The David Price Papers document the scholarly and political career of David Eugene Price, including his days as a graduate student in the 1960s, his tenure as a political science professor and Democratic Party staff member, and, finally, his years as a Democratic congressman from North Carolina's Fourth District from 1987 through 1998. Records from Price's political headquarters record the routine activities of Price and his office staff, and the larger system of government in which he participated. The files contain documents, handwritten and computer-generated; printed materials such as legislative bills and campaign publicity; and a variety of audiovisual materials, including photographs, some slides, many videos, and audio recordings. The collection is especially rich for researchers interested in the American political party system, the work and life of legislators, North Carolina history and government, the North Carolina Democratic and Republican Parties, the U.S. Congress, its committee structure, the Hunt Commission, and especially the larger legislative process. Other topics include political campaigns, notably Price's own campaigns and Albert Gore's senatorial campaign of 1970-1971.
Three primary groups comprise the collection. Full descriptions of series and subseries within these groups are found below in the detailed collection description. The Pre-Congressional Papers primarily document Price's years as a student, then as a professor at Yale and Duke Universities; they also trace Price's early involvement with the Democratic Party. These papers are a foundation and prelude to Price's later work as a member of Congress. The Congressional Papers were compiled during his years in public office, and reveal Price's activities as a member of Congress, and his relationships with colleagues, constituents, and other political stakeholders. Finally, the Campaign Office Files were created from the activity of his campaign office in Raleigh, North Carolina, largely separate - as required by law - from the work of his congressional office.
Most original folders and folder titles have been retained. Labels included many abbreviations, acronyms, and initials; the full versions were added in brackets whenever possible. "DP" in folder titles and elsewhere usually refers to "David Price" but can also mean "Democratic Party." Keyword searching is possible within the container list, with some important limitations. First, the expanded forms of acronyms and abbreviations were not added in every instance but rather at the first occurrence with a new series or subseries. Second, labels are not standardized. For example, the search "breast cancer" might retrieve some folders, but not the one labeled "Cancer--breast." A search for the EPA's "Southern Appalachian Mountains Air Quality Initiative" within this collection may not retrieve folders labeled only as "Southern Appalachian Air Quality." To be comprehensive, therefore, searches need to be formulated in several ways. Please consult with a Research Services staff when using this collection.
Dates were obtained by sampling within folders and so may not be strictly accurate. Sampling was also used to identify the content of audiovisual materials, therefore descriptions for recordings may not be complete.
Processed by Lisa Chandek-Stark and Michael Shumate, November 2004
Encoded by Lisa Chandek-Stark, Michael Shumate, and Paula Jeannet
Completed November 2006
Accessions 1987-0002, 1987-0005, 1995-0063, and 1998-0516 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Accessions 2010-0219, 2013-0123, and 2016-0138 added by Rubenstein Technical Services Staff.
Collection level notes, especially Conditions Governing Access and Conditions Governing USe, updated by Tracy M. Jackson, November 2019.
