Kennedy Presidential Library Opens White House Staff Files of Dorothy Davies

For Immediate Release: August 25, 2006
Further information: Brent R. Carney (617) 514-1662, Brent.Carney@JFKLFoundation.org

Boston, MA – Today, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum announced it has processed and made available for research the White House Staff Files of Dorothy Davies, Staff Assistant to President Kennedy in the Office of Personnel and Miscellaneous Staff Service.  The papers are a collection of approximately 255 cubic feet, consisting of correspondence, memorandums, and files relating to the recruitment of Presidential and non-Presidential appointees that span from 1961 to 1964.

Among the many items included in this newly released collection are files that document the efforts of Dorothy Davies and other White House staff to fill the many presidential and non-presidential appointments that were available in the new Administration. The collection also contains files related to summer employment in federal departments and agencies, including material about the White House Summer Seminar program run by Davies and Special Assistant to President Kennedy, Kenneth P. O'Donnell, in 1962 and 1963. Also included are files pertaining to the Office of Emergency Planning. 

Dorothy Davies served as Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Personnel and Miscellaneous Staff Services from 1961 to 1964. The Office was headed by Richard Maguire, and it consisted of two sections headed by George D. O'Gorman and Davies. Davies went on to work in the Small Business Administration, and later served as an assistant to Kenneth P. O'Donnell in his campaign for Governor of Massachusetts.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library’s Archives include 48 million pages of documents from the collections of 340 individuals, organizations, or government agencies; oral history interviews with 1,300 people; and more than 30,000 books. The Audiovisual Archives administers collections of more than 400,000 still photographs, 7,550,000 feet of motion picture film, 1,200 hours of video recordings, over 9,000 hours of audio recordings and 500 original editorial cartoons.

The Research Room is open 8:30 am – 4:30 pm each weekday, and is closed on weekends and Federal Holidays. Appointments may be made by calling (617) 514-1629.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through scholarship, educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.

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