Adams, Lina D. Papers

File Clerk, Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee, 1946-1950

The papers of Lina D. Adams pertain mostly to her association with the Democratic National Committee. A large amount of the documents are dinner programs and invitations. The collection also consists of Democratic National Committee manuals, Party Platform manuscripts, campaign leaflets and other memorabilia. In addition there are newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photographs, and Christmas cards. There is a small collection of material connected with the Women's Division.

Size: Less than one linear foot (approximately 1600 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: Copyright in the unpublished writings of Lina D. Adams in this collection has not been donated. Documents prepared by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in documents which do not fall into this category are presumed to remain with the authors of the documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1965)
Updated by: Melissa Barchers (2003) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and Amy Williams.

The Lina D. Adams Papers primarily relate to her association with the Democratic National Committee dating as early as 1932, but predominantly between the years of 1940 through 1962. Lina Adams was an active participant in the Democratic Party all of her life. She was 88 years old when she contacted the Truman Library about her collection. She had compiled quite a bit of material during her tenure as a file clerk with the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee (1946-1950). Though she initially intended to create scrapbooks to commemorate her time in Washington D.C., as she got older she realized she wanted to share her experiences. She donated her entire collection to the Truman Library in 1965.

The papers are in one series and arranged alphabetically. There are dinner programs, invitations and Christmas cards included in the series. The collection also contains Democratic National Committee materials, Party Platform manuscripts, campaign leaflets, and other memorabilia. There are newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photographs, and a small amount of material directly linked with the Women's Division.

The bulk of the collection revolves around social engagements and interactions sponsored by the Democratic Party. The numerous dinner programs and invitations to galas, balls and receptions highlight activities associated with the Truman Administration as well as with the Kennedy Administration. Examples include: programs for the Jefferson and Jackson Dinners and the dinner in honor of President Truman's campaign trip from Cleveland to Boston, invitations to President Truman's Inauguration, and President Kennedy's Inauguration and Ball. The Democratic Party's political organization comprises the next largest amount of material. There are published copies of Democratic Digest (1948, 1960, and 1961), manuals and instruction booklets for the Democratic National Committee, and a series of printed Democratic Party Platform booklets (1932, 1940-1948). Included in this category are various campaign pamphlets and a few campaign buttons.

A lesser component of the series consists of documents that pertain to the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. There are a few interoffice documents from Lina Adams's time as a file clerk. In addition to the memos, there is a brief biography of India Edwards, an important political figure in the Truman Administration and the Democratic Party as a whole. The newspaper articles in the collection mainly deal with the Inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. There is one magazine included in the file: Time for August 22, 1955 with a cover that reads "Tammany's Carmine De Sapio." There are a total of six photographs that were originally donated with the papers. Those are now a part of the audiovisual collection and have been cross referenced accordingly. Another piece of relevant material to the Truman Library is a brief biography of Sam Rayburn.

Other relevant materials at the Truman Library include the India Edwards Papers and an oral history interview with Edwards. The Library also has records of the Democratic National Committee dating from 1940-1963.