Collections : [Washington and Lee University, Law School]

Congressman Butler sat on the House Judiciary committee that investigated and voted on the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. The impeachment materials are 15 cu. ft. in extent and include: narratives about the Watergate break-in and related events, and about the bombing of Cambodia; interview transcripts and recorded testimony of persons involved in Watergate activities; general impeachment inquiry materials(committee notebooks, personal notes, etc.); reports on White House Surveillance activities; Department of Justice/ITT Litigation; Milk Producers Cooperatives investigations; papers re the Judiciary Committee's "Fragile Coalition"; general correspondence and memoranda; and printed materials. (See also, the series of constituent correspondence that precedes the impeachment materials. Butler kept an audio diary during the impeachment process, and these cassette recordings are included here, as are his written notes from this time. Also present are partial transcripts of an oral history project on the "Fragile Coalition" conducted in 1974.

The Bankruptcy Materialsare 18 cu. ft. of papers documenting Butler's work in the drafting and passage of the legislation popularly known as the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. Forms of materials present include: minutes of the Bankruptcy Commission, markup books on various versions of bankruptcy bills, memoranda, briefing materials, meetings transcripts, hearing transcripts, conference materials, Congressional Record Notebooks, audio tapes of markup sessions, and supplemental information on bankruptcy legislation with relevant testimony.

Legal Services Corporation Actpapers consist of one cu. ft. of materials concerning the authorization of funding for this entity for the fiscal years 1982-1984. Included here are: the authorization bill, itself; correspondence; "discussion papers"; press clippings; transcripts of testimony and hearing proceedings. (The one file of material about the re-authorization of the Department of Justice follows the Legal Services papers.)

The Voting Rights Act Extensionseries comprises Butler's legislative papers as a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the consideration of the extension of this Act.

The National Bankruptcy Review Commissionpapers are from Butler's service as a member of that body from 1995-1997. These 16 cu. ft. of materials include: correspondence; meeting minutes; memoranda and documents distributed to commission members; and the report of the commission and drafts of that report.

Bicentennial of American Revolution Flag; Bicentennial Medal, 1976; American College of Bankruptcy Commendation plaque, March 14, 1998.

Biographical materials,general correspondence, correspondence with parents and siblings,Letters, invitations, menus, calendars, subject files, photos, clippings, artifacts, photos scrapbook (1933-1950) and correspondence (1947-1950) with her future husband, M Caldwell Butler