I’ve been a little distracted. Not really focused on my work for the past three or four days. Here’s why.

Spring has sprung in D.C. Nice!

The weather has been beautiful here in D.C. It is hard to make myself sit in front of a computer screen, or slog though piles of notes.

I think Emmett would understand. He spent some time up here during the Spring. He knows what it is like. It is just too nice to do any work inside.

This week, I’m organizing a ‘travel’ itinerary downtown to the National Archives.

I’m looking forward to the trip downtown next week. The thing is, I don’t want to be ‘all over the place’ with my questions to the staff. What’s cool, though, is that the National Archives offers a list to help you plan your visit ahead of time, here. This has been helpful in organizing my thoughts and list of things I’d like to see about Emmett’s congressional service.

Here’s a partial list of what I want to see at the Archives:

• Any speeches Emmett gave while in office (I believe there were only two, and I have them, but I could be wrong).
• Any minutes from the committees on which served, as well as hearings he attended.
• A photograph of the incoming freshman class of 1913 (if it existed)
• Election certificates
• Any campaign ephemera (if it exists)
• Payroll records from his office (these tell me who worked for him — I know the names of two of his assistants; there could have been more)
• Voting records

There’s a lot more I want to see, and I don’t expect to get all of this list in one visit. I’m grateful that I live near the Archives, and so I can hop on a bike and get there rather easily. I don’t mind doing multiple trips, especially since the weather is agreeable.

The other update is that I’ve located the newspapers on microfilm from when Emmett was doing his Sterling, Ill. stint with Nicholas Van Sant. The film is at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, and I don’t think it will be an issue for my institution’s library to borrow the film.

I’ll have more later! Enjoy your day, wherever you are!

Categories: Interesting & Odd Recommended Sources

Tagged as: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library National Archives Nicholas Van Sant

jsmith532

Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus