Records of the Arlington County Democratic Committee, 1952-1978

Access and use

Location of collection:
Arlington Public Library
Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History
1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22201
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (703) 228-5966

Summary

Extent:
12 boxes
Creator:
Arlington County Democratic Committee
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Record Group 137 houses the records of the Arlington County Democratic Committee. The record group measures approximately 5.5 linear feet and dates from 1952 to 1978, with the majority of the materials dating from the 1960s. Types of materials include minutes, campaign flyers, sample ballots, delegate forms for local and state political conventions, precinct poll books, financial records, and clippings.

The Arlington Democratic committee has as its function the promotion of the objectives and platform of the Democratic Party. Series 1, Subseries 1 concerns Arlington and Virginia conventions, chiefly for 1964. Subseries 2 contains internal party papers including voter lists and election returns, political surveys, minutes, and correspondence. Series 2 contains local and state, with some national campaign flyers and promotional materials, chiefly for the 1960s with some from the 1950s and 1970s. Series 3 contains clippings removed from the other series.

The records document the changing attitudes of the Arlington Democrats throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as well as concerns about race relations, poll taxes, education, city growth, voting irregularities and Hatch Act compliance. Clippings, correspondence, and minutes show tensions between the conservative and liberal wings of the party, especially during the 1964 campaign, when conservatives were not enthusiastic about the national ticket.

A few representative names appearing in the records are: William Graham, chairman of the committee in 1964; Ralph Kaul, the 1960 candidate from the 10th District; Augustus C. (Gus) Johnson, the 1964 candidate for Congress from the 10th Virginia District; Joel T. Broyhill, longtime Republican congressman for the 10th District; and Mary A. Marshall, long serving delegate in the Virginia House.

Acquisition information:
Donated by the Arlington County Democratic Committee in 2002.
Arrangement:

Record Group 137 is organized into three series. Series 1, Subseries 1 is arranged chronologically, and Subseries 2 alphabetically. Series 2 and Series 3 are arranged chronologically.

Physical description:
.