page_title: Carl Albert Center
section_title: Congressional and Political Collections
hierarchical_section_title: Carl Albert Center / Congressional and Political Collections
caption_attribution_description: English: The stacks of the Carl Albert Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma (United States).
context_page_description: The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center is a nonpartisan institution devoted to teaching and research related to the United States Congress and, more broadly, to strengthening representative democracy through engaged and informed citizens. Located at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma the Center is a living tribute to the ideals, leadership, and accomplishments of Carl Albert - native Oklahoman, University of Oklahoma alumnus, Rhodes Scholar and 46th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
context_section_description: The Carl Albert Center now houses the largest collection of political and congressional papers in the state of Oklahoma; the Center's Archives contain manuscripts, photographs, and oral histories, including the papers of 61 former Congress members and 25 political leaders, congressional staffers, and others related to congressional history and scholarship, including scholars, journalists, former political aides, and organizations. Besides the papers of Carl Albert himself, the Carl Albert Center also holds the collections of numerous United States Senators and Representatives from Oklahoma, including Dewey F. Bartlett, Page Belcher, John Newbold Camp, Fred R. Harris, James R. Jones,  Robert S. Kerr, Dave McCurdy, Dick T. Morgan, A. S. Mike Monroney, Tom Steed, and Elmer Thomas. Beyond these Oklahoma-related materials, the Center also includes the papers of a number of congressional representatives from other states, including Jeffery Cohelan and Helen Gahagan Douglas of California, Millicent Fenwick and Cornelius Edward Gallagher of New Jersey, Carl Hatch of New Mexico, Dick Armey of Texas, Elbert D. Thomas of Utah, and Andrew Biemiller of Wisconsin. The institution additionally holds the papers of many people related to the history and study of Congress, including UPI reporter Harry Culver, historians Danney Goble and Richard N. Lowitt, presidential advisor Bryce Harlow, political scientist Ronald M. Peters, Jr., and press secretaries Jim Monroe, Beth Campbell Short, and Malvina Stephenson.
  In addition to its congressional collections, the Carl Albert Center holds materials relating to state politics in Oklahoma, including oral history interviews with state senators. The Center also contains a number of collections of thematic interest, such as on the Great Depression and the relationship between Native Americans and public policy. These congressional and political collections encompass over 100 years of American History, from Oklahoma's territorial days to the turn of the century, with the largest amount of materials created between the 1930s and the 1990s.
  The Carl Albert Center's Congressional Archives sponsor exhibits, including traveling and online exhibits on the Mingo Creek flooding in Tulsa, OK, the creation of Lake Thunderbird in Norman, as well as travel grants for visiting scholars. Former exhibits at the Carl Albert Center have included such subjects and collections as the relationship between Washington politicians and Hollywood actors, Easter greeting cards, Oklahoma's representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the New Deal, and the history of Speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives.
  The Carl Albert Center Archives were featured on the C-Span Cities Tour in 2018 and 2012.
caption: The stacks at the Carl Albert Center
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