Scope and Content Note
The papers of Nancy Pelosi (1940- ) span the years 1930-2012 with the bulk of the material dating from 1987 to 2010. The papers are organized into the following series: Administrative File, Constituent File, Correspondence, Digital Files, Events and Scheduling, Leadership File, Legislative File, Personal File, Political File, and Press and Communications. Withdrawn series include Restricted, Closed, Classified, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Oversize.
Although a small amount of family and personal papers are found in the Personal File and scattered throughout the Correspondence series, the Pelosi papers are focused on her service in the United States Congress starting in 1987, and document her historic role as the first woman Speaker of the House and her activities in other Democratic leadership positions. The papers represent a broad range of Pelosi's congressional activities, including political actions, budget and legislative processes, public appearances and speeches, and routine administrative duties. Many file groupings were created and used by staff members and have been maintained and identified with the staff member's name. Notable staff members with identified files include former chiefs of staff Carolyn A. Bartholomew, John A. Lawrence, Judith Lemons, Terri McCullough, and Catlin O'Neill. Other staff members with prominent files are Dean Aguillen, Scott Boule, Amy Fuerstenau, Jerry Hartz, Lara Levison, Lori Pepper, and Carlos Sanchez. The collection is highly interconnected; files related to a particular topic may be found in more than one location.
The Administrative File represents Pelosi's San Francisco and Washington, D.C., office operations and staff. Calendars, call and visitor logs, contact lists, staff lists, job descriptions, staff manuals as well as some individual chief of staff files document the workings of the offices. Also included here are files regarding Pelosi's office facilities in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., as well as some material on the organization of Pelosi's first congressional office in 1988.
The Constituent File concerns Pelosi's work for her home district in San Francisco and the Bay Area of California, variously numbered as the 5th, 8th, and 12th districts. Prominent file groups document Pelosi's role in establishing and maintaining national parks in the San Francisco Bay area, her concerns with the economic and environmental issues surrounding the closure of military bases in her district, and her commitment to the improvement of water resources and transportation networks in northern California. The series is organized into ten subseries: Alphabetical File, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Grants, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Maritime National Historical Park, Predecessors (files from the previous Congressional representatives, John L. Burton, Phillip Burton, and Sala Galant Burton), Presidio, Transportation, Treasure Island, and Water Resources.
The Correspondence series is largely arranged as received from Pelosi's office. The correspondence groups created by her staff have been maintained as subseries with the addition of a Miscellaneous correspondence subseries for loose correspondence that was not connected to another file. The Alphabetical and the Chronological subseries contain an assortment of correspondents; top government officials, international leaders, fellow members of Congress, California citizens, and personal friends are all represented in these files. Formal congressional correspondence is in the Co-signed Letters and Dear Colleague Letters subseries. A set of form letter responses that were used by Pelosi's staff comprises the Issue Mail subseries. Other Correspondence subseries are Miscellaneous, Recommendation Letters, Reports and Logs, Thank You Letters, and White House .
The Digital Files series is in two subseries: General Files and Withdrawn Files from the Paper Files. The General Files were copied from the Pelosi office's server and are independent of the paper files. These files are primarily staff files, events, scheduling, press and communications, and House Democratic Caucus material. Withdrawn Files from the Paper Files are from digital storage media removed from paper files in the course of processing and are primarily image and video files. A cross reference to the original location in the paper files is provided for each of the Withdrawn Files.
The Events and Scheduling series has two subseries. The Chronological subseries documents Pelosi's many speaking appearances, fundraisers, meetings, conferences and other events. The chronologically arranged folders usually include planning material, speech notes, and items from the event. Itineraries, schedules, and calendars are also included in this subseries as well as a large file for the 2009 Presidential inauguration. The Speeches subseries is primarily composed of the files of staff speech writers.
The Leadership File focuses on Pelosi's campaigns for House leadership positions: democratic whip, minority leader and Speaker of the House. The series documents her assumption of these positions as well as many of the duties and activities specific to the leadership position.
The Legislative File is the largest series in the collection. The file reflects her work with various committees and caucuses including the appropriations, ethics, and intelligence committees and the House Democratic Caucus. The series documents the wide range of legislative issues and priorities that came before the House of Representatives. The files of Pelosi's director of floor operations, Jerry Hartz, is in a separate Floor Operations subseries and is arranged as received. Early in her House career, Pelosi formed a congressional working group on China, which is also documented in this series as are files on her various trips with congressional delegations. The series is divided into nine subseries: Appropriations, Committees and Caucuses, Congressional Delegations, Congressional Working Group on China, Floor Operations, Floor Statements, Issues File, Legislative Activity Guides, and Staff Files.
The Personal File includes biographical material, files about awards received, Pelosi's involvement with non-congressional organizations and conferences, financial documents, and family papers, including items concerning her father, Thomas D'Alesandro, the former mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. Personal, professional, family, and miscellaneous photographs are also found in the Personal File.
Papers in the Political File relate to Pelosi's political campaigns, her fundraising trips and events, and her part in national Democratic politics. As a House leader, Pelosi played a role in crafting political messaging for the Democratic party. Files for the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee document Pelosi's prominent role in national party politics. Additionally, this series has files concerning California politics, including the recall election of Governor Gray Davis.
The Press and Communications series contains both press coverage of Pelosi and her office's official communications. Included are news clippings, mailers, press releases, statements, editorials, transcripts of press conferences and interviews, website information, and contacts lists. Files relating to Pelosi's memoir Know Your Power are also in this series.