K. Ross Toole Archives
The Mike Mansfield Papers: Series Notes
Series XIX: House/Senate: Personal, 1943-1977 (304 linear ft.)
This voluminous series is focused on correspondence and scheduling; the material contained here is considerably less intimate than the title implies. It covers the entire time that Mansfield spent in Washington and becomes broader as his Senate career progresses. There are huge portions of the series that contain nothing but Christmas cards received or copies of condolence letters sent by Mansfield's office to constituents. It is easy to divide the series into coherent blocks and then follow chronology within those blocks, though locating information in individual boxes can be difficult.
The first one hundred and thirty boxes hold copies of condolence letters sent to constituents. These are cataloged chronologically beginning in 1943. Sometimes the folders are divided alphabetically within a given year. Generally, a folder contains all the letters either a single month or half a year. The letters usually follow the same basic outline, though there are some very personal letters. Of note is Mansfield's letter to Mrs. Roosevelt upon the death of the President in 1945. All of the letters manage to be individual and the volume of letters sent increases dramatically as with Mansfield's importance and a growing staff. Most of the letters are addressed to Montanans who have lost a relative. Condolence letters to the families of servicemen in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam are mixed into the folders during the appropriate time periods. Reply letters from the bereaved and newspaper obituary clippings fill out the folders here and most of the "Miscellaneous" folders contain replies and thank-yous for condolences. Following the condolence letters are almost one hundred boxes of Christmas cards. These include both thank you letters from recipients of Mansfield's cards and the hundreds of incoming cards the Senator and Mrs. Mansfield received every year. Most cards are from Montana voters, though congressional colleagues, trade associations, corporations, interest groups, and citizens all over the country are also represented. Thank-you letters for gifts received by the Mansfields are also included here and dozens of Christmas photos sent by constituents appear throughout the series.
The Christmas correspondence is organized chronologically, though some boxes contain no dividing folders. Despite the clear chronological divisions, locating material inside the boxes is quite difficult because of this lack of order. The remainder of the series deals with scheduling and invitations. The invitations are organized chronologically and include designations regarding whether they were accepted or declined. Invitations from Montana are filed separately. The sheer volume of invitations indicates the demands on a Senator's time and the range of people interested in having him appear. The functions range from black tie affairs for ambassadors in Washington to birthday parties in Montana. After Box 302, the invitations are accompanied by daily schedules for both Senator and Mrs. Mansfield through the end of the his career in the Senate. There are also schedules for their driver, requests for appointments from constituents and non-constituents alike, and invitations to keep in mind. While the series is not particularly substantive, it provides insight into the quantity of mail a Senator receives and the array of social duties that are expected of an elected official. The larger organizational scheme for the series is clear and can be derived from the index. Unfortunately, inside the boxes are thick packets of cards and letters that require considerable time to investigate. Little of the information here appears in other series, though this series also provides valuable background for documents elsewhere.
See a sample document from this series: Mansfield's condolence letter to Eleanor Roosevelt after the death of President Roosevelt, 13 April 1945.
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Last Updated: 7 July 2002.