President’s Day officially began in 1800 as a celebration of the birthday of George Washington who was born on February 22nd. When the holiday was moved to the third Monday of February in 1971, it became known more as a day to recognize the lives and work of all American presidents. In honor of this day, we wish to highlight the many presidential materials we have in Special Collections.

Most of the presidential items in Special Collections are part of the congressional and political affairs collections. These collections document Arizona politics from its territorial days until the present as well as the historical relationship between the federal government and the people of Arizona.  Individuals whose political papers are in Special Collections for public research include Henry Ashurst, Lewis W. Douglas, Morris K. Udall, Stewart L. Udall, James McNulty, Dennis DeConcini, Jim Kolbe, Jon Kyl, and Gabrielle Giffords.

These congressional files include materials on the congressman’s (or congresswoman’s) work with the president’s office.  For instance Stewart Udall was a representative from Arizona when he was chosen to be the Secretary of the Interior under President John F. Kennedy and continued on in that role under President Lyndon Johnson.  His papers document his relationship with these presidents and his influence on them in helping to pass laws regarding the environment such as the Wilderness Act.  Likewise, his brother Morris Udall ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, only to be beaten by Jimmy Carter.  His files contain his campaign material created in his desire for the presidency.

Many of the presidential items in the collections are bills passed along with the pen used to sign the bill. It is a tradition for American presidents to sign bills and then give the pen to members of Congress or other dignitaries who worked to get the legislation passed. For instance, Senator Dennis DeConcini’s papers contain letters from Presidents Carter, Reagan, and Clinton thanking him for helping to pass a certain bill along with the pen used to sign it.  Likewise, the papers of Jim Kolbe contain a letter from President Clinton with the pen used to sign the bill for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was a prominent cause in Kolbe’s time as a Congressman.

These records detail the social and political issues relevant to the work of Congress and the presidents they served. Scholars, students and the general public use these sources to learn about political issues as well as the principles and practices of democracy. Special Collections is open on President’s Day so come visit then, or any other day we are open, and take a look at some of the presidential materials we have available for research. 

-Maurita Baldock