Scope and Contents
The Richard Neuberger collection comprises correspondence, legislation, published articles, photographs and newspaper articles which pertain to the literary and political career of Richard Lewis Neuberger. The Senatorial files include correspondence, legislation, and reports given to or written by Neuberger as well as sound recordings. Neuberger's Personal files cover specific issues. The Manuscripts series contains manuscripts, published materials, and literary correspondence, and is a record of most of Neuberger's literary articles. This series contains original published articles and unpublished drafts. The Biographical series is not very large. It contains articles written about his personal life and career. The Scrapbooks series includes newspaper clippings, pictures, and sound recordings that relate to Neuberger in some way. The Oversize Material series contains scrapbooks, films, sound recordings and speech index.
Dates
- Creation: 1930-1960
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public.
Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room.
Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Collection digital files may be requested through Special Collections and University Archives Reproductions and Permissions Request Form.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Richard Lewis Neuberger was born in Portland, Oregon on December 26, 1912 to Isaac and Ruth Neuberger. In 1928, he began writing articles for various newspapers and magazines. He attended the University of Oregon in Eugene as an undergraduate and during that time he published his first article in the New York Times. Neuberger attended classes at the University of Oregon Law School in the 1930’s. In time Neuberger became a regular correspondent for the Pacific Northwest. By 1940, Neuberger’s name was well known to the readers of The New Republic, Harper’s Magazine, Collier’s, The Christian Century, Forum, Current History, American Magazine, and Reader’s Digest. In his lifetime, Richard Neuberger wrote a total of six books and over 300 articles for various newspapers and magazines. In 1940, he was elected as representative to the Oregon Legislative Assembly. He resigned in 1942 to fight in World War II, where he earned the rank of captain.
Richard Neuberger married Maurine Brown on December 20, 1945. In 1946 he was asked to run for governor of Oregon. He declined but instead ran for the state senate and was defeated. He continued writing articles until 1948 when he again ran for state senate, and was this time elected. In 1950, Maurine Neuberger was elected to the state House of Representatives. They were the only husband and wife pair in American history to hold political positions at the same time.
In 1954, Richard Neuberger ran for the United States Senate and became the first Democratic senator from Oregon since 1914. He held the position of U.S. Senator until his death in 1960, when his wife was chosen to complete his term.
Extent
80 linear feet (63 containters)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Richard Lewis Neuberger (1912-1960), an Oregon native, was a U.S. Senator (D-OR) from 1954 to 1960. The Richard Neuberger collection consists of correspondence, legislation, published articles, and newspaper articles which pertain to the literary and political career of Richard Lewis Neuberger.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into the following series: Series I. Senatorial files; Series II. Personal files Subseries A. General correspondence, Subseries B. Oregon Legislature correspondence, Subseries C. Presidential election, 1940, Subseries D. U.S. Senate campaign, 1954, Subseries E. Literary career; Series III. Manuscripts, published pieces, editorial correspondence; Series IV. Biographical material; Series V. Scrapbooks; Series VI. Miscellaneous papers; Series VII. Oversize material; Series VIII. Photographs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was a gift of the Neuberger family.
Existence and Location of Copies
Selected films and sound recordings are available as digital files from Special Collections and University Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Subject
- Neuberger, Maurine B. (Maurine Brown), 1907-2000 (Person)
- United States. Congress. Senate (Organization)
- Morse, Wayne L. (Wayne Lyman), 1900-1974 (Person)
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Oregon
- Oregon -- Politics and government -- 1951-
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1953-1961
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Richard Neuberger Papers
- Status
- Revise Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Vida Germano
- Date
- 2004
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
