DUGGIN, THELMA P.: Files, 1981-1983 – REAGAN LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

This collection has been reviewed by the Reagan Library staff and it is available for research. You may access this collection in our research room. There is no need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any of the contents of this collection.

DUGGIN, THELMA P.: Files, 1981-1983 (7.88 l.ft., Boxes 1-18)

Office of Public Liaison: Deputy Special Assistant to the President, 1981-1982

Office of the Public Liaison: Special Assistant to the President and Director of the 50 States Project, 1982-1983

Born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1949, Thelma P. Duggin received a bachelor’s degree in education from Edgewood College in 1971. From 1971-1973 she worked with the Catholic school system in Mobile, Alabama, as a teacher at Holy Family Elementary School. She also served as a member of the mayor’s Community Relations Commission in Columbus, Georgia, and served on the board of governors for the Georgia Health System Agency. During 1973-1977 Ms. Duggin served as a senior merchandise manager for the J.C. Penney Company in Columbus, Georgia. From 1978-1981 she worked as a field coordinator for Wright/McNeill & Associates in Columbus, Georgia, where she was a consultant to the Republican National Committee and helped design strategy and campaign plans, and formed community coalitions for republican candidates across the country. During the 1980 presidential general election she was a volunteer in the national black voters program as a liaison for the Republican National Committee.

Thelma Duggin joined the Office of Public Liaison in February 1981 as a deputy special assistant where she was responsible for liaison between the White House and black, vocational student, and volunteer organizations. Her general responsibilities included keeping in contact and setting up briefings for these groups, as well as finding organizations that would be supportive of the President’s programs. In June 1982 Ms. Duggin became a special assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Director of the 50 States Project, where she worked on correcting state laws that discriminated against women, research the legal processes of states, while also focusing on child support and daycare practices. However, she continued to spend a large amount of time working with the black community. Within the Office of Public Liaison staff file collections, most of the material pertaining to the 50 States Project is currently located in the Eliza Paschall and Trudi Morrison collections.

Duggin was one of six Public Liaison Special Assistants who left when Faith Whittlesey succeeded Elizabeth Dole as Director of the Public Liaison office. Dole left to become Secretary of Transportation, and in March 1983 Ms. Duggin worked as Coordinator of Minority Affairs in the Department of Transportation. Trudi Morrison succeeded Duggin as head of the 50 States Project. Duggin left the Department of Transportation in early 1985 and became the Director of Government Relations for the Comprehensive Benefits Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ms. Duggin is a former fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics.

Duggin’s files consist of four series: SERIES I: African-Americans; SERIES II: Youth; SERIES III: Chronological files; and SERIES IV: Appointment Books and Telephone Logs.

SERIES I: AFRICAN-AMERICANS, 1981-1983 (5.5 l.f., Boxes 1-13)

This series of alphabetically arranged files pertain to issues in which Duggin was involved. Topics include affirmative action cases and policy; Executive Order 12320; historically black colleges and universities; domestic policy issues of interest to blacks; Reagan/Bush 1980 news releases; information on various black organizations; transcripts from the “Tony Brown Journal” television program; articles on the role of blacks within the White House; minority business proposals/statements; invitations to attend and give speeches at meetings and conferences; and routine administrative matters.

SERIES II: YOUTH, 1981-1983 (1.3 l.f., Boxes 13-16)

Alphabetically arranged files that include informational packets, conference programs, and requests for meetings.

SERIES III: CHRONOLOGICAL FILES, 1981-1983 (1.0 l.f., Boxes 16-18)

This series contains chronologically arranged correspondence from Ms. Duggin to various organizations and White House staff members regarding topics such as thank you letters, voting rights, messages and addresses by staff members and the President, meeting recommendations, and various black concerns.5

SERIES IV: APPOINTMENT BOOKS AND TELEPHONE LOGS, 1981-1983 (0.2 l.f., Boxes 18-19)

This series contains appointment books, and logs of telephone messages for Ms. Duggin.

CONTAINER LIST

SERIES I: AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Box 1

Reverend Abernathy

Affirmative Action I

Affirmative Action II (1)-(6)

African Methodist Episcopal Church

Alaska Black Caucus

American Savings and Loan League

Assault on Illiteracy Program

Association of Black Airline Employees (The)

Black Appointments

Black Clergy Luncheon (1)(2)

Black College Event 09/22/1982

Black College Initiatives (1)(2)

Box 2

Black College Initiatives (3)-(6)

Black College Initiatives: President’s Black College Initiative for Fiscal Year 1979

(1)(2)

Black Colleges – I (1)-(8)

Black Colleges - I: Black College Luncheon

Box 3

Black Colleges – II (1)-(10)

Black Colleges - II: Black College Day

Black Colleges - General Information (1)-(6)

Black Fraternities and Sororities

Black History Month 1983

Box 4

Black Issues (1)(2)

Black Issues #2

Black Issues / General Correspondence (1)-(3)

Black Issues – Miscellaneous (1)-(3)

Black Media, Inc. (1)(2)

Black Organizations (1)-(3)

[Black-Owned Businesses] (1)(2)

Box 5

Black Policy Agenda (1)(2)

Black Press (1)-(3)

Black Republicans (1)-(3)

Black Supporters/Mailing Lists (1)(2)

Blacks in Government

Blacks in Government: 1981 Convention and Background on 1980 Convention

[Birmingham Urban League, Inc.]

Tony Brown (1)(2)

Business Policy Review Council

Citizens Commission on Civil Rights

Civil Rights Act [1981-1982] (1)(2)

Box 6

Civil Rights Act [1981-1982] (3)

Clippings / Blacks (1)-(7)

Congressional Black Caucus

Council of 100

Devon Cunningham – Request to Paint Portrait

County of Cuyahoga, OH

Delta Sigma Theta

Enterprise Zones I

[Enterprise Zones] II (1)-(3)

Box 7

[Enterprise Zones] II (4)-(6)

Equal Employment (1)(2)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Enforcement (1)(2)

Equitable Life Insurance

Mayor Charles Evers

Executive Order 12320 (1)-(5)

Hampton Institute

[Historically Black Colleges Mailing Lists]

Housing

Howard University (1)(2)

Joint Center for Political Studies

Box 8

Ku Klux Klan

Martin Luther King’s Birthday 01/15/1982

Labor Contracts

Leadership Education and Development Program

Livingstone College

Meharry Medical College (1)-(4)

Minority Small Business (1)-(7)

Minority Business (Initiatives) (1)(2)

Box 9

Minority Business (Initiatives) (3)

Miles College

National Advisory Committee on Black Higher Education and Black Colleges and

Universities (1)(2)

National Alliance of Business (1)(2)

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (1)(2)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People I (1)(2)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People II

[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Convention in

Denver, 06/29/1981-07/03/1981] (1)(2)

National Association of Black County Officials

National Association of Black Manufacturers

National Association of Black Publishers

National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice

National Association of Minority CPA Firms

National Association of Minority Contractors

National Association of Negro and Professional Women

National Association of Real Estate Brokers

National Bankers Association

Box 10

National Black Republican Council

National Black Republican Council/General (1)-(3)

National Black Republican Council Briefing 01/28/1982

National Business League

National Colored Women’s Clubs

National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (1)(2)

National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (1)-(4)

National Medical Association (1)(2)

[National Minority Purchasing Council News] (1)(2)

National Minority Suppliers

National Patriotism Week (1)

Box 11

National Patriotism Week (2)

National Urban Coalition

National Urban League (1)-(4)

[National Urban League Convention in Washington, DC, 07/19/1981-07/22/1981]

(1)(2)

New Coalition

Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc. #2 (1)-(3)

[Opportunity Fair for Minority and Women Owned Businesses] (1)(2)

[Opportunity Funding Commission] (1)-(3)

Floyd Patterson

Prairie View A & M University

SERTOMA [Service to Mankind] Award Ceremony

Sickle Cell Anemia (1)(2)

Box 12

Small Business Administration 8 (a) [Aid for Disadvantaged Small Business] (1)-(5)

Sonicraft Inc.

Texas Southern University

Title III / Black Colleges (1)(2)

Tuskegee Institute (1)(2)

United Negro College Fund

Vice President’s Reception for Black Colleges (1)-(3)

Box 13

Virginia Union University

Voting Rights Act

Reverend Hosea Williams (1)(2)

[Reverend Hosea Williams] Afro-American / Japanese International Economic Institute,

Inc. (1)(2)

[Reverend] Hosea Williams/Japanese Venture (1)(2)

[Reverend Hosea Williams: Metro Atlanta In-Town Farmer’s Cooperative Inc.] (1)(2)

Women in Municipal Government – 03/07/1983

SERIES II: YOUTH

Box 13 (Continued)

American Industrial Arts Students Association (1)(2)

Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America Meeting with President 02/19/1982 (1)(2)

Boy Scouts of America Meeting with President 02/04/1982 (1)(2)

Boy Scouts of America / General Information (1)-(3)

Box 14

[Boy Scouts] POTUS Phone Call – Eagle Scout 09/14/1982

Campfire, Inc. (1)(2)

Charles Edison Fund

Convention II (1)(2)

Distributive Education Clubs of America

Future Farmers of America

Future Farmers of America 07/27/1982 (1)-(3)

Future Farmers of America 12/16/1982 (1)(2)

Future Homemakers of America

Girl Scouts (1)(2)

Health Occupations Students of America (1)(2)

Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation

Miscellaneous Correspondence [Thelma Duggin] (1)

Box 15

Miscellaneous Correspondence [Thelma Duggin] (2)

National Association of Secondary School Principals (1)(2)

National Youth Movement – Reverend Sharpton

Office Education Association (1)(2)

Presidential Classrooms

Student Aid (1)(2)

Student National Medical Association, Inc.

U.S. Senate Youth Program (1)(2)

Vocational Students Organizations (1)(2)

Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (1)(2)

Young American Medals for Bravery (1)-(3)

Young Americans for Freedom, Inc.

Box 16

Young Americans for Freedom 1981 Convention

Youth

Youth Employment Programs (1)(2)

Youth Issues/General Correspondence

Youth Issues/Miscellaneous (1)-(3)

SERIES III: CHRONOLOGICAL FILES

Box 16 (Continued)

Thelma Duggin Chron File #1 [February 1981–September 1981] (1)-(6)

Thelma Duggin Chron File #2 [September 1981–August 1982] (1)-(3)

Box 17

Thelma Duggin Chron File #2 [September 1981–August 1982] (4)-(14)

Thelma Duggin Chron File #3 [September 1982–October 1982] (1)-(7)

Box 18

Thelma Duggin Chron File #3 [September 1982–October 1982] (8)

Thelma Duggin Chron File #4 [October 1982–December 1982] (1)-(8)

Thelma Duggin Chron File #5 [December 1982- February 1983] (1)-(5)

SERIES IV: APPOINTMENT BOOKS AND TELEPHONE LOGS

Box 18 (Continued)

Appointment Book, 1982

Appointment Book, 1983

Telephone Log, 10/05/1981-01/11/1982

Telephone Log, 01/12/1982-01/27/1982

Telephone Log, 02/01/1982-04/22/1982

Telephone Log, 04/22/1982-May 1982

Box 19

Telephone Log, 05/11/1982-06/09/1982

Telephone Log, 06/09/1982-September 1982

Telephone Log, September 1982-12/20/1982