Biographical
The Biographical series consists of a single folder of collected material about Dingell.
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John D. Dingell Papers, 1932-1956
4 linear feet
Democratic congressman from Michigan's 15th District, 1933-1955, Dingell served on Ways and Means Committee beginning in his second term and was an ardent supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and New Deal policies. He played a significant role in passage of the Social Security Act. Papers include correspondence, clippings, press releases, speeches and interviews.
The papers of John Dingell span the years 1932-1955. The papers appear to represent a portion of his congressional office file. The collection consists of correspondence (both incoming and outgoing) and clippings relating to many of the bills which Dingell introduced, and copies of press statements, speeches, and interviews. There is no personal material. There are no documents relating to his committee work or to legislation introduced by other members of the House. Nor do the files of his own bills seem complete (for instance, Dingell's anti-pollution bill is missing). By and large the correspondence is fairly routine or for public consumption. Some of the correspondence is from constituents, some from special interest groups, and some (though not much) from colleagues.
Speeches, press releases, and interviews
The series including Speeches, Press Releases and Interviews is ordered chronologically.
Legislation, 1933-1955
The Legislation series follows Dingell's apparent arrangement by subject rather than by congressional session. There are thirteen subseries in the Legislation series. For the years 1933-1936 only copies of bills--no correspondence--exist. The other twelve subseries cover the period 1936-1955. Because the contents list which follows is fairly detailed, only a few highlights of the Legislation series will receive attention here. The two most interesting and substantive subseries are "Health Insurance" and "Judges." The "Health Insurance" folders show Dingell locked in determined verbal combat with the American Medical Association. This subseries contains a large number of clippings, and the folder for 1949 contains an index to all arguments for and against the program in the Congressional Record during the 81st Congress. The "Judges" subseries contains some fairly candid assessments of the state of the Federal Circuit Courts in Michigan from the judges themselves.
The "Personal Appeals" subseries contains some intriguing human interest stories. Most of the folders deal with persons seeking relief from deportation proceedings; the petitioners include concentration camp survivors, Polish and French war refugees, and others. The Beer Ration folder in the "Miscellaneous/Alphabetical" subseries contains a ringing defense of malt beverages by Dingell and some responses from temperance groups. The Airships folder in the same subseries describes work on behalf of a constituent manufacturing company which ended in frustration; Dingell succeeded, after much effort, in permitting the firm to enter and bid with the Navy, but the company then failed to submit a bid. The folder is also interesting in that Dingell continued to fight for dirigibles as part of U.S. air defenses well into the 1950s.