n.personal records created and originally kept by a person serving in a legislature, as an executive official, or in the judiciary of a governmental entityFunderburke 1989, 35Decentralization was to be supported because it encouraged state and local support; promoted the donation of a president’s personal and political papers as well as those of family, friends and associates; boosted regional pride; and made the records and educational/cultural activities inspired by the libraries more accessible to the nation as a whole.Gallagher et al. 2011, 15I can honestly say that political papers, and particularly congressional papers, had a profound impact on my ideas and practice. My views and application of donor relations, gift negotiation and restrictions, appraisal, processing, and reappraisal and deaccessioning have all been influenced by my work with congressional collections.Novara 2013, 198Special Collections has a long history of collecting Maryland political papers and more specifically of collecting materials related to women in local, state, and national politics.Baldock and Cox 2018, 96A fresh look at congressional collections by institutions that house them by the archivists who care for them may reveal that the nature of American politics disposes such political papers to consolidate a multiplicity of voices and ideas on issues of the day from different vantages and public and private spheres.
