Wayne Owens papers, 1950-2010

The Wayne Owens papers (1950-2010) document his campaigns, his years in the United States House of Representatives, and his interest in the Middle East peace process.

The filing system of the collection has been retained, for the most part, as it was created. Boxes 1-3 include personal records of Wayne Owens. Of particular interest is the "Diary of A Candidate," an account of Owens's walking campaign for congressman. There is material on a film project "The New Congressman" with which Owens was involved. The rest of the papers in these boxes are personal schedules, mailing lists, campaign items, speeches, and statements.

The legislation Owens sponsored or co-sponsored in the Ninety-Third Congress is contained in Box 4. The records are separated into bills, resolutions, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions and filed numerically.

Boxes 5-13 contain the correspondence Owens sent to his constituents. Included are a few letters received by Owens. The boxes are arranged chronologically starting with January 1973 and ending with December 1974. Within the boxes the folders are arranged alphabetically according to the name of the constituent.

Consolidated correspondence, letters from constituents, and replies from Owens are in Boxes 14-44. These boxes are arranged alphabetically according to topic and sub-topic, with general correspondence filed first. Within the topics, the correspondence is arranged chronologically. The last of the material is of Senator Frank E. Moss of Utah, a Democrat who served in Congress the same time as Owens. Moss's stand on issues, his bills, speeches, and correspondence are in this portion.

The records concerned with the United States House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs are in boxes 45-52. Numerous environmental items are included. The folders contain correspondence to and from Owens as well as general source material. The records are arranged alphabetically according to subject, beginning with Air Pollution and ending with Zion Park Wilderness. Energy was a major concern of the Ninety-Third Congress, and a great deal of information on that subject, both on the national and local scene, is included in the material.

Boxes 53-69 are United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary records. Wayne Owens was a member of the Impeachment Inquiry Committee of President Richard M. Nixon and on the committee investigating Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller, vice presidential nominees.

The Impeachment Inquiry Committee records (Boxes 53-61) consist of evidence summaries, staff reports, testimonies, proceedings, transcripts of taped conversations, articles of impeachment, etc. Included is some correspondence from constituents. Boxes 62-64 contain articles on Watergate or the impeachment of President Nixon. The xeroxed articles came from newspapers, magazines, journals, etc., published in the United States and some foreign countries. The folders are arranged alphabetically according to the title of the publication and the articles filed chronologically within the folder, except the articles published in Utah newspapers the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News. These are filed at the end along with several law review articles.

Box 65 contains the Gerald R. Ford vice presidential nomination material, and Boxes 66-69 the Rockefeller vice presidential nomination records. There is a large amount of information on the background and finances of Rockefeller.

Boxes 70-81 contain general source material covering a wide range of national and local topics. The material is arranged alphabetically according to topic.

Addenda to the collection were processed as they came in, and retain folder titles where possible. Material is arranged in rough chronological order, with subject files alphabetical.