Three years ago, the University of Rochester became stewards of the Louise M. Slaughter Congressional Collection. Since then, the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) has been processing the 484 boxes constituting Slaughter’s papers.
The collection, which represents Slaughter’s dedication to her constituents and sponsorship of landmark legislation, includes legislative research, bills that were introduced and passed, speeches, manuscripts, and other documentation of a 30-year congressional career. It reveals a lot about what and who Slaughter advocated and fought for, but there’s much more to her story than what took place behind a desk or podium. A new Slaughter collection is poised to help fill the gaps in the story of her life in politics.
RBSCP now also holds the Robert and Louise Slaughter Family Papers, a gift from the Slaughter family. Although the collection still needs to be processed, conversations with the family confirmed there’s an abundance of photos, political ephemera, and various records and memorabilia.
The full scope and extent of the materials that belonged to Slaughter and her husband, Bob, won’t be known until the processing archivist has gone through the collection. However, the expectation is that there will be pieces that open new biographical areas and potentially serve as a bridge between others.
GET THE FULL STORY: “Slaughter family papers help complete the story of a life in politics”
For more information about the Slaughter Family Papers, contact Miranda Mims, the Joseph N. Lambert and Harold B. Schleifer Director of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, at mmims@library.rochester.edu.
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