CPRC Finding Aids

Date Created

June 2017

Abstract

The Stennis Collection contains files, documents, photographs, audio/video material, oral histories, and memorabilia that document the career of United States Senator John C. Stennis, a Democrat from Mississippi who served in the Senate forty-two years. A few items relate to his pre-Senate career as a member of the Mississippi Legislature, as a District Attorney, and as a Circuit Judge. Senator Stennis was a Kemper County native, and an alumnus of Mississippi State University and the University of Virginia Law School. After leaving the Senate in 1989, Stennis resided on the MSU campus and lectured to political science classes until failing health forced him into a nursing home. He died in 1995. Senator Stennis was a key player in the Joe McCarthy episode, and he served on a variety of significant committees. He was the first chair of the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct, was actively involved in the development of the U. S. space program via the Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, and was chair of the Armed Services Committee and its Preparedness Subcommittee. In the latter two positions, he had a highly visible role in the Vietnam War era. Stennis also was active in the Appropriations Committee, which he chaired near the end of his career, and was involved in transportation studies and legislation. Since he was serving in the Senate during the Civil Rights revolution of the 1960s, his papers reflect his active role on that era, both in Mississippi and nation-wide. Though he never served on foreign relations committees, Stennis kept abreast of world affairs. His interest in that area is documented in the collection, by such materials as a diary he kept during a trip to Russia in 1958. His collection thus provides rich details of world, American, and Mississippi history during the latter half of the twentieth century. The Collection consists of some 2,500 cubic feet of materials arranged in over fifty series. The series arrangement is basically that devised by Stennis' office staff; the arrangement involved assigned subject areas with accompanying numerical code numbers. For example, Series 1 is The President, Series 2-Department of State, Series 3-Department of the Treasury, Series 4-Department of Defense, etc. This arrangement has created some processing problems because the original coding system was modified twice which meant that items in a subject series might have different code numbers, depending on their creation date. Therefore, to avoid having to create multiple sets of guides, we arbitrarily made the numbering system consistent for the files dated 1947-1977. In 1978, the Senator's staff starting using a Capitol Hill computer service that created computer printouts as guides to documents. The designation of documents was completely changed from the old numbering system to a more complex system. Toward the end of the Senator's career, when many of his veteran staffers were moving to other jobs, the computer-based numbering system broke down, and files were boxed without having been designated in the system. Such files are not coded at all; in fact they are just "there". Series 1: Executive Series 2: State Department Series 3: Treasury Department Series 4: Defense Department Series 5: Justice Department Series 6: US Postal Service Series 7: Department of Interior Series 8: Agriculture Series 9: Commerce Department Series 10: Department of Labor Series 11: Health, Education, and Welfare Series 12: Atomic Energy Commission Series 13: Civil Aeronautics Board Series 14: Civil Service Commission Series 15: Federal Communications Commission Series 16: Department of Transportation Series 17: Federal Power Commission Series 18: Federal Reserve System Series 19: Federal Trade Commission Series 20: General Accounting Office Series 21: General Services Administration Series 22: Housing and Urban Development Series 23: Interstate Commerce Commission Series 24: Federal Judiciary Series 25: Independent Agencies Series 26: Veterans Administration Series 27: District of Columbia Series 28: Congressional Correspondence Series 29: Civil Rights Series 30: Visitors Series 31: Miscellaneous Series 32: Legislation A-Finance Series 33: Legislation Foreign-Z Series 34: Library of Congress Series 35: Jobs Series 36: Military Academies Series 37: Mississippi Series 38: Schools, Colleges, and Universities Series 39: Mississippi Organizations Series 40: Invitations Series 41: Requests Series 43: Committees Series 44: Commissions Series 45: Pre-Senate Series 46: Personal Series 47: Staff Series 48: Office Series 49: Speeches Series 50: Politics Series 51: Press Releases Series 52: Weekly Radio Addresses Series 53: Pressure Mail and Form letters Series 54: Special Projects Series 58: Cards

Description

Finding aid for the John C. Stennis papers.

Publisher

Mississippi State University Libraries

College

University Libraries

Stennis Series 002.pdf (44 kB)
Stennis Series 003.pdf (54 kB)
Stennis Series 004.pdf (291 kB)
Stennis Series 005.pdf (31 kB)
Stennis Series 006.pdf (55 kB)
Stennis Series 007.pdf (36 kB)
Stennis Series 008.pdf (67 kB)
Stennis Series 009.pdf (36 kB)
Stennis Series 010.pdf (29 kB)
Stennis Series 011.pdf (51 kB)
Stennis Series 012.pdf (23 kB)
Stennis Series 013.pdf (25 kB)
Stennis Series 014.pdf (25 kB)
Stennis Series 015.pdf (24 kB)
Stennis Series 016.pdf (38 kB)
Stennis Series 017.pdf (23 kB)
Stennis Series 018.pdf (22 kB)
Stennis Series 019.pdf (22 kB)
Stennis Series 020.pdf (26 kB)
Stennis Series 021.pdf (27 kB)
Stennis Series 022.pdf (28 kB)
Stennis Series 023.pdf (24 kB)
Stennis Series 024.pdf (28 kB)
Stennis Series 025.pdf (96 kB)
Stennis Series 026.pdf (24 kB)
Stennis Series 027.pdf (23 kB)
Stennis Series 028.pdf (72 kB)
Stennis Series 029.pdf (67 kB)
Stennis Series 030.pdf (28 kB)
Stennis Series 031.pdf (88 kB)
Stennis Series 032.pdf (378 kB)
Stennis Series 033.pdf (371 kB)
Stennis Series 034.pdf (21 kB)
Stennis Series 035.pdf (284 kB)
Stennis Series 036.pdf (61 kB)
Stennis Series 037.pdf (95 kB)
Stennis Series 038.pdf (37 kB)
Stennis Series 039.pdf (44 kB)
Stennis Series 040.pdf (71 kB)
Stennis Series 041.pdf (49 kB)
Stennis Series 043.pdf (184 kB)
Stennis Series 044.pdf (24 kB)
Stennis Series 045.pdf (67 kB)
Stennis Series 046.pdf (284 kB)
Stennis Series 047.pdf (264 kB)
Stennis Series 048.pdf (60 kB)
Stennis Series 049.pdf (136 kB)
Stennis Series 050.pdf (168 kB)
Stennis Series 051.pdf (275 kB)
Stennis Series 052.pdf (62 kB)
Stennis Series 053.pdf (70 kB)
Stennis Series 054.pdf (71 kB)
Stennis Series 058.pdf (31 kB)

Share

COinS