Press Series

Press Series 1965-94

Date Prepared: December 30, 1999
Updated: June 26, 2007

The Press Series of the Robert H. Michel Papers consists largely of documents which contain legislative issue information given by Michel's office to the public or other congressional offices. The bulk of the materials date from 1965 to 1994.

The Press Series is divided into seven sections. The Clippings section is organized in two ways. The first files are arranged chronologically and contain clippings from national and district newspapers, while the last are arranged by the county in which the newspaper was published. All clippings cover district issues or news relating to Michel.

The Memoranda file consists of memos exchanged within Michel's staff and between Michel's office and other members of Congress. The memos have not been processed individually, and are in a rough chronological order.

The Newsletter subgroup contains sporadic Michel Reports, Michel's constituent publication, and newsletters which providespecific subject updates. The Questionnaire file contains Illinois 18thdistrict polls and results. Both groupings are arranged chronologically.

The Remarks and Releases file, made up of 21 boxes, is the largest section in the series. Documents, dated from 1967 - 1994, include press releases, speeches, Michel's newspaper columns and radio broadcasts, and floor statements. Some folders contain Edison disc recordings along with the radio broadcasts. The folders are arranged chronologically and list the subject of each file. Although most of the folders contain only a copy of the press release or Michel's remarks, several contain drafts and reference materials.

Republican Press Secretary, the sixth section, contains letters written by Michel's Press Secretary to the Republican Press Secretary from 1981 - 85. A small number of Dear Colleague Letters from Michel are scattered throughout. The correspondence is arranged by date and provides information on legislative issues and the Republican agenda. The letters are often accompanied by position explanations, bill summaries, remarks from the Congressional Record, or newspaper articles.

The Subject category combines Michael Johnson's subject files (Johnson was Press Secretary from 1977- 85 and Chief of Staff from 1986 - 89.) with the office subject files. These folders are organized alphabetically by topic and contain letters, issue briefings, news articles, press releases, andgovernment . statements on the various issues. The Clippings, Newsletter, and Questionnaire files were part of the original Michel office subject files but have been rearranged to facilitate research.