The Norquist papers consist almost entirely of legislative papers that were donated to the Historical Society in 1988. Unfortunately the collection does not cover his legislative career completely. There are few truly personal files here, although his interest in Nicaraqua, which was a non-legislative concern, is represented with paper files and with photographs taken during a 1984 trip.
Many early files from Norquist's tenure in the Legislature are missing, and they are presumed to have been discarded prior to the donation to the Historical Society. Of the early files that are included, some actually are those of fellow Milwaukee legislator Kevin Soucie as head of the Transportation Committee. These are presumed to have been given to Norquist when Soucie left the Legislature. In addition, although there are files of press releases and district newsletters and scattered speech drafts, these are also incomplete.
Nevertheless, the Norquist collection contains strong documentation about the issues that were important to him: deregulation, health care, minority issues, Milwaukee, taxes, and transportation. Also well covered are the Senate Democratic Caucus and the leadership of Democratic Party in the Legislature, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, funding for the Department of Transportation for highway construction and mass transit, the Hospital Rate Setting Commission, the Milwaukee Public Schools, and the Legislative Council Committee on Occupational Licensing. The collection also covers the management of his office and the manner in which Norquist served his constituents. Many letters in the collection are accompanied by Norquist's handwritten drafts, a type of documentation that provides a more immediate glimpse of his thoughts than is seen in most legislative collection. Although Norquist answered many constituent letters with form responses, an unusually large number are frank, individualized letters. (Most repetitive and routine letters have been weeded from the collection). Information about the Joint Finance Committee deliberations about biennial budgets is sparse. The official records of the Joint Finance Committee records are separately catalogued by the Historical Society as state government records Series 169.)
The Norquist papers are organized as an alphabetical SUBJECT FILE, an alphabetical GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, and PHOTOGRAPHS. The SUBJECT FILE and GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE series are structured so that each is a partial index to the other. Carbons of Norquist's letters to Milwaukee congressman Gerald Kleczka, for example, may be found in the K General Correspondence. These letters in turn suggest subject files where the incoming and outgoing letters, as well as other related information, may be found. Similarly, the subject file about WHEDA points to additional letters of Secretary Edward Jackamonis in the General Correspondence. In the General Correspondence letters to corporations and organizations are filed by personal name. Letters to editors, however, are filed alphabetically by the name of the newspaper. The General Correspondence is not a comprehensive index for the most prominent individuals such as legislators and departmental officials nor is it arranged below the folder level, but it does point to useful research directions.
The PHOTOGRAPHS consist of negatives that document Norquist's 1984 trip to Nicaragua.
