Guide to the Basil Lee Whitener Papers, 1889-1968

This series primarily concerns Whitener's first bid for Congress in 1956. He decided to run for Congress in January of that year when Woodrow W. Jones declined to run for re-election as the representative of the Eleventh Congressional District. Included is information on the campaign and two primaries, as well as on the election. The primaries were held on May 26 (Whitener/Gardner/Wells) and June 23 (Whitener/Gardner). In addition to the 1956 campaign material, there are precinct committee lists for 1960 and 1962, and material pertaining to the 1966 campaign.

This series, the largest in the collection, runs from the 85th Congress, first session, 1957, through the 90th Congress, second session, 1968. Included is correspondence to and from Whitener's constituents. Some of the letters were written by his administrative assistant, Herbert M. Lineberger. The papers are organized by Congress and session, and then alphabetically within each session by name of correspondent. In some cases Whitener's office held material together about a certain person in the folder for the letter of the alphabet for his name, regardless of the correspondents involved. For example, there may be letters about Mr. Capps in the “C” folder, which were written by various persons. There are a few subject folders included in the alphabetical arrangement. Items within the folders are filed chronologically.

In addition to constituent mail, Whitener corresponded with prominent persons. Representative people are Sam Ervin, Thad Eure, Orville Freeman, Luther Hodges, J. Edgar Hoover, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, B. Everett Jordan, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Dan K. Moore, Admiral Hyman Rickover, Terry Sanford, Sargent Shriver, and Strom Thurmond. Several letters appear in this series for each of the above correspondents. Please consult the Autograph File of the card catalog for a detailed listing of these letters.

A variety of topics appear throughout the series. Particularly in the late 1960s the themes of the Vietnam War, civil rights legislation, riots, crime legislation, gun control, and foreign aid appear often in constituent's letters. In 1968 some constituents were urging Whitener to run for governor of North Carolina. The papers go primarily through October, 1968.

Extensive, although conservative, weeding was done in this series. The decision to weed was made because of the large proportion of routine material included. Approximately one-third of this series was discarded. The following is a list of the types of Items that were weeded out:

Like the Correspondence (General) Series, this series begins with the 85th Congress, first Session, 1957, and ends with the 90th Congress, second Session, 1968. Included is correspondence to and from Whitener's constituents that centers on legislation being considered in the House of Representatives. Some of the letters were written by his administrative assistant, Herbert M. Lineberger. The papers are organized by Congress and session, and then alphabetically within each session by name of correspondent. Items within the folders are filed chronologically. There are a few subject folders included in the alphabetical arrangement on such topics as the Taft-Hartley Act, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Social Security, the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962, etc. A variety of topics appear throughout the series. Examples of topics that surface in constituent's letters are the Landrum-Griffin Act (labor reform bill), veterans' legislation, foreign aid bill, prayer in schools, etc.

Contains correspondence and other papers about matters in the District of Columbia. This important series reflects Whitener's work as a member of the House Committee on the District of Columbia, 1961-1968, as well as a member of certain subcommittees. See the page in this inventory which describes his committee assignments for further information concerning his specific subcommittee assignments. The two major files in this series are Legislative Bills and Subject Files for Legislation, etc.

This series concerns legislation and other material loosely related to the work of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Whitener was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 1959 to 1968. See the page earlier in this inventory which describes his committee assignments for further information concerning his specific subcommittee assignments. The Judiciary Series and Judiciary Committee Series have been kept separate because they were organized this way in Whitener's office. The Judiciary Committee Series contains folders for the work of this committee and certain sub-committees. The Judiciary Series is larger and more general in nature. The two major files in this series are Legislative Bills, the largest section, and Subject Files for Legislation, etc.

In this series are papers which primarily concern Whitener's duties as a member of the House Committee on the Judiciary. He was a member of this committee from 1959 to 1968. See the page in this inventory which describes his committee assignments for further information concerning his specific subcommittee assignments. Some files relating specifically to the work of the Judiciary Committee, and the subcommittee on which he served, are contained in this series. The Judiciary Committee Series and Judiciary Series have been kept separate because they were organized this way in Whitener's office. The Judiciary Series is larger and more general in nature than this series. The two major files in this series are Legislative Bills and Subject Files for Legislation, Etc.

Includes, in addition to the text of many of Whitener's speeches, remarks of Whitener in Congress, as printed in the Congressional Record. Other unorganized material has been divided into two additional categories: Correspondence; and speech material, printed material, and miscellany.

These files were in rough alphabetical order so this arrangement was retained with some minor refinements of folder titles and order. Some Items such as routine individual social security claims, visa applications, routine correspondence, and duplicates were discarded.

Although this series is very similar to the Subject Series in that it contains folders on miscellaneous topics, the two series were evidently separate in Whitener's office. There was no consistent order to the folders, so they have been arranged alphabetically, similarly to the Subject Series. Some folder title revisions were necessary. A particularly large section of this series is the three boxes of material from the National Federation of Independent Business containing ballots by businessmen on various issues. Some routine Items such as individual Veterans Administration and social security claims, as well as passport applications were discarded.

This series reflects the serious concern of Whitener and his constituents relating to textile imports and related issues such as foreign imports, cotton, the health of the textile industry, and tariffs. There is some material pertaining to legislation, especially for H.R. 6196, a bill designed to boost the cotton industry. There is some overlapping of similar topics among the various folders. The two major files in this series are Legislative Bills and Subject Files.

In this series is information concerning miscellaneous pieces of legislation generally not related to Whitener's Judiciary Committee and District of Columbia Committee work. Most of these bills were introduced by Whitener. There was little apparent order to the folders, so they were organized into two major files: Legislative Bills and Subject Files for Legislation, etc.

There are two major categories included in this series: the Military and Veterans Files, and Subject Files. The Military and Veterans Files span the 81st Congress, 2nd Session, 1950, through the 90th Congress, 2nd Session, 1968. Please note that in the Congressional office the military files and veterans files were kept separate through the 86th Congress, but that beginning with the 87th Congress, these files were combined. This arrangement has been retained. Also note that the early files, the 81st through the 84th Congresses, are the papers of Woodrow Wilson Jones, Whitener's predecessor in office. Congressman Jones was elected to the 81st Congress to fill a vacancy and was reelected to the 82nd, 83rd and 84th Congresses, thus serving from Nov. 7, 1950, to Jan. 3, 1957.

The Military and Veterans Files primarily consist of correspondence between Jones or Whitener and their constituents. Generally, all correspondence for persons whose last name begins with the same letter of the alphabet has been kept together under that letter. Occasional folders appear for single individuals. These files originally formed a large part of the office files of Jones and Whitener. The military records, for persons still on active duty or in the reserves, pertain to such matters as requests for transfers, reassignments, allotments, hardship discharges, deferments, and dependents to go overseas. Constituents also wrote concerning courts-martial, Officer Candidate School applications, AWOL soldiers, and efforts to locate a soldier. The veterans records include letters concerning dependency allowances, widow pension benefits, hospitalization benefits, insurance, disability claims, and appeals to the Board of Veterans Appeals. Since these papers are very routine, concerning individual benefits and requests, rather than being topical in nature, only a representative sample has been retained. The letter “C,” a large letter which includes a wide range of ethnic groups, was chosen for retention, as well as a few small subject folders.

In this series is general information about the U. S. military academies: the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, Military Academy at West Point, and Naval Academy. Included are materials such as pamphlets describing the academies, guidelines for Congressmen in appointing candidates to vacancies, and information concerning entrance examinations. The majority of this series has been discarded because it consisted of individual application materials and academic records of Whitener's appointees. Representative items were grade transcripts, letters of recommendation, biographical data, medical records, and academy entrance examination results. The Buckley Amendment of 1967 to the Privacy Act prohibits the use of such materials without the individual's written consent.

Information pertaining to a sequence of journeys that Whitener took, primarily in his official capacity as a congressman, comprises this series. The trips, from 1959 to 1968, included travels within the United States, as well as to Europe, the Far East, and South Vietnam. Included are correspondence; fact sheets, illustrated brochures, and other information concerning countries visited; press kits; speeches Whitener made; briefing material; Whitener's personal notes; and printed material. There are a number of pictures taken on the Far East Trip, Captive Nations Week trip, and Vietnam trips.

The contents concern matters relating to local post offices in Whitener's district, such as the location, construction, and dedication of new post office buildings; renting of post office quarters; improving and enlarging postal facilities; and the closing of postal stations. Other issues discussed include personnel matters, such as filling job vacancies and requests for transfers; changes and extensions of routes; a postal pay increase bill; the Civil Service retirement law; and requests for investigations of problems at post offices. The majority of the material, which consists of correspondence, printed material, and forms, is arranged by county and then subdivided by towns. The files before Whitener took office in January, 1957, are those of Woodrow Wilson Jones, Whitener's predecessor in office.

A small series containing information about government grants, primarily federal, to North Carolina programs mostly in 1967. Included are press releases, correspondence, and telegrams Whitener sent announcing grants that had been approved.

In this series are invitations for such functions as conventions, meetings, festivals and celebrations, graduations, receptions,-dedications and openings, “special day” events, Democratic rallies, anniversary events, dinners, and dances. There also are some invitations for speaking engagements. With an invitation is often a reply or a note as to whether Whitener will accept or decline the invitation. The series illustrates many of the activities of a Congressman's life. The papers are organized in a strictly chronological arrangement.

Papers which seem to have been in active use by Whitener's office staff at the time he left office, such as his 1968 correspondence with constituents. In this series are some files that overlap with material in other series, including the Military Academy files and the Military and Veterans files. Three major categories in this series are the District of Columbia, the largest; the the Alphabetical files; and the Voter lists.

Information on various topics that seems to have been needed for frequent use by Whitener's office staff. The following groups of material were discarded: lists of names and addresses to which autographed photographs of Whitener were mailed, samples of printed Christmas cards and calendars, information concerning office equipment such as typewriters, and receipts for purchases of office supplies.

Included are papers relating more directly to Whitener's private and unofficial affairs. The matters contained here range from such things as Whitener's admission to the District of Columbia Bar and his weekly radio program, to Whitener's apartment rental, bills and receipts, and family reunions.

These files were in disarray, and therefore have been organized into three major categories: Congresses, Subject Files, and General Files. In the first subdivision, Congresses, the papers are grouped by Congress, session, and then alphabetically within each session of Congress. This information was evidently kept together in this manner by Whitener's office. There is repetition in some categories in various Congresses, such as Correspondence (Alphabetical). The explanatory notes for such categories have been included in the inventory only with the earliest Congress in which the category appears. The category, Congresses, forms the bulk of the Personal Series.

In the Subject Files are topics such as the National Federation of Independent Business, which span several years. The General Files contain biographical information, financial papers, miscellany, clippings, printed material, and pictures.

The following types of items were discarded from the Personal Series: