Dave Powers (#189)

An Inventory of His Personal Papers
1945-1994
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Description


Administrative Information

Abstract
Papers 1945-1994
Friend and political aide to President Kennedy (1946-1963); Special Assistant to the President (1961-1963); co-author (with Kenneth O'Donnell and Joe McCarthy), "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" (1972). Election statistics, correspondence, speeches by John Kennedy, political polls, audiotapes, news clippings, pamphlets and memorabilia relating to John and Robert Kennedy.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed January 1979, 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
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 The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.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 Dave Powers of Arlington, MA, in May 1981 (Acc. 1981-063); in July 1982 (Acc. 1982-038); in May 1983 (Acc. 1983-053); in August 1983 (Acc. 1983-065); in February 1984 (Acc. 1984-023); in March 1984 (Acc. 1984-042); in August 1984 (Acc. 1984-069); in October 1984 (Acc. 1985-005); in February 1985 (Acc. 1985-017); in June 1985 (Acc. 1985-022); in September 1985 (Acc. 1985-046); in March 1986 (Acc. 1986-029); in October 1986 (Acc. 1987-009); in January 1987 (Acc. 1987-013); in February 1987 (Acc. 1987-016); in January 1988 (Acc. 1988-027); in November 1987 (Acc. 1988-056); in November 1988 (Acc. 1989-004); in March 1989 (Acc. 1989-082); in September 1989 (Acc. 1989-150); in November 1989 (Acc. 1990-010); in January 1990 (Acc. 1990-030); in February 1991 (Acc. 1992-017); in December 1990 (Acc. 1992-044); in November 1994 (Acc. 1995-005); and in January 1995 (Acc. 1995-020).

Extent
About 25,000 items (19 linear feet, 8 linear inches ; 22.0 cubic feet)  

Classified Items Withdrawn
Selected folders may contain withdrawal sheets where documents containing national security classified information were removed from this collection.

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
Oversize material (Ovz-189).

Date Opened
John F. Kennedy speeches and speech notes, December 1981
January 2000

Processed by
Maura Porter

Encoded by
James M. Roth

Related Collections
Kenneth O’Donnell Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Presidential Assistants Sound Recordings, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Dave Powers Oral History Interview, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

The Personal Papers of Dave Powers(1912-1998)

Biographical Note

Collection Overview
The David F. Powers papers cover the period from 1945 - 1979, with the core of these materials spanning from 1946-1963. Powers was a friend, confidant and staff member of John F. Kennedy, and much of this material is a mixture of personal papers and official files in his capacity as campaign worker and Special Assistant.

Researchers interested in the political beginnings of John F. Kennedy will find these papers a useful addition to the JFK Personal Papers and the JFK Pre-Presidential Papers collections. The early speeches of John Kennedy are unique to the Powers papers; many of these speeches contain handwritten notes and corrections made by John Kennedy. The core of this collection centers around both the speech and notes files of John F. Kennedy from 1946-63 and the campaign organization files from the same time period. From the years 1945 - 59, Mr. Powers stayed in the Boston area and acted as a local aide to John F. Kennedy during his frequent visits to the district during and after political campaigns.

The files from Mr. Powers three years in The White House as Special Assistant, which can be found in his Working Files, tend to be more of a personal than public nature. Included in this series are several folders of condolence mail from 1963-64. The post 1963 era includes a Writings File pertaining to his co-authored book Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye , and information compiled during his years as Curator of the Kennedy Library.

In addition to the above mentioned materials, there is also a personal file of both John Kennedy, which is similar to the types of items that are found in the JFK Personal Papers, and a personal file of David Powers which includes files on his career and interests. Included are also a scattering of files on other Kennedy family members, which consists mainly of news clippings.

The Printed Materials series contains books donated to the Kennedy Library. These books seem to be from the library of David Powers and not from the personal collection of John F. Kennedy. The have been transferred to the Librarian for separate cataloging.

Researchers interested in other non-archival donations to the Kennedy Library by David Powers should contact both the Audiovisual and the Museum Objects Departments for further information. A large amount of photographs were located within this collection and were then permanently transferred to the Audiovisual Department. The working files for Dave Powers' years as Curator remain active in the Museum Objects Department.
  

List of Series

Collection Description

Series 1. White House File.

This series contains the records kept by Dave Powers during his White House tenure. The file folder titles were kept as recorded in the White House years. Researchers interested in the life and personality of Dave Powers will be particularly interested in the personal correspondence. Please note that the 1963 correspondence ends prior to the assassination, thus the December 1963 correspondence can be found in the 1964 folder. This order was kept as that is the way Powers intended.

The chronological White House Reading File, often described as a Day File, shows the cross section of correspondence. The civilian and military Requests folders are requests for a variety of issues: jobs, recommendations, aid, appeals, and pleas. Some of these letters are quite personal in nature, therefore photocopying is restricted. The Requests, Civilian for 1964 is a very different type of file than the 61-63 years -- more requests for photos than for help.

Researchers will note that the White House file ends with thank you letters and sympathy and condolence letters sent to Dave Powers from the end of 1963 and 1964. Many of these letters are quite touching. As a biographical note, although Dave Powers was officially on the White House employment rolls until late 1964, he was traveling with the John F. Kennedy Library exhibit during most of 1964 and did not work in a capacity of Special Assistant to President Johnson.
  

Series 2. JFK Memorial and Condolences File.

This series consists of information collected concerning the funeral of President Kennedy and the subsequent memorials and tributes. Well known memorials are listed separately for researcher convenience. There are also sixteen memorial papers/scripts which were given to Powers. It is interesting to note that of all the files maintained by Powers, these items were the only ones neatly arranged and clearly identified. Please note that the condolence letters sent to Powers are filed in the White House File.
  

Series 3. Writings File.

This series consists of the transcripts of most of the interviews which were conducted by interviewer Sander Vanocur in 1964 for the book “Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye.” Vanocur was originally involved in this project, along with David Powers, Kenneth O’Donnell and Lawrence O’Brien. After a period of time, however, the book project was stopped. Later, Powers and O’Donnell decided to begin the project again, this time with the help of Joe McCarthy; on this second start Vanocur and O’Brien were not directly involved although Vanocur gave the interviews to Powers and O’Donnell to “do with as they wished.” The interviews between Vanocur and Powers however, proved to be the backbone of material for much of the book. Please note that the transcripts are an incomplete set, as there are more tapes than transcripts. Please see the Audiovisual Department for more details on access provisions to the tapes themselves. Also, the folder descriptions listing the subjects covered on the tapes were taken from Powers’ original files. Researchers should also be aware that the Supplemental Materials folders contain mostly diary-like notes kept by Powers for the years 1962, 1963 and the assassination period.
  

Series 4. Personal File.

This series is simply a snapshot into Dave Powers' personal life. Non official materials kept in his files were those close to his heart: John Kennedy, Ireland, baseball, “Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye” interviews and speaking engagements, the 1961 Inauguration, Kenny O’Donnell, and the trip to Texas in 1963. Also included is an issues file which mainly contains post-1963 information on Kennedy Administration issues; these were likely kept by Mr. Powers as background information for interviews or questions when he served as Library Curator. The series is organized alphabetically by subject.
  

Series 5. Kennedy Family File.

This series consists mainly of periodical information on the lives of various Kennedy family members. Also included are personal letters to Powers from Kennedy family members, as well as speeches, posters, brochures. Researchers may be interested in the Robert F. Kennedy files, particularly on his funeral and memorials. Other family members of interest include the President’s children, Edward Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
  

Series 6. John F. Kennedy Library File.

This series is a scattering of material concerning the JFK Library. Please note that this is not the complete working file of Dave Powers' years as Curator as most of those files are still active and maintained by the present Curator. But the materials separated and kept by Mr. Powers does provide a cross-section of JFK Library events and exhibits and also provides the researcher will insight into what Mr. Powers felt was most valuable in the Museum exhibits, which he referred to as his “labor of love.” Researchers interested in the Library’s beginnings, will be most interested in the 1964 Library Traveling exhibit files and the building plans leading up to the Columbia Point dedication in 1979. Powers also kept material on major Library events such as the WWII exhibit, the White House Model and the New Museum opening in 1992.
  

Series 7. John F. Kennedy Personal File.

This series consists of a cross-section of material on John F. Kennedy that could just as easily have been found in the JFK Personal Papers. Items of most interest are those created by John Kennedy--for example, doodles, correspondence, articles, notes and trip notations--and these often contain his handwriting. Other areas of interest are articles penned by John Kennedy, news clippings dated from 1946-1994 and sketches completed for the Profiles in Courage Young People’s edition.
  

Series 8. John F. Kennedy Political Organizations and Campaign File.

This series offers great details into the political campaigns of John F. Kennedy beginning with his first entry into politics in 1946 through the 1960 Presidential race. Powers’ records vary from statistical information, brochures and clippings to his own personal diary-like accounts of the campaigns. Since the JFK Pre-Presidential papers on these campaigns have definite gaps and are not complete records, especially significant in the Powers Papers are the campaign materials on the 1946-1958 races and the 1960 campaign information on the coordination, scheduling and running of the primaries. Although this series is organized chronologically, please note that within each of the larger campaigns (1946, 1952 1958, and 1960) the folders are organized alphabetically by subject.
  

Series 9. John F. Kennedy Speeches File.

This series is arranged into three subseries: 9.1. Speeches and Notes, 1942-1963; 9.2. 1961 Speeches--White House Distribution List; and 9.3. Undated 1960 Campaign Speeches.
  

Series 9.1. John F. Kennedy Speeches and Notes, 1942-1963.

This series is organized chronologically beginning in 1942 and working through 1963, although the majority of speeches are from the pre-1961 period. The speeches very often contain handwritten JFK notes and commentary. In comparing the pre-1961 speeches available in other JFK Library collections, is should be noted that there are speeches unique to this collection. In cases where there is no speech but simply a news clipping citing a speech or just a program, the JFK Library has filed the clipping within the speech files to help researchers piece together his speaking engagements’ itinerary. The finding aid will list the event, place and date of the speech where available and in the cases where the event is not listed, the subject of the particular speech is noted. For speeches where an exact date could not be located, the item was placed at the end of that year’s speeches preceded by a ~ (i.e. ~1959). Forty-three speeches in this series were previously opened and available for research use in 1981; these speeches are noted in the finding aid by an *, and they were interfiled in their original folders.
  

Series 9.2. 1961 Speeches--White House Distribution List.
Arrangement: chronological by date.

This series is from a volume entitled “1961 Speeches--White House Distribution List.” Although most of these speeches can be found in either the POF Speech Files or the Public Papers of the Presidents, these White House press releases also included items that are rarer such as filmed messages or taped remarks to organizations and events, interviews with foreign journalists, speeches to private organizations and off-the-record remarks. The first folder in the series contains the index and key to the chronological Distribution List. This list was compiled by The White House stenographer, Jack Romagna, who left his position in mid 1962. Thus, unfortunately, there were no similar compilations for 1962 or 1963.
  

Series 9.3. Undated 1960 Campaign Speeches.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject or title.

This series are organized by the speech subject or speech title. Most of these speeches can be traced to the 1960 Presidential Campaign when John Kennedy would use one speech on many occasions or parts of the same speeches on sequential days. Researchers should also keep in mind that news items of related interest to these speeches may also be found in the News clippings file located in the John F. Kennedy Personal File series.
  

Series 10. Printed Materials.
Arrangement: by type, thereunder alphabetical by author’s surname.

This series consists of books and periodicals located within the Powers Papers. The titles are listed in the finding aids, yet the actual items have been transferred to the Librarian.