Collections

The American Political Items Collectors Collection (APIC) contains donations of scholarly material that relates to national political campaigns as well as American history dating from 1895 to 1988. This collection is comprised of presidential campaigning materials that stem from bumper stickers to voting ballots. Not only is it an extensive collection of presidential campaigns but it also houses historical magazines, newspapers, and many other manuscripts and books.

This collection contains photographs taken by Arthur E. Scott, a photojournalist and photo-historian for the U.S. Senate. It contains over 5,000 prints and negatives of United States politicians (mainly Senators), political events such as campaigns and inaugurations, and landmarks throughout the Washington, D.C. area, from the mid-1930s to the 1970s. There are also 27 scrapbooks compiled by Arthur E. Scott, primarily consisting of newspaper clippings of Scott's photographs. The collection also contains glass negatives from the 1910s and 1920s that were taken by other photographers.

Correspondence, military service records, receipts and photographs of David Billmeyer, George Billmeyer and family. David Billmeyer (1907-63) was a writer, clerk and laborer who in 1933 joined the U. S. Army Air Corps and served in it until after World War II when he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force from which he retired in 1955. In his youth he had worked in New York City as a clerk and free lance author where he met and later corresponded with America's then foremost literary critic, H. L. Mencken. During the Depression he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was assigned to the National Geographic Stratosphere Flight and at various meteorological stations in the United States. During World War II he served the U. S. Army meteorological service in the Canal Zone and Europe. After the war he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force and served in meteorological units in the Orient. Most of the military and veterans records document his career and state of health. There are many photographs of where he was stationed and of him with various companions indicative of service life. There is also correspondence of David Billmeyer's brother George and other family members mainly about conditions in Shepherdstown. There is also correspondence from George's daughter, Ann, who attended the University of Nebraska and after graduation moved to San Francisco where she mentions witnessing the Republican convention of 1964, her feelings about the Kennedy assassination and her involvement in the estate of her uncle, David, who died in retirement in the Philippines.

Diaries of an Episcopalian clergyman beginning with his appointment 1 November 1923 in Wheeling as a bishop and ending with entries by his wife after his death. Strider retired as diocese bishop in 1955, returned to the family estate, Rose Hill Farm, Jefferson County, which he managed until his death. The diaries contain routine entries about matters such as family news and comments on books read and impressions of historic events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. Much information was compiled by Mrs. Edith K. Strider on his last illness and funeral service and she also includes the obituary of Robert E. Lee Strider (1887-1969).

This collection contains selected newspapers, including The Evening Star, The New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Egyptian Mail, and the French newspaper Le Journal du Dumanche. Topics covered include the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and the resignation of Richard Nixon.

Correspondence, cards, notes, ephemera, photographs, and souvenirs documenting Genevieve R. Herrell's service as a civilian nurse for the US Army assigned to the White House. The collection documents her service beginning with the Harry S. Truman administration until her retirement when Gerald Ford left office in 1977.

Original manuscripts of first and final drafts of "The Primary That Made a President: West Virginia 1960", a political study by Harry W. Ernst regarding the presidential primay campaign by John F. Kennedy (JFK) in West Virginia. Includes letters with the author from Charles U. Daly (former aide to JFK), and Ron M. Linton (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense) regarding his manuscript; also includes correspondence with West Virginia University history professor F.P. Summers regarding same. There is a photocopy of a 22 November 1964 news clipping entitled "Kennedy Style Felt State Legacy" regarding Kennedy's campaign style in West Virginia.

Correspondence, literary manuscripts, photographs, and miscellaneous material of a newspaper columnist, political analyst, biographer, novelist, short story writer, and gentleman farmer. The papers are primarily concerned with Alexander's literary and publishing activities. Other subjects include Alexander's interest in livestock raising, a proposed birth control law, and motion picture censorship in Maryland. Correspondents include Styles Bridges, Richard A. Chase, Joseph S. Clark, Thomas J. Dodd, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, Mark O. Hatfield, Thomas C. Hennings, Marquis James, Gerald W. Johnson, Louis Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Frank R. Kent, Edward Martin, H.L. Mencken, Ogden Nash, Allan Nevins, Richard L. Neuberger, Richard Nixon, William Proxmire, Leverett Saltonstall, and Thomas A. Whelan.

This collection contains 10 boxes of slides, negatives, and prints of photographs taken by National Park Service photographer Jack Rottier, as well as other National Park photographers. Numbering around 2,500 total, the photographs in this collection document politics, culture, and urban beautification in and around Washington, D.C. during the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include United States presidents from Eisenhower to Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, the Washington Senators baseball team, the National Mall, and various Potomac-region landmarks and parks.