Archives West Finding Aid

This series contains voluminous correspondence on almost all issues brought before the U.S. House of Representatives during the 88th and 89th Congresses, 1963-1966. The folders, arranged alphabetically by subject, contain letters from White's constituents, copies of his replies, printed copies of legislative bills, copies of statements presented before Congressional committees, pamphlets sent to White by organizations or constituents, and occasionally White's notes on meetings with other members of Congress.

There are many types of correspondence, individual letters, mimeographed form letters, and pre-printed postal cards. Most letters are requests to White to vote a certain way on a particular piece of legislation; often organizations would write thanking White for his support of legislation which was favorable to them. White frequently referred letters which expressed strong interest in or opinions on bills before Congressional committees to the committee chairmen who would often respond detailing committee progress on the bill. This correspondence also forms part of the collection.

Since a Congressman receives mail from so many people it was deemed impractical to keep a complete name file of all correspondents, although a partial file was maintained for organizations and correspondents who wrote on many subjects. Likewise a file was maintained for the miscellaneous and legislative material found in the folders.

The following is a list of the folders in each box. The folder numbers correspond to the numbers on the name index file cards. Where necessary the types of letters found or subjects covered is also included; mention is also made if a folder contains legislation. It should be mentioned that some subjects are contained in more than one folder.

The three boxes in this series contain the bills introduced by Representatives White in the 88th and 89th Congresses. Usually each folder will contain, in addition to White's bill, companion bills, similar bills from previous legislatures, reports of government departments, records of hearings, statements of interested people before Congressional committees, and correspondence relating to the bill. By far the largest amount of material is found in connection with H.R. 4184, the silver coinage bill.

Only the bills are listed below; the extraneous material is noted on the file cards maintained for this archival group. The first date is the date the bill was introduced and referred to committee; the second is the date the bill was reported to the House of Representatives from the committee.

Many of Compton White's constituents wrote to him about problems they were having with the federal bureaucracy, whether it was obtaining a hardship discharge from the military service, requesting assistance in getting relatives into the United States from foreign countries, or requesting aid in straightening out problems with Social Security or the Veterans Administration. White always referred the constituent's letter to the proper federal agency and kept in touch with both the agency and his constituent until a final determination had been made in the case. The results may not always have been what the constituent had hoped for, but many expressed their gratitude to the Congressman for finally obtaining a decision.

Smaller communities often wrote White for assistance in obtaining federal funds for local improvement projects, usually water and sewer improvements. He would then write to the agency involved letting them know of his interest in the application. He continued to follow the progress of the application until the agency decided whether or not to fund the project.

Other special interest groups would write urging White to support the use of their product in federal programs. These letters were referred to the proper agency, but there is usually no follow-up correspondence.

In all cases the correspondence received from the federal departments, whether a brief letter of acknowledgment or a multi-paged report, is retained in the folders. Since most agencies sent at least one carbon copy of their correspondence, White was able to send a copy of all pertinent material to the constituent whose letter had initiated the contact. Also included are the informational brochures sent by the various agencies. The Department of the Treasury folder contains 13 photographs of Compton White's trip to Venezuela to sign the SWAP agreement and inspect a housing project.

Listed below are the folder headings; since most material deals with personal appeals for assistance, the contents of the folders are not mentioned, but are contained on the file cards maintained for this series.