Henry Hall Wilson (#8.29)

A Register of His White House Files, 1961-1963
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
Note to Researchers
List of Series
Series Description


Administrative Information

Abstract
White House Staff Files 1961-1963
Lawyer, government official. Administrative Assistant to the President (1961-67). Subject files as White House liaison to the House of Representatives. 

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the letter of transfer 1965, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States.  Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish.

Copyright
It is the donor's wish that the material be made available for research use to the fullest extent possible. Documents in the Wilson Papers prepared by officials of the United States as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Under the provisions of the United States Copyright Law, copyright in any writing created before January 1, 1978, and not in the public domain, rests with the author and his heirs for the period of the life of the author plus 50 years or for 100 years from the date the item was created if the author's date of death is unknown. Users of these documents are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they plan to publish.

Provenance
Received under President's deed in 1965; from Abraham Holtzmann, in August 1986 (Acc. 1981-055); and from the estate of Henry Hall Wilson in June 1992 (Acc. 1992-057).  

The files of Henry Hall Wilson, Administrative Assistant to the President, Congressional Liaison Office, were donated to the Kennedy Library in 1965 as part of the papers of John F. Kennedy.  In 1986 Professor Abraham Holtzmann, who was given the papers by Mr. Wilson's family after his death, donated the an additional five feet of material.  In 1992, the estate of Henry Hall Wilson donated an essay written by Wilson.

Extent
5800 items (5 linear feet, 9 linear inches ; 6.5 cubic feet).

Date Opened
June 1977
June 1995

Processed by
Jennifer Walton

Encoded by
Jennifer Miller

Revisions
Collection and finding aid updated in December 2002 by Jennifer Miller.

Related Collections
Congressional Liaison Office, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Lawrence O'Brien Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Lawrence O'Brien Oral History Interviews, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Henry Hall Wilson Papers, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
  

The White House Files of Henry Hall Wilson

Biographical Note

Collection Overview
The Presidential papers of John F. Kennedy consist of several major bodies of research material. The White House Central Subject File is the principal White House file. The White House Name File contains copies of most incoming correspondence arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent and is cross-referenced to the Subject File. The Chronological File contains copies of documents prepared for the President's signature and is also cross-referenced to the Subject File. The Social File contains the records of the White House Social Office and includes the correspondence of the First Lady. The President's Office File contains the papers maintained by the President's personal secretary for his use. The National Security File contains the records of the staff of the special assistant to the President for national security affairs.

In addition, in what were called in the White House "storage" or "overflow" files are found various miscellaneous materials and the records of the offices of most members of the President's staff. The files described in this finding aid constitute one of the series of White House staff files included in the Presidential papers of John F. Kennedy.

The White House Staff Files of Henry Hall Wilson cover the period of January 1961 to November 1963. As Administrative Assistant to the President, Wilson worked in the Congressional Liaison Office under the direction of Lawrence O'Brien. Wilson's papers consist largely of memoranda to and from O'Brien and others who worked in the Congressional Liaison Office, legislative vote analyses, and correspondence to and from different Congresspersons.

Note to Researchers
The White House Staff Files of Henry Hall Wilson have a varied provenance (see above) and the material was originally divided into two collections in accordance with the date the material was received. The first, White House Staff Files of Henry Hall Wilson, consisted of material received with the papers of John F. Kennedy in 1965. The second collection, Henry Hall Wilson's Personal Papers, contained material received from Abraham Holtzmann in 1986. In December 2002, the two collections were merged together and titled the White House Staff Files of Henry Hall Wilson. The material is divided into three series, Memoranda, Subject Files and Congressional Alphabetical File. All folder titles from the old collections have been retained. For further arrangement description, see the individual series descriptions.

List of Series
Series 1.  Memoranda, 1961 - 1962
Series 2.  Subject Files, 1961 - 1963
Series 3.  Congressional Alphabetical Files, 1961 - 1963

Series Description

Series 1.  Memoranda, 1961 - 1962.
About 600 items.
Arrangement: chronological.

Memoranda from Wilson to other members of the congressional liaison office, especially Lawrence O'Brien. All material in this series was part of the original White House Staff Files of Henry Hall Wilson.

Series 2.  Subject Files, 1961 - 1963.
About 4000 items.
Arrangement:  alphabetical.

Correspondence, memoranda, and legislative vote analyses relating to various topics Wilson handled while working in the Congressional Liaison Office. This series contains material from Wilson's original White House Staff Files and from Wilson's Personal Papers. The folders have retained both their original titles and alphabetical arrangement

Series 3.  Congressional Alphabetical Files, 1961 - 1963.
About 1200 items.
Arrangement: chronological and alphabetical.

Correspondence, memoranda, and newspaper clippings to or about different members of the House of Representatives with whom Wilson dealt while in the Congressional Liaison Office. Within each year, the material is arranged alphabetically by the Representative's last name. All material in this series comes from the Wilson's Personal Papers and has retained its original arrangement.