Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Wofford, Harris and Wofford, Harris
- Abstract:
- Harris Wofford was a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, the former CEO of the Corporation of National and Community Service (CNCS, now AmeriCorps), a civil rights advocate, university president, lawyer, and writer. This collection focuses on his work supporting national service, including his time as the CEO of CNCS.
- Extent:
- 31.25 Cubic Feet (30 record cartons, 2 document boxes, 2 flat boxes, 1 oversized box, 1 oversized folder)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Harris Wofford National Service Papers, 1939-2015. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, IUPUI University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Harris Wofford was a democratic senator from Pennsylvania, the former CEO of the Corporation of National and Community Service (CNCS, now AmeriCorps), a civil rights advocate, university president, lawyer, and writer. He was born April 9, 1926 in New York City, and when he was 11 his grandmother took him on a 6-month trip around the world where he saw Mussolini's speech withdrawing Italy from the League of Nations and Gandhi on the street in Mumbai. The trip influenced him throughout the rest of his life. In high school he was the founder of the Student Federalists, a student organization that supported a federal world government. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and then in 1948 he graduated from the University of Chicago and married fellow Student Federalist Emmy Lou (Clare) Lindgren. Wofford attended law school at both Yale and Howard Universities before becoming a legal assistant for Father Theodore Hesburgh on the US Commission on Civil Rights and then a law professor at Notre Dame. He was Special Assistant for Civil Rights to President Kennedy, an advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he helped Sargent Shriver found the Peace Corps and served as its first director in Ethiopia and then as its Associate Director. In 1967 he became the first president of the State University of New York at Old Westbury, and then in 1970 became the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College. In 1978 and 1979, Wofford served as co-chairman of the Committee for the Study of National Service, which produced the report "Youth and the Needs of the Nation."
After he left Bryn Mawr, Wofford returned to practicing law until he was appointed the Pennsylvania state chairman of the Democratic party and then became the state's secretary of labor and industry in 1987. In 1991, after the death of Pennsylvanian Senator John Heinz, he was appointed to take Heinz's Senate seat and then kept the seat when he won the subsequent special election. Wofford served as a Senator until he lost his 1994 re-election campaign to Rick Santorum. During his time in the senate, he was instrumental in the passage of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and worked with Representative John Lewis to pass the King Holiday and Service Act of 1994. After leaving the Senate, President Clinton appointed him to be the CEO of the Corporation for National Service, a role he filled until the election of George W. Bush led to Leslie Lenkowsky taking over the role in 2001. That same year Wofford, whose wife Clare had died in 1996, met Matthew Charlton, who he wed in 2016. After leaving CNCS, Wofford served on several boards and advisory groups, including America's Promise, Points of Light, and Youth Service America. He campaigned for Barack Obama for the 2008 election, and President Obama awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012.
Harris Wofford wrote several books and many articles, which included "Cracking the Atom of Power" in the summer 2005 issue of National Civic Review, 1980's Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties, and India Afire, which he co-wrote with Clare Wofford in 1951. Harris Wofford died in 2019 on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day he had been instrumental in making into "a day on, not a day off."
- Scope and Content:
This collection consists of the national service papers of Harris Wofford. The collection covers the years 1939-2015, with the bulk of the material coming from the years 1994-2011. It provides an overview of the evolution of Harris Wofford's thoughts on national service as he studied, advocated for, and worked within the field. The files were presented without any discernable order, so an intellectual arrangement by subject has been imposed to make it useable to researchers. Files are generally arranged in alphabetical order unless stated otherwise. The collection is divided into 16 series: 1. Corporation for National Service/Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS/CNCS) Files 2. AmeriCorps Files 3. Learn and Serve Files 4. Senior Corps Files 5. National Service Files 6. America's Promise Files 7. Peace Corps Files 8. Faith-Based Initiatives Files 9. Points of Light Files 10. Youth Service Files 11. Subject Files 12. Student Federalists Files 13. Personal/General Files 14. Photographs 15. Artifacts 16. Digitized and Audiovisual Materials
Corporation for National Service/Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS/CNCS) Files, 1958-2015: This series primarily contains materials from Harris's time as CEO of the Corporation of National and Community Service. There are also some directly-CNCS related materials from the years after he stepped down as CEO. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) was also known as the Corporation for National Service (CNS). Both names appear in the collection and the records maintain the term used when they were created. The series includes materials related to Harris Wofford's confirmation hearings as CEO of CNS, speeches and remarks he gave as CEO, CNS/CNCS programs, CNS reauthorization materials, statements and testimonies Wofford gave to various congressional committees and subcommittees as CEO, materials on CNCS's transition from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration, and materials and reports on USA Freedom Corps. The administrative sub-series contains board of directors meeting materials, Wofford's CNCS call logs, CNS/CNCS budget materials, Office of Inspector General reports, weekly Corporation reports, correspondence, and correspondence and memos to and from the President and the White House, among others. The publications sub-series includes newsletters, brochures, articles Wofford collected or wrote about CNCS, and corporation guidebooks.
AmeriCorps Files, 1975-2015: The AmeriCorps series consists materials from the AmeriCorps organization that was one of the main programs under the CNCS umbrella during Harris Wofford's tenure at the corporation. The entire CNCS agency is now known as AmeriCorps, but this series focuses only on the AmeriCorps program, not the larger agency or any of its other programs. It contains materials for AmeriCorps programs including AmeriCorps*VISTA, program reports, surveys, materials from site monitoring and visits, and Wofford's AmeriCorps speeches. The administrative files sub-series includes program directories, correspondence, press releases, and an AmeriCorps first-year review. The National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) sub-series contains advisory board meeting materials and materials on SAVE*NCCC. The publications sub-series includes guides, handbooks, articles and clippings, newsletters, and brochures.
Learn and Serve Files, 1988-2009: The Learn and Serve Files contain materials from the CNS/CNCS Learn and Serve America program as well as other service-learning related files. The series includes reports, correspondence, and materials from national, state, and local service-learning programs. The publication sub-series includes brochures, articles, mailers, fact sheets, newsletters, and booklets from Learn and Serve and other service-learning programs.
Senior Corps, 1976-2002: The Senior Corps Files series includes materials regarding the CNS/CNCS Senior Corps program as well as items about the engagement of seniors in volunteering and national service. There are program reports and surveys; and materials concerning the Burden Center for the Aging, Experience Corps, and the Purpose Prize among others. The publications sub-series has articles, programs, brochures, and newsletters various senior service programs.
National Service, 1947-2015: The National Service Files contain national service-related materials outside of Harris Wofford's time as CEO of CNS/CNCS as well as national service materials that fall outside the scope of the specific organizations that have their own series. Most of the files date from the years after Wofford left CNCS, but there are some that pre-date CNS/CNCS. Of note in this series are correspondence, reports, and drafts from the 1978-79 Committee for the Study of National Service; materials regarding the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009; and materials, correspondence, and drafts from the proposed US Public Service Academy. This series also includes the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service Files sub-series, which contains materials and toolkits from Martin Luther King Day of Service events, Wofford's speeches about the Day of Service, and materials regarding the King Holiday and Service Act of 1994 that was co-authored by Wofford. The publications sub-series contains articles on national service authored or co-authored by Wofford, a draft of a book proposal he edited by with John Gomperts, and other articles on national service.
America's Promise Files, 1991-2015: The America's Promise Files series contains materials from Wofford's time as co-chair of the organization as well as America's Promise-related materials from both before and after his tenure. There are materials from the America's Promise Working Group, the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows programs, information on the Five Promises, and various other America's Promise programs as well as administrative files and publications. The Administrative Files sub-series has advisory board and board of directors meeting minutes and agendas, annual reports, an incomplete set of Wofford's call logs and schedules from his time as co-chair, and copies of Report to the Nation from the late 1990s, as well as correspondence, memos, directories, and press releases. The Presidents' Summit sub-series has information on the lead up to the Summit, an announcement, articles, an America's Promise packet from the Summit, copies of remarks made by the presidents at the Summit, and a copy of Harris Wofford's story of how the Summit came to be. The State and Local Promise Programs sub-series, which is organized alphabetically by state, consists of materials, packets, and summaries from state and local Promise programs. The Publications sub-series has an incomplete set of America's Promise Bulletins and of the America's Promise Daily News Briefings, an AmeriCorps Promise Fellows handbook, articles, guidebooks to becoming a promise program, and various brochures, fact sheets, and newsletters regarding America's Promise and its associated programs.
Peace Corps Files, 1960-2015: The Peace Corps Files contain materials from Harris Wofford's years working for the Peace Corps as well as materials from his speeches and writings on the Peace Corps, information on the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Peace Corps anniversaries, correspondence to and from Sargent Shriver, materials regarding the Sargent Shriver documentary American Idealist, Peace Corps-related publications, and a folder of notes, correspondence, and articles about Wofford as a candidate for the Director of the Peace Corps in 1995. The Administrative Files sub-series contains correspondence, memos, and reports on the Peace Corps as well a paper listing excerpts from Sargent Shriver's original report to President Kennedy proposing the establishment of the Peace Corps. The Anniversary Files sub-series contains speeches, articles, reports, and surveys from the 4th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, 40th +1, and 50th Peace Corps anniversaries. The Sargent Shriver Files sub-series has correspondence, proposals, and drafts about the Shriver documentary film American Idealist, correspondence between or about Harris Wofford and Sargent Shriver, and a copy of an LBJ Library oral history interview of Shriver. The Publications sub-series has Peace Corps related articles, brochures, newsletters, booklets, and books, as well as the 1967 and 1968 editions of the Peace Corps Reader.
Faith-Based Initiatives Files, 1998-2009: The Faith-Based Initiatives Files contain reports, correspondence, booklets, and memos about faith-based initiatives during the George W. Bush administration; discussion drafts and notes about an "Armies of Compassion" bill proposed after September 11th, 2001; and drafts, notes, correspondence, and briefing books from the Working Group on Human Needs and Faith-Based and Community Initiatives meetings held in 2001 and 2003.
Points of Light Files, 1989-2015: The Points of Light Files consist of items related to the Points of Light Foundation and Points of Light, which was created from the merger of the Points of Light Foundation and the HandsOn Network (HON) in 2007. The series contains materials from Points of Light programs, the organization's relationship with the Volunteer Center National Network, a small number of files from the HandsOn Network before the merger, and a list of daily POL honorees from over a 20-year time span. The administrative files sub-series has board meeting minutes from Points of Light before and after the merger with the HandsOn Network, annual reports, directories, strategic planning materials, and materials from the merger with HON. The 2009 Points of Light board meeting minutes and packets arrived completely mixed together with no discernible organization, so an attempt has been made to put them into a usable order for researchers.
Youth Service, 1968-2013: The Youth Service Files series contains materials from Youth Service America (YSA) as well as other youth-service related files. The series includes reports, correspondence, speeches, Global Youth Service Day materials, YSA Harris Wofford Award materials, Harris Wofford's YSA board of directors' correspondence and board materials, and files on programs such as Youth Voter Corps and Youth Build USA. The publications sub-series has articles, newsletters, and booklets on youth service as well as an incomplete set of YSA's The National Youth Service Briefing.
Subject Files, 1955-2015: The Subject Files series consists of materials from individuals, projects, initiatives, nonprofits, foundations, and universities that were related or adjacent to national service and that Harris Wofford was either involved in or interested in. The Subject Files series includes twelve subseries: The Aspen Institute Franklin Project Files, Barack Obama Files, the Brookings Institution Files, Campus Compact Files, City Year Files, Civic Enterprises Files, The Clintons Files, College at Old Westbury Files, Project Pericles Files, ServiceNation/ServiceWorld Files, The Sheridan Group Files, and the University of Maryland Files. Persons and families of note in this series include the Clintons, Barack Obama, Eric Greitens, Fabian Barnes, Father Theodore Hesburgh, John Bridgeland, and the Kennedys. Materials in the subject files series include correspondence, reports, notes, articles, speeches, and meeting minutes. Of particular interest are two February 2009 emails where Harris Wofford answers questions about his time at Howard University for an interview.
Student Federalists Files, 1939-2009: This series contains materials from Harris Wofford's days in the Student Federalist movement. There are copies of a large amount of correspondence (a mix of personal and business) between Wofford, Clare Lundgren (before they were married), and Thomas L. (Tam) Hughes during the years they were the first three presidents of the Student Federalists. There are also bulletins and newsletters, brochures and pamphlets, clippings, and other correspondence regarding the Student Federalists as well as the larger world federalist movement.
Personal/General Files, 1955-2013: The Personal/General Files series includes materials by or about Harris that are unrelated to national service. It includes notes, biographies, an untitled and incomplete book draft, and materials from Harris Wofford's work on the Kisumu Project in Kenya. It also contains a Speeches and Articles sub-series with articles and speeches by or given by Wofford that were unrelated to national service, an Awards sub-series with materials from awards given to Wofford or awards where he wrote a recommendation or was on the selection committee or board, and a Conferences sub-series with materials from non-national service conferences he attended.
Photographs, 1960-2014: The Photographs series contains several folders of photos taken at specific events such as the 2013 Peace Corps Ethiopia and Eritrea II Reunion, a CNS Experience Corps Seniors for Schools event, and an United States Institute of Peace Father Hesburgh event in May 2010. There are also several Peace Corps photographs and pictures of Harris Wofford with several Presidents and other government officials as well as several unidentified photographs.
Artifacts: The collection contains a small amount of mostly undated artifacts including several America's Promise pins, a Presidents' Summit for America's Future lanyard and card, and a South Carolina School of Promise flag.
Digitized and Audiovisual Materials, 1985-201 This series consists of five audiocassettes, ten VHS, ten DVDs and DVD-Rs, two CD-ROMs, one CD-R, and one 3 ½" floppy. Nine of the DVD and DVD-Rs, one of the CD-ROMs, and the floppy disc have been digitized and include documentaries on Sargent Shriver and John Gardner, an un-edited interview with Harris Wofford and John Kasich, a paper on Gandhi by Harris Wofford, and programs on Global Peace Festivals and service-learning at Columbia University. The other CD-ROM, one DVD-R, and the VHS and audiocassettes have not been digitized. Topics include the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, CNS, and Senior Corps.
- Acquisition information:
- Presented by Harris Wofford, January 2019. Includes accessions 2018/19-026 and 2018/19-043.
- Rules or conventions:
- DACS-Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- General note:
English
Rights Statement: The text of this webpage is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).
- Bibliography:
McFadden, Robert D. "Harris Wofford, 92, Ex-Senator Who Pushed Volunteerism, Is Dead." New York Times, January 22, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/politics/harris-wofford-dead.html.
Woo, Elaine. "Harris Wofford, civil rights activist who helped Kennedy win the White House, dies at 92." Washington Post, January 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/harris-wofford-civil-rights-activist-who-helped-kennedy-win-the-white-house-dies-at-92/2019/01/22/026fe870-1e09-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html
Indexed Terms
- Subjects:
- National service -- United States
Nonprofit organizations -- United States
Service learning -- United States
Voluntarism -- United States
Legislators -- United States - Names:
- Corporation for National and Community Service (U.S.)
America's Promise. The Alliance for Youth
Corporation for National Service (U.S.)
Peace Corps (U.S.)
Learn & Serve America (Program : Corporation for National Service)
AmeriCorps (U.S.)
Points of Light Foundation
Youth Service America
United States. National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993
Aspen Institute
United World Federalists (U.S.)
Wofford, Harris
Wofford, Harris
Online content
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Personnel records and other personal information are restricted. All other material is open to the public without restriction.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
The copyright laws of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) govern the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Harris Wofford National Service Papers, 1939-2015. Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives, IUPUI University Library, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Indianapolis
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
University Library 0133755 West Michigan StreetIndianapolis, Indiana 46202, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Indianapolis
- CONTACT:
-
speccoll@iu.edu