Series V: U.S. Senate, 1935-1981 Bulk 1959-1980
Series Overview
This series consists of the files maintained by Muskie's U.S. Senate offices in Washington, D.C. and Maine.
The records in this series document the entire range of the activities of Muskie and members of his staff during his Senate career (1959-1980), from the crafting of legislation to responding to constituent requests for intercession with federal agencies to the tracking of local and national issues that came to the attention of Muskie or his staff. The preponderance of the material deals with matters of immediate legislative interest to Muskie, such as the development of federal pollution control legislation, the operation of the federal civil service and intergovernmental relations, and, in the 1970s, congressional oversight of the federal budget-writing process, and the settlement of the Maine Indian land claims. The files also contain considerable documentation on national and international issues such as the Vietnam War.
This series is very large; therefore separate finding aids are available for each of the following subseries:
Dates
- 1935-1981 Bulk 1959-1980
Access Restrictions
Five categories of materials are restricted in the Muskie papers, all of which are noted in container lists, internal database records and physically on the affected boxes and folders. In many cases, restricted material comprises only a portion of a restricted folder. Researchers may request access to a restricted folder, in which case archives staff may review the folder and provide access to any materials that should not be restricted.
1. Student academic records: Restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Contained in Series I; will be open without restriction in 2011 (box 11) and 2064 (box 13). Information about a particular student may be released to that student.
2. Materials restricted to protect personal privacy: Restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Occurs in Series II, V.A.1, V.A.3-V.A.12, V.B and V.C; will be open without restriction on a rolling basis from 2032-2055. Includes case files, personnel files and items bearing Social Security Numbers. Case files and personnel files may be released to the individuals about whom the files were created, or to others if the individual about whom the file was created is deceased and releasing the file is unlikely to significantly impinge upon the personal privacy of a living individual. Redacted copies of items bearing Social Security Numbers may be released upon request.
3. Confidential Congressional committee reports: Restricted for 50 years from date of creation. Occurs in Series V.C; will be open without restriction around 2018. Reports restricted per consultation with NARA Center for Legislative Archives.
4. Susan Harrigan’s diaries: Restricted per donor agreement; access requires written permission of donor until April 5, 2024 or death of donor. Occurs in Series VI.F and XVII.A.
5. Potentially attorney-client privileged and/or proprietary materials: Closed until further notice. Occurs in Series VII, Boxes 120-141 and several unprocessed boxes of materials received from Jane Muskie’s estate. Includes records from Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside & Wolf that likely contain attorney-client privileged and/or proprietary information intermingled with non-attorney-client-privileged material documenting Muskie’s professional work from 1980-1996.
Extent
From the Collection: 2346 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
General Physical Description note
1477 linear feet; 3594 manuscript boxes
Creator
- From the Collection: Muskie, Edmund S., 1914-1996 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library Repository
70 Campus Avenue
Lewiston Maine 04240 United States of America
207-786-6354
207-755-5911 (Fax)
muskie@bates.edu