General, 1979-2002

The Tony Hall Papers consist primarily of the Congressional records of Tony Hall during his 24 years as a U. S. Congressman representing Ohio's Third District from 1979 to 2002 and, to a lesser extent, his personal papers as the U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from September 10, 2002 to April 1, 2006. The papers encompass a wide-variety of material including summaries of his voting record, congressional bills, constituent letters, house committee reports, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings and memorabilia. Of particular interest to researchers are the extensive files on the work of the House Select Committee on Hunger and Mr. Hall's trips to various parts of the United States, and the world, to investigate the plight of the world's hungry.

Series I, Congressional Legislation, is the largest of the thirteen series. The first two record center boxes of the series contain the Individual Voting Record and Legislative Activity Guide of Tony Hall from 1979 to 2002. Basically, these files show how Congressman Hall voted on various Congressional bills. These boxes are followed by two record center boxes of Voting Scores compiled by a wide-variety of special interest groups. The Voting Scores indicate how well Congressman Hall supported, or did not support, issues of interest to the special interest group. The remaining 39 Record Center and Hollinger boxes contain Congressional bills. The legislation is grouped according to Congress, beginning with the 96th Congress and ending with the 107th Congress. Within each Congress the files are grouped according to the type of bill, e.g. Joint Resolution (H. J. Res.), Concurrent Resolution (H. Con. Res.), and House Resolution (H. Res. and H. R.). Within each type of bill, the bills are in numerical order. In the case of House Resolutions an explanation is necessary. House Resolutions are initially identified as H. R. when introduced. Once the bill has been reviewed and staffed, and before it goes before the House for a vote, the bill must pass through the House Committee on Rules for review. If the rules committee approves the bill, it is sent to the House floor as a House Resolution (H. Res.) with a new number. Along with bills, some Congress files contain other information include Colleague letters, Congressional Record excerpts, and general correspondence. The 99th Congress is the largest set of files with 6 Record Center boxes. The smallest set is the 103rd Congress with one box. The rest of the Congress files range from two to four boxes. Researchers will find that files for some resolutions are quite extensive containing the bill, amendments, correspondence, newspaper clippings, floor statements, testimony, and research. On the other hand, many files contain nothing more than the basic bill and some general information.

Series II, Constituent Letters, is another large series containing letters from Congressman Hall's constituents in the Ohio Third District on a variety of topics. The series is organized according to Congress beginning with the 96th Congress and ending with the 107th Congress. Unfortunately, constituent letters for the 97th, 98th, and 99th Congresses are missing. Organization of letters for each Congress varies. For the 96th Congress, the letters were organized according to the House Committee the topic pertains to and then according to topic. In some cases, a Word Processing code was assigned for the response. At the end of the 96th Congress there are general letter files grouped according to year received (1979 and 1980) and then arranged alphabetically within the year. These letters range from birthday greetings to general requests for assistance.

The organization of constituent letters for the 100th through the 104th Congresses is quite bit different, and more difficult to use, than the other Congresses. Constituent letters for these five Congresses were assigned a number as they were received and then placed in numerical order within the files. In some cases, letters were given the same number if they were received at the same time and pertain to the same topic, i.e. a form letter or postcard expressing an opinion on a specific subject. The difficulty in using these files is there is no way to know the subject of the letters without reviewing the letters individually.

The organization of the letters for the 105th through 107th Congresses is similar to the 96th Congress. For these Congresses, letters were arranged according to the Word Processing coding used to respond to the letter. Coding for the letters begin with a two-digit code for the House Committee it pertains to and the remainder of the code identifies the subject. For example, a letter responding to a constituent letter on Kosovo begins with FA for Foreign Affairs and then KOSOVO. Letters received in 1998 concerning the impeachment of President Clinton are coded JDIMPCH (Judiciary Committee).

In general, Constituent Letters provide a pretty detailed opinion of Congressman Hall's Third District constituents on a wide-variety of topics. In many cases, Congressman Hall's response is attached to the letter. What this series does not contain is letters requesting assistance on personal, sensitive issues, or "casework," such as requesting help to resolve a social security or veteran's benefit problem, and similar items.

Series III, Administration, contains a variety of information and is subdivided into a number of groups. The first group is books which contains several copies of Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives of the United States and the Congressional Directories for the 105th and 106th Congresses. The second group, General Information, contains mostly personal correspondence and mail schedules. The third group is Appointment Books which begins in 1979 and ends in 2000. The fourth group, Speeches, is grouped according to type of speech, e.g. hunger, education, political/campaign, and miscellaneous. Many of the miscellaneous speeches have topics listed. The speech file begin in February 1984 and end in August 2002. There are also a large number of speeches that have no date listed. The fifth group, Grants, is limited to the years 1994 and 1995. These files contain information on grants received by Third District companies and organizations. The sixth group, Privately Sponsored Travel, begins in 1988 and ends in 2002. The files list location and date of travel paid for by private entities. The seventh group, the files of Michael Gessel, contains mostly memos written by Mr. Gessel to Tony Hall from 1981 to 1993 and Speeches, Interviews and Statements from 1979 to 1992. The eighth group of files is Gail Amidzich files. The Amidzich files contain memos to Tony Hall for the period 1986 to 1988. The ninth group in this series is Question and Answer Books for the 103rd, 104th, and 105th Congresses, along with Guest Registers for 1979 to 1990 and 1996 to 2001. The final group consists of one Hollinger box of Janet Hall files. These files pertain to hunger briefings she attended and hunger events she helped her husband organize during the period 1984 to 1986.

Series IV, House of Representatives Reports, is divided into four subseries. The first subseries, House Select Committee on Hunger, contains committee reports beginning with the 99th Congress and ending with the 103rd Congress. The reports are grouped according to Congress and in numerical order. The second subseries contains communications (reports) from the Office of the Independent Counsel, Kenneth W. Starr, to the House Committee on the Judiciary. These communications, all dated in September 1998, report the results of his investigation of President Clinton. The third subseries, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, contains reports of investigation on two Congressmen, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, January 1997, and Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr., July 2002. The fourth subseries, Miscellaneous Reports, contains a wide variety of reports including those on foreign affairs, Congressional hearings, and appropriation reports. Of particular interest is the February 1997 report of the Department of Defense Base Closure and Federal Property Authorities (1997 BRAC Commission) on recommended base closures.

Series V, House Committee Work Files, contains two subseries. The first, and largest, is work files of the House Committee on Rules. While Congressman Hall was appointed to the House Committee on Rules at the beginning of the 97th Congress, the work files begin with the 103rd Congress. The files are in numerical order according to the House Resolution number. These files are extensive and are housed in nine record center boxes. The second subseries, House Select Committee on Hunger, contains mostly files on field hearings in the United States, along with press releases and newspaper clippings on committee activities.

Series VI, Issues and Staff Memoranda, is a very large series spanning 41 record center boxes. The series is divided into four subseries beginning with the largest, Hunger. The strength of the Hunger subseries are the files summarizing Congressman Halls many trips to locations throughout the world beginning in 1979 and ending in 2002. Of particular interest to researchers are files summarizing Congressman Hall's April 2000 trip to Iraq, his many trips to North and South Korea, and domestic hunger tours to southeastern Ohio and Appalachia in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Following the trip files, the subseries include major groupings of files containing Hunger References, Caucus and Conferences reports, and General Administrative and Correspondence files. The subseries ends with two record center boxes containing information on Gleaning. Gleaning was a major area of interest for the House Select Committee on Hunger during the late 1980s. For researchers, these files contain quite a bit of information on gleaning and groups promoting gleaning.

The second subseries in Issues and Staff Memoranda is Ohio and Third District Issues. This series is primarily organized in chronological order, but there are some major subgroups worth noting for researchers. These major subgroups include expansion of the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1980s, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund clean-up efforts in the Dayton area beginning in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, health research bills promoting the work of Dr. Petrofsky at Wright State University in the mid-1980s, and the Miamisburg derailment in 1986. However, the largest group of files concerns the closure of the Department of Energy Mound Research facility in Miamisburg, Ohio. These files begin in 1988 and end in 2002. They include extensive information and background on the closure of this very valuable nuclear research site in the Dayton area.

The third subseries in Issues and Staff Memoranda is Foreign Affairs. This subseries contains information on conventional arms limitations, United Nation issues, human rights, the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors, and various countries including East Timor, Korea, and the Philippines. Researchers will note that many of these files relate to hunger and human rights issues previously noted in other areas of Mr. Hall's papers.

The fourth, and final subseries in Issues and Staff Memoranda, is General Issues. This subseries contains files ranging from abortion to assault weapons bans to geothermal tax credits. However, the main emphasis of this subseries, and ones that researchers will find particularly interesting, are the files on faith-based initiatives (2000 - 2001), Congressman Hall's controversial proposal to apologize for slavery (1992-2002), and proposals for values and character education in schools (1987-1994).

Series VII, Audiovisual Material, is divided into four subseries. The first subseries, and largest, is photographs. This subseries is divided into a number of subgroups. The first subgroup includes official portraits and other individual photographs of Tony Hall. There is also one file folder containing photographs of Mr. Hall's swearing in as Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies by Secretary of State Colin Powell. The second major subgroup contains photographs from the 1960s and 1970s. Included in this subgroup are football and graduation photographs from high school and college, along with photographs taken during his time in the Ohio House and Senate. The third major subgroup, and the most interesting, is photographs taken of Mr. Hall with United States Presidents, world leaders, U. S. Congressmen and Senators, and celebrities. In this subgroup, researchers will find photographs of Congressman with every U. S. President from President Carter to President George W. Bush. There are also a large number of photographs of Mr. Hall with world leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Begin and Korean President Kim Dae Jung. In addition, researchers will find photographs of Mr. Hall with Congressman such as Claude Pepper and Tip O'Neil, and celebrities such as Tom Selleck and Lynn Redgrave. The fourth major subgroup is photographs of Tony Hall with visitors to his Washington, D. C. office including school groups and senior citizen groups. The fifth major subgroup contains photographs of Tony Hall with members of his staff and a variety of Interns who worked in his office over the years. Most of these photographs are dated and include the name of the individuals in the photograph. The sixth major subgroup includes general photographs ranging from House committee meetings to public events. The last major subgroup contains photographs of Hunger and Hunger Trip photographs from around the world and the United States. These photographs are grouped according to region of the world, (e.g. Africa, Southeast and Southwest Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and domestic hunger tours in the United States), and then in chronological order. The photographs of Mr. Hall's trips to Africa and southeast and southwest Asia are extensive.

The second subseries in Audiovisual Materials includes photograph albums. This subseries is rather small including an album from his trip to Sudan in May/June 1998, a leather-bound album from his trip to Korea in November 1998, and two small albums concerning his trips to Peru in July 1980 and to Mississippi in 1987.

The third subseries includes an extensive collection of video tapes beginning in 1979 and ending with Congressman Hall's speech at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. There are also a fairly large number of video tapes that are undated. Most of the tapes in this subseries are recordings of television programs, interviews, Public Service announcements, and tapes on Hunger issues. Related to this subseries is the last subseries containing cassette tapes. The cassettes are primarily from the 1980s and include tapes titled "Monthly TV Reports."

Series VIII, Scrapbooks, spans a period beginning in 1955 and ending in 2002. The first two scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, photographs, and other items from Mr. Hall's days as a Fairmont High School and Denison University football player. The rest of the scrapbook albums contain newspaper and press clippings from his days in the Ohio House and Senate and as a U.S. Congressman. Most of the scrapbook pages were removed from their original 3-ring binder and placed in archival quality binder boxes.

Series IX, Press and Newspaper Clippings, is divided into two major subgroups. The first subgroup contains press information including newspaper columns, news advisories, mailings and press releases. It also contains his district newsletter that began in January 1981 and ended January 2002. The subgroup also includes Questionnaires his office sent to constituents from March 1981 to July 1996. The second major subgroup contains newspaper clippings about his activities from 1959 to 2002. Inclusive dates for the clippings are 1959 to 1978, April 1988 to January 1994, December 1996 to December 1997, and January 1999 to November 2002.

Series X, Election Material, is the smallest of all the series. The series primarily contains information on his reelection campaigns in 1982 and 1992. Of particular interest to researchers is a 3-ring binder box containing information summarizing Tony Hall's 1992 re-election campaign.

Series XI, Publications and Books, is organized into three subseries. The first subseries contains the Democratic Policy Committee's Weekender. This publication summarizes the Democratic Party's position on issues being considered by Congress. Issues available in this subseries begin January 6, 1999 and end October 17, 2002. The second subseries contains a limited number of The Congressional Record. Most of the volumes are from 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001. The last subseries contains books with topics ranging from hunger to religion.

Series XII, Memorabilia, contains a wide-variety of items including correspondence, diplomas, awards, certificates, and plaques. Of particular interest to researchers are the first two boxes of the series. These boxes contain letters to Tony Hall from world leaders. The boxes also include correspondence concerning his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and his appointment as Ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies. Researchers, and other interested individuals, should note that the 3-dimensional objects he received during his years as a Congressman and Ambassador have been photographed and itemized in Appendix I to his papers.

Series XIII, Ambassador Papers, was received in April 2006. Ambassador Hall's ambassador papers are grouped in to five major groups. The first group contains general information on the responsibilities of a United States Ambassador, brochures and general information on the U.S. Mission to the U.N. Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and mission trip reports to Sudan, Libya, Northern Uganda, and Ethiopia in 2004 and 2005. The second major group contains correspondence from 2002 to 2006. Most of the correspondence is from family and friends. There is also a file of correspondence concerning his book, "Changing the Face of Hunger." The third major group contains newspaper and magazine clippings, along with several newsletters. The fourth group contains reports, briefings and miscellaneous material he received from 2002 to 2005. The final group is audiovisual material. Many of the photographs are of Ambassador Hall meeting with the U.N. World Food Programme staff on a variety of occasions, including a meeting with former President Clinton in 2004. There are also photographs of Ambassador Hall with President Bush and the South Korean Prime Minister. Finally, there are also several DVDs on Hunger-related issues.