Summary Information
Ronald A. McCrea Papers
1963-1989
Mss 869
4.6 c.f. (12 archives boxes and 1 flat box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, mainly 1974-1986, of McCrea, a journalist known for his editorial work with the Madison Capital Times and the Madison Press Connection, a strike newspaper. He also worked as communications director/speechwriter for Governor Anthony S. Earl from 1983 to 1986. A complete run of annotated reading copies of Earl speeches comprise a large portion of the collection. Also included are press materials for the governor's trade mission to China including a typed diary by McCrea and a 1981 China diary by Tom Loftus; draft and printed articles and editorials by McCrea; minutes of the board of the Madison Press Connection; records pertaining to the strike against Madison Newspapers, Inc. which led to the creation of the Press Connection; records of National Labor Relations Board proceedings; miscellaneous files relating to the editorial management of the Press Connection; and clippings and correspondence documenting the public response to the Press Connection's controversial publication of hydrogen bomb information in 1979. An interview with reporter Cedric Parker is also present.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00869 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Ron McCrea is a third generation newspaperman. Originally from Saginaw, Michigan, he received a B.A. in political science from Albion College in 1965. From 1965 to 1966 he was a Robert R. McCormick Scholar at the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University. In 1969 he completed an M.A. in law and diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Tufts University. His first professional employment was as copy editor at the Boston Globe from 1968 to 1970. From 1970 to 1977 he was news editor of the Madison Capital Times. During this period he was a lecturer in journalism at the University of Wisconsin and a winner of an Alicia Patterson Fellowship.
In 1977 McCrea was one of two hundred employees from five unions who struck Madison Newspapers, Inc., the owner of the Capital Times. At this time McCrea became editor of the Madison Press Connection, the newspaper organized by the striking unions. After the demise of the Connection in January 1980 because of financial problems McCrea worked on the foreign desk of the Washington Post. Soon after he returned to Wisconsin to head the communications office of Governor Anthony S. Earl.
Scope and Content Note
The McCrea papers are divided into three phases of his professional career: the Capital Times, the Madison Press Connection, and his work for Governor Anthony Earl as communications director. An additional series documents general career activities and writing. Coverage is best for the years 1974 through 1986. The records documenting McCrea's employment and his professional activities during the period of his employment with the Capital Times are limited, although scattered information about the Capital Times that was apparently used later as reference material during the 1977-1979 strike is also scattered through the Press Connection series.
The Madison Press Connection files are a useful complement to the newspaper's records which are also held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Overall, however, McCrea's files about the Connection are uneven and spotty. Included here are important 1978 minutes of the Board of Directors missing from the paper's records, as well as notes and proposals that were submitted to the Board. The files also contain some useful insights about the editorial management of the paper and about its advertising, circulation, and promotion. Especially valuable are the letters to the editor received as a result of the paper's publication of Charles Hansen's H-Bomb letter in 1979, although there is no information on the decision to publish this letter. The publication of the H-Bomb letter caused the federal government to drop its injunction against publication of Howard Morland's H-Bomb article by The Progressive, another Madison publication. Also uniquely valuable are insurance deduction lists which provide authoritative information on the MNI employees who went out on strike in 1977 and miscellaneous NLRB records related to the strike. The subject files include a typescript paper by Erwin Knoll about The Progressive's H-Bomb story and an interview with Cedric Parker, perhaps recorded by filmmaker Glenn Silber to publicize the MNI strike, about his career at the Capital Times and alleged Communist associations.
The Earl files comprise about half of the collection. Of these the majority consists of annotated, reading copies of speeches used by Governor Earl. These files have been compared to records received in the Archives from the governor's office and McCrea's file should be regarded as the most authoritative record of Earl's speeches and remarks in archival custody. The majority of the annotations are in McCrea's handwriting apparently to suggest to Earl how to emphasize or elaborate on particular sections. Also included are a few speeches written for Earl after leaving office, speeches written for others, correspondence addressed to the governor, and files on the governor's trade mission to China. The China files include a typescript diary about McCrea's experiences and a similar document prepared by Wisconsin legislator Tom Loftus after a 1981 trip.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Ron McCrea, Melville, N.Y., 1990. Accession Number: M90-115
Processed by Matthew Yeakey (Intern 1995-1996).
Contents List
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Series: General Files
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Personal miscellany, 1964-1979, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Correspondence, 1972-1975
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Miscellaneous writings, 1978, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Speeches, 1983-1986, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Notebook, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Madison Journalism Review, 1973, n.d.
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Series: Capital Times Files
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Bargaining, 1974-1979
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Editorials and articles, 1971-1977
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Ethics case, 1976.
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Miscellany, 1975-1977, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Newspaper Guild, 1973-1974, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Newspaper Guild meeting notes
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Newspaper Guild Midwest meeting, 1978
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Report, n.d.
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Series: Madison Press Connection Files
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Editorial files
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Advertising, 1978, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
16
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Advertising drive, 1979, n.d.
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Board of Directors
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Box
1
Folder
17
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Minutes, 1978
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Box
1
Folder
18
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Notes, n.d.
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Box
1
Folder
19
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Budgets, 1980, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
1
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By-laws 1975, n.d.
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Box
13
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Calendar
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Circulation, 1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Circulation, ABC Audit report 1979
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Cooperative, 1978, n.d.
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Correspondence
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Box
2
Folder
5
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General, 1978-1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Miscellaneous, 1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
7
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McCrea, 1978-1980, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Editorial department, 1978, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Financial notes, 1978, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Income statements, 1978-1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Hay Associates survey of wages, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Insurance list of MNI employees, 1977
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Job descriptions and administrative structure, 1978-1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
14
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Job openings notices, n.d.
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Letters to the editor
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Box
2
Folder
15
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Abortion, 1979, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
16
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Rev. Dillabaugh, 1978, n.d.
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Box
2
Folder
17-18
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H-Bomb letters
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Box
2
Folder
19
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Clippings about H-Bomb story, 1979
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Box
2
Folder
20
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MNI employee lists, 1978
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Box
2
Folder
21
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Maloney, Timothy J., Paper on labor relations at MNI, 1979
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Miscellaneous membership lists, 1978, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Miscellaneous draft articles and stories, n.d.
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NLRB
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Box
3
Folder
3-4
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General, 1977-1978, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Miscellaneous affidavits, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Nominations for MPC Board of Directors, 1979
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Notes, 1979, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
8
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Operations overview, 1979
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Box
3
Folder
9
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Picket forms, 1973, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
10
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Photo-Type Cooperative, 1978, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
11
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Printers union, 1976, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
12
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Printing contract, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
13
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Production Council, 1979, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
14
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Promotional miscellany, 1980, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
15
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Resolutions, 1978, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
16
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“Rolladex” cards, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
17
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Settlement payments, 1979
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Box
3
Folder
18
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Proposals, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
19
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Stock promotion, 1978-1979
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Box
3
Folder
20
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Staff organization, n.d.
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Box
3
Folder
21
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Strike material, 1977-1978, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
1
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UPI, 1978, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
2
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Un-bylined editorials by RAM, 1978-1979
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Box
4
Folder
3
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United Building Services, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
4
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Unity Committee, 1977-1978, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Association contract, 1975
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Wagner research file, 1978
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Box
4
Folder
7
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Women's issues coverage, 1978
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Subject Files
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Box
4
Folder
8
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Bertels, Sister Thomas More, 1978, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
9
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Citizens Utility Board, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
10
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“Contingencies of Publicity, Behaviorists and the Press,” n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
11
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Evjue will, 1963
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Box
4
Folder
12
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“Jazz Age,” n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
13
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Knoll, Erwin, Paper on H-Bomb story in The Progressive, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
14
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Parker, Cedric, 1978, n.d.
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Box
4
Folder
15
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Rowen, Jim, Mayoral campaign, 1977, n.d.
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Series: Earl Communications Files
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General Files
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Box
5
Folder
1
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Beil, Marge, Prepared remarks, 1983
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Box
5
Folder
2
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Campaign miscellany, n.d.
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China trip
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Box
5
Folder
3-5
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Press material, 1984
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Box
5
Folder
6
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Diaries of McCrea (?) and Tom Loftus, 1981
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Box
5
Folder
7-9
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Clippings, 1984
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Correspondence
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Box
5
Folder
10
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Earl, 1984-1988
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Box
5
Folder
11
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McCrea, 1983-1986
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Box
5
Folder
12
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“Dreyfus Property Tax Record,” n.d.
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Box
5
Folder
13
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Earl rhetoric paper by Carol Roever, 1983
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Box
5
Folder
14
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Earl, Sheila, Prepared remarks, 1983
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Box
5
Folder
15
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Educational Communications Board, 1984
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Box
6
Folder
1
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Governors press relations guide by NGC, 1976
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Box
6
Folder
2
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Kirkpatrick, Joan, 1982-1984
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Box
6
Folder
3
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Mining manuscript, n.d.
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Box
6
Folder
4
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Nicaragua, 1986
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Box
6
Folder
5
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Thanksgiving, n.d.
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Box
6
Folder
6
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“The Thompson Bottom Line,” n.d.
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Speeches
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1983
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Box
6
Folder
7-8
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January-February
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Box
7
Folder
1-8
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March-October
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Box
8
Folder
1-2
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November-December
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1984
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Box
8
Folder
3-7
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January-May
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Box
9
Folder
1-7
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June-December
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1985
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Box
9
Folder
8
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January
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Box
10
Folder
1-9
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January-September
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Box
11
Folder
1-3
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October-December
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1986
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Box
11
Folder
4-12
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January-September
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Box
12
Folder
1-3
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October-December
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Box
12
Folder
4-6
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1987-1989
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Box
12
Folder
7-8
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Undated
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