At ASU, Beebe's papers on processing fast track

While Republican Mike Huckabee’s papers are slowly processed in Arkadelphia, the papers of his Democratic successor are undergoing the same process in Jonesboro.

Archivists have begun processing the 400 boxes of papers former Gov. Mike Beebe donated to Arkansas State University in January, and hope to finish within three years, university archivist Brady Banta said. One reason the process is moving quickly is that Beebe is helping the university raise money to supplement the cost of an archivist for the project, Banta said.

ASU also holds the papers of former Gov. Francis Cherry, who served from 1953 to 1955, as well as the congressional papers of every person who has represented eastern Arkansas since 1938. Banta noted that a provision in the deed of gift from then-U.S. Rep. Blanche Lincoln requires that the collection remains closed until her death.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture holds the papers of five Arkansas governors, Carl Bailey, Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers, Jim Guy Tucker and Frank White. The Tucker and White papers are still being processed, assistant director Kimberly Kaczenski said. Receipt of a federal grant means the Tucker papers should be done by fall 2016, she said.

The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s Special Collections processed the more than 900 boxes of papers it received in 1978 from Gov. Orval Faubus in a year using a federal grant, according to the university.

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