Dick Thornburgh Papers


The Dick Thornburgh Papers are the collection of materials related to Dick Thornburgh’s eight years as Governor of Pennsylvania. The Papers are housed in the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh Library System, University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The collection contains digitized content that is accessible online at no cost. Not all the content is digitized but is available by request. Copies of materials are provided at a small cost to cover the cost of making the copies and mailing them.

History

The collection was acquired through Dick Thornburgh on February 27, 1998 and was processed by archivists with funding by a grant by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2002. The University of Pittsburgh received the grant to fund the work needed to digitize the papers. The grant supported the formation of online-accessible to be available to researchers. Processing the papers involved encoding of the 37,000 pages of text, hundreds of photographs, and many audio and video recordings.

Scope

Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident

Records pertaining to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident are part of the collection. Other documentation regarding the accident are housed in the Pennsylvania State Archives. The materials included in this section of the collection were from during and after the incident. Some of the materials contain annotated notes by Thornburgh and his staff. The types of materials in the files include, for example: memoranda, news clippings, news releases, correspondence, reports, topic background, wire stories from the early days of the accident, press statements and advisories, transcripts of news conferences, public statements by the Governor and others, reports on the future of nuclear energy, staff and cabinet notes and drafts, and emergency and evacuation plans.

Videos

Videos in the collection number 547 and span 1978-1991. Chronologically, they were recorded beginning with Thornburgh's campaign for governor in 1978 to his campaign for U.S. Senate in 1991. Over 70 videos are available for streaming from the collection. Archived content include: Governor’s Testimony before joint committees of US Senate regarding cleanup of Three Mile Island October 20, 1981, Governor proposes cost-sharing plan for cleanup of Three Mile Island, July 9, 1981, WQED: Governor Thornburgh press conference, Scranton, Denton, Adamcik, 3 p.m., April 9, 1979 and others.

News releases

News releases related to events are also contained in the collection.