Anne Armstrong Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974

Title: Anne Armstrong Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974

Dates: 1969-1974

Collection Number: 6117716

Creator/Collector: Armstrong, Anne Legendre

Extent: 32 linear feet, 10 linear inches; 75 boxes

Repository: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Abstract: The files contained in the Anne L. Armstrong series reflect her responsibilities as Counselor to the President, as the first head of the Office of Women’s Programs, and as a member of the Cost of Living Council (a part of the Economic Stabilization Program) and the Bicentennial Commission. The files, in addition, cover other domestic issues, including minority affairs, youth, the Federal Property Council, and the Domestic Council. Prior to her appointment as Counselor on January 19, 1973, Anne L. Armstrong served as Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research. Some materials may be unavailable based upon categories of materials exempt from public release established in the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974.

Most government records are in the public domain, however, this series includes commercial materials, such as newspaper clippings, that may be subject to copyright restrictions. Researchers should contact the copyright holder for information.

Anne Armstrong Papers, White House Central Files, 1969-1974. Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

These materials are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration under the provisions of Title I of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-526, 88 Stat. 1695) and implementing regulations.

The materials of Anne Armstrong, Counsellor to the President, reflect her responsibilities as the first head of the Office of Women's programs, and other domestic affairs activities, including minority affairs, youth, the Federal Property Council and the Bicentennial. The first woman Cabinet member since Oveta Culp Hobby, Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in the Eisenhower Administration (1953-1955), Anne Armstrong was appointed on January 19, 1973, and stayed until December 1974 in the Ford Administration. The first three files series, the Alphabetical File, Administrative File, and Subject File, reflect the activities of Anne Armstrong. The Alphabetical File contains correspondence of Anne Armstrong with Administration officials, Republican party members, and Texas and Louisiana political and personal acquaintances including Constance Armitage, Virginia Allan, Roger Ailes, Helen Deitrich Bentley, Arthur Burns, George Bush, Earl Butz, Julie Eisenhower, Barbara Franklin, the first women's recruiter in the White House and her successor, Nola Smith, Gerald and Betty Ford, Representative Martha Griffiths, Virginia Knauer, Gov. Ronald Reagan, Herbert Stein, and Senators John Stennis, John Tower and Strom Thurmond. The Administrative File includes Anne Armstrong's correspondence with President Richard Nixon, Patrick Buchanan, Kenneth Cole, John Ehrlichman, Gen. Alexander Haig, Jerry Jones, Bruce Kehrli, David Parker and Ronald Ziegler. Among the subjects addressed in this file are the Administration's position on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), job appointments for women and Hispanics, beef prices, farm policies, and price controls. The Subject File contains information concerning the organization, job appointments and local activities of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. The chronological file "Central Files-Nixon Papers-Miscellaneous Correspondence" documents a variety of activities in Anne Armstrong's office from late 1973-July 1974. There is also a large file of job applications and resumes and a collection of ERA endorsements from Presidents, Vice Presidents and senators. The next five series primarily concern the work of Anne Armstrong's staff on women's issues. These include: the Staff Correspondence and Memoranda File; the Staff Miscellany File; the Jill Ruckelshaus, Patricia Lindh and Jean Spencer File; the Vera Hirschberg File and the Office of Women's Programs File. Jill Ruckelshaus, wife of former Environmental Protection Agency Director and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, joined Anne Armstrong's office as a part-time Special Assistant from early 1973 to March 1974. A member of the National Women's Political Caucus, Jill Ruckelshaus was assisted by Vera Hirschberg, Director of the Office of Women's Programs, and served as an Administration liaison for women's issues. Her work was continued by Staff Assistants Dr. Jean Spencer, formerly of Vice President Agnew's office and Ruckelshaus' successor, Patricia Lindh, former Republican National Committeewoman from Louisiana. Patricia Lindh succeeded Anne Armstrong in December 1974 as Special Assistant to the President for Women. Vera Hirschberg's successor, Karen Keesling, also served in the Ford Administration. The Staff Correspondence and Memoranda File contains a chronological file of correspondence from Anne Armstrong and her staff members Pamela Powell, David Wheat, Jill Ruckelshaus, Vera Hirschberg, Jean Spencer, Patricia Lindh, Karen Keesling, and Harriet Yedowski, executive secretary to Jill Ruckelshaus. Topics addressed in the chronological file include: the ERA, abortion, Phyllis Schafly, federal government programs for women, credit legislation and Watergate. The Staff Correspondence and Memoranda File also contains information about Anne Armstrong's and Jayne Spain's meetings with government agency heads concerning affirmative action programs for women; Anne Armstrong's meetings with the leaders of national, political, professional, religious and academic women's organizations; and the September 20, 1973 meeting of the Council of Economic Advisors Advisory Committee on the Economic Role of Women. Also found in this file are invitations, speeches, and travel arrangements of Jill Ruckelshaus. The Staff Miscellany File materials may duplicate or supplement information in the Alphabetical File and the Staff Correspondence and Memoranda File mentioned above. Subjects include Administration and Federal government programs, ERA ratification, women's organizations, job appointments, invitations, the presentation of a Susan B. Anthony bust, sex discrimination, and Mrs. Pat Nixon's December 5, 1973 reception for a symposium on women by the Council of Economic Advisors and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Correspondents include: Anne Armstrong, staff members Jill Ruckelshaus, Vera Hirschberg, Pamela Powell and Beth Gordon; Barbara Franklin; Frederick Malek; Virginia Allan, State Department; Bernice Sanders, Women's Equity Action League; Carmen Maymi, Civil Service Commission; and Republican National Committee Chairman George Bush. The Jill Ruckelshaus, Patricia Lindh and Jean Spencer File contains information about Federal government affirmative action hiring programs, the Federal Women's Program, women Presidential appointees, the Commission on Civil Rights, International Women's Year, Hispanic Americans, domestic workers, women in the military and military academies, part-time employment, activities for Administration appointees' wives, sex discrimination, and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which mandated non-discriminatory education and faculty employment and promotion practices. Also of interest are chronological files of Inter/Inner Office Memos, 1971-1973, started by Barbara Franklin, and correspondence between Anne Armstrong and state legislators for and against the Equal Rights Amendment. The Vera Hirschberg File provides information about Federal government affirmative action plans and visits to agency heads by Anne Armstrong and Jayne Spain. Other topics addressed include domestic workers, abortion, the Citizen's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, Credit Legislation, Title IX, the House of Representatives Joint Economic Committee Hearing on the Economic Role of Women, maternity leaves, the minimum wage, the National Women's Party's Sewell-Belmont House, Social Security, women in military, women in the White House, women in military academies, and Anne Armstrong's meetings with leaders of women's organizations. A small amount of the correspondence of Vera Hirschberg's successor , Karen Keesling, is also found in the files. The Office of Women's Programs File contains many of the same correspondents and subjects and serves as a supplement to the Jill Ruckelshaus, Jean Spencer and Patricia Lindh and Vera Hirschberg Files. The files include information about abortion, the Citizen's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, Anne Armstrong's meetings and speeches, the role of Administration appointees' wives, the Bicentennial, child care, domestic workers, Barbara Franklin's correspondence, International Women's Year, Hispanic and women's mailing lists, the White House Fellows, women appointees, and the Council of Economic Advisors Advisory Committee on the Economic Role of Women and their joint efforts with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Barbara Franklin Reference File contains materials from the office of Barbara Franklin, Staff Assistant for Executive Manpower, under Fred Malek of the White House personnel office. As the most visible women's representative in the Administration prior to Anne Armstrong's appointment, Barbara Franklin recruited top-level women in the Administration and Federal Government, monitored government affirmative action plans, served as a liaison with women's organizations and promoted 1972 campaign. Many of these materials have been duplicated throughout the Anne Armstrong files. The Office File sub-series of the Barbara Franklin Reference File contains a one-year update on Administration accomplishments since Barbara Franklin's appointment in April 1971. The file includes a proposed statement on the ERA, annotated by President Richard Nixon, White House press releases Presidential statements, and reasons for and against the Administration support of the ERA. The first Subject File sub-series of the Barbara Franklin Reference File contains material concerning Presidential meetings and swearing-in ceremonies with women appointees, congratulatory telegrams, schedule proposals for the President and First Family and fact sheets. The files of Judith Kaufman, Franklin's assistant, contain the correspondence of Franklin, Kaufman and Judith Cole, who was responsible for the White House Talent Bank of women job candidates. An "Issues" file includes Administration policies on domestic issues such as aging, crime and the economy, and comments by Wilma Scott Heide, President of the National Organization for Women and Rep. Bella Abzug. There are also files on prominent women and political figures. Files on "Women-Publicity and Public Relations" concern the 1972 campaign. The second Subject File sub-series in the Barbara Franklin Reference File includes a large newsclipping file on women. There are also materials on Administration directives, speeches, and government agency affirmative action policies for women. The Outside Women's Organizations File contains correspondence from United States and international women's professional, religious, political and academic organizations. The files were originally started by Barbara Franklin's office in 1971 and updated by Patricia Lindh in 1974. Notable correspondents, whose materials can be found throughout the Anne Armstrong files, include Bernice Sandler of the Association of American Colleges and the Women's Equity Action League, Jacqueline Gutwillig of the Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Margaret Belcher of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Osta Underwood of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Wilma Scott Heide of the National Organization for Women, and Elizabeth Chittick of the National Women's Party. Also of interest is a letter from Pat Nixon (April 17, 1972) to Lorraine Beebe of the National Women's Political Caucus. The Publications File includes printed materials, periodicals and statistical reports concerning women from state governments, the Senate, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor, the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities, the Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Republican National Committee, the American Enterprise Institute, the American Political Science Association and other organizations. The briefing books file of staff member Helena E. "Beth" Gordon, Correspondence and Research Coordinator, contains notebooks and folders for Anne Armstrong's meetings of trips. Correspondents include: Fred Slight, Kathie Berger, David Wheat, Vera Hirschberg, Jean Spencer, and Pamela Powell of Anne Armstrong's staff, John Shales, John Mollering, William Timmons, Roy Ash, Leonard Garment, Kenneth Cole, and Republican National Committee officials Peter Roussel and George Bush. Subjects include state and local politics and Bicentennial activities (including American Indian Bicentennial activities in Oklahoma and Oregon), the Legacy of Parks programs, the economy, election reform, foreign affairs, Watergate, and Hispanic, youth and women's programs. Further information about Anne Armstrong can be found in the White House Central Files Staff Member and Office Files of her staff members Pamela Powell, Fred Slight, and David Wheat. Files related to women's job appointments include the White House Special Files, Staff Member and Office Files of Frederick Malek and the White House Central Files, Staff Member and Office Files of Barbara Franklin, Nola Smith and David Smyth. Also of interest are the White House Central Files, Staff Member and Office Files of Herbert Stein (Council of Economic Advisors' studies and programs on the economic status of women), Charles Clapp (Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities), and Andre Buckels, Leonard Garment and Bradley Patterson (Bicentennial). The White House Central Files, Subject Files include FG 75 (American Revolution Bicentennial Administration), FG 90 (Commission on Civil Rights), FG 145 (Cabinet Committee on Opportunity for Spanish Speaking People), FG 147 (Interdepartmental Committee on the Status of Women), FG 221 (Task Force), and HU 2-5 (Human Rights-Women). The Gerald R. Ford Library contains the files of Anne Armstrong and the combined files of Patricia Lindh and Jeanne Holm, Special Assistants to the President for Women.