aid.
September 7, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Japan (1350 pp.).
August 21, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: France (1100 pp.) and USSR (3375 pp.).
August 7, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Europe, Canada , and Ocean Affairs Staff . The folders and estimated page counts are: Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (2300 pp.).
July 17, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Korea (1850 pp.). Note: folders relating to the Korean tree incident of August 1976 had been opened earlier, but the rest of the folders were opened at this time.
July 11, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Africa . The folders and estimated page counts are: Africa - General (195 pp.) and South Africa (420 pp.).
June 18 , 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Southeast Asia (100 pp.), Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (5 pp.), Burma (35 pp.), Fiji (17 pp.), Guam (12 pp.), Hong Kong (45 pp.), Indonesia (425 pp.), and New Zealand (115 pp.).
June 6, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Denmark (45 pp.), Finland (25 pp.), and Norway (110 pp.).
June 4, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: India (495 pp.).
June, 2001
The Library completed declassification action and placed into the open files approximately 2,700 pages released under the Remote Archives Capture (RAC) program. Virtually all of the documents were pre-Ford administration Intelligence Information Cables from the collection National Security Adviser. Vietnam Information Group Files.
May 21, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Africa . The folders and estimated page counts are: Angola (225 pp.).
May 16, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of three countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Australia (275 pp.), Peoples’ Republic of China (1560 pp.), and Republic of China [ Taiwan ] (685 pp.).
May 1, 2001
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Sweden (35 pp).
May, 2001
The Gerald R. Ford Foundation awarded nine grants in support of travel to conduct research in Ford Library collections. See list of recipients.
April 27, 2001
University of Michigan History Honors student Matthew Dekovich won the History Department's Arthur Fondiler History Award for his senior honors thesis, "Gerald R. Ford and the End of the War in Vietnam: A President's Struggle."
April 20, 2001
The Library completed the archival processing of the William I. Greener, Jr. Papers, 1975-1976 (7 feet). In quick succession, Greener served as Deputy Press Secretary to President Ford, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs under Donald Rumsfeld, and Director of Communications for the President Ford Committee. The papers in part concern press briefings, media liaison during trips, the organization and operation of White House and DOD press offices, and the Republican campaign advocates program of the 1976 general election. See the collection finding aid.
March 23, 2001
The Library completed the archival processing of the Bradley H. Patterson, Jr. Papers, 1973-1977 (3 feet). Patterson was Special Assistant to the President for Native American Programs. Supplementing the Patterson Files collection, the Patterson Papers concern litigation over land claims, sovereignty issues, and fishing, water, and mineral rights. See the collection finding aid.
March 23, 2001
The Library completed the archival processing of about half of the American Citizens Concerned For Life, Inc. Records, 1972-1986 (50 feet). The ACCL was a national membership organization with early ties to the National Right to Life Committee. It undertook an advocacy and educational mission regarding abortion, maternity and child health programs, death and dying issues of the elderly, and other health care matters. Approximately half the collection, or ca. 25 linear feet, is available with sufficient advance notice; the balance remains wholly unprocessed and unavailable. See the collection finding aid.
March, 2001
The Library has launched a pilot policy under which a researcher may request, by letter or e-mail to the Supervisory Archivist ( david.horrocks@nara.gov) the review for possible declassification of the folder(s) for any one country in these collections: National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Africa (3 feet), East Asia and the Pacific (8 feet), Europe and Canada (9 feet), and Middle East and South Asia (14 feet). Requests will be placed in a queue and fulfilled on a first-come first-serve basis. The Presidential Country Files also comprise our current priority for systematic declassification review, with review work already completed in the Presidential Country Files for Latin America (3 feet).
February, 2001
The Library completed the archival processing of the National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files For Latin America, 1974-1977 (3 feet). The bulk of the collection is arranged by country name, with separate sequences thereunder for NSC documents and State Department telegrams. It includes material on all countries in Latin America , especially Cuba and Chile . Materials in the first box and a half concern broader groupings of materials, namely the Organization of American States and the entire region. See the collection finding aid.
December 6, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in three folders in the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The folders and estimated page counts are: Kurds (1)-(3) (150 pp.). Very little was opened during the review, but the withdrawal sheets allow for the filing of Mandatory Review requests.
December 3, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Iraq (24 pp.).
November 8, 2002
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 1, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification of all remaining folders of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Latin American Affairs Staff: Files. All of the folders from this collection are now open, although some documents are still closed. See the collection finding aid.
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October 31, 2002
The Audiovisual Department has completed data entry for description databases on the Videotape Log and the Weekly News Summary Log. Previously they had created databases covering the Naval Photographic Center Motion Picture Collection and the White House Communications Agency's White House Speech Log. Each database provide quick and detailed access to our White House film, video, and audio collections. They shorten retrieval time and reference turn-around time considerably. Copies of portions of the databases can be sent by e-mail or regular mail to our researchers. The audiovisual staff is continuing data entry on the very large White House Photo Office Photo Collection database.
October 24, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: United Kingdom (1100 pp.).
September 17, 2002
Library staff completed the archival processing and description of the Sidney L. Jones Papers. The collection concerns his work as a high-ranking economic policy officials in the White House and several Federal government departments and agencies during the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush administrations. View the finding aid for the collection.
August 16, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification of two thirds of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Latin American Affairs Staff: Files. All of the files on individual countries (ca. 6,000 pages) are now open, along with part of the subject file (ca. 1200 pages). Large files concern Cuba , Mexico , and Panama (especially the Panama Canal ). Subject files opened so far range in topic from the Bicentennial to Human Rights to the Law of the Sea.
August 9, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Bangladesh (115 pp.) and Bhutan (10 pp.).
July 26, 2002
The Library completed the archival processing and description of two small collections: Richard A. Ford: Ford Paint and Varnish Company Scrapbook (488 pp.) and the Everett Ray Holloway Papers concerning his participation in the Ford administration's clemency program for Vietnam War draft resisters and military deserters (30 pp.). Ford Paint and Varnish Company Scrapbook finding aid * Holloway Papers finding aid
June 27, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Jordan (2100 pp.), Nepal (70 pp.), Oman (90 pp.), and Sri Lanka (19 pp.).
June 24, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Germany (1000 pp.).
May 22, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Greece (1225 pp.).
April 26, 2002
The collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Africa , 1974-1977 is now open, and a complete finding aid is now available. The collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific, 1974-1977 was opened in February, and a complete finding aid is now available. Over the past twelve months, portions of both collections had been released on a piecemeal basis, country-by-country.
March 26, 2002
Our research room now has two public access computers affording full Internet access. Access is for research use only, such as access to our website, the NARA Archival Research Catalog (ARC), and other online researcher tools. Researchers will also be able to make use of any web-based e-mail systems to which they have access, provided the e-mail is research-related. The installation is part of an agency-wide initiative.
March 14, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Ireland (125 pp.), Luxembourg (45 pp.), Malta (7 pp.), Netherlands (110 pp.), Poland (255 pp.), and Romania (375 pp.).
March, 2002
The Library's audiovisual staff is currently working on an in-house database of the White House Photo Office Photo Collection. So far, nearly 8,600 of 13,000 contact sheets have been described by date, location, names and subject. Queries allow us to look up particular subjects or individuals. The database also indicates whether an individual roll of film is color or black and white, and describes the quality of the images as to their "printability." The database considerably shortens the amount of time required to complete an audiovisual reference inquiry. As of now the database is used only as an in-house reference tool. Eventually we may be able to match descriptions to scans of each of the 280,000+ images in the White House Photo Office Photo Collection and add them to the Library's website.
February 22, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of several countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Europe – General (100 pp.), Europe – Supreme Allied Commander/NATO (75 pp.), Austria (125 pp.), Belgium (320 pp.), German Democratic Republic (130 pp.), Hungary (130 pp.), Iceland (75 pp.), Yugoslavia (345 pp.) and the Vatican (40 pp.).
February 4, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for East Asia and the Pacific . The folders and estimated page counts are: Philippines (330 pp.) and Singapore (195 pp.). These were the last two countries to be reviewed in this collection, so all countries in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean are now available for research. See the collection finding aid.
January 25, 2002
The Library's extensive collection of printed U.S. Senate and House committee hearings , 1974-1976, has become more accessible. The hearings are arranged by committee and there under by date of hearing. Subject access is gained by use of Congressional Information Service's Index and Abstracts volumes, kept in the research room. Access also is facilitated by a photocopy set of title pages and tables of contents, organized by committee and hereunder by date, and also kept in the research room.
January 7, 2002
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Cyprus (660 pp.).
January 2, 2002
The Library devoted additional resources to its Mandatory Review declassification program in 2001. In response to researcher requests for specific restricted documents, the Library submitted over 4,250 pages of classified material for review by various agencies. Agency determinations are pending on most of these items, but the trend is encouraging. Agency determinations in 2001 resulted in the whole or substantial release of documents totaling 1,393 pages, while the wholly exempted documents totaled 265 pages.
November 28, 2003
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
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November 24, 2003
The Library completed declassification review for the entire collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger Reports on USSR , China , and Middle East Discussions (ca. 4,000 pp.). The collection consists of memoranda of conversations and related materials compiled for President Ford concerning Secretary Kissinger's meetings with leaders of the Soviet Union , China , and Middle Eastern countries. The files also contain memoranda of conversations from President Ford's meetings with Soviet leaders at the Vladivostok Summit and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), and with Chinese leaders during his visit to Peking . Meeting summaries, Kissinger's reports to the President, briefing papers prepared for Kissinger, drafts of agreements and communiqués, public statements, press releases, and press briefing transcripts round out the files. Important topics of discussion are SALT, CSCE, the Vladivostok Summit, President Ford's visit to China and the normalization process, and the Sinai Disengagement Agreement between Egypt and Israel . For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
September 18, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in several folders of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Europe, Canada , and Ocean Affairs Staff: Files . The folders and estimated page counts are: USSR - Soviet Jewry (180 pp.).
September 17, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Lebanon (1345 pp.).
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September 15, 2003
Postmark deadline for applications in the fall round of Gerald R. Ford Foundation grants to support travel to research in Ford Library collections. More information on the grants program.
September 12, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Iran (1085 pp.).
September 10, 2003
Library staff completed the archival processing and description of the Martin R. Hoffmann Papers, (1962) 1971-1977 (1991). The collection concerns his work as General Counsel of the Atomic Energy Commission (1971-1973) and in the Department of Defense (1973-1977) where he served successively as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, General Counsel, and Secretary of the Army. In addition, the collection concerns Hoffmann's work as a member of the Defense Secretary's Commission on Base Realignment and Closure in 1988. View the finding aid for the collection. .
July 8, 2003
The Ford Home Movies Collection, 1954-1971, is open. Nearly all of the thirteen hours of public domain footage is available, with the exception of a small amount of personal footage. All of the film is silent. Subjects include, among others, Interparliamentary Union trips to Europe and Asia; family vacations at Ottawa Beach, Michigan; holidays and family celebrations at 514 Crown View Drive in Alexandria, Virginia; President and Mrs. Ford 's parents; sporting activities, including Mrs. Ford golfing; and definitive proof that the Fords drove Fords. A summary of the films is available on a database or by printout.
June 16, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Syria (1150 pp.) and the Trucial States [Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates] (240 pp.).
May 13, 2003
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
April 25, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of two countries in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Turkey (1525 pp.) and Yemen (50 pp.).
March 15, 2003
Postmark deadline for applications in the spring round of Gerald R. Ford Foundation grants to support travel to research in Ford Library collections. More information on the grants program.
February, 2003
A visiting State Department declassification team reviewed over 12,000 pages of restricted material from virtually all National Security Adviser Presidential Country Files. They recommended or concurred in declassification of 95% of their equities. Library staff have begun the process of opening these documents to research. Researchers may request that priority in the work queue be given to specific countries by contacting david.horrocks@nara.gov.
January 16, 2003
The Audiovisual Department has opened the David Hume Kennerly Collection for research. The Kennerly Collection contains several thousand black and white negatives and corresponding contact sheets, plus color slides. Included are photographs of Vice President Ford; a post-presidential trip by President and Mrs. Ford to the Middle East in 1978; the 1980 Republican National Convention; and portraits of various Ford family members. Mr. Kennerly served as President Ford's White House photographer between August 1974 and January 1977. His photographs from that time period are part of the White House Photographic Office Photographs.
January 14, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Switzerland (1125 pp.). The bulk of this material does not relate to U.S. relations with Switzerland . Instead it consists of cables to the State Department on international conferences and meetings that took place in Switzerland . Among such meetings the largest quantities of material relate to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the Middle East (especially Israel and Egypt ). With the completion of the processing of the Switzerland file, all folders in this collection are now open to research (although individual documents are still closed). See the collection finding aid
January 16, 2003
The Audiovisual Department has opened the David Hume Kennerly Collection for research. The Kennerly Collection contains several thousand black and white negatives and corresponding contact sheets, plus color slides. Included are photographs of Vice President Ford; a post-presidential trip by President and Mrs. Ford to the Middle East in 1978; the 1980 Republican National Convention; and portraits of various Ford family members. Mr. Kennerly served as President Ford's White House photographer between August 1974 and January 1977. His photographs from that time period are part of the White House Photographic Office Photographs.
January 14, 2003
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Europe and Canada . The folders and estimated page counts are: Switzerland (1125 pp.). The bulk of this material does not relate to U.S. relations with Switzerland . Instead it consists of cables to the State Department on international conferences and meetings that took place in Switzerland . Among such meetings the largest quantities of material relate to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the Middle East (especially Israel and Egypt ). With the completion of the processing of the Switzerland file, all folders in this collection are now open to research (although individual documents are still closed). See the collection finding aid
December 23, 2004
The "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert Teeter" has been established by the Library and the University of Michigan with gifts from the Teeter Family, the United Parcel Service Corporation, and others. The award of $5,000 will be given annually to support dissertation research on an aspect of the U.S. political process during the latter part of the twentieth century. Award recipients will conduct a portion of their research in the Robert Teeter Papers, 1972-2004, which currently are being processed for partial release. Mr. Teeter, who worked in several Republican presidential campaigns, was one of the nation's foremost public opinion analysts. Details of the award process will be announced shortly. For further information, email the program coordinator.
November 10, 2004
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
September 17, 2004
The Library has completed the arrangement and description of one of the two series in the Peter H. Sorum Papers. The series containing case files for advance work for trips by President Ford and his family is open to research, but advance consultation with an archivist is required. During the advance consultation, you and an archivist will plan for the review of the folders that you will want to see. A sufficient advance consultation might be two days or several months, depending upon the complexity of the material, other workload, and the quantity requested. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
September 15, 2004
Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants application deadline. The deadline for the next round of grants is March 15, 2005 . Grants of up to $2000 are awarded to support research in the holdings of the Ford Library. The grant defrays North American travel, living & photocopy expenses. Further details
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September 3, 2004
The Library has completed archival processing for the Robert Visser Papers. The collection focuses on his work as General Counsel to the President Ford Committee during the 1976 presidential election campaign. Major topics include ballot security, delegate selection and other convention rules, state and federal election laws, Federal Election Commission, campaign finance rules, insurance, volunteers, candidate travel costs, and the campaign organization's incorporation and liquidation. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
September 1, 2004
The Library has updated the Selected Documents on the 1976 Campaign page with some additional documents on the election (including the campaign plan for the fall campaign against Jimmy Carter) and improved scans for the documents on the original page.
August 30, 2004
Supervisory Archivist David Horrocks was a speaker at the session "Presidential Archives in France and the U.S. : Statute, Acquisition, Access" at the 15th International Congress on Archives at Vienna , Austria . Also in August, Dave's article on Gerald Ford's law education and practice appeared in America 's Lawyer-Presidents (Northwestern University Press/American Bar Association).
August 11, 2004
The Library has completed systematic declassification review of a major collection, National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations (8 feet). The collection includes approximately 1100 "memcons" of President Nixon's and President Ford's 1973-1977 meetings with senior national security officials, foreign government officials, and occasional others, including Members of Congress, on matters of national security or foreign relations. A "memcon" is a transcript-like record of conversation prepared from the handwritten notes of a designated note-taker. The folder for a specific meeting usually includes both the memcons and the notes. There have been incremental releases from this collection in the past. Click finding aid to learn more about the entire collection .
June 30, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. NSC Press and Congressional Relations Staff: Files (3.2 feet). It contains materials concerning the work of NSC staff members Leslie Janka and Margaret Vanderhye. Included is foreign affairs press guidance provided to the White House Press Secretary, outgoing letters and memoranda, a small subject file, and memoranda of conversations and briefing papers for presidential meetings with members of Congress on foreign affairs and defense matters. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
June 29, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Staff Assistant Peter Rodman: Files (less than 1 foot). A chronological file documenting handling of letters addressed to Henry Kissinger or Brent Scowcroft and reminders to the National Security Adviser about matters requiring his attention, and a fragmentary subject file concerning several foreign policy issues. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
June 28, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the manuscript draft of Edward and Frederick Schapsmeier's book Gerald R. Ford's Date With Destiny: A Political Biography(less than 1 foot). Some pages of the manuscript bear handwritten annotations by President Ford. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
June 25, 2004
The Library opened two additional National Security Decision Memoranda and added images of them to the website. The two newly-opened memoranda are NSDM 345 (U.S. Anti-Satellite Capabilities) and NSDM 346 (Security of US Telecommunications).
June 25, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the Gerald L. Warren Papers (1 foot). The collection contains press clippings, interview and press briefing transcripts, speech texts, press releases, and briefing books used by the White House Communications Office during the first year of the Ford presidency, as well as subject files of newspaper articles on the post-presidency of Richard Nixon and on Congress' investigation in 1975 of Northrop Corporation's foreign arms sales. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
June 21, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the Philip W. Buchen Papers (2 feet). The collection contains speeches, clippings, correspondence, souvenirs and other material on both social and official matters. It also includes desk calendars and sporadic diary notes of Mrs. Buchen. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
May 10, 2004
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
March 26, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders (2 feet). The collection includes a mix of routine and substantive letters and telegrams exchanged between President Ford and leaders of sixty-four countries. Substantive exchanges address such topics as Angola , the British financial crisis, economic summit meetings, Middle East peace process, OPEC, Cyprus , South Vietnam , NATO, and Soviet influence in Africa and Asia . For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
March 23, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the David O. Meeker Papers (9.6 feet). This is primarily a personal reference collection of reports, memoranda, speeches, and briefing and study material from David Meeker's work at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and elsewhere. Major topics include HUD programs for housing, community development, disaster assistance, national growth policy, urban policy, and the celebration of the Bicentennial. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
March 4, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Transition File (0.4 feet). The collection contains primarily messages notifying world leaders of the Nixon-Ford presidential transition, but also talking points for President Ford's first meetings with foreign ambassadors as well as substantive State Department briefing papers summarizing US foreign policy on the eve of the Ford administration. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
March 1, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the Larry and Pauline Asmus Papers (1.6 feet). The collection documents the Asmus family's participation on the Bicentennial Wagon Train, especially along the Santa Fe Trail . For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
February 9, 2004
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Egypt (4000 pp.). With this opening, the processing of the collection is complete. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection. The completion of this collection also means that the Presidential Country Files for all nations are available for research.
January 16, 2004
An article discussing the Library's holdings on foreign affairs and national security matters written by our lead foreign affairs archivist Geir Gundersen, appears in the December 2003 issue of Passport, the newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Click here to see the article.
January 15, 2004
The Library opened a newly-designed web presentation of its collection descriptions. The new format closely parallels that of our publication Guide to Historical Materials in the Gerald R. Ford Library, but we have added links to full collection finding aids and to other web information to make it even more informative than the published guide.
January 12, 2004
The Library completed declassification review and opened memoranda of conversations for meetings held by President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu on June 11, 1975 and August 2-3, 1975 . These documents are part of the National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations collection.
January 8, 2004
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Israel (2800 pp.). In addition, the Library opened two folders on the United States Sinai Support Mission (100 pp.).
June 21, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the Philip W. Buchen Papers (2 feet). The collection contains speeches, clippings, correspondence, souvenirs and other material on both social and official matters. It also includes desk calendars and sporadic diary notes of Mrs. Buchen. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
May 10, 2004
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
March 26, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders (2 feet). The collection includes a mix of routine and substantive letters and telegrams exchanged between President Ford and leaders of sixty-four countries. Substantive exchanges address such topics as Angola , the British financial crisis, economic summit meetings, Middle East peace process, OPEC, Cyprus , South Vietnam , NATO, and Soviet influence in Africa and Asia . For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
March 23, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the David O. Meeker Papers (9.6 feet). This is primarily a personal reference collection of reports, memoranda, speeches, and briefing and study material from David Meeker's work at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and elsewhere. Major topics include HUD programs for housing, community development, disaster assistance, national growth policy, urban policy, and the celebration of the Bicentennial. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
March 4, 2004
The Library completed archival processing for the National Security Adviser. Presidential Transition File (0.4 feet). The collection contains primarily messages notifying world leaders of the Nixon-Ford presidential transition, but also talking points for President Ford's first meetings with foreign ambassadors as well as substantive State Department briefing papers summarizing US foreign policy on the eve of the Ford administration. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.March 1, 2004The Library completed archival processing for the Larry and Pauline Asmus Papers (1.6 feet). The collection documents the Asmus family's participation on the Bicentennial Wagon Train, especially along the Santa Fe Trail . For more details, view the finding aid for the collection.
February 9, 2004
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Egypt (4000 pp.). With this opening, the processing of the collection is complete. For more details, view the finding aid for the collection. The completion of this collection also means that the Presidential Country Files for all nations are available for research.
January 16, 2004
An article discussing the Library's holdings on foreign affairs and national security matters written by our lead foreign affairs archivist Geir Gundersen, appears in the December 2003 issue of Passport, the newsletter of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Click here to see the article.
January 15, 2004
The Library opened a newly-designed web presentation of its collection descriptions. The new format closely parallels that of our publication Guide to Historical Materials in the Gerald R. Ford Library, but we have added links to full collection finding aids and to other web information to make it even more informative than the published guide.
January 12, 2004
The Library completed declassification review and opened memoranda of conversations for meetings held by President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger with Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu on June 11, 1975 and August 2-3, 1975 . These documents are part of the National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations collection.
January 8, 2004
The Library completed review for possible declassification in the folders of one country in the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Country Files for Middle East and South Asia . The folders and estimated page counts are: Israel (2800 pp.). In addition, the Library opened two folders on the United States Sinai Support Mission (100 pp.).
November 30, 2005
The Library has completed the review and opening of 500 pages of documents from the Melvin Laird Papers relating to the development of the all-volunteer armed forces as a replacement for the military draft during Mr. Laird's tenure as Secretary of Defense, 1969-1973. In addition, the staff declassified and opened the calendars (lists and descriptions of documents, but not the actual documents) for Secretary Laird's files on drug abuse in the military, the EC-121 incident (the downing of an American plane by North Korea), equal opportunity and race relations in the military and the Department of Defense, F-15 procurement, Indo-China, Korea, Laos, and Vietnam. These calendars can be used to submit Mandatory Review requests for the possible declassification of the documents on the lists.
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September 15, 2005
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants.
August 30, 2005
The Library has completed the arrangement of the Barry N. Roth Files. The collection concerns his work on legal matters in the Office of the Counsel to the President, especially in the areas of information and access (Freedom of Information, Nixon Papers, declassification, etc.) and political affairs (Federal Election Commission rulings and decisions, allocation of trip expenses, etc.). Included are folders he inherited from Associate Counsel William Casselman, folders turned over to him by Counsel to the President Philip Buchen, entire series on political travel and White House Special Files administration that he took over from other White House staff members, and Executive Protective Service appointment records concerning visitors to the Ford vice presidential offices and those of the Rockefeller Commission. Only a few folders in the collection have been reviewed for opening so far, but the other folders can be added to the Review-for-Access Queue upon request. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
August 1, 2005
The Library has processed and opened an additional 32 feet of material in the Robert M. Teeter Papers. The collection concerns his work as a leader in survey research and his work as a key campaign strategist for Republican presidential, gubernatorial, and senatorial candidates, including Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, Gerald Ford’s 1976 campaign, and George H. W. Bush’s 1992 re-election campaign (of which he was the national chairman). For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
June 15, 2005
The Library has completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. "Outside the System" Chronological File. The collection contains documents which were not logged into the NSC computer control number tracking system because of the high sensitivity or routine nature of their content, or because of their time sensitivity. The documents cover a wide range of topics, including nuclear test ban and arms control treaty negotiations, arms sales, military assistance to Israel, the Middle East peace process, Angola, U.S. relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba, and reorganization of the intelligence community. Because of the large number of highly classified documents dealing with sensitive issues, this collection has a lower percentage of items declassified than other recently opened Ford Library National Security Adviser collections. Researchers can request access to materials that remain closed through the mandatory declassification review process. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
June 10, 2005
The Library has completed the processing of the Paul Miltich Papers. The collections concerns his work as Press Secretary to Vice President Ford and Special Assistant to the President for Public Affairs. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
June 10, 2005
Erika Franklin Fowler wins first annual Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter.
June 1, 2005
The Library completed a finding aid for the records of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Puerto Rico. View the finding aid.
May 19, 2005
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 1, 2005
Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter." For more information about the Award contact Brooke Clement.
April 28, 2005
The Library has completed arrangement and description of the Melvin Laird Papers. The collection spans Mr. Laird�s distinguished career, especially from 1961 onward. Prominent topics include the 1964 Republican Party platform; the 1964,1968, and 1972 presidential campaigns; Congressional Republicans in the 1960s; the Vietnam War; a wide range of Defense Department procurement, planning, and policy issues, both regional and global; many domestic policies; Nixon White House efforts to avoid impeachment; and Mr. Laird�s post-government activities. The collection incorporates files held for many years by Laird assistant William J. Baroody, Jr. Although the staff has completed review of only about half of the collection for opening, folders from many other series can be added to the Review Queue upon request. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
April 28, 2005
The Library has completed the archival processing of the Richard Feltner Papers. This small collection contains speeches, including notes, drafts, and press copies, produced by Feltner while serving as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Consumer Services. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 27, 2005
The Library released details about the new "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter." This award has been established by the Library and the University of Michigan with gifts from the Teeter Family, the United Parcel Service Corporation, and others. The award of $5,000 will be given annually to support dissertation research on an aspect of the U.S. political process during the latter part of the twentieth century. Award recipients will conduct a portion of their research in the Robert Teeter Papers, 1972-2004, which currently are being processed for partial release. Mr. Teeter, who worked in several Republican presidential campaigns, was one of the nation's foremost public opinion analysts. See a detailed description of the award.
January 6, 2005
The 1973-75 records of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Puerto Rico have been transferred to the Ford Library from the National Archives at College Park, Maryland. The Group, created jointly by the U.S. President and the Governor of Puerto Rico, explored self-government and self-determination within the framework of Commonwealth. The records transfer was a collaboration between NARA units based, in part, on the presence of very closely related material in the Ford White House files. The new materials continue to be considered Federal records that are part of Record Group 220.
January 6, 2005
The National Archives announced the appointment of Elaine K. Didier as the next Director of the Ford Library and Museum.
September 15, 2006
Application deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants.
August 16, 2006
The Library declassified and opened an additional calendar (detailed listing and description) of documents concerning Laos in the Melvin Laird Papers. The newly opened calendar covers documents received and sent by Defense Secretary Laird between September 1969 and December 1971. The calendar can be used to submit Mandatory Review requests for the possible declassification of the documents on the lists.
July 28, 2006
The Library processed and opened most of the U.S. National Security Council: Institutional Files, 1974-1977. The collection consists of Ford-era files retained by the NSC until the end of the Clinton administration to provide continuity of government. Materials relate in large part to preparation of National Security Decision Memoranda and National Security Study Memoranda; briefing papers for and minutes of NSC committee, panel, and working group meetings; and the history, organization, and administration of the NSC. The collection is not yet fully described in the PRESNET database, so folders do not appear on PRESNET search reports except through keyword searching on folder titles. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
July 20, 2006
The Library processed and opened additional material in the Robert M. Teeter Papers in 2005, but a news note was not added to this page. Please see the note for August 1, 2005.
June 19, 2006
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Benjamin C. Waterhouse has been chosen as the 2006 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Mr. Waterhouse is a doctoral student at Harvard University and is completing his doctoral dissertation: Corporate Leaders and the Pro-Business Agenda in Modern American Politics. He is investigating how the American business community mobilized in the 1970s and 1980s to pursue business-friendly policies through legislation and public opinion. For more information about this award please visit our website.
May 30, 2006
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 22, 2006
The Library has processed and opened the U. S. Marine Corps. History and Museums Division: Copies of Oral Histories on the Mayaguez Action and Related Marine Unit Operational Records, 1965-1977. The collection was created by the Marine Corps Historical Center, from its digitized holdings, at the suggestion of an associate of former President Ford. It includes compact disks of oral histories (audio files only) with Marines who participated in the Mayaguez action. It also includes compact disks containing Marine unit operational records from the Mayaguez action. These disks, as an incidental by-product of their creation, also contain extensive operational records from the Marine units' participation in other phases of the Vietnam War. Most of these records date from 1965-1970, but some concern the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon, and the later transfer of refugees to the United States. The Ford Library staff has printed to paper, as an additional convenience to researchers, all operational records that date from the Ford presidency. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
May 5, 2006
The Library has processed and opened three folders from the National Security Adviser. Presidential Briefing Material for VIP Visits collection. The open folders concern the visit by Prime Minister den Uyl of the Netherlands on May 14, 1975. The rest of the collection remains unprocessed and closed to research.
May 1, 2006
Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter." For more information about the Award contact Joshua Cochran.
April 4, 2006
The Library has processed and opened the Bruce Wagner Papers. The collection concerns his work as Vice President and Chief Operating Office of Campaign '76 Media Communications, Inc. (the advertising arm of President Ford's 1976 election campaign committee). The focus is on political advertising during the 1976 primaries. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 27, 2006
The Library has processed and opened the Russell H. Armentrout Files. The collection concerns his work as Director of the Social Entertainments Office of the the First Lady's Staff. It concerns the arrangements for all social events at the White House, Camp David, aboard the Presidential yacht, and occasionally during State visits abroad. The collection also concerns First Family Christmas card mailings and Christmas events. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 15, 2006
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants.
January 3, 2006
The Library has processed an accretion to the Robert Horn Papers. The papers concern Horn's work as Executive Secretary of the Presidential Clemency Board. Included in the accretion are Clemency Board meeting minutes, decision lists, and recommendations to President Ford. Access requires significant advanced planning with archives staff through the Review-for-Access Queue. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
December 7, 2007
The Library has opened to research the J. Stanley Pottinger Papers (56 feet). Pottinger directed civil rights matters for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1970-1973), and the Department of Justice (1973-1977) during the Nixon and Ford administrations. The collection documents the investigation and enforcement of various civil rights issues, including: desegregation, busing, women’s rights, affirmative action, education, employment, government surveillance, Kent State, and Wounded Knee. Access to the materials requires advance consultation with an archivist before a visit to the Library in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue. For more information and the container listing see the collection finding aid.
November 16, 2007
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 5, 2007
The Library has opened to research an additional series of the William J. Baroody Papers. This series concerns White House briefings arranged by the Office of Public Liaison for associations and groups during the Ford administration. Access to the materials requires advance consultation with an archivist before a visit to the Library in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue. For a container listing see the collection finding aid.
July 6, 2007
The Library has opened four additional collections to research. Three of them require advance consultation with an archivist before a visit to the Library in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue.
These collections are the William J. Baroody Papers (the series concerning his work as an aide to Congressman and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird and as head of the White House Office of Public Liaison in the Nixon and Ford administrations), the Max Friedersdorf Papers (primarily concerning his work as head of the Congressional Relations Office in the Ford White House), and the Roland Elliott Files (concerning his work as director of the White House Correspondence Office in the Ford White House).
In addition the Library has opened the Clifford Ericson Scrapbook on the American Revolution Bicentennial. This scrapbook contains letters from President Ford and the governor of each state concerning the meaning and importance of the Bicentennial.
June 16, 2007
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Vanessa P. Walker has been chosen as the 2007 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Ms. Walker is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is completing her doctoral dissertation: Ambivalent Allies: Advocates, Diplomats, and the Struggle for Human Rights in Latin America. She is investigating how human rights became a force in foreign policy by focusing on the relationship between advocacy and policies/diplomacy in the 1970s. More specifically, she examines how this relationship influenced and shaped U.S. diplomacy with Latin America by analyzing several non-governmental organizations and their relationships with Congress and the Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations during a series of human rights crisis with Chile and Argentina. See additional information about this award.
May 22, 2007
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 1, 2007
Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter." For more information about the Award contact Joshua Cochran.
April 16, 2007
The Library has opened six additional document calendars from the Department of Defense Historical Project Files in the Melvin Laird Papers. These calendars concern chemical weapons and biological research (including the storage of chemical weapons in West Germany and Okinawa), procurement of the MK-48 torpedo and DD-963 Navy ships, and Navy shipbuilding. With this opening, all of the calendars from the DOD Historical Project Files are now available to researchers. Information in the calendars makes it is possible for researchers to request Mandatory Reviews for specific documents that have not yet been reviewed for declassification.
March 15, 2007
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants.
March 6, 2007
The Library has declassified and opened many of the documents in the POW/MIA file in boxes C19 and C20 of the Melvin Laird Papers. The materials concern attempts to learn more about the fate of American military personnel missing in Southeast Asia, interactions with the families of MIAs and POWs, U.S. attempts to secure the release of POWs, plans for the handling of released POWs, and the debriefing of those released.
In addition, the Library has opened seven additional document calendars from the Department of Defense Historical Project Files in the Laird Papers. These calendars concern Japan, Japan - Okinawa, MIRV, MIRV - A-X/Close Air Support, People's Republic of China, Republic of China, and Safeguard Antiballistic Missile. Information in the calendars makes it is possible for researchers to request Mandatory Reviews for specific documents in the Historical Project Files.
February 14, 2007
The Library processed and opened two series from the National Security Adviser. NSC International Economic Affairs Staff: Files, (1973) 1975-1976. The two subject files in the collection ("Presidential Subject File" and "Institutional Subject File") are now available for research. They contain materials accumulated by NSC senior staff member Robert Hormats and his assistants and concern such topics as economic relations with specific countries, international economic summits, trade, foreign investment, energy, oil prices, OPEC, food aid, grain sales, Maritime affairs, and foreign aid. Two other series in the collection - chronological files for Hormats and his assistant Timothy Deal - are still unprocessed and not open to research. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 11, 2007
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
December 12, 2008
The Library has opened the audiotapes and complete transcripts for all interviews with President Ford that are part of the James M. Cannon Research Interviews and Notes. Previously only rough transcripts were available. Cannon used these interviews in writing his book Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History (1994). For more information about this collection, please consult the finding aid.
December 2, 2008
The Library has opened the Melvin Medema Correspondence with Gerald Ford. The letters date from throughout Ford's congressional career and cover a wide variety of issues. For more information see the collection finding aid.
November 17, 2008
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 7, 2008
The Library has opened to research the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program. The collection is a copy set of all formerly classified documents opened, wholly or partly, since November 1, 2008 under the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) program described below. Earlier RAC releases are not included. The Project File includes copies from both processed and unprocessed collections. It is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections.
RAC is an interagency program created to facilitate the declassification of 25-year old documents in presidential libraries. Under RAC, approximately 275,000 pages of Ford Library classified material have been scanned to create digital copies. These copies were then referred to Washington for declassification review by staff of participating government agencies. This review is on-going, and new RAC “product” is delivered to the Library periodically.
The approximately 4,700 pages that comprise the initial release are from both segments of the National Security Adviser files (Outside-the-System Chronological File, Memoranda of Conversations, NSC Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff Files) and other Library collections (L. William Seidman Files, Arthur Burns Papers, Dale Van Atta Papers, Melvin Laird Papers).
November 6, 2008
Researchers may now borrow two tripod-mounted digital cameras to capture images of documents in the research room. There is no charge for their use. Researchers are still very welcome to bring their own digital cameras, a sharply rising trend in the past couple years. Photocopy services remain available at standard National Archives fee rates.
November 5, 2008
The Library has opened to research Arthur Burns’ Handwritten Journals that he kept between January 20, 1969 and July 25, 1974 as he served as counsellor to President Richard Nixon and then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
The journals document Burns’ personal account of private interactions, staff meetings, Quadriad meetings (meetings of Nixon administration economic policymakers), and his personal opinions of President Nixon, members of the cabinet, prominent administration officials, members of Congress, and other political players. A few of the people discussed in the journal are Spiro Agnew, Anne Armstrong, Kenneth Cole, Charles Colson, John Connolly, John Ehrlichman, Len Garment, H.R. Haldeman, Henry Kissinger, Melvin Laird, William Safire, George Shultz, Herb Stein, and Paul Volcker.
The journals also document the development of administration policy on a whole range of economic, monetary, domestic, and foreign affairs issues. As one might expect, they contain quite a bit of discussion about banking, common markets, employment, exchange rates, federal budgets, finance, foreign investments, gold values, inflation, international monetary policy, presidential appointments, taxes, and wage and price policy.
For more information and the container listing see the collection finding aid. The journals complement the Arthur Burns Papers, a separately donated collection.
October 6, 2008
The Library staff has compiled a new subject guide titled Core Collections on Energy Policy.
September 25, 2008
The Library has opened to research additional materials relating to U.S. relations with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan from the Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office Files and the NSC East Asia and Pacific Affair Staff Files. The newly opened materials consist of documents showing direct communications between U.S. and China officials, 1973-75, and working files of the National Security Council staff members who focused on relations with China and Taiwan. The files cover a broad range of subjects within the context of the normalization process, including: the Vietnam War, détente and the Soviet Union, Taiwan, President Ford’s trip to China, domestic issues faced by both countries, Korea, the appointments and tenures of George H. W. Bush and Thomas Gates as Chiefs of the United States Liaison Office in Peking, and visits of U.S. congressional delegations to China. See a description of the Library's core holdings concerning China and Taiwan.
September 15, 2008
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact William McNitt.
July 1, 2008
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Adam M. Saunders has been chosen as the 2008 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Mr. Saunders is a doctoral student in Comparative Social Policy at Trinity College, University of Oxford and is completing his doctoral dissertation: Power and the Welfare State: The Political Economy of American and British Unemployment Insurance Reform, 1964-1986. He is examining the role of government, business and unions in the reform of earnings-related unemployment insurance in the United States and Britain. He explores why earnings-related benefits were introduced at the beginning of this period, why they were fundamentally changed by its end, and why contradictory measures in policy were undertaken in both countries. See additional information about this award.
June 1, 2008
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
April 3, 2008
The Library has opened to research the Mildred V. Leonard Files (8.4 feet). The bulk of the collection is routine personal correspondence between President Ford (or Mildred Leonard on his behalf) and his family, friends, colleagues, and former constituents. Many of these letters are congratulatory in nature, but some also express opinions of the Nixon pardon and other events and policies and “get well soon” wishes for Mrs. Ford. Access to the materials requires advance consultation with an archivist before a visit to the Library in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue. For more information and the container listing see the collection finding aid.
March 15, 2008
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact William McNitt.
February 22, 2008
The State Department Historian's Office recently has published the first five "Ford Administration" volumes in its Foreign Relations of the United States series. These are the first fruits of several years research in classified collections at the Ford Library by teams of State Department historians. The new volumes concern: China (1973-76); Cyprus-Greece-Turkey (1973-76); European Security (1969-76); South Asia (1973-76); and sub-Saharan Africa with exception of Southern Africa (1973-76).
All volumes are published online on the FRUS web site. For information about additional declassified materials at the Ford Library see the finding aids for the National Security Adviser's files or contact the Library by e-mail.
December 4, 2009
The Library loaded another four months of the digitized President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering October 1975 to January 1976. View the online daily diaries.
November 24, 2009
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 4, 2009
The Library has completed processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Subject File. The collection contains briefing papers, memoranda, correspondence, reports, and speeches concerning policy decisions, meetings, and other matters in which President Ford actively participated. The materials cover a wide array of foreign policy and national security issues including SALT and other arms control topics, foreign aid, White House-Congressional relations, military exercises, energy, investigations of the intelligence community, and U.S.-Soviet trade. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
November 2, 2009
The Library loaded another three months of the President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering July through September 1975. View the online daily diaries.
October 21, 2009
Due to increased public interest in swine flu, the Library has digitized a number of documents on the 1976 National Influenza Immunization Program to combat an expected outbreak of swine flu.
October 16, 2009
The Library loaded another three months of the President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering April through June 1975. View the online daily diaries.
September 29, 2009
The Library has completed the digitization of another portion of the President's Daily Diary (a log of the President's activities). The website now includes all diaries from August 9, 1974 to March 31, 1975. View the online daily diaries.
September 28, 2009
The staff has completed an update to the Library's web exhibit on Ford administration Cabinet meetings. View Cabinet meeting minutes and notes along with background on the Ford Cabinet.
September 21, 2009
The Library has added two pages to our site for "Selected White House Photographs." The page covering photographs of President Ford at work with his Cabinet and staff replaces an older page on the same topic, while the one on the 1976 swine flu immunization program is new.
September 21, 2009
The staff is currently engaged in the digitization of the President's Daily Diary, a detailed log of President Ford's activities for each day of the administration. View the digitized diaries
July 21, 2009
The Library has processed and opened an additional seven boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Subject File (covering the letters F-M). Among the larger files in this segment are those relating to jet engines (JT-10D license, law of the sea, military exercises, missing U.S. flyers downed over the Baltic Sea in 1950, Murphy Commission, and Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR).
July 17, 2009
The staff is currently digitizing the declassified contents of every folder in the collection "National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations" - the Library's most popular and most used textual collection. Each folder of the Memoranda of Conversations (or "Memcons") contains the White House's transcript-like records and handwritten source notes from over 1,000 presidential meetings on foreign relations and national security matters, January 1973 - January 1977. In addition to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, participants include foreign heads of state and diplomats, U.S. intelligence and national security officials, U.S. diplomats, members of Congress, Cabinet members, visiting delegations, and others. Discussion topics are myriad. The contents of each folder is being scanned into a PDF file. View the digitized "memcons"
Update, September 2009: This digitization project was completed in August..
July 15, 2009
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Candace Clare Sobers has been chosen as the 2009 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Ms. Sobers is a doctoral student in History at the University of Toronto and is completing her doctoral dissertation: The Crisis of Decolonization, the Challenge of Intervention: Revolutionary Angola, 1968-1976. She is examining how Portuguese decolonization and Angolan independence compromised U.S.-Soviet détente, and how revolutionary politics on the African continent challenged American foreign policy makers in the Ford Administration. See additional information about this award.
June 12, 2009
The Library has processed and opened the first six boxes (covering the letters A-F) of the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Subject File. The collection contains folders on a wide variety of foreign affairs and national Security matters. Among the larger files opened so far are those relating to the Camp David Meeting of Foreign and Finance Ministers on Energy, Sept. 28-29, 1974; chemical and biological weapons; Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; communications; congressional matters; energy policy; European Community; fisheries legislation (200-mile limit); food/food aid/World Food Conference; and foreign assistance/Military Assistance Service Fund. As is the case with most foreign affairs collections, some individual documents remain security-classified and not yet available for research.
June 8, 2009
The Library has processed and opened two small segments from the Melvin Laird Papers. Both relate to his work as Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1972. The first concerns equal opportunity and race relations in the military. The primary focus is on African-Americans, although items on women, the handicapped, and other minorities also appear. The second segment concerns drug abuse among military personnel.
May 13, 2009
The Library announced the list of recipients of Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 5, 2009
The Library has processed and opened two additional series from the National Security Adviser. NSC International Economic Affairs Staff: Files, (1973) 1975-1976. The chronological files in the collection ("Robert Hormats Chronological File" and "Timothy Deal Chronological File") are now available for research. They contain materials accumulated by NSC senior staff member Robert Hormats and his assistants and concern such topics as economic relations with specific countries, international economic summits, trade, foreign investment, energy, oil prices, OPEC, food aid, grain sales, Maritime affairs, and foreign aid. The two subject files in this collection were opened to research in 2007, so all of the series are now available. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
May 1, 2009
Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter." For more information about the Award Stacy Davis.
April 27, 2009
The Library has opened the Charles J. Orlebeke Papers concerning his work as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This collection focuses on the areas of housing, community development, and urban policy with much relating to the work of the President's Committee on Urban Development and Neighborhood Revitalization. Access to the materials requires advance consultation with an archivist before a visit to the Library in order to request that specific folders be added to the Library’s review-for-access queue. For more information about this collection, please consult the finding aid.
April 15, 2009
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include documents from these sub-collections of the National Security Adviser's Files: President Agency File and the Trip Briefing Books and Cables of Henry Kissinger, Gerald Ford, and Brent Scowcroft (three separate collections). The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of several of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research.
March 15, 2009
Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact William McNitt.
March 4, 2009
The Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News blog has recently posted a link to a digital copy of the 243 page "Intelligence Community Decision Book for the President" transmitted by the Intelligence Coordinating Group to President Ford on December 22, 1975. The decision book was declassified in 2000 and addresses basic questions of executive authority, congressional oversight of intelligence, covert actiopn, domestic surveillance, budget secrecy, and more. The original of this document is in Box 6 of the Richard B. Cheney Files. View a copy of this digital file, along with several other items concerning the intelligence investigations and reforms of 1975-76.
February 25, 2009
The Library has opened transcripts and audiotapes for ten oral history interviews from the collection Gerald R. Ford Library Oral History Projects. This initial opening includes interviews by Library staff members with Cabinet members Roy Ash (Director, Office of Management and Budget), Earl Butz (Secretary of Agriculture), William T. Coleman (Secretary of Transportation), Thomas Kleppe (Secretary of the Interior), and Elliot Richardson (Secretary of Commerece). Other opened interviews are those with Counsellor to the President Anne Armstrong, Special Assistant to the President for Women Patricia Lindh, Col. Tom Sherman (involved in the planning of the Vietnam clemency program), journalist Hugh Sidey, and political strategist/public opinion pollster Robert Teeter. The Library holds additional interviews that will be opened to research as transcriptions are completed and deeds are signed by interviewees. For more information about this collection, please consult the finding aid.
February 3, 2009
Since our last report in November, the Library's declassification staff has opened to research several additional boxes of the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program. The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. The additional 4,400 pages opened in December and January are from the following National Security Adviser sub-collections: NSC Middle East and South Asian Affairs Staff Files, NSC East Asian and Pacific Affairs Staff Files, NSC International Economic Affairs Staff Files, Kissinger- Scowcroft West Wing Office Files, and the Presidential Agency File. Although some documents are now available, major portions of several of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research.
January 8, 2009
The Library has opened the series from the Roderick M. Hills Papers that concern his work in the Ford White House and as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The collection includes some correspondence from Hill's White House service, but most of Hills' work files went to his successor Edward Schmults. Hills' Securities and Exchange Commission work is reflected especially in files of his speeches and congressional testimony. The bulk of the collection concerns Hills' post-government work, but these files remain unprocessed/closed. For more information about this collection, please consult the finding aid.
December 23, 2010
The audiovisual staff has digitized a select group of audio recordings of President Ford's speeches, remarks, and press conferences from the White House Communications Agency Audiotapes. They cover such events as President Ford's swearing-in ceremony, his appearance before the committee investigating the Nixon pardon, State of the Union addresses, press conferences, and television interviews. View the list of digitized tapes.
December 20, 2010
The Library opened eight more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover August 1974 through part of July 1976. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
December 7, 2010
The Library has completed another segment of a project to digitize White House photograph contact sheets and make them available on the web. Photographs from August 9, 1974 to January 31, 1975 are now available. Detailed reports describe the photographs taken by the White House photographers on a given day and contain links to contact sheets (1:1 images of 35 mm negatives) for each film roll. View the reports and contact sheets.
December 3, 2010
The Library has completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables of President Ford (9 feet). It contains primarily briefing books prepared for President Ford's trips abroad and his meetings with foreign leaders. Files also include materials pertaining to advance work and planning, State Department and White House cable traffic, and travel communications to and from Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft. Substantive background information on U.S. foreign relations is available on such issues as arms control, Middle East peace negotiations, the Helsinki agreements, and the international economy. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
December 2, 2010
The Library has completed the digitization of selected documents concerning Gerald R. Ford's Visits to China in 1972 and 1975. Among the documents are detailed notes on Ford's discussions with Chinese leaders such as Chou En-lai (1972) and Chairman Mao and Teng Hsiao-p'ing (1975), along with a briefing book for the Mao meeting that contains memcons for earlier discussions with Mao by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
November 24, 2010
The Library has opened to research 29 interviews with Gerald Ford's associates and others that are part of the James M. Cannon Research Interviews and Notes. Many interviews focus on the period from October 1973 to December 1974 including Gerald Ford’s nomination and confirmation as Vice President, Watergate, Nixon impeachment, Nixon Pardon, and Nelson Rockefeller’s nomination and confirmation as Vice President. Quite a few are with members of Congress: Carl Albert, Howard Cannon, Hamilton Fish, Barry Goldwater, Mike Mansfield, and Charles Wiggins. Others are with White House staff members: Philip Buchen, Alexander Haig, Robert Hartmann, and William Seidman. A few of the interviews have other fairly specific focuses: Michael Deaver (1976 Reagan campaign), Andrew Goodpaster (Chief of Staff system), Richard Helms (CIA), Edward Levi (Department of Justice), Arthur Quern (Domestic Council), and Peter Rodman (Henry Kissinger/National Security Council). For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
November 23, 2010
The Library opened the collection David W. Belin Papers (28 feet) to research. The collection contains material concerning Belin’s work on the staffs of the Warren Commission (9164), investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the Rockefeller Commission (1975), investigating alleged intelligence community abuses of U.S. law. The collection also includes much on his unofficial role as a leading defender of the Warren Commission report against such critics as Mark Lane, G. Robert Blakey, and Oliver Stone. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
November 19, 2010
The Library opened the collection National Security Adviser. White House Situation Room: Former President Nixon's Intelligence Briefings (less than one foot) to research. The collection contains the periodic memoranda sent by the Ford White House to former President Richard Nixon containing reports and analysis of world events, often presenting the inside story based on various intelligence sources. Each memorandum covers a one to two week period and is from ten to fifteen pages in length. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
November 9, 2010
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 1, 2010
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of July to September 2010. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
October 15, 2010
The Library opened eight more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover August 1974 through part of March 1976. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
September 17, 2010
The Library opened four more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover August 1974 through part of December 1975. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
August 31, 2010
The Library opened two more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover August 1974 through part of September 1975. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
August 31, 2010
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include almost 3,200 pages of documents from the files of John Marsh and Michael Raoul-Duval concerning the 1975 intelligence investigations, proposals to reform the intelligence community, and other intelligence matters. The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research. Since November 2008 the staff has opened 40 archives boxes of declassified documents through the RAC program.
August 26, 2010
The Library opened additional materials that complete the archival processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Legislative Interdepartmental Group Files. The Legislative Interdepartmental Group (LIG) coordinated congressional liaison activities on foreign affairs and defense matters for the White House, NSC, CIA, and the Departments of State, Justice, and Defense. The files for many LIG meetings contain both briefing papers and minutes or a record of decisions. The bulk of the collection dates from 1971 and 1972, with fewer meetings and less documentation for later periods. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
August 12, 2010
The Library opened four more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover August 1974 through part of July 1975. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
August 9, 2010
The Library has completed the first phase of a project to digitize White House photograph contact sheets and make them available on the web. Photographs from August 9 to September 24, 1974 are now available. Detailed reports describe the photographs taken by the White House photographers on a given day and contain links to contact sheets (1:1 images of 35 mm negatives) for each film roll. View the reports and contact sheets.
August 6, 2010
The Library has completed the digitization of the folder "Investigatory Records on Gerald Ford, Applicant for a Commission, 1941-1942" (22 pages) from the collection U.S. Department of the Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. This investigation took several months, during which Navy investigators checked government records and interviewed his high school principal, former employers, friends, and others. View the file.
July 30, 2010
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Josh Mound has been chosen as the 2010 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Mr. Mound is a doctoral student in History and Sociology at the University of Michigan and is completing his doctoral dissertation: Inflated Hopes, Taxing Times: The Politics of Economic Crisis in the Long 1970s. He is examining contested economic politics through the intertwined issues of taxation and inflation during the 1970s, and how Democrats and Republicans struggled to meet the public’s demands for tax reform. See additional information about this award.
July 20, 2010
The Library opened three more boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. Open folders now cover through part of April 1975. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
July 12, 2010
The Library opened to research the folders in boxes 17-20 of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for President Ford that contain briefing books for Gerald R. Ford's 1975 trip to the People's Republic of China. Folders relating to other aspects of the trip to the Far East remain unprocessed and not yet open to research.
July 7, 2010
The Library has completed the digitization of Gerald R. Ford's congressional newsletters, 1950-1973 (a total of 1,918 pages). These newsletters provided residents of his district with news of his own activities, pending legislation in the Congress, and Federal government programs and policies. Individual stories ranged from detailed descriptions of Ford's overseas trips (such as to Southeast Asia in 1953 or China in 1972) to news notes about the births of his children. This site provides digital access to Ford's own reference set of newsletters (Ford Congressional Papers, Boxes D1 and D2). None of the issues from 1949 have survived, but the set appears to be complete thereafter. (View the digitized documents).
July 7, 2010
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of April to June 2010. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
June 28, 2010
The Library opened the first eight boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger to research. These boxes cover Kissinger's trips between August 1974 and February 1975. The collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. The Library staff expects to open additional increments of this collection over coming months.
June 28, 2010
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include almost 4,000 pages of documents from the following collections: National Security Adviser Trip Briefing Books and Cables of both Gerald Ford and Brent Scowcroft (codeword documents); the intelligence investigations and reforms series of the Philip Buchen, John Marsh, and Michael Raoul-Duval Files; the Melvin Laird Papers; and codeword documents from the James Connor Files, Ron Nessen Files, Presidential Handwriting File, U.S. Council of Economic Advisers Records, and White House Central Files Subject File. The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research. Since November 2008 the staff has opened 36 archives boxes (23,700 pages) of declassified documents through the RAC program.
June 18, 2010
The Library has completed the digitization of case files concerning Republican Congressional Leadership Meetings with President Richard Nixon, 1969-1973 (a total of 1948 pages). These files often contain either minutes or handwritten notes on the discussions as well as transcripts of press conferences about the meetings and related documents. Discussions focused on such topics as the Vietnam War, the Federal budget, appointments to government positions, or the various bills pending before Congress.The documents were digitized from the Robert Hartmann Papers and Mr. Hartmann's subject file within the Ford Congressional Papers.
June 14, 2010
The Historian's Office of the Department of State has issued a conference announcement for a September 29-30, 2010, conference on American policy and the War in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975.
May 18, 2010
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 18, 2010
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include documents from these sub-collections of the National Security Adviser's Files: Legislative Interdepartmental Group Files and the Trip Briefing Books and Cables of Henry Kissinger (codeword documents). The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research. Since November 2008 the staff has opened 30 archives boxes of declassified documents through the RAC program.
May 6, 2010
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has created a new web exhibit on the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first space mission to be undertaken as a joint effort between the United States and the Soviet Union.
March 31, 2010
The Library opened the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Agency File to research. The collection contains material, organized by agency name, relating to President Ford’s involvement in specific policy decisions, budget and personnel matters, meetings, and issues affecting national security or diplomacy. The largest files concern Department of Defense, CIA, NATO, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 31, 2010
The Library opened to research the Juliette C. "Judy" McLennan Papers. The collection relates to McLennan’s activities as director of the National Volunteer Desk of People for Ford during the 1976 general election campaign. The collection consists of her overview, assessment, and final statistical reporting on the National Volunteer Desk, as well as a portion of the volunteer contact information that the program compiled. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 31, 2010
The staff has completed the systematic review for opening of the J. Stanley Pottinger Papers. This collection had previously been made available on a review-on-request basis, allowing researchers to request the review of specific folders. Pottinger directed civil rights matters for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1970-1973), and the Department of Justice (1973-1977) during the Nixon and Ford administrations. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 19, 2010
The Library has initiated a new service for researchers. On a quarterly basis, we will post a list of documents recently declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process. The initial list covers documents opened during two quarters, October 2009 through March 2010. The next posting will be made in early July. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
February 24, 2010
The Library has completed the digitization of the entire President's Daily Diary (a total of 9190 pages). The diaries contain a detailed log of all of President Ford's activities during the 896 days he served as President. View the online daily diaries.
February 17, 2010
The Library loaded another two months of the digitized President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering September and October 1976. View the online daily diaries.
February 5, 2010
The Library loaded another four months of the digitized President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering May to August 1976. View the online daily diaries.
February 3, 2010
The Library has opened a new on-line exhibit on the 1974 summit meeting on arms control at Vladivostok, USSR. The exhibit is based on President Ford's description of the summit in his memoir A Time to Heal. Library staff have added digitized copies of key documents and photographs, including declassified "memcons" (memoranda of conversations) detailing the discussions between President Ford and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev at the summit and also preliminary discussions held in Washington and Moscow in the preceding months.
January 20, 2010
The Library loaded another three months of the digitized President's Daily Diary to the web site, covering February to April 1976. View the online daily diaries.
January 4, 2010
The Historian's Office of the Department of State has issued a call for papers for a September 29-30, 2010, conference on American policy and the war in Southeast Asia, 1946-1975. View the Ford Library's subject guide describing our extensive holdings on the Vietnam War.
January 4, 2010
The Library had added PDF files of the typed transcripts of Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns' handwritten journals (diaries) to its collection of digitized documents. These journals cover Burn's role as White House Counsellor and then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors during the Richard Nixon presidency. View the transcripts.
December 23, 2011
The Library has completed the digitization of the records of a series of meetings between Vice President Gerald Ford and various foreign and diplomatic officials from the Ford Vice Presidential Papers. In many cases the files include memoranda of conversations summarizing the discussions in addtion to background and briefing materials. Of special note is a folder on the Vice President's March 13, 1974 meeting with King Hussein of Jordan. Because President Nixon was not available, Vice President Ford also hosted the State Dinner on March 12. View digital images of files concerning Vice President Ford's meetings with foreign and diplomatic officials.
December 22, 2011
The Library completed the indexing of the collection National Security Adviser. White House Situation Room Presidential Daily Briefings in our PRESNET collection description database. This chronologically arranged set of memoranda was opened last spring, but previously was not indexed in PRESNET and did not appear on PRESNET search reports. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
December 6, 2011
The Library has begun digitizing the White House Press Releases from the Ford Administration. Press releases covering August 9, 1974 to September 5, 1974 are now complete. The press releases include transcripts of speeches, briefings, and press conferences; schedules; biographies; proposed legislation; press pool reports; etc. View digitized press releases.
November 30, 2011
The Library has completed another segment of a project to digitize White House photograph contact sheets and make them available on the web. Descriptions and images of photographs from August 9, 1974 to June 9, 1975 and May 18, 1976 to January 20, 1977 are now available. Detailed reports describe the photographs taken by the White House photographers on a given day and contain links to contact sheets (1:1 images of 35 mm negatives) for each film roll. We have completed the scanning and posting of images for the missing dates and the staff is working on completing the descriptions. View the reports and contact sheets.
November 30, 2011
The Library has completed a major updating and expansion of the digital collection of selected historical materials on the 1976 presidential campaign. The items cover the early campaign planning in 1975, President Ford's announcement of candidacy, the emergence of a challenge for the nomination from former Governor Ronald Reagan, the primaries and caucuses, planning the fall general election campaign, the campaign debates, and President Ford's narrow loss to Jimmy Carter. See the links to the digitized files.
November 21, 2011
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 14, 2011
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of July to September 2011. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
October 28, 2011
The Library completed the digitization of all of the weekly reports to the President from the President Ford Committee (the 1976 campaign committee) in the Richard B. Cheney Files. The reports date from July 1975 to July 1976 and cover such topics as organization and staffing of the PFC, state campaign organizations, legal matters, delegate selection, fundraising, press contacts, advocate schedules, campaign advertising, and campaign leaflets. See the finding aid for links to the digitized files.
October 28, 2011
The audiovisual staff has digitized 20 additional audio recordings of President Ford's speeches, remarks, and press conferences from the White House Communications Agency Audiotapes. This brings the total number of digitized files to 75. View the list of digitized tapes.
October 13, 2011
The Library completed the digitization of boxes 3-5 of the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger Reports on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions. These boxes contains memcons and reports for Henry Kissinger's discussions with Middle East leaders during his two rounds of shuttle diplomacy in 1975 that led to the Sinai disengagement agreement. See the finding aid for links to the digitized files.
September 30, 2011
The Library completed the processing of nine additional boxes from the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. More than four boxes cover the Cyprus crisis in great detail. Other topics in the newly opened boxes include the Defense budget, Puerto Rico Economic Summit, Egypt, France, India/Pakistan, Indonesia, International Labor Organization, and Iran. The first 15 boxes of the collection (covering the letters A through I of a large subject file) are now processed and open to research. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
September 20, 2011
The Library completed the digitization of the second box of the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger Reports on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions. This box contains memcons and reports for Henry Kissinger's discussions with Chinese leaders and also for President Ford's meetings during his trip to China in December 1975. Similar files for the Henry Kissinger's Middle East shuttle diplomacy are currently being digitized. See the finding aid for links to the digitized files.
September 9, 2011
The Library completed the digitization of the first box of the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger Reports on USSR, China, and Middle East Discussions. This box contains memcons and reports for Henry Kissinger's discussions with Soviet leaders and also for President Ford's meetings with Leonid Brezhnev at Vladivostok and Helsinki. Similar files for China are currently being digitized. See the finding aid for links to the digitized files.
August 31, 2011
The Library completed the processing boxes 1-16 of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff Files. These boxes contain the Country Files for all countries from Albania to Poland. The remaining Country Files, plus additional series, will be made available as processing is completed.
August 31, 2011
The Library completed the processing of additional folders from the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The first six boxes of the collection are now processed and open to research. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
August 31, 2011
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include almost 8,000 pages of documents from such collections as the records of the U.S. Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (Rockefeller Commission), NSC Information Liaison with Commissions and Committees (much of this also relates to the intelligence investigations), and NSC Program Analysis Staff Files. Also included are recently opened codeword documents from a number of different National Security Adviser collections. The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of some of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research. Since November 2008 the staff has opened 50 archives boxes of declassified documents through the RAC program.
August 22, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the collection Gerald R. Ford: Redacted Version of the FBI Investigatory Report on Gerald Ford, Nominee for Vice President (less than one foot). The collection consists of documents compiled in connection with the FBI's investigation of Gerald Ford, who had been nominated to be Vice President by Richard Nixon in 1973. The materials document details of Ford's personal and professional life, and illustrate his character and personal attributes. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
July 26, 2011
The Library has completed another segment of a project to digitize White House photograph contact sheets and make them available on the web. Photographs from August 9, 1974 to April 30, 1975 are now available (with the exception of April 5). Detailed reports describe the photographs taken by the White House photographers on a given day and contain links to contact sheets (1:1 images of 35 mm negatives) for each film roll. View the reports and contact sheets.
July 25, 2011
The Library has added to the Digital Library copies of the John W. "Bill" Roberts Audio Diary. For a few critical weeks in July, August and September 1974, assistant press secretary Bill Roberts tape-recorded his personal observations and recollections. These provide insight into the last days of the Ford vice presidency, the transition to the presidency, and persons and personalities involved in the events. Listen to the diary.
July 22, 2011
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of April to June 2011. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
July 21, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the collection U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Special Agent Application Case File of Gerald R. Ford, Jr. (less than one foot). The collection consists of documents compiled in connection with the background investigation of Gerald Ford, who had applied to be a special agent in June 1941. The materials document details of Ford's pre-political life and illustrate his character and personal attributes. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
July 7, 2011
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Brent Cebul has been chosen as the 2011 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Mr. Cebul is a doctoral student in American History at the University of Virginia and is completing his doctoral dissertation: Freedom From: Small Government, Big Government Policies, and the Rise of Blue Collar Republicans, 1970-1994. He is exploring the rise of working class white voters within the Republican Party from 1970 – 1994 through the lens of conservatives, decentralized federal community and economic development. See additional information about this award.
July 1, 2011
The Library completed the processing of additional folders from the first two boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The newly opened folders concern such matters as Algeria, Angola, Arab Boycott legislation, FY1978 budget, and Central Intelligence Agency communications. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
May 26, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the remaining 23 boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. NSC East Asian and Pacific Affairs Staff Files. The newly opened material covers U.S. relations with most countries in this geographic area, with the exception of China, Taiwan, Micronesia, the Mariana Islands, Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos (those files had been processed and opened earlier). The finding aid will be updated soon to reflect these new materials. In the meantime, all folders in the collection are described in our PRESNET collection description database and we would be happy to provide search reports. Contact the Library for more information.
May 26, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. White House Situation Room Presidential Daily Briefings (8 feet). This chronologically arranged set of memoranda from the National Security Adviser to the President (supplemented by updates from the White House Situation Room or the Department of State) contains information on developments in various countries, international negotiations, important events, and high-level conversations and correspondence. The information is primarily reportive and analytical in nature rather than a briefing on current or proposed U.S. actions. In spite of the name of this collection, it has no relationship to the Presidential Daily Brief produced by the Central Intelligence Agency. Although open for research, this collection is not yet indexed by subject in our PRESNET collection description database. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
May 26, 2011
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee. With these awards, the grants screening committee has now given out more than five hundred grants since the beginning of the program in 1982.
May 1, 2011
Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award contact Christian Goos.
March 31, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Cables of Brent Scowcroft (3 feet). The collection contains cables exchanged between Brent Scowcroft and National Security Council and White House staff members while he was traveling with the President. Files contain White House Situation Room reports and memoranda concerning the ongoing work of the NSC. Subject content relates to a wide variety of foreign policy and national security matters including Lebanon, the Korean tree incident, the Middle East, and Africa. The collection also includes material relating to the 1976 presidential campaign. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
March 30, 2011
The Library has opened to research four oral history audiotapes from the collection Composite Oral History Accessions relating to Gerald Ford's years as a University of Michigan student. The tapes cover interviews conducted in 1983 by David S. Pollock with Cliff Keen (wrestling coach and assistant football coach), Bennie Oosterbaan (assistant football coach), Elmer Raab (acquaintance of Ford), and Willis Ward (football teammate).
March 30, 2011
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of January to March 2011. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
March 2, 2011
The Library has opened to research the Michael H. Moskow Papers. The collection concerns his work in the Nixon, Ford, and George H. W. Bush administrations in the following agencies: Council of Economic Advisers, Department of Labor, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Council on Wage and Price Stability, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The papers relate to such topics as collective bargaining, labor disputes, employment, economic policies, wage and price policies, and U.S. trade. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
February 23, 2011
The Library has opened two additional oral histories from the collection Gerald R. Ford Library Oral History Projects. The first is with Robert Barrett, who served as a Military Aide in the Ford White House and then as chief of staff to President Ford during the early years of the post-presidency (audiotape and 67 page transcript). The second is with William Scranton, who served on the transition team which assisted President Ford during the opening days of his presidency and later became U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (audiotape and 36 page transcript).
February 18, 2011
The Library completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Trip Briefing Books and Cables for Henry Kissinger (18 feet), by opening the last seven boxes to research. This important collection contains communications exchanged between Henry Kissinger and staff at the White House and State Department while he was away from Washington. Files contain Kissinger's detailed reports of his meetings with foreign leaders and the progress of negotiations he was conducting, as well as detailed summaries of concurrent events in Washington and elsewhere in the world. Substantive materials on U.S. relations with the countries Kissinger was visiting and on foreign policy issues in general also appear. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 27, 2011
The Library has completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. White House Situation Room Evening Reports from the NSC Staff (1 foot). It contains daily reports from each section of the National Security Council staff summarizing important foreign affairs/national security developments, afternoon summaries produced by the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and the Evening Notes compiled by White House Situation Room duty officers. They cover most major world events from the last seven months of the Ford administration, but not in great detail. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 26, 2011
The Library has completed the processing of the Warren K. Hendriks Papers (3 feet). The collection contains material concerning White House efforts to identify administration spokesmen to fill key speaking invitations that the President could not accept. The bulk of the collection dates from 1976. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 26, 2011
The Library has completed the processing of the Frederica Pantlind Papers (less than one foot). The collection contains a unique set of letters from young Gerald Ford to Pantlind, a hometown friend and neighbor. Also included are Pantlind’s newspaper clippings on University of Michigan football and on Gamma Delta Tau high school sorority, invitations to social events, and date books. The letters reveal much about Gerald Ford’s life as a college student and athlete and, to a lesser extent, his work as an assistant coach at Yale University. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 20, 2011
The Library has completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. White House Situation Room Noon and Evening Notes (4 feet). Situation Room duty officers produced frequent memoranda summarizing the latest international developments for National Security Adviser Kissinger or Scowcroft. The memoranda were based on cable traffic, intelligence reports, and news media stories. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 12, 2011
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of October to December 2010. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
December 27, 2012
The Library has opened for research the audiovisual portion of the collection James L. Trimpe 30-30 Club Scrapbook. The textual materials in this collection were opened in September 2012. View the collection finding aid.
December 26, 2012
The Library has published finding aids for the following previously opened collections:
White House Central Files:
and White House Social Office Central Files:
December 21, 2012
Are you interested in recipes for such delicacies as "Peas, Pickle, and Peanut Salad" or "Scalloped Cabbage, Spaghetti, and Wisconsin Cheese." How about regional foods such as "South Dakota Pheasant" or "Maine Lobster Pie"? Maybe "General Eisenhower's Beef Stew" which serves 60 guests will appeal to you. See the Republican Congressional Cook Book published ca. 1962.
December 21, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of October to December 2012. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
December 20, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies. All speeches are now avialable. View the documents.
December 14, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first 13 boxes of the chronological series of the Presidential Handwriting File. All documents from August 8, 1974 through February 14, 1975 are now available. View the documents.
December 13, 2012
The Library has completed another segment of a project to digitize White House photograph contact sheets and make them available on the web. Descriptions and images of photographs from August 9, 1974 to July 10, 1975 and March 1, 1976 to January 20, 1977 are now available. Detailed reports describe the photographs taken by the White House photographers on a given day and contain links to contact sheets (1:1 images of 35 mm negatives) for each film roll. We have completed the scanning and posting of images for the missing dates and the staff is working on completing the descriptions. View the reports and contact sheets.
December 11, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first 38 boxes of the President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies. President Ford's speeches through October 2, 1976 are now complete. View the documents.
December 6, 2012
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the Fall meeting of the grants screening committee.
November 5, 2012
The Library has completed the description and indexing of the Dale Van Atta Papers in its PRESNET collection description database. The collection contains chronologically-arranged photocopies of selected CIA staff notes,Weekly Reviews, and issues of the National Intelligence Daily. Also State Department INR morning summaries, memos and memoranda of conversations; and Defense Intelligence Agency documents regarding intelligence issues and findings. Also included are NSC documents as well as an almost complete collection of National Security Decision Memoranda from 1969 to 1976. The documents cover an extensive range of foreign policy and national security topics and provide analyses of numerous foreign political situations. The documents were collected by journalist Van Atta while covering those issues. Although many documents are still classified, intelligence documents relating to many different countries have been opened and withdrawal sheets for closed items will ease the filing of Mandatory Review requests. View the collection finding aid.
November 1, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of all boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders. View the documents.
October 17, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first two boxes of the collection National Security Adviser. Presidential Correspondence with Foreign Leaders. View the documents.
October 15, 2012
The Library has opened for research an accretion to the collection Office of White House Central Files Files. This accretion consists of White House filing manuals and logs of oversized attachments. View the collection finding aid.
October 5, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of July to September 2012. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
October 2, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first 15 boxes of the President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies. President Ford's speeches through September 13, 1975 are now complete. View the documents.
September 26, 2012
The Library has updated several digitized documents from the collection National Security Adviser. Memoranda of Conversations to reflect recent changes in their declassification status. We keep the paper documents and the digitized files in sync so that online researchers see exactly what is in the boxes and folders in the Library.
September 25, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the last box (box 35) of the Ford administration's White House Press Releases. All 10,592 press releases (27,197 pages) are now available in digital form on the Library's web site. View the documents.
September 14, 2012
The Library has opened for research the collection James L. Trimpe 30-30 Club Scrapbook. This scrapbook consists of textual materials and photographs compiled by James L. Trimpe related to the 30-30 Club. The club, which met annually on Thanksgiving Day, consisted of the members of the 1930 All-City championship football team of South High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan). The collection consists of club reports and correspondence, group photographs, and newspaper clippings primarily related to the 1974 team reunion hosted by Gerald Ford (a 30-30 Club member) at the White House. View the collection finding aid.
The Library has opened for research accretions to the collection Gordon E. Vander Till Papers. These accretions consist of materials related to the 1968 Nixon campaign activities in Michigan, and an assortment of materials primarily related to Gerald Ford�s Grand Rapids congressional district office. These materials include: an audio recording of a television program featuring the 1972 Michigan Fifth Congressional District Democratic primary election candidates; Ralph Nader�s Congress Project assessment of Gerald Ford�s record; opposition and Ford campaign materials; and records relating to Vice President Ford�s homecoming in 1974. View the collection finding aid.
September 11, 2012
The Library completed the description of the collection National Security Adviser. Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff Files in the PRESNET collection description database. Please contact the Library to request searches of this database. This subcollection is comprised of working files of A. Denis Clift and his staff concerning U.S relations with and events in specific countries in Europe and Canada, trips there by American officials, visits to the U.S. by European and Canadian leaders, and ocean policy. View the collection finding aid.
September 11, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the Bradley Patterson Files. Patterson worked on legislation and policies concerning Native Americans and served as a White House liaison between Federal officials and tribal organizations. View the documents.
September 6, 2012
The Library has completed the systematic review of the William J. Baroody, Jr., Papers. The collection is now fully open to research, although some items remain closed under the terms of the donor's deed of gift. View the finding aid.
August 30, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first seven boxes of the President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies. President Ford's speeches through April 19, 1975 are now complete. View the documents.
August 30, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the first four boxes of the Bradley Patterson Files. Patterson worked on legislation and policies concerning Native Americans and served as a White House liaison between Federal officials and tribal organizations. View the documents.
July 6, 2012
The Library has opened the following collections:
Yanek Mieczkowski Research Interviews, 1994-2007 (less than one foot)
Only the textual portion of this collection is open at this time. This collection consists of audiocassettes and transcripts of interviews of former President Gerald R. Ford, Ford White House staff, agency officials, and congressmen. Yanek Mieczkowski conducted the interviews in support of his scholarly works, including his book, Gerald Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s. The interviews focus heavily on Gerald Ford�s response to the economic and energy crises of the 1970s, relations with Congress, 1975 State of the Union Address, and the 1976 Presidential campaign. View the collection finding aid.
James D. Haldaman Photographs and Papers, 1980-81 (less than one foot)
Only the textual portion of this collection is open at this time. This collection consists of textual and audiovisual materials related to the planning and execution of community events held in conjunction with the dedication of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in September 1981. The textual materials, which consist of press releases, schedules, correspondence, agendas, and minutes, document the work of the Gerald R. Ford Museum Dedication Committee�s Community Events Committee headed by Peter Secchia. These events celebrated the opening of the Ford Museum, and included a lecture series, fireworks, and the dedication ceremony, among others. There is also a significant amount of material in the collection related to the week-long �Celebration on the Grand� in Grand Rapids, MI, which took place at the same time as the dedication. View the collection finding aid.
Warren "Bill" L. Gulley Papers, 1974-77 (less than one foot)
This collection consists of passenger manifests of flights made by President Ford, Mrs. Ford, and the Ford family on government-owned aircraft. Also included is a chronological list of Air Force One trips of President Ford and a map of Camp David. View the collection finding aid.
The Library also opened two small additions to existing collections. Transcripts of interviews with John Connolly and William Simon were added to the Bruce S. Wagner Papers. The Ford Vice Presidential Reception File, 1973-74, series of the Peter Sorum Papers was processed and opened to research.
June 29, 2012
The Library completed the declassification review for the collection National Security Adviser. Europe, Canada, and Ocean Affairs Staff Files and opened the remaining portions of the collection to research. This subcollection is comprised of working files of A. Denis Clift and his staff concerning U.S relations with and events in specific countries in Europe and Canada, trips there by American officials, visits to the U.S. by European and Canadian leaders, and ocean policy. View the collection finding aid.
June 28, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the Budget Review Decision Papers from the collection White House Special Files Unit Presidential Files. The entire collection is now available in digital form, with the exception of a small administrative file that will not be digitized. View the documents.
June 27, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of April to June 2012. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
June 25, 2012
The Library has opened the collection U.S. Department of Defense. Historical Office. Public Statements of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 2001-06 (4.8 linear feet). The collection contains transcripts of Secretary Rumsfeld’s remarks, testimony, press briefings, press conferences, and media interviews concerning his work as Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration and various national security issues. View the collection finding aid.
June 25, 2012
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Victor McFarland has been chosen as the 2012 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Mr. McFarland is a doctoral student in History at Yale University and is completing his doctoral dissertation: The Oil Crisis of the 1970s: An International History. His work explores the economic and political consequences of changes in the oil industry and rising oil prices during this time using sources from both the United States and the Middle East. See additional information about this award.
June 15, 2012
The Library has finished the digitization of White House Press Releases for 1975 and begun the ones for 1976. So far our digitization team has completed 6,053 of the total 10,632 press releases from the Ford administration. In terms of pages, we have digitized 15,637 of the total 27,327 in the collection. Visit the Ford Digital Library to view press releases.
June 14, 2012
The Library has opened two additional oral histories from the collection Gerald R. Ford Library Oral History Projects. The first is that of Nina Babcock, former editor of the Cedar Springs Clipper in Cedar Springs, Michigan. The interview concerns her work with the newspaper and her involvement in early political campaigns of Gerald R. Ford. The interview of Bill Brockett concerns his work at the White House Communications Agency and his unofficial role as White House dog trainer, assisting the Ford family with their dog "Liberty." For information about other interviews in this collection see the finding aid.
June 14, 2012
Recent openings from the Ford Library Project File of Documents Declassified Through the Remote Archive Capture (RAC) Program include almost 4,800 pages of documents from such collections as the records of the U.S. Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (Rockefeller Commission), NSC Information Liaison with Commissions and Committees (much of this also relates to the intelligence investigations), and the Scowcroft Daily Work Files. Also included are recently opened codeword documents from a number of National Security Adviser collections. The Project File is intended as a convenience to researchers, affording expedited access to declassified information from unprocessed/closed collections. It also allows returning researchers to more easily discover newly declassified information from previously processed/open collections. Although some documents are now available, major portions of some of these sub-collections are still unprocessed and not available for research. Since November 2008 the staff has opened 56 archives boxes of declassified documents through the RAC program. View the collection finding aid.
June 12, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the Issue Decision Papers for the President series from the collection White House Special Files Unit Presidential Files. Topics include busing, Indochina refugees, New York City financial crisis, nuclear policy review, Peterson Commission report on executive salaries, Panama Canal treaty negotiations, Puerto Rico compact of permanent union, Republican legislative agenda, science and technology adviser, and Secret Service protection for Vice President and Secretary of State. Work continues on other series from that collection. View the documents.
June 12, 2012
The Library completed the processing of the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. This collection is an unusually rich file of material from the West Wing office of the National Security Adviser. Many files cover some or all of the Nixon presidency, in addition to the Ford presidency. Included are communications at the highest levels between the United States and countries such as the Soviet Union, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Great Britain, France, West Germany, and China. Topics include the Vietnamese War, arms control negotiations, détente, the Cyprus crisis, the process of normalizing relations with China, Middle East peace negotiations, status of Berlin, and the Kurds. Also included are administrative materials concerning National Security Council staffing, organization, and procedures. View the collection finding aid.
June 10, 2012
In preparation for the writing of his memoir, President Ford wrote handwritten reflections (42 pages) on twenty-seven topics such as "How I make decisions," "What religion means to me," and "Richard Nixon's place in history." The Library has completed the scanning of these reflections from the collection Gerald R. Ford: Materials from the Writing of A Time to Heal, 1977-79. View the handwritten documents along with Library produced transcripts.
June 4, 2012
The Library has completed the systematic review of the Dale Van Atta Papers for declassification. The collection contains chronologically-arranged photocopies of selected CIA staff notes,Weekly Reviews, and issues of the National Intelligence Daily. Also State Department INR morning summaries, memos and memoranda of conversations; and Defense Intelligence Agency documents regarding intelligence issues and findings. Also included are NSC documents as well as an almost complete collection of National Security Decision Memoranda from 1969 to 1976. The documents cover an extensive range of foreign policy and national security topics and provide analyses of numerous foreign political situations. The documents were collected by journalist Van Atta while covering those issues. Although many documents are still classified, intelligence documents relating to many different countries have been opened and withdrawal sheets for closed items will ease the filing of Mandatory Review requests. View the collection finding aid.
May 29, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the Gerald R. Ford student file for summer school classes at the University of Michigan Law School (15 pages). View the documents.
May 25, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the Ford-Carter Debate Files from the collection White House Special Files Unit Presidential Files. Work continues on other series from that collection. View the documents.
May 24, 2012
The Library has completed the digitization of the reading copies of First Lady Betty Ford speeches from the Frances Kaye Pullen Files and also started on the digitization of Pullen's working files on the drafting of the speeches. View the documents.
May 21, 2012
The Library has completed the scanning of several documents relating to travel, events, and activities of the President and First Lady. View the documents.
May 14, 2012
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the spring meeting of the grants screening committee.
May 10, 2012
When planning his memoir "A Time to Heal", President Ford wrote down 27 reflections on topics such as "How I make decisions," "What religion means to me," and "Richard Nixon's place in history." The Library has diigitized these handwritten reflections along with typed transcripts from the collection Gerald R. Ford: Materials from the GERALD R. FORD: MATERIALS FROM THE WRITING OF A TIME TO HEAL, 1977-79
May 7, 2012
Although minutes of National Security Council meetings have been available on our web site for more than a dozen years, other documents from the collection National Security Adviser. National Security Council Meetings File have not. The Library has now completed the scanning of the entire collection (including withdrawal sheets for items that remain classified). View the collection.
May 2, 2012
The Library has completed the scanning of a selection of documents relating to Ford administration White House State Dinners. Document selection and much of the scanning for this project was completed by Library intern Melissa Hernandez, a student at the University of Michigan School of Information. Included are dinner menus, entertainment programs, photographs, and other documents relating to each dinner, along with a description of the dinner planning process written by Mrs. Ford's Social Secretary Maria Downs. View the documents.
April 27, 2012
The Library has now completed the digitization of 40 percent of the collection White House Press Releases. All press releases from the first year of the Ford administration are now available on our web site. The press releases include transcripts of speeches, briefings, and press conferences; schedules; biographies; proposed legislation; press pool reports; etc. View digitized press releases.
April 25, 2012
The Library uploaded updated files for five digitized folders from the National Security Adviser collections Memoranda of Conversations and National Security Study Memoranda and Decision Memoranda. As additional documents or portions of documents from these collections are declassified the Library updates the online files to keep them identical to what a researcher would see by visiting the Library.
April 23, 2012
The Library completed the digitization of the Frank Zarb Papers concerning his work as Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration during the Ford administration. All series have been digitized with the exception of his Scrapbook File. View the documents.
April 11, 2012
The Library completed the processing of five additional boxes from the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The first 32 boxes of the collection (subject file folders covering the letters A through U) are now processed and open to research. The boxes opened most recently focus on U.S. relations with the USSR, especially the frequent exchanges between Henry Kissinger and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko or Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobynin during both the Nixon and Ford administrations. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
April 4, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of January to March 2012. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
April 2, 2012
On the day that the 1940 census becomes available for research, the Library has a new page with links to images of President and Mrs. Ford's listings in the 1920 and 1930 census and an appeal to the public for assistance in finding them in the 1940 census.
March 27, 2012
The Library completed the processing of additional boxes from the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The first 32 boxes of the collection (subject file folders covering the letters A through U) are now processed and open to research. The boxes opened most recently focus on U.S. relations with the United Kingdom and the USSR. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
March 27, 2012
The Library has now completed the digitization of 20 percent of the collection White House Press Releases. Press releases covering August 9, 1974 to February 18, 1975 are now complete. The press releases include transcripts of speeches, briefings, and press conferences; schedules; biographies; proposed legislation; press pool reports; etc. View digitized press releases.
March 8, 2012
The Library completed the digitization of the second series of the Frank Zarb Papers. This series contains his testimony before congressional committees about the Federal Energy Administration and a variety of energy issues. View the documents.
February 22, 2012
The Library completed the digitization of the first series (more than two boxes) of the Frank Zarb Papers. This series contains memoranda from Federal Energy Administrator Zarb to President Ford from 1974 to 1976. The memoranda concern a wide variety of energy policy issues. View the documents.
January 25, 2012
The Library completed a re-digitization of the collection National Security Adviser. National Security Decision Memoranda and National Security Study Memoranda. This brought the digitized collection up to our current standards in scanning quality and presentation. View the documents.
January 18, 2012
The Library completed the digitization of the Frederica Pantlind Papers. This small collection primarily focuses on Gerald Ford's time at the University of Michigan and Yale University in the 1930s. View the documents.
January 18, 2012
The Library completed the digitization of all seven oral history transcripts from the Grand Rapids Oral History Collection. The oral histories focus on Gerald Ford's early life, his involvement in Republican politics in Grand Rapids, and his first campaign for Congress in 1948. View the transcripts.
January 17, 2012
The Library staff completed the systematic review of Boxes 1-30 of the Russell Armentrout Files which contain case files on White House social events, including state dinners. The series had previously been available for research on a review on request basis. View the collection finding aid.
January 10, 2012
The Library completed revisions to the National Security Adviser. NSC East Asian and Pacific Affairs Staff Files collection finding aid. The updated finding aid is available online.
January 10, 2012
The Library completed the processing and description for a small collection of Charles T. Miller Telegrams. The collection primarily contains marine telegrams between Miller, captain of the merchant ship SS Mayaguez, and officials from Sea-Land Service, Inc., the ship’s parent company. The messages were exchanged shortly before the ship and crew were seized by Khmer Rouge armed forces and after they were recovered by U.S. armed forces in May 1975. For more details on the collection, view its finding aid.
January 6, 2012
The Library completed the processing of additional boxes from the collection National Security Adviser. Kissinger-Scowcroft West Wing Office File. The first 23 boxes of the collection (subject file folders covering the letters A through S) are now processed and open to research. Processing of this collection continues and additional boxes will be made available as they are completed.
January 4, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of October to December 2011. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| March 15, 2014Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact Jeremy Schmidt. | April 10, 2014Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award please contact Elizabeth Druga. |
ATTENTION RESEARCHERS: The Ford Library research room will have shortened hours on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The room will be open from 8:45 am to 3:00 pm on both those days. Also, the Libray will be closed on Christmas Day (12/25/13) and New Year's Day (1/1/14).
December 16, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Myron B. Kuropas Papers, (1963) 1975-77 (9.8 linear feet). This collection contains materials relating primarily to Kuropas�s work as Special Assistant to the President for Ethnic Affairs in 1976, including arrangements for meetings with ethnic groups and background information on ethnic issues. A few items concern his duties in 1977 as Legislative Assistant to Senator Robert Dole.
View the collection finding aid.
The Library has also opened for research the White House Alphabetical Correspondence File, 1969-70 (7.4 linear feet) series from the Arthur F. Burns Papers. This series consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence from Burns' service as Counsellor to President Nixon. Correspondents include U.S. and foreign officials; colleagues in banking and academia; members of Congress; friends; and the general public. The correspondence includes invitations, thank you notes, transmittals of speeches and papers, as well as substantive letters concerning domestic and international monetary matters.
View the collection finding aid.
Systematic donor review is now complete for the American Citizens Concerned for Life records.
December 9, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Subject File series from the NSA. NSC Staff for the Middle East and South Asia Files (5.3 linear feet). A finding aid will be available once the entire collection has been processed. Until then, please contact the Library with questions about this collection.
The Library has opened for research accretions to the Speeches, Congressional Testimony, Interviews, and Writings File (8.3 linear feet) series of the Arthur F. Burns Papers. This material dates from 1978 to 1987. Some pre-1987 items were interfiled with earlier materials. During his period as ambassador, Burns frequently spoke of the NATO alliance, atomic weapons, democracy, international education and exchanges, youth, democracy, European and American economic situation, and East-West relations.
A new series from the Burns Papers was opened as well: Ambassador's Subject File, 1981-85 (1986-87) (2.3 linear feet). This series consists of memoranda, notes, reports, schedules, letters, and telegrams compiled by Arthur Burns during his service as the U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Included in the series is a sub-series of notes and memoranda to the file that document Burns� meetings with West German officials, primarily Helmut Schmidt, and his correspondence with Secretary of State George Shultz and President Ronald Reagan. These documents provide insight into the political behavior of Schmidt, West German foreign and domestic policies and politics, Burns� assessment of West German leaders and policies, and U.S.-West German relations. Other topics represented in the series include West German relations with East Germany and the Soviet Union, conditions in Berlin, arms control, deployment of atomic weapons in Europe, U.S. defense spending, NATO, trade, and international and economic conditions. Also included in the series are administrative records related to Burns� appointment, resignation, and selection of an aid, and a register of meetings and daily schedules.
View the collection finding aid.
The Library also opened several series from the Virginia H. Knauer Files, 1969-77. A finding aid will be available once the entire collection has been processed. Until then, please contact the Library with questions about this collection.
- General File, 1973-76 (E Series) (0.7 linear feet)
This series contains reports and correspondence relating to a variety of industries, often with a focus on product labeling and safety standards. The largest component of this series is the energy conservation subseries. This subseries is related to the 1973-74 campaign to increase consumer awareness of household energy conservation, and includes meeting notes, memoranda, and several drafts of scripts for energy conservation TV spots.
- Deputy Director File, 1974-76 (F Series) (1.2 linear feet)
This series contains material primarily related to Office of Consumer Affairs administrative operations, and to a lesser degree consumer policy development. The documents pertain to personnel, travel, and organizational structure.
- Speech File, 1969-76 (G Series) (8.9 linear feet)
This series contains speeches delivered by Knauer and others working within her office at the Committee on Consumer Interests and the Office of Consumer Affairs. The speeches were delivered to trade shows, councils, and conventions, annual meetings, grassroots political organizations, schools, or served as testimony before congressional hearings and committees. The speeches addressed consumer concerns such as food pricing and labeling, product safety, the automotive industry, and the construction industry, among others. All speeches were delivered by Knauer herself unless otherwise noted in the folder title.
- Press Releases, 1969-76 (H Series) (1.0 linear feet)
This series contains press releases issued by President Nixon�s Committee on Consumer Interests, and later the Office of Consumer Affairs, and includes drafts and supplementary material such as letters from businesses and politicians.
- Publications, 1969-76 (I Series) (1.2 linear feet)
This series includes Consumer News newsletters from April 1971-January 1977 and Virginia Knauer�s �Dear Consumer� editorials from 1972-1976, as well as other publications related to consumer education.
October 30, 2013
The Library has opened for research the NSA. Staff Assistant Robert C. ("Bud") McFarlane Files, 1974-77 (3 linear feet). This collection consists of a small subject file and a chronological file concerning various aspects of Robert C. (�Bud�) McFarlane�s work as an aide to Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, and William Hyland. Major topics include his role in ensuring proper and adequate coordination of presidential decision papers, the 1975 intelligence investigations and the administration�s response, and NSC congressional relations during the early months of the administration. View the collection finding aid.
The Library has opened for research the Anne Kamstra Files, 1974-77 (approx. 47,000 cards). This collection contains index cards prepared by Anne Kamstra documenting autograph requests for President Ford. View the collection finding aid.
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of July to September 2013. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
The Library has completed digitization of the following series from the Ron Nessen Papers:
- General Subject File,
- Campaign Subject File,
- Domestic Guidance for Press Briefings, and
- Foreign Guidance for Press Briefings.
August 28, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Country File and the Visits File series from the NSA. NSC Staff for the Middle East and South Asia Files. A finding aid will be available once the entire collection has been processed. Until then, please contact the Library with questions about this collection.
August 27, 2013
The Library has opened for research the White House Central Files (WHCF). Central Reference Unit Files, 1974-77 (25 linear feet). This collection includes directories of prominent individuals and indexes to outgoing correspondence. For more information about this collection, visit the WHCF finding aid Web page.
July 26, 2013
The Library has opened for research two series from the the Charles H. McCall Files. This collection is now fully processed. The Draft Speeches and Statements Fact and Style Checking File series consists of speech drafts with notations that specific facts have been verified, related correspondence and memoranda, and briefing materials and pre-advance reports for specific trips by President Gerald Ford. In addition, the series contains background materials such as reports, publications, and newspaper clippings used in drafting and fact checking the speeches and statements. The Administrative File series consists of memoranda and correspondence relating to the operation of the research office of the Editorial Staff. View the collection finding aid.
July 11, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Staff Assistant John K. Matheny Files. This sub-collection of the National Security Adviser's files contains material concerning Matheny's work as an assistant to Robert C. McFarlane, primarily in the area of National Security Council interactions with the congressional select committees on intelligence and Ford administration efforts to reform the intelligence community. Some materials on other topics appear, including a significant file on the administration�s self-evaluation of the handling of the Mayaguez incident. View the collection finding aid.
July 2, 2013
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is proud to announce that Amanda Hughett has been chosen as the 2013 winner of the Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter. Ms. Hughett is a doctoral student in History at Duke University and is completing her doctoral dissertation: Beyond the Prison Gates: Grassroots Activism and Criminal Justice Politics in North Carolina, 1968-1994. Her work explores an interracial and multi-class movement for prison reform that emerged in North Carolina and across the nation beginning in the late 1960s. See additional information about this award.
July 2, 2013
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation announced the list of recipients of Research Travel Grants from the Spring meeting of the grants screening committee.July 1, 2012
The Library has posted a list of documentsdeclassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of April to June 2013. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
May 30, 2013
The Library has completed the digitization of the Richard Cheney Files. View the documents.
April 26, 2013
The Library has completed the digitization of the Press Secretary's Press Briefing Transcripts series of the Ron Nessen Files. View the documents.
April 9, 2013
The Library has completed the digitization of the chronological series of the Presidential Handwriting File. View the documents.
April 9, 2013
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of January to March 2013. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies. Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.March 29, 2013
The Library has opened for research accretions to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Subject File, FRB Staff Files, Name Correspondence Files, and Chronological File series of the Arthur F. Burns Papers. The FRB Subject File contains material related to the 1975 New York City financial crisis and vacancies on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, among other topics. View the collection finding aid.
The Library has also opened for research the National Security Council Staff Secretary Files, (1973) 1974-1977. The collection consists of a fragmentary chronological file of outgoing correspondence and memoranda along with a small subject file. Although occasional minutes of meetings or memoranda of conversations appear, the material is mostly routine in nature and the bulk of it concerns administrative matters. View the collection finding aid.
March 19, 2013
Nine additional issues of the student literary magazine The Pioneer (which also contain school news) have been opened in the collection Grand Rapids South High School Publications. They date from President Ford's senior year in high school and do contain some information about him.
March 15, 2013
The Library has completed the digitization of additional boxes of the chronological series of the Presidential Handwriting File. All documents from August 8, 1974 through August 2, 1976 are now available. View the documents.
March 15, 2013
One additional box of the Birge Watkins Files has been processed and opened to research. Box 10 contains a very complete set of typed daily schedules (with handwritten addtions and corrections) for Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs L. William Seidman. View the collection finding aid.
February 11, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Trip File series of the Arthur F. Burns Papers. The materials relate to trips made by Arthur Burns, primarily in his official capacity as the U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Although most of the material is routine trip planning records, there is some substantial material related to diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union pertaining to Berlin, and relations between U.S. military bases in West Germany and the surrounding communities. View the collection finding aid.
January 9, 2013
The Library has completed scanning and database work and posted to the Ford Digital Library the Public Papers of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger covering the Ford Administration years. These pages contain many of Kissinger's public addresses, statements, remarks, testimony, and press conferences digitized from Department of State press releases or the publication Department of State Bulletin ("The Official Weekly Record of United States Foreign Policy"). View the Kissinger Public Papers.
January 2, 2013
The Library has opened for research the Robert Quartel Papers. This collection consists primarily of materials related to the 1976 Presidential Campaign, mostly letters from the public requesting information on President Ford�s positions on issues, and the responses of the President Ford Committee Answer Desk to those letters. Also included is a series of Presidential Clemency Board reports documenting performance measurement and analyzing the process of deciding cases. View the collection finding aid.
The Library has opened for research the audiovisual portion of the Paul A. Theis Papers. The textual materials in this collection were opened in October 1999. View the collection finding aid.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| September 15, 2014Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact Jeremy Schmidt. | March 31, 2015Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award please contact Elizabeth Druga. |
December 17, 2014 - Holiday Hours
The Ford Library research room will close at 2 pm on December 24th and 31st. The lobby exhibit area will remain open until 4:45 pm on those days. The Library will be closed on December 26th.
October 30, 2014
Congratulations to the Fall 2014 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Research Travel Grant recipients.
The Library opened the Robert Orben Papers, 1947-2005. This collection contains materials relating to Robert Orben�s comedy writing career encompassing his work as a humor consultant and speechwriter for television personalities, corporate clients, and politicians. Materials compiled during his tenure as speechwriter for President Ford are also included [40 linear feet (ca. 65,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library processed the U.S. Secret Service. Executive Protective Service Files, 1974-77. This collection contains records created by the Executive Protective Service in the performance of their duties of securing the White House and Old Executive Office Building facilities and grounds, and protection of the President and the First Family. The records document the visitors to the Oval Office, President�s Private Study, and Cabinet Room, and the movement and activities of the President and the First Family at the White House. The bulk of this collection consists of group lists and individual appointment cards of visitors [124 linear feet (ca. 225,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
This collection is blanket closed. Researchers may contact the Library for information about how to appeal the access restriction decision of individual documents.
July 24, 2014
Congratulations to Amanda Demmer, recipient of the 2014 Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter, and the Spring 2014 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Research Travel Grant recipients.
The Library opened the White House Central Files. Bulk Mail File. Nixon Pardon Children�s Letters File series [5.7 linear feet (ca. 10,400 pages)] and the Amnesty File series [21 linear feet (ca. 38,400 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened accretions to the audiovisual materials from the Arthur Burns Papers.
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of April to June 2014. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies.
Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
June 18, 2014
The Library opened for research the Frederic W. Slight Files, (1969-73) 1974-77. This collection contains material prepared or compiled by Slight documenting his work assisting Counsellor to the President Anne Armstrong and in communications office activities. There are extensive materials related to Spanish speaking Americans and White House communications [9.2 linear feet (approximately 17,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened the General Subject File, (1969) 1977-87 [5.5 linear feet [ca. 10,000 pages] from the Arthur Burns Papers.
May 28, 2014
The Library opened for research the Warren Rustand and William Nicholson Files, (1973) 1974-77. This collection contains correspondence, calendars, schedules, schedule proposals, briefing papers, Cabinet meeting minutes, foreign travel requests, and publications compiled or created by Presidential Scheduling office staff that document Scheduling Office operations and the activities of the President, First Family, Vice President, Cabinet, and political appointees [28.6 linear feet (approximately 52,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened the Personal File, (1969-74) 1978-87 [12 linear feet [ca. 22,000 pages] from the Arthur Burns Papers.
April 21, 2014
The Library opened the Shirley Peck-Barnes Papers, 1967-2005. The collection contains correspondence, newsletters, newspaper clippings, research materials, and artifacts relating to Shirley Peck-Barnes� involvement with Friends of Children of Vietnam and �Operation Babylift,� (the evacuation of orphans from Saigon during the closing weeks of the Vietnam War). After the 1975 Babylift, Barnes remained active in Babylift adoptee matters and eventually wrote The War Cradle: The Untold Story of �Operation Babylift� [5.3 linear feet (ca. 10,500 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened for research the following series from the Warren Rustand and William Nicholson Files: Long Range Planning File [4.3 linear feet (ca. 7,900 pages)]; Presidential Briefing Papers File [3.7 linear feet (ca. 6,700 pages)]; Invitations File [2.5 linear feet (ca. 4,800 pages)], and Publications File [0.5 linear feet (ca. 1,000 pages)]. A finding aid will be published after the entire collection has been opened.
The Library opened for research the following series from the NSA. NSC Staff for the Middle East and South Asia Files: Kissinger Trip Files, 1974-76 [0.8 linear feet (ca. 1,500 pages)], and Presidential Briefings Files, 1974-75 [1.2 linear feet (ca. 2,200 pages)]. A finding aid will be published after the entire collection has been opened.
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of January to March 2014. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies.
Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
March 13, 2014
The Library has completed digitization of the following series from the Ron Nessen Papers:
- Presidential Briefing Books for Media Encounters, and
- White House Memos
March 7, 2014
The Library has opened for research the following:
Budget File, (1967-68) 1969-77 (6.3 linear feet), series from the Virginia Knauer Files;
Economic Policy Board File, 1974-77 (5.3 linear feet), and
Publications, 1969-77 (1.6 linear feet accretion) series from the Arthur Burns Papers; and
Foreign Service Subject File, (1946) 1965‑72 (3.0 linear feet),
Ambassador to Dahomey Subject File, 1972‑74 (0.2 linear feet),
Special Assistant to Secretary of the State for Press Relations Subject File, 1974‑75 (4.0 linear feet), and
Contact Cards File, ca. 1969‑ca. 1985. (0.8 linear feet) series from the Robert Anderson Papers.
The Anderson Papers and Knauer Files are now fully processed.
February 6, 2014
The Library has opened for research the:
Consumer Advisory Council File, 1970-77 (3.7 linear feet), series from the Virginia Knauer Files;
International Trips, 1974-76 (12.8 linear feet), series from the Byron Cavaney Files; and
Correspondence File, 1977-95 (1.0 linear foot), series from the Robert Anderson Papers.
The finding aid for the Cavaney Files is available online. Finding aids for the Knauer Files and Anderson Papers will be published once the entire collection has been opened. Until then, please contact the Library with any questions.
January 2, 2014
The Library has opened for research the following series from the Virginia Knauer Files:
Consumer Representation Plan File, 1975-1976 (8.4 linear feet), and
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) File, 1970-1975 (1976) (1.75 linear feet).
and the following series from the Robert Anderson Papers:
Ambassador to Morocco Subject File, 1976-78 (2.2 linear feet),
Tangiers American Legation Museum Society Subject File, 1980-95 (0.4 linear feet),
Special Assistant for International Affairs to CINCLANT Subject File, 1978-82 (0.2 linear feet),
Ambassador to Dominican Republic Subject File, 1982-85 (4.0 linear feet), and
Post-State Department Subject File, 1985-90 (0.6 linear feet).
Finding aids for these collections will be published once the entire collection has been opened. Until then, please contact the Library with any questions.
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of October to December 2013. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies.
Please note that Mandatory Review is but one of the methods through which Ford Library documents are declassified. Many additional pages are opened each month through systematic declassification review and returns from the Remote Archive Capture project.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| September 15, 2015Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact Jeremy Schmidt. | March 31, 2016Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award please contact Elizabeth Druga. |
December 16, 2015 - Holiday Hours (Corrected)
The Ford Library research room will close at 12 pm on December 24th and 3 pm on December 31st. The lobby exhibit area will remain open until 4:45 pm on those days. The Library will be closed on December 25th and January 1st.
December 16, 2015 - Holiday Hours (Updated)
The Ford Library research room will close at 12 pm on December 24th and 1 pm on December 31st. The lobby exhibit area will remain open until 4:45 pm on those days. The Library will be closed on December 25th and January 1st.
November 11, 2015 - Holiday Hours
The Ford Library research room will close at 3 pm on November 25th, and 1 pm on December 24th and 31st. The lobby exhibit area will remain open until 4:45 pm on those days. The Library will be closed on November 26th, December 25th, and January 1st.
November 4, 2015
The Library opened for research accretions to the White House Usher's Office Files, 1974-77. This accretion includes materials pertaining to events, swimming pool construction, Christmas preparations, budgets and expenditures, and construction of a warehouse for storage of furnishings. Also included in the collection is material related to the production of a film on the history of the White House. [0.9 linear feet (ca. 1,200 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
October 27, 2015
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of January to June 2015 and July to September 2015. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies.
October 26, 2015
The Library opened for research the John W. Barnum Papers, 1971-78 (1979-99). This collection contains extensive materials related to domestic and international transportation issues, on such topics as railroad reorganization conducted through the United States Railway Association, National Passenger Railroad Corporation (Amtrak) and Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail) structuring, the Northeast Rail Crisis, highway legislation, no-fault vehicle insurance, Trans-Alaska Pipeline, Civil Aeronautics Board investigations, international air travel agreements, and Law of the Sea negotiations [91.4 linear feet (ca. 166,400 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research accretions to the Arthur F. Burns Papers, (1957) 1969-87 (1988-90). This material relates to both Burns� service as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and U.S. Ambassador to West Germany, and includes new series: Certificates, and Scrapbooks, and additions to existing series: Presidential and Special Correspondence, and Newspaper Clippings [5.6 linear feet (11,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the Byron M. Cavaney Papers, (1972) 1974-76. This collection contains materials concerning the operation of the White House Advance Office and its logistical planning for foreign and domestic Presidential trips [19.9 linear feet (ca. 43,700 pages)] View the collection's finding aid..
The Library processed the Jane Dannenhauer Files, (1950, 1952) 1974-77. Due to extensive personal information this collection is closed to research. This collection consists of investigative case files on individuals considered for appointments to White House staff positions or Presidential appointments, requests for White House or Executive Office Building (EOB) passes, lists of personnel changes, name checks on individuals and groups invited to White House social functions, and similar materials. Included in the collection is the background investigation report on Nelson Rockefeller, nominee for Vice President [96.2 linear feet (ca. 192,400 pages)].
The Library opened for research the Michael J. Farrell Files, (1969-73) 1974-77. This collection contains materials documenting White House tour operations and visitor-related special events [23.7 linear feet (51,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research select series from the Gerald and Betty Ford Special Materials Collection, (1841, 1851) 1941-2007. This collection consists of letters, photographs, and books that were set apart by Gerald Ford, Betty Ford or their staff and deemed to have special value. The materials were given to the Fords by world leaders, other presidents, politicians, celebrities, prominent individuals, and personal friends [19 linear feet (ca. 38,000 pages)]. The collection's finding aid will be posted online once the entire collection is completely processed. For information about this collection contact the Library.
The Library opened for research the Philomena S. Jurey Papers, 1961-89. This collection contains materials concerning Jurey�s work covering the White House for Voice of America (VOA). The collection contains materials related to many of the key moments of the Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations, including the d�tente summits of the 1970s and the Reagan-Gorbachev meetings of the mid-1980s [11.3 linear feet (ca. 20,800 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the James T. Lynn Papers, (1971-73) 1974-77. This collection contains extensive material related to the Office of Management and Budget�s activities associated with the formulation of the President�s budget, the national economy in general, especially inflation, and Federal housing programs [36 linear feet (ca. 64,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened the Chronological File series (boxes 78-84 only) from the NSA. NSC Staff for the Middle East and South Asia Files, 1974-77 [3.1 linear feet, ca. 5,600 pages)]. This collection is now fully processed. The collection contains substantive materials on foreign policy and defense issues for thirty countries ranging geographically from Morocco to Saudi Arabia to India. The materials provide information about such topics as military and economic assistance, regional alliances, territorial disputes, Soviet interests and activities, the Middle East peace negotiations, the Arab economic boycott of companies trading with Israel, US security interests in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the United Nations, atomic energy, oil, terrorism, and human rights. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the NSA. NSC Planning and Coordination Staff Files, 1972-75. A small series concerns contingency planning for possible developments in several countries (especially Chile, Peru, Portugal, and Spain). A larger series concerns federal funding for Security Assistance during Fiscal Year 1974, primarily budget planning, budget decisions, and legislation (authorizations and appropriations). All documents in the latter series date from the Nixon administration [1.9 linear feet (ca. 4,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the Terrence O�Donnell Files, 1974-77. This collection consists primarily of the President�s schedules, domestic and foreign trip itineraries, and Presidential briefing books, which include background information, talking points, and biographical sketches. There are also materials relating to the 1976 presidential campaign, including Republican Party and President Ford Committee contacts, analysis of Carter campaign strategy for the states visited by President Ford, and analysis of the issues that affected those states. Additional materials pertain to usage of the presidential boxes in the Kennedy Center by members of the White House staff and their guests, trips and events associated with the nation�s bicentennial, and campaign trips associated with the 1974 congressional elections [14.4 linear feet (ca. 25,900 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the Frederick T. Steeper Papers, 1983-2006. This collection contains materials concerning Frederick T. Steeper�s work as a Michigan-based political analyst and career in survey research and analysis for Republican Presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial candidates and campaign organizations. The collection contains materials related to Steeper�s work for the Republican National Committee, George H.W. Bush�s 1992 and 1996 Presidential campaigns, George W. Bush�s 2000 and 2004 Presidential campaigns, and various state campaigns [41 linear feet (ca. 75,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research these series from the White House Central Files. Bulk Mail File: Nixon Pardon / Amnesty File; Nixon Pardon Children�s Letters File; Busing File; Abortion File Federal Trade Commission File; Rockefeller Nomination File; Nixon Pardon � Pro (Acknowledged) File [70.5 linear feet (ca. 105,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
June 24, 2015
Congratulations to Charles Halvorson, recipient of the 2015 Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter, and the Spring 2015 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Research Travel Grant recipients.
The Library opened for research accretions to the H. Guyford Stever Papers, (1930) 1936-93. The bulk of the accretion covers the period 1989-1993, and primarily documents his recent consulting activities. There is some material from his White House period. [28 linear feet (ca. 58,000 pages)]. The files from the accretion are available as review on request. Researchers may contact the Library to request that particular folders be added to the review-for-access queue. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened for research the Robin B. Martin Papers, (1969, 1973) 1974-76. This collection contains material documenting foreign and domestic travel planning for the Vice-President, President, and First Lady [3.9 linear feet (ca. 7,200 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
June 10, 2015
The Library opened for research the Edward C. Schmults Papers, 1973-77 (1978-81). This collection contains materials related to legal determinations and advice given within the Treasury Department and White House on such topics as Watergate, General Revenue Sharing Program, Emergency Loan Guarantee Program, railway improvement, regulatory reform, constitutional or statutory powers of the President, conflict of interest rules, standards of conduct, political restrictions, and a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues involving legal questions. [14.5 linear feet (ca. 26,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
April 1, 2015
The Library opened for research the following series from the NSA. NSC Staff for the Middle East and South Asia Files: Peace Negotiations Chronological File and Chronological File (boxes 56-77 only) [14.4 linear feet (ca. 26,400 pages)]. A finding aid will be published after the entire collection has been opened.
The Library processed the Presidential Personnel Office Files, 1974-77. These are the working files of the White House office which handled administration personnel appointments. Included are files on the search for potential appointees, the screening process used to evaluate candidates and solicit opinions, and the Presidential decision process. The bulk of the collection concerns appointments to positions in Cabinet departments, independent regulatory agencies, the Federal judiciary, and the numerous Federal boards and commissions. Only occasional scattered folders concern appointments to the White House staff. [273 linear feet (ca. 500,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
Parts of this collection are blanket closed. Researchers may contact the Library for information about how to appeal the access restriction decision of individual documents. Other parts of the collection are available as review on request. Researchers may contact the Library to request that particular folders be added to the review-for-access queue.
The Library opened the Domestic Trips File, First Family Trips File, and Administrative File series [61.8 linear feet (ca. 119,200 pages)] from the Byron M. "Red" Cavaney Files. These series are available as review on request. Researchers may contact the Library to request that particular folders be added to the review-for-access queue.
January 29, 2015
The Library opened accretions [0.9 linear feet (ca. 1,200 pages)] to the Composite Grand Rapids Accessions, 1912-2013 collection.
January 16, 2015
The Library opened the Ambassador�s Correspondence File, 1981-85, [11.4 linear feet (ca. 20,800 pages)] from the Arthur Burns Papers.
The Library opened the Betty Ford Center File, 1980-92 [6.6 linear feet (ca. 12,000 pages)] from the Betty Ford Papers. A finding aid for the Post-White House sub-collection of the Betty Ford Papers is not available at this time. Please contact the Library for more information about this series.
The Library opened accretions [2.4 linear feet (ca. 4,400 pages)] to the Composite General Accessions, 1902-2013 collection.
The Library has posted a list of documents declassified in whole or in part through the Mandatory Declassification Review process during the months of October to December 2014. You can also see lists of documents declassified in earlier quarters. Researchers may contact us for additional information about the newly opened documents or to order copies.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| September 15, 2017Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact Mark Fischer. | September 30, 2017Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award please contact Jeffrey Senger. |
December 28, 2016
The Library opened the Gerald R. Ford Post-Presidential Office Files for research [742.4 linear feet (ca. 1,484,800 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened an accretion to the Gerald and Betty Ford Special Materials collection for research [39.75 linear feet (ca. 79,500 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.September 22, 2016
The Library opened for research the Nixon Pardon - Pro (Unacknowledged) File from the White House Central Files. Bulk Mail File [53.3 linear feet (ca. 32,000 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
September 16, 2016
The Library opened for research the Alexander M. Schmidt Papers, 1967-90. The collection contains materials relating primarily to the administration of food and drug regulatory policy in the United States on such topics as the drug approval process; the introduction of new drugs into the marketplace; over-the-counter drugs and self-medication; new treatments and therapies for cancer, stroke, diabetes, and influenza; food safety; and food additives and additives in veterinary food products. [48.1 linear feet (ca. 85,400 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
February 23, 2016
The Library opened for research the William S. Ballenger Papers, 1971-77. This collection contains materials relating primarily to the recommendation, application, and appointment of individuals to senior positions, advisory committees, and councils within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). Also included are documents regarding the process, politics, and policies of appointments to the committees and councils, as well as background information about organizations [6.7 linear feet (ca. 13,400 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.The Library opened for research the Edward Randall Architectural Drawings of Gerald and Betty Ford's Rancho Mirage Home, 1977. This collection consists of a complete set of construction drawings for Gerald and Betty Ford�s post-Presidential home in Rancho Mirage, CA. The drawings include site plans, elevations, and construction details, and covers structural, mechanical, electrical, landscape, and swimming pool elements. The home was designed for the Fords by the Los Angeles firm Welton Becket Associates. Edward Randall was the swimming pool sub-contractor for the project [34 drawings]. View the collection's finding aid.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| September 15, 2018Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. For more information about the grants contact Mark Fischer. | March 31, 2018Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". For more information about the award please contact Jeffrey Senger. |
September 28, 2017
The Library opened the Roy Wetzel Papers for research [47.3 linear feet (ca. 94,600 pages)]. The collection contains supporting materials collected by Roy Wetzel while making audio and video recordings of presidential national conventions and elections and other political events. It also documents Wetzel’s activities as an NBC News executive and leader and innovator in the field of news media and political analysis. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened the Treasurer's Office Files of the President Ford Committee Records [185.1 linear feet (ca. 370,200 pages)]. This material documents the fiscal and budgetary issues associated with the operation of the President Ford Committee and during the 1976 presidential campaign. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened the John E. Reinhardt Papers for research [8.6 linear feet (ca. 17,200 pages)]. This collection primarily documents Reinhardt's work as Director of both the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the United States International Communications Agency (USICA). View the collection's finding aid.
The Library processed the Gerald R. Ford Personal Financial Papers [131.1 linear feet (ca. 262,200 pages)]. This collection documents Gerald Ford's personal finances and financial activities in and out of government service. It is temporarily restricted under the terms of the donor's deed of gift. View the collection's finding aid.
September 22, 2017
The Library opened the Intelligence Subject File series of the John O. Marsh Files for research [6.8 linear feet (ca. 13,600 pages)]. The newly opened material concerns the congressional intelligence investigations, administration reforms of the intelligence community, and other intelligence matters. View the collection's finding aid.
September 19, 2017
The Library opened the White House Social Files Bulk Mail Files for research [124 linear feet (ca. 249,200 pages)]. Previously only a series of sampled letters were available. The newly opened material consists of mail from the general public sent to First Lady Betty Ford, or to both President and Mrs. Ford, on a variety of topics, including Betty Ford's 60 Minutes interview, her breast cancer surgery, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), the Nixon pardon, and Mrs. Ford's prayer for Dr. Maurice Sage. It also includes holiday and occasion cards addressed to the Ford and requests for greetings for special occasions. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened for research the Nixon Pardon - Con (Unacknowledged) File, Watergate Defendents File, and additional material from the Nixon Pardon - Pro (Unacknowledged) from the White House Central Files Bulk Mail File [totally 336.1 linear linear feet (ca. 201,660 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
June 23, 2017
The Library opened the remaining series in the Betty Ford White House Papers for research [23 linear feet (ca. 46,000 pages)]. The newly opened series documents Betty Ford’s activities during her time as the wife of Vice President Gerald Ford and then First Lady. It includes correspondence and other materials related to trips, local events, state dinners, activities, family activities, and personal interests during the White House period. It also includes Christmas cards that the Fords received during the 1973 holiday season. View the collection's finding aid.
April 18, 2017
The Library opened the Jonathan D. Hoornstra Files for research [7.9 linear feet (ca. 15,800 pages)]. The collection contains material used by Jonathan Hoornstra in the course of his work on President Gerald Ford's daily news summary staff. View the collection's finding aid.
February 17, 2017
The Library opened the William G. Hyland Papers for research [39.7 linear feet (ca. 79,400 pages)]. Documents William G. Hyland’s post- government career, in particular his tenure as editor of Foreign Affairs but contains some material from his government service during the Nixon and Ford administrations, including his role as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 1975-77. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library also opened for research the Nixon Pardon - Con (Acknowledged) File from the White House Central Files Bulk Mail File [5.7 linear feet (ca. 3,420 pages)]. View the collection's finding aid.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| September 15, 2019Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. | March 31, 2019Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". |
November 7, 2018 - Holiday Hours
The Ford Library's Research Room will be closed or close early on the following days:
Monday, November 12 - Closed for Veterans Day (observed)
Wednesday, November 21 - Closing early at 12:00 PM
Thursday, November 22 - Closed for Thanksgiving Day
Monday, December 24 - Closing early at 12:00 PM
Tuesday, December 25 - Closed for Christmas Day
Monday, December 31 - Closing early at 12:00 PM
Tuesday, January 1, 2019 - Closed for New Year's Day
September 28, 2018
The Library opened the Audio Diary Transcripts series in the Ron Nessen Papers for research [1.3 linear feet (ca. 2600 pages)]. The newly opened series documents Nessen’s account of day-to-day operations within the Ford administration as well as his relationships with other White House staff members. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library additional material in the Gerald R. Ford Scrapbooks collection for research [10 linear feet]. The newly opened material primarily documents Ford's life after he left the White House, but it does include some material related to his youth and his time in public office. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library processed the Sheila R. Weidenfeld Papers [18.25 linear feet (ca. 36,500 pages)]. This collection mostly documents Weidenfeld's tenure as the Press Secretary to First Lady Betty Ford, Mrs. Ford's activities, press operations, Weidenfeld's personal correspondence, and materials related to the writing of Weidenfeld’s book, First Lady’s Lady. This collection is temporarily closed under the terms of the donor's deed of gift. View the collection's finding aid.
September 20, 2018
The Library opened the Telephone Call Logs series in the Betty Ford White House Papers for research [0.8 feet (ca. 500 pages)]. The newly opened series consists of White House telephone memoranda forms showing First Lady Betty Ford’s daily telephone calls. Handwritten information for each call includes designation of incoming or outgoing, time of day, name of person talked to, and possible action. View the collection's finding aid.
September 18, 2018
The Library opened the Frank Ursomarso Papers for research [11.4 linear feet (ca. 22,800 pages)]. The collection contains material concerning the operation of the White House Advance Office during the administration of President Gerald R. Ford and planning for foreign and domestic trips for President Ford and the First Family. It also includes material related a few vice presidential and post presidential trips, and Gerald Ford's state funeral.. View the collection's finding aid.
June 28, 2018
The Library opened the U.S. Department of State. Office of the Chief of Protocol. Ceremonials Division: Gerald R. Ford Condolence Books for research [3.9 linear feet (ca. 7,800 pages)]. The collection consists of condolence books from the U.S. Department of State and its various diplomatic missions around the world commemorating the death of former President Gerald R. Ford. View the collection's finding aid.
June 15, 2018
The Library opened the Michael Kelly Policial Campaign Ephemera Collection for research [19.5 linear feet (ca. 39,000 pages)]. The collection consists of printed material and other memorabilia related to presidential campaigns from 1896 to 2008. It contains much material on well-known politicians such as Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Nelson Rockefeller, George Romney, Eugene McCarthy, and Robert Kennedy. It also includes strong materials on minor political parties and obscure presidential candidates. Of interest will be the campaign literature on a variety of ideologies ranging from white nationalism to populism, libertarianism, socialism, communism, and Christian fundamentalism, as well as candidate literature for Homer Tomlinson, Gus Hall, Angela Davis, George Lincoln Rockwell, Lyndon LaRouche, and J Quinn Brisben. View the collection's finding aid.
The Library opened the Robert E. Barrett Papers for research [3.35 linear feet (ca. 6,700 pages)]. The collection contains s correspondence, clippings, speeches, schedules, and other material related to Robert Barrett's post-presidential activities on behalf of President Gerald R. Ford. View the collection's finding aid.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| March 15, 2023Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. | March 31, 2023Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". |
October 21, 2022
The Ford Presidential Library's parking lot will also be closed on Monday, October 24, for repaving. Visitors may use the University of Michigan's paid visitor lot across the street from the Library, which is accessible from both Fuller and Beal Avenues. We apologize for the inconvenience.
October 20, 2022
The Ford Presidential Library's parking lot will be closed on Friday, October 21, for repaving. Visitors may use the University of Michigan's paid visitor lot across the street from the Library, which is accessible from both Fuller and Beal Avenues. We apologize for the inconvenience.
October 14, 2022
The Library has added the following newly digitized materials to the Digital Library:
Gerald Ford's Congressional Schedules, 1965-1973
Election Subject File and Ford-Carter Debate File from Michael Raoul-Duval Papers (Domestic Council Associate Director and Special Counsel to the President)
Speech File from the Stanley Scott Papers (Special Assistant to the President for Minority Affairs)
Presidential Messages, 1974-76, from the Eliska Hasek Files (Director of Presidential Messages)
White House Office Handbook, February 1975
October 5, 2022 - Holiday Hours
The Ford Library's Research Room will be closed or close early on the following days:
Monday, October 10 - Closed for Columbus Day
Friday, November 11 - Closed for Veterans Day
Wednesday, November 23 - Closing early at 1:00 PM
Thursday, November 24 - Closed for Thanksgiving Day
Friday, November 25 - Closed day after Thanksgiving
Friday, December 23 - Closing early at 1:00 PM
Monday, December 26 - Closed for Christmas Day (observed)
Friday, December 30 - Closing early at 1:00 PM
Monday, January 2, 2023 - Closed for New Year's Day (observed)
September 9, 2022
Following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum have compiled a resource page containing materials related to her from our holdings. It features photographs, documents, and artifacts related to her state visit in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial in July 1976. View the resource page.
May 31, 2022
The research room at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is now open to researchers by appointment only on Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. For more information on how to schedule and plan for a research visit, please see Reopening of the Ford Library Research Room.
May 9, 2022
The new online exhibit 1976 Presidential Election provides information on the 1976 presidential election, focusing on the 1976 Republican primary race. It highlights the holdings of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. These resources include documents found in the records of the President Ford Committee (which managed the President's election activity), the textual collections of key individuals, and media resources. View the online exhibit.
March 29, 2022
The research room at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is now open to researchers by appointment only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. For more information on how to schedule and plan for a research visit, please see Reopening of the Ford Library Research Room.
| Upcoming Deadlines | |
| March 15, 2023Deadline for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation Research Travel Grants. | March 31, 2023Deadline for the "Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award (Dissertation Award) in Honor of Robert Teeter". |
View list of 2023 Federal Holidays and Research Room Closings. |
February 23, 2023
The Ford Presidential Library has compiled a resource page containing materials related to former President Jimmy Carter. It features selected documents and photographs related to his relationship with President Ford. View the resource page.