The Chronological Series consists of files maintained yearly by the governor's office. For each year from 1963 to 1968, the following categories of records were established: Boards and Commissions; General Subjects; Federal; Military Affairs; and Legislation.
Boards and Commissions is a yearly set of records arranged alphabetically by the name of the state board or commission, also for elective executive offices (Attorney General, Secretary of State, the Auditor General, etc.). The following types of records may be included for the various boards and commissions: communications with the agency head, audits and other budgetary materials, minutes of meetings, reports, printed matter, and constituent mail. Much of this latter correspondence is of a routine character, and consists of citizen complaints or discussions of personal problems that normally come within the responsibility of a specific state department or commission.
The organization of this set of records changed midway into Romney's years in office with the ratification of the new state constitution. Under the old constitution, Michigan had established a large number of fairly independent state boards and commissions. So for the years 1963-1965, the researcher should look directly within the alphabetical sequence for the name of the agency in which he/she is interested. After 1965, however, with the reorganization of the executive, the state made an effort to streamline its operations and to provide greater administrative control over the various agencies. Established were subject departments (conservation, education, commerce, etc.) which had responsibility over the formerly independent boards and commissions. The filing of the governor's papers reflected the change. Thus, Racing Commission, for example, once filed under R, is now filed under its parent body, the Department of Agriculture. The researcher should thus consult the Michigan Manual (1965-1966), pp. 211-261 for a listing of the various departments and commissions and their placement within the newly created state departments (Acts 380, Public Acts of 1965).
General Subjects is a yearly set of files arranged alphabetically and consisting primarily of citizen correspondence on a wide variety of subjects. Although much of these files are of a routine character, the files do reflect the concerns of the people of the state to the issues of the day.
Federal is a smaller sequence of records (primarily correspondence, reports and memoranda) documenting the governor's relationship with the Federal Government. The files have been maintained in their original order within the following categories: Miscellaneous (including communications on national topics such as the Peace Corps, the Vietnam War, etc.) U.S. Congress (House and Senate) Cabinet Departments (arranged alphabetically) Commissions and other regulatory agencies (arranged alphabetically) Legislation (federal legislation affecting Michigan)
Military is a small set of records concerning the governor's relationship with the adjutant general and the National Guard, but also concerning veterans matters. Beginning in 1966 with the reorganization of the executive branch, these records came to be filed with Boards and Commissions under Military Affairs.
Legislation is a small set of files consisting mainly of constituent correspondence on varying pieces of state legislation. There are no files for 1963 or 1964.
