Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The series for each of the Congressional Campaigns includes speeches and press statements by Vivian, campaign brochures and literature, correspondence and background material dealing with election issues and campaign strategy, texts of radio advertisements, and information on the voting records of Vivian's opponents. The 1966 campaign series includes material from the Elise Boulding campaign and the 1968 series contains newsletters and other material from the Michigan Conference of Concerned Democrats and the New Democratic Coalition of Michigan.

Congressional Papers make up the great bulk of the collection. This series is divided into subseries for each two-year congressional term (84th Congress, etc.) and then subdivided into the following sub-subseries: Legislative Files, Bills Files, and Topical Files. For Griffiths' first two terms in Congress, however, because of the relative paucity of materials, these three sequences of material have been combined into one.

The Legislative Files sub-subseries is arranged alphabetically by committee name. The most voluminous files are for those committees on which Griffiths served, especially Ways and Means. The files are further divided by topic, usually a specific piece of legislation then under discussion within that committee's responsibility. These subdivisions have not been listed within this finding aid. The files consist of correspondence between Griffiths and her constituents or other parties interested in the legislation. Some of the larger files have been sampled because of the sameness of the letters received and of Griffiths' response.

The Bills Files sub-subseries consists of files for those pieces of legislation either introduced by Griffiths or of which she was a co-sponsor. Although there is also much constituent correspondence here, the files are more substantive than the Legislative files in that they show the development of the legislation. The files usually include a copy of the bill and related background information. The Bills file for the 92nd Congress has not been received by the library.

The Topical Files sub-subseries is an alphabetically arranged sequence of materials relating to issues, government departments, or individuals. The sub-subseries does not pertain to specific legislation but is a more general file for constituent expressions of complaint or concern. Some of the larger files pertain to issues of race relations, busing, the war in Vietnam, the contemplated impeachment of President Nixon, women's issues, such as the Equal Rights Amendment, and Griffiths' interest in a national health insurance plan.