The Dick Thornburgh Papers

The Collection

Scrapbooks

Extent: 25 linear feet

It is not unusual for collections of public figures to include scrapbooks. The archives of Dick Thornburgh are no exception. Family members, in particular, started collecting news articles and clippings in the 1960s, early in his career when Thornburgh was just launching into civic activity and political participation. His wife, Ginny, was a dedicated scrapbook maker, and the results of her efforts are an excellent record of Thornburgh’s early years up until the 1978 gubernatorial campaign, when campaign staff essentially took over the task. Ginny’s early scrapbooks have all been reformatted for preservation and are incredibly useful. When she started out in the early 1960s, there was no way to know that she was documenting the foundations of such a remarkable public-service career as Dick Thornburgh’s became in subsequent years.

In addition, there are oversized scrapbooks from both the 1978 and 1982 campaigns for Governor, nine in total. They are a fascinating account of the ups and downs of the 1978 campaign against former Pittsburgh Mayor Peter Flaherty, as well as the 1982 re-election campaign against Alan Ertel. Anyone exploring the changes in campaigns over the years, as well as the issue content of each, will find these very interesting. These, too, have been reformatted for preservation.

Ginny Thornburgh’s mother, Virginia Judson, and Dick Thornburgh’s sister, Ann Thornburgh, also contributed charming scrapbooks about Ginny’s public life and Thornburgh family-oriented inaugural scrapbooks, as well as other notable events. Nowhere is the affection of the Thornburgh family better represented. Although preservation concerns remain for some of these, these scrapbooks add significant color and content to the Dick Thornburgh archives.

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