Jarold Kieffer (#343)

An Inventory of His Personal Papers, 1959-2004
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Collection Description

Administrative Information

Abstract
Papers 1959-2004
Government official. Secretary to Board of Trustees and Executive Director, National Cultural Center. Correspondence, financial records, press releases, newspaper articles, and notes.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed September 2005, copyright of these materials has been assigned to United States of America.  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
The copyright law of the United States(Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.  Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction.  One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.”  If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.  This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.  The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.  Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff.

Provenance
Received from Jarold Kiefferof Fairfax, Virginia, in October 2005 (Acc. 2006-002).

Extent
About 5,100 items (3 linear feet, 7.5 linear inches;4.25 cubic feet).

Withdrawn Items
Selected folders may contain withdrawal sheets where documents, in accordance with the donor's deed of gift, were removed from the collection. These include documents which may be used to injure or harass any living person. All withdrawn documents have been placed under seal and upon request the Kennedy Library will review any material which has been closed for a period of not less than 2 years for the purpose of opening items which no longer require restrictions. Researchers should consult the reference staff to obtain the appropriate form(s).

Items Separated
Items separated include photographs (P-343) and oversized material (OVZ-343 and PM-343).

Date Opened
April 2006.

Finding Aid Prepared by
Alma Ramos-McDermott and Gabriel M. Schlesinger.

Encoded by
Erica C. Boudreau

Related Collections
Jarold Kieffer Papers 1952-1971 , Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.
Jarold Kieffer Oral History Interview , Columbia University.
Jarold Kieffer Oral History Interview , Herbert Hoover Presidential Library.

 The Personal Papers of Jarold Kieffer (1923-)

Biographical Note
Jarold Kieffer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 5, 1923. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946 stationed in the South Pacific and the Philippine Islands. Upon his return, he attended the University of Minnesota, receiving his B.A. in 1947, and Ph.D. in 1950. He served in a variety of positions in the Eisenhower administration, including involvement in the Office of Defense Administration, the Committee on Government Organization and the Hoover Commission Matters.

In September 1958, Congress passed the National Cultural Center Act which called for a Board of Trustees to raise money, build, maintain, and operate a national center for the performing arts on a designated site in Washington, D.C.  Arthur Flemming, the newly appointed Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Cultural Center (NCC), and Kieffer, who was serving as executive officer to Flemming, was elected Executive Secretary. Kieffer also served as the Center’s liaison with the architect, Edward Durrell Stone. In January 1961, prior to President-elect Kennedy’s assumption of office, Kieffer became the first Executive Director of the NCC. In this capacity he worked successfully to gain support for the Center from the new administration.  He also oversaw numerous fundraising efforts, including a closed-circuit telecast and a Military Band recording project, and continued to work with Edward Durrell Stone to create an affordable architectural plan for the Center. Kieffer left the Center in June 1963 to become Professor of Government and Assistant to the President of the University of Oregon, where he served until 1969.

Kieffer returned to national service in the 1970s, working for the Department of State, the Department of Transportation, and the Social Security Department, as well as serving on a variety of special committees and panels. In 1976, Kieffer was the founding member of the Advanced Transit Authority (ATRA,) where he served as treasurer, secretary, chairman, and member of the board of directors. That same year, Kieffer became the Deputy Commissioner for the Social Security Administration. Kieffer is the president and publisher of Kieffer Publications, and in 2004 he wrote and published a book entitled From National Cultural Center to John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts : At the Front End of the Beginning . 

Collection Overview
This collection of Jarold Kieffer papers relate to his work with the establishment of the National Cultural Center as the secretary to the Board of Trustees (1959-61), Executive Director (1961-63), and his continued involvement after leaving his official position (1964-65).   The material is arranged into two series, Chronological Files and Subject Files.

List of Series
Series 1. Chronological Files, 1959-1965
Series 2. Subject Files, 1959-2004

Collection Description

Series 1. Chronological Files 1959-1965.
About 3,600 items.
Arrangement: chronological by date.

This series consists of chronological files spanning from 1959 to 1965. The files contain newspaper and magazine articles related to the establishment of the National Cultural Center and other related projects, official press releases regarding the National Cultural Center, correspondence dealing with the creation of a board of trustees and with fundraising efforts for the center, and hand-written notes and to do lists. 

Series 2. Subject Files, 1959-2004.
About 1,500 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.

This series mainly consists of material related to the founding and administration of the National Cultural Center (NCC). Materials include annual reports, budgets and financial information, proposed fundraising ideas, and legislation that pertained to the organization. Also included is correspondence on the role of media in the NCC, building plans and photographs of the proposed site, and clippings and correspondence regarding an important NCC telecast. Clippings about the Cuban Missile Crisis relate to this telecast, as the crisis threatened to derail the event.  Of note is the Military Band Recording Project, a unique fundraiser that brought the U.S. Military Bands (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) together for the first time. Materials not specifically related to the NCC include newspaper clippings regarding the adjacent Watergate building, as well as handwritten notes related to the role of women in society.