Ann W. Richards Papers, 1933-2000, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Records include clippings, press releases regarding general topics, appointments, and the Governor's schedule, information on bills proposed and/or passed in the 72nd and 73rd Legislatures, and copies of Ann Richards' speeches, including her inaugural address.
Records consist of copies of letters of appointment by Governor Ann Richards, copies of biographical information sheets and vitae on the appointees, press releases about the appointments, some clippings and photographs of appointees, and a few other related records. These records cover appointments made by Governor Ann Richards from 1991 to 1994. The Governor of Texas appoints the Secretary of State, the Adjutant General, executive directors of several agencies, members of numerous state boards and commissions, ship pilots and pilot boards at ports, and regents of universities. The Governor also fills vacancies in district attorney offices and judgeships, and various other posts. The appointment letters are addressed to the Secretary of State or the Texas Senate, notifying them of the governor's appointments. The letters are brief, giving the name and address of the appointee, the position, and the length of term of appointment. Biographical information sheets and vitae provide personal, professional, and community service information about the appointees. Press releases provide synopses about the appointees and their qualifications. Most documents, except the press releases, are duplicates of materials in the Appointments files series. Records are arranged alphabetically by key word in the agency, board, commission, etc. Folders for regents of colleges and universities, judgeships, and district attorneys are filed separately, after other appointments.
Records are press releases, detailing Governor Ann Richards' schedules, sent to the media to encourage coverage of her activities. Releases date from January 1991 to early November 1994. Details in the press releases include the name of the event, location, time, purpose, and participants. Releases are not available for November 1994 through January 1995. These records should fill in some gaps found in the Governor's daily schedules series. Arrangement is in reverse chronological order.
Types of records are proclamations, letters, lists, press releases, statements of Governor Richards, memoranda, copies of senate bills, related fiscal notes, bill analyses, summaries of legislation, and a few clippings. Records date from 1991 and 1993 and are the legislative files of the Governor's Press Office, providing information on bills signed or vetoed by the governor during the 72nd and 73rd legislatures. Materials regarding vetoed legislation includes copies of letters to the Secretary of State listing the vetoed bills and accompanying proclamations of Governor Ann Richards which state her reasons for the veto. Materials relating to legislation signed by Richards includes press releases and letters to the Secretary of State listing the signed bills, statements by the governor on signing specific bills, printouts of user bill lists from the Legislative Information System, memoranda from Jim Parker, Legislative Director, regarding bill signing ceremonies, and a few proclamations returning bills to the legislature for further consideration. Some subject files contain press releases and remarks of the governor on the signing of bills relating to agriculture, appropriations, crime, education, the environment, ethics, health care, insurance, prisons, and retirement benefits. Reports from the Texas House and Senate detail important issues of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session. For the 73rd Legislature, there is also a file on Sunset Commission bills. Arrangement is by legislative session, then generally by action of the governor, type of material, or subject.
Records are speeches of Governor Ann Richards dating from January 1991 to June 1994. Included are copies of her inaugural address, state of the state address, and messages to the legislature. Richards spoke at roasts, conferences, chamber of commerce meetings, awards banquets, dedications, commencements, conventions, Girls' State, town hall meetings, and commission and task force meetings. Her speeches covered topics such as education, the economy, technology, state and local government, the "New Texas", citizenship, community service, crime, relations with Mexico, the environment, health care, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Most speeches contain the disclaimer "Governor Richards frequently deviates from prepared remarks." Speeches for July 1994 to January 1995 have not been located. Arrangement is chronological.
Records are correspondence, invitations, memos, faxes, notes, event activity forms, and related records including printed material, clippings, press releases, proclamations, lists, and a few photographs and press kits. Materials date from January 1991 to December 1994 and are the Scheduling Office's day files used in planning Governor Ann Richards' activities. Types of events covered include bill signings, speaking engagements, fund raisers, meetings with small groups and individuals, appearances at conferences and conventions, political events, and vacations. Correspondence and memos are usually between governor's staff and persons organizing events. Related materials provide background information on events. Arrangement is chronological by date of event, followed by a small group of miscellaneous files.
Records are correspondence, invitations, memos, event activity sheets, and related materials, dating from December 1990 to January 1995. Files are records of invitations which Governor Ann Richards declined. Records are not in folders, but materials related to a specific event are stapled together. Arrangement of files from December 1990 to November 1991 is somewhat chronological. Arrangement of records from January 1992 to January 1995 is numerical, which is somewhat chronological by date received in office. Files for January 1992 to August 1992 were reorganized at some point, with invitations from legislators separated.
Records consist of schedules listing Governor Ann Richards' activities for each day. Schedules date from January 1991 to February 1994, with some gaps. The schedules provide information on events, including location, Richards' contact person, event contact, phone number, remarks (to be made by her: brief, none, etc.), press (open or closed), dress (casual, business, etc.), number in attendance, introduced by, FYI notes (who accompanied her, possible schedule changes, etc.), and reason for event (Richards' requested meeting, annual event, etc.). Portions of the schedules have been blacked out. Activities of the governor include meetings with legislators, staff, and constituents, attendance at conferences, board and commission meetings, fundraising events, and inauguration and swearing-in ceremonies. Daily schedules are not available for December 1-3, 1992, January and May-December, 1993, parts of January and February, 1994, and all of March 1994-January 1995. Gaps may be filled by information contained in the Schedule press releases series. Arrangement is chronological.
Governor Ann Richards created the Office of the Ombudsman to provide citizens with a means to register their opinions, secure needed information, and obtain assistance with concerns they had about state agencies, boards, and commissions through a toll-free hotline. The office directed those concerns to the governor and other state officials, referred citizens to sources of assistance, and, when necessary, investigated state services to determine whether policies or procedures needed to be changed. The Ombudsman's mission was to cut red tape and bureaucratic stonewalling by reporting to the Governor state agencies that failed to meet the test of the highest quality of service, efficiency, and financial management. Annette LoVoi served as the Governor's Ombudsman during Ann Richards' tenure in office.
Records are correspondence with attachments including clippings and legal and financial documents, reports, notes, a few audiocassettes and photographs, and a computer tape, dating from 1991 to 1995. Most of the records are complaints (with some praise) from citizens about nursing home care, insurance coverage, harassment, discrimination, various state agencies (such as the Texas Employment Commission, the State Board of Insurance, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) and waste in state government. One box contains several files on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission's hiring practices, the Texas Department of Health's regulation of nursing homes, and problems with the Employees Retirement System of Texas. There are also briefings and reports created by the Ombudsman regarding specific problems at various agencies; correspondence and resource material on the Governor's Youth Summit, and a computer tape of database files. Records in the first box appear to be grouped by subject. The citizen correspondence is filed generally by year, within each year there is no order, although it appears there was intent to file alphabetically by correspondent.
Records are correspondence, memoranda, clippings, proclamations, grant applications and related materials, newsletters, publications, brochures, programs, reports, notes, training materials, press releases, copies of legislation, proposals, speeches, a videotape, a photograph, and a directory. Materials date from 1989 to 1994 and are files of the Texas Crime Victim Clearinghouse, a division within the Governor's Office funded by grants from the Criminal Justice Division of the Governor's Office. Files cover the grant application process, programs and products created or sponsored by the clearinghouse, and projects in which the clearinghouse participated. These include the Victim Assistance Resource Directory, the 9th Annual Training Conference on Crime Victim Assistance, the video tape "A Miranda for Victims," the 1993 Governor's Awards for Crime Victim Assistance, the State of Texas Crisis Response Team, the 1994 Crime Victim Rights Summit, the LBJ School of Public Affairs study on property crime victims, and the Clearinghouse Update newsletter. Records are arranged by type of material.
Governor Mark White established the fourth Governor's Commission for Women on April 13, 1983 by executive order MW-4. Governors William P. Clements and Ann Richards continued the commission through executive orders WPC 87-1 and AWR 91-13. Governor Richards charged the 29-member commission in November 1991 with developing strategies to improve the mental, physical, and emotional health of women in Texas, focusing attention on special needs of women and families relating to health and safety, supporting research activities that seek to incorporate needs of women in the long-range planning process for Texas, participating with other established task forces and policy groups, securing recognition of citizens' accomplishments and contributions to Texas, maintaining a clearinghouse of information on the status of women, monitoring federal and state legislation relating to issues affecting women, and establishing a State Agency Council to assist the commission in fulfilling its charge. The Commission made written reports to the governor and met quarterly. The commission members' terms expired February 1, 1993.
Records are correspondence, reports, memoranda, publications, printed material, clippings, photographs, executive orders, guidelines, lists, minutes, agenda, nomination forms, newsletters, notes, proposals, speeches, press releases, legislation, articles, programs, resolutions, and registration forms. Materials date from 1979, 1983-1994, and are files of the Governor's Commission for Women. Subjects include the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, the State Agency Council to the Governor's Commission for Women, women in state government, health care for women, women's organizations, women and the law, anencephaly (and other neural tube defects), adolescent pregnancy prevention, breast cancer, and the Statewide Health Coordinating Council. Cynthia Galvan served as executive director. Materials do not appear to be arranged in any order.
The Governor's Committee on Employment for the Handicapped was first created by Governor Dolph Briscoe in 1978 through Executive Order DB-40. Executive orders by governors William P. Clements in 1981 (WPC-14A) and 1987 (WPC 87-16) and Mark White in 1983 (MW-10) continued the committee, with Executive Order MW-10 changing the name to Governor's Committee for Disabled Persons. In 1991 the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities was created statutorily by Senate Bill 381, 72nd Legislature, Regular Session in order to continue the functions of the Council on Disabilities, which was abolished on the recommendation of the Sunset Commission. Functions of the governor's committee set forth in SB. 381 include monitoring the state's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), providing information to the public regarding ADA, serving as a liaison with other organizations assisting the disabled, promoting coordination of services for persons with disabilities, making recommendations to the governor on programs supporting persons with disabilities, monitoring the implementation of a long-range state plan for Texans with disabilities, and issuing awards and other recognitions to persons and organizations making a difference for persons with disabilities. Virginia Roberts has served as executive director of the governor's committee since January 1981.
Records are correspondence and memoranda with attachments including minutes, agenda, clippings, and printed material. Records date from 1980 to 1994 and are the correspondence files of the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities. Subjects include implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, complaints and praise from constituents regarding accessibility to public places, the Sunset Commission review process, a long-range state plan for Texans with disabilities, activities of the Council on Disabilities, mayor's committees on disabilities, conferences and workshops, and awards ceremonies. Correspondence is arranged in reverse chronological order by year. Within each year, correspondence is sometimes in reverse chronological order and other years is in no particular order.
The Texas Film Commission and Texas Music Office moved from the Texas Department of Commerce's Business Development Division to the Office of the Governor after Ann Richards became Governor in 1991. The Office of Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Industries, which is managed by the Programs Office, promotes the entertainment industry in Texas. The office works to increase the amount of film and television production in the state and publicizes and promotes Texas music talent.
Records are correspondence, lists, memos, photos, invitations, articles, notes, schedules, clippings, printed material, press releases, film proposals, resumes, and audio tapes dating 1980-1993 (bulk 1988-1993). Materials detail Ann Richards' involvement in encouraging the film industry to utilize Texas' resources, first as State Treasurer through correspondence with Joseph Dial, and later as Governor. Records focus on the film and television aspect of the office. Files include correspondence of several Film Commission directors, including Dana Shelton, Tom Copeland, and Joseph Dial. Correspondence is arranged chronologically as well as by governor or commission staff member. Location expo files are arranged chronologically. Personnel files are arranged alphabetically.
Records are policy and procedure manuals, memoranda, printed material, reports, correspondence, unemployment claims, and a video tape, dating from 1991-1995. Files are records of the Human Resources office in the Office of the Governor. Subjects include ethics, policies and procedures, hiring practices, training, and Governor's Office programs for Take Our Daughters To Work Day. Files are arranged in no particular order.