Perkins, Carl D., Papers, 1948-1984 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

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Title: Perkins, Carl D., Papers, 1948-1984

Created by: Perkins, Carl Dewey (1912-1984), Reed, Hartwell (1924-1994)

Show Biographical Note

Carl D. Perkins, was born in Hindman, KY on October 15, 1912. He attended school in Knott County before enrolling at Caney Junior College (now Alice Lloyd). He also attended Lees College before teaching in a remote Knott County school. In 1935 he graduated from the University of Louisville law school. He entered private practice for the next three years, during which time he married Verna Johnson, a teacher. They had one child, Carl Christopher. Perkins completed an unexpired term as commonwealth attorney in 1939 and the following year was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. He was elected Knott County attorney in 1941, and again in 1945 after his first tenure was interrupted by combat service in World War II. A Democrat from Kentucky's mountainous 7th District, Perkins was first elected to Congress in 1948 and began to serve on January 3, 1949. He was appointed to the House Education and Labor Committee. Perkins became chairman of the committee in 1967, as it prepared to consider major anti-poverty legislation. Perkins was a champion of the rights of labor, one of the nation's foremost advocates of federal social welfare programs for the disadvantaged and was considered the father of virtually every postwar federal education program. His bill supporting vocational education became law in 1963. The following year his committee produced landmark legislation to provide financial aid to disadvantaged college students, and, for the first time, extend general federal aid to elementary and secondary education. He helped formulate the Economic Opportunity Act, centerpiece of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, and was one of its strongest advocates. He was a champion of the Head Start program, the school lunch program, adult education, federal assistance to libraries, and federal aid for the construction of highways and hospitals in the depressed Appalachian region. An early supporter of civil rights, Perkins backed President Harry S. Truman's attempt to establish a permanent Fair Employment Practices Commission, and was one of eleven Southern Democrats to vote for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also wrote federal legislation to improve safety standards in coal mines and to extend compensation to victims of black lung disease. In his final years, Perkins fought vigorously to protect federal education and social welfare programs from budget cuts, and he emerged as a leading Democratic spokesman in opposition to the Reagan administration. Perkins died of a massive heart attack on August 3, 1984, en route from Washington to his home in Hindman and was buried in Perkins Cemetery at Leburn, KY. (Adapted from: [i]The Kentucky Encyclopedia[/i], 1992.)

Received Extent: 495.56 Cubic Feet

Show Administrative Information

Physical Description: Primarily the legislative papers of Carl D. Perkins, partially processed. Does include other materials from after his terms in office.

Scope and Contents: The Carl D. Perkins Papers are currently divided into eight series. The number of series may change as several of the artificial series are more fully processed and the General, Committee and Departmental series are weeded and put in new folders. The collection was partially rehoused and fully inventoried by a number of student workers over a period of several years after the material first arrived at EKU. In recent rehousing efforts it was noted that much of the original order had been lost, therefore, the current arrangement reflects an attempt to give the most accessibility to the documents without further disruption to original order. Application Series Contains constituent correspondence requesting assistance in applying for jobs, either federal or state, and some dealing with jobs in the private sector. Student aid appears to be requesting aid for school loans and grants, as well as other educational assistance. Committee Series Contains correspondence from constituents regarding specific legislation and is filed according to the committee which handled the particular subject (i.e. a letter from a constituent about Social Security legislation would be filed under Ways & Means). The folders may also contain copies of bills relating to the subject, copies of Congressional Record remarks on the subject and copies of Congressman Perkins' correspondence with the constituent. They may also include petitions, background and research information, research reports, copies of speeches on the subject and news clippings. Departmental Series This series is comprised primarily of constituent correspondence having to do with problems related to branches of government. This correspondence is as far ranging as problems with a passport photos printed on glossy paper (regulations required non-glossy paper) to a request for assistance in obtaining construction funds for an adult activity center in Northern Kentucky (referred to the HEW Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services). The folders may also contain pamphlets, news clippings and other material related to the specific subject or problem. This material is arranged by Congress and then alphabetically by department except that all military branches and veterans cases are at the front of each section. General Series This series consists largely of constituent correspondence that is very general nature and does not usually relate to specific legislation or an application problem. It is arranged chronologically by Congress (81st, 82nd, 83rd, etc.), and then alphabetically by subject. It also includes copies of correspondence from Perkins to the constituent, campaign material, invitations to receptions, parties and dedications, congratulatory letters, reports and handouts from seminars and other events, Christmas and other holiday cards, constituent correspondence concerning problems with state government (usually filed in folders marked "Kentucky Govt."), mailing lists, photographs, news clippings and occasional background or research material. Please note that in the filing system for the General Series, "Kentucky Govt. - Highway Department" in 84th 87th Congress changed to "Kentucky Highways" in the 88th 93rd Congress and "Kentucky Govt. - Transportation - Highways" in the 94th 98th Congress) Legislative Series This is an artificial series comprised of material that was apparently pulled from other series when the collection first arrived. As it all relates to legislative issues (with the speeches being an exception), it has been grouped together for ease of access. The series is comprised primarily of material relating to Congressman Perkins' activities surrounding legislation such as voting record, bills introduced and/or co-sponsored, remarks made for the Congressional Record, press releases and articles or speeches. Personal Series The Personal Series includes reference material on various subjects, guest books, and Congressional pictorial directories. Most of the material in this series was found in Congressman Perkins' desk or credenza after his death, and was boxed as found. Some of this material may be re-filed later if it is clear that it belongs in other series such as General, Committee or Departmental; however, it is likely that the bulk of this material is actually photocopies from those other series. Reed Files (Hartwell D. Reed) These files may originally have been part of the Committee Series (and were labeled as "Legislative Sub-Series"). However, it appears that they were actually files maintained by Hartwell D. (Jack) Reed as counsel to the Education & Labor Committee. They were separated sometime after they came to the EKU Archives and are currently being maintained as a series until the collection is fully processed. They comprise material similar to that found in the committee series but it appears that the majority of the correspondence is non-constituent and there is much more inter-government communication as well as background or research material on the subjects indicated by the folder titles. Specialized Formats This series contains the plaques, awards and certificates that Mr. Perkins accumulated during his long career as well as a number of artifacts such as lapel pins, carvings, paperweights, nameplates and commemorative coins. Included in this series are motion picture film, audiotapes (in several formats) and videotapes that document his career. There are also 884 photographs that provide a visual record of visits to his home district and activities in the House as well as photo opportunities with constituents and dignitaries. Among the people he was photographed with are Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, Pearl Bailey, Robert Kennedy and Walter Mondale. This series also contains much of the correspondence relating to request for photographs of the Congressman or of the President.

Comments: Parts of this collection need to be processed, the inventory of artifacts that are on display in Library 201 also needs to be updated and all items need to be included in this inventory. The entire collection needs additional processing and description.