Kaufman Papers
University Library announces papers of Sen. Ted Kaufman opened for research
12:48 p.m., March 28, 2014--The University of Delaware Library has opened a new research collection, the Edward E. (Ted) Kaufman Papers, which may be accessed in Special Collections located on the second floor in the Morris Library. Kaufman served as U.S. senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010.
The University Library acquired the Kaufman Papers in 2010 and celebrated the opening and “ribbon-cutting” of the collection on March 21, at which Kaufman; U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper; Provost Domenico Grasso; Susan Brynteson, Vice Provost and May Morris University Librarian; and other dignitaries were present.
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An exhibition, “22 Months: Edward E. ‘Ted’ Kaufman in the United States Senate,” was mounted in the Special Collections Reading Room as part of the celebratory opening of the Kaufman papers. The exhibition will remain on display through April, including during the week of April 1-7, which is recognized as Congress Week. The library joins the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress in national celebration of the fourth annual Congress Week.
The University Library is an institutional member of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress (ACSC), which was founded in 2003 to support a wide range of programs designed to inform and educate students, scholars, policy-makers and members of the general public on the history of Congress, legislative process and current issues facing Congress.
The ACSC encourages preservation of material that documents the work of Congress, including the papers of representatives and senators, and supports programs that make those materials available for educational and research use.
In addition to the newly opened papers of Sen. Kaufman, the University Library holds a stellar collection of modern congressional holdings: John J. Williams (U.S. Senate, 1947 to 1971); J. Allen Frear Jr. (U.S. Senate, 1949 to 1961); Thomas R. Carper (U.S. House of Representatives, 1983 to 1993); and Michael N. Castle (U.S. House of Representatives, 1993 to 2011).
The most recent addition to these important resources is the collection of senatorial papers from Joseph R. Biden Jr. (U.S. Senate, 1973 to 2009), which arrived in June 2012.
Kaufman served on the U.S. Senate staff of Biden from 1973 to 1995, first as state director and then as chief of staff.
From 1995 to 2008, he was a board member on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and was president of Public Strategies, a political consulting firm in Wilmington, Del.
Since 1991, he has taught a course on “The Congress” as a Senior Lecturing Fellow at the Duke University School of Law and Sanford School of Public Policy. For more than 10 years, he also taught “Government, Business and Public Policy in the Global Economy” for law students and students in the Fuqua Graduate School of Business at Duke University.
In 2009, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner appointed Kaufman to fill the Senate seat left vacant when Biden was elected vice president of the United States.
Carper, the new senior senator from Delaware, and many others noted that Kaufman was expected to “hit the ground running” based on his experience and familiarity with issues and Senate procedures after so many years as chief of staff for Biden.
Kaufman initially was appointed to the Foreign Relations Committee and the Judiciary Committee. The new senator quickly became known for supporting legislation aimed at reforming the financial system. Less than one month after his appointment, he co-introduced the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA). President Barack Obama signed the bi-partisan legislation into law in May 2009.
In March 2010, Kaufman began work on two additional committees, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the Armed Services Committee. His work on these committees as well as on the Foreign Relations Committee, took him on several trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to visit troops and military leaders. He also traveled to the West Bank, Israel, Turkey and Syria.
As the only sitting member of the Senate to have worked as an engineer, Kaufman was an active promoter of the expansion of education and programs in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
In particular, he worked to procure funds for research and extension grants for women and minorities in STEM. He spoke strongly about the need for Americans to develop STEM expertise in order to be competitive in the global economy, and also to tackle problems ranging from the nation’s security to the financial system meltdown.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers honored him with its 2010 ASME President’s Award for his extensive advocacy for progress in the STEM fields.
In October 2010, Kaufman was appointed to the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) which was charged with overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He was then elected as COP’s second chairperson, and he oversaw the panel as it conducted hearings, evaluated official data and released reports.
Although Kaufman’s Senate term expired in November 2010, he continued to serve as COP’s chairman until the committee ceased operation in March 2011.
The Kaufman Papers reflect the work of his 22-month term in the U.S. Senate and also include personal papers pre-and post-dating this period. The collection consists of approximately 29 linear feet and 60 gigabytes of correspondence, legislative bills, photographs, press clippings, schedules, speeches and other materials.
The papers set a new precedent for archival research in Special Collections as the collection includes electronic records and “born digital” files of documents, photographs and media.
The University of Delaware Library is providing access to the electronic records on-site in the reading room of Special Collections with a dedicated researcher workstation with secure access to electronic files that can be searched and browsed. The data is not available on the Internet.
The University Library is also providing access to an “archived” copy of the personal office website maintained by Kaufman’s staff during his tenure in the Senate and this archived website is available on the Internet and is hosted on a library server with public access.
Access to the collection finding aid for the Kaufman Papers, as well as to the online exhibit “22 Months: Ted Kaufman in the United States Senate,” is available through the library website.
The Edward E. (Ted) Kaufman Papers were processed by Danielle Emerling and Tammi Kim, assistant librarians in the Manuscripts and Archives Department. Technical assistance with the online exhibition was provided by Audrey Hamelers, assistant librarian in the Library Information Technologies and User Support Department. Additional technical assistance was also provided by Mark Grabowski, head of the Library Data and Server Management Department.