Adams Papers Given to College

SHERMAN ADAMS '20, chief assistant to President Eisenhower from 1953 to 1958 and former Governor of New Hampshire, has given Dartmouth College the full collection of his personal papers. Mr. Adams came to Hanover on January 31 to meet with government majors and to attend a Baker Library reception marking the presentation of his papers, certain to be of great importance to all students of the Eisenhower administration.

The extensive collection includes correspondence, official documents, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other memorabilia, beginning with Governor Adams' days as a Dartmouth undergraduate. The papers continue through his service in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, 1941-44, including a term as Speaker in 1943-44; his term in the U. S. Congress as a Representative from New Hampshire in 1945-47; his two terms as Governor of New Hampshire, 1949-53; the 1952 Presidential campaign of Dwight D. Eisenhower; his six years as Assistant to the President; and his writing of his autobiographical Firsthand Report, published in 1961.

An important aspect of the collection for scholars who will use it is the extensive annotation of items by Governor Adams. The voluminous correspondence, offering many valuable and interesting insights into decisions and controversies of the Eisenhower era, contains careful notes by Adams relating to the substance and significance of many of the letters. Almost the entire collection will be open for scholarly use without restriction, except for confidential material, such as notes on Cabinet matters and Legislative Conference meetings which will be administered in the same manner as similar resources at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas, and through clearance with that library.

In addition to the personal and business correspondence, the collection includes the drafts, typescripts, and page proofs of Firsthand Report; campaign material, including much 1952 organizational data; Governor Adams' appointment books during his service in the White House; material relating to the organization of the executive branch and the Federal administration; and the principal speeches and statements and the texts of the press conferences of President Eisenhower.

The period prior to the Eisenhower administration is also well covered, includ- ing records of Governor Adams' 1950 primary campaign for the governorship, the proceedings of Governor's Executive Council during his two terms, the speeches and papers from that period and Congressional Records containing remarks Governor Adams made as a Congressman in 1945 and 1946. There are also some 70 personal scrapbooks.

Governor Adams (r), with President Dickey and Prof. Gene Lyons, director of thePublic Affairs Center, looks at some of the papers from the Adams Collectiondisplayed in Baker Library at the time of their January 31 presentation.