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NGA: Correspondence, 1971, 1961-1997

 File — Box: 28, Folder: 3

Scope and Content

From the Collection: The collection consists of the personal papers of three-time New Mexico Governor Bruce King (1971-1974, 1979-1982, 1991-1994). The official papers of his administration are held at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe, NM. While there are pieces of correspondence and ephemera that date to the early 1960s, the majority of the documents and memorabilia in the collection range from 1978, when Governor King launched a successful campaign for a second term in office, to 1994, when he unsuccessfully ran for re-election to a fourth term as Governor. During his second and third terms as governor, Bruce King’s wife, Alice Martin King, reinvented the position of the First Lady through her involvement in improving the justice system, healthcare, social services, and education for New Mexico’s children, youth, and families.

The over 200 cubic foot collection is organized thematically and is organized into twenty-one series, the largest being the Governor’s Office, State Government, Social Services, Campaign, Scrapbooks and Memorabilia sections. Governor and Mrs. King also built an impressive record of advocacy for improved social services and education for children, youth and families, as well as environmentally friendly economic development through tourism and the promotion of New Mexico through its history and culture. The collection is divided into twenty-one series:

Biographical-Correspondence (1968-1994, Box 1-4), contains twenty plus folders of biographical information on Bruce and Alice King, including two general information folders, two articles from New Mexico magazine, and drafts of Governor King’s memoir, later published as A Cowboy in the Roundhouse. The remainder of this series is the general correspondence section of the collection, containing over twenty-five years (1968-1994) of non-subject specific correspondence. All subject specific correspondence is found in its appropriate section.

Office (1970-1994, Box 4-17), contains papers specific to the Office of the Governor. This includes schedules, social events, mail logs, reports, office manuals and Governor King’s doodle files from 1979-1981.

State Government (1967-1995, Box 17-31), contains papers from numerous organizations within New Mexico state government, beginning with materials relating to the executive office, including executive orders, executive proclamations, transition reports, press speeches and executive appointments to boards, committees, commissions, and councils. Other departments in this series include the Department of Finance and Administration, the General Services Department, the Department of Labor, the Regulation and Licensing Department, the State Engineer’s Office, and the Department of Taxation and Revenue. This series also includes papers on the Democratic Party of New Mexico, the Democratic Governors Association, the National Governors Association, and the Western Governors’ Association.

Social Services (1971-1994, Box 31-51), contains papers relating to Governor Bruce and Alice King’s work to improve social services for New Mexico’s citizens. It begins with a section titled ‘Children, Youth and Families,’ which includes information on adolescent pregnancy, child abuse, the New Mexico Children’s Code, aging, domestic violence, the White House Conference on Families (1979-1980), and the creation of the Children, Youth and Families Department, the first cabinet level department of its kind in the nation. Other sections include youth, including the New Mexico Youth Resource Center, which Alice King directed, and health, including the Alice King/Lovelace Immunization Program and the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation, where Alice served as a board member. The series is concluded with sections on International Year of the Child (1979), International Year of the Disabled Person (1981), New Mexico Volunteer Work, Substance Abuse, and the New Mexico Boys Ranch and Girls Ranch, all projects and organizations in which Alice King served as the director, member of the board of directors, or as a chairperson.

Education (1968-1994, Box 51-56), includes general information on education in New Mexico, including funding and legislation, as well as information on primary, secondary and higher education and New Mexico’s institutes of higher education. It also contains education reports from 1971-1994.

Corrections-Criminal Justice (1971-1994, Box 56-63), is organized into three subseries: a section of mixed Corrections Department and Criminal Justice information: a sizable section of papers relating to Juvenile Justice (nearly 4 ft³); and a section on the Santa Fe Prison Riot (February 2-3, 1980), including a signed report on the Santa Fe Prison Riot by Attorney General Jeff Bingaman, addressed to Governor King.

Energy and Environment (1971-1994, Box 63-68), contains information relating to energy, minerals, natural resources, environmental activism, conservation, and nuclear waste, including a box on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, and the proposed Monitored Retrievable Storage facility on the Mescalero Apache reservation, which Governor King successfully fought against.

Highway and Transportation (1966-1994, Box 68-69) is about one cubic foot of material about the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department. As a representative from rural Santa Fe County, King fought hard for the proper maintenance of rural roads and highways. Governor King’s father, Bill King, worked for the State Highway Department from 1932-1943, leading Governor King to call the Kings a “highway family." (See Box 1, Folder 1)

Arts (1971-1994, Box 69-71), contains information relating to the arts, music and museums in New Mexico during the Governor’s three terms in office. Always strong patrons of the arts, Bruce and Alice King hosted exhibitions at the Governor’s gallery and Alice served on the board of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation.

Economic Development, History and Culture, Tourism (1971-1994, Box 71-75), includes documents relating to economic development, tourism, history and culture, issues all tied together in a New Mexico economy dominated by tourism. Governor King took pride in his record on economic development in New Mexico during his administrations, especially in areas outside of the Rio Grande corridor. The History and Culture subseries includes information on the Office of Cultural Affairs and the New Mexico Quincentenary, and the Tourism subseries includes reports from the New Mexico Department of Tourism as well as the 1992 and 1993 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Special Issues (1971-1995, Box 75-81), includes subjects that were of special interest to Governor King’s administrations but did not easily fit in the other series. These include: Women’s Issues, including the Governor’s Career Development Conference for Women in State Government; the New Mexico State Fair, where Alice King served as a commissioner; New Mexico State Racing Commission; Border Issues, including the New Mexico Border Commission and the International Conference of Border Governors of United States & Mexico, which Bruce King helped found; and High Technology - Military.

Campaign (1970-1994, Box 81-100), includes information on Governor Bruce King’s four campaigns for governor. Campaign 1970 and Inauguration 1971 contain only one file, but a full box of memorabilia (Box 196). Campaign 1978, Campaign 1990, and Campaign 1994 all contain correspondence, reference files, position papers, news releases, and fundraising information, including information on the Gold Boot and Silver Spur clubs. For memorabilia for these campaigns, see Boxes 197-200.

Legislative (1964-1994, Box 100-101), is organized chronologically and contains miscellaneous information on the state legislature and legislation that does not relate directly to any of the aforementioned series.

Newspaper Clippings (1961-1996, Box 101-105), includes five boxes of photocopies of press clippings organized chronologically. Governor King was a subscriber to the New Mexico Press Clipping Bureau, which provided him with clippings from newspapers from around the state. See also, Series XIX: Scrapbooks, 1971-1993, Boxes 125-165.

Miscellaneous (1967-1995, Box 105-108), is an alphabetically organized series of topics that did not fit into the series mentioned above, but had enough information to justify a separate folder. These include 4-H; the Future Farmers of America; the Friendship Force; the New Mexico Amigos; New Mexico’s Official Goodwill Ambassadors; the New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association, on which governor King served as a member of the advisory board; the New Mexico Cow Belles, of which Alice King was a member and state official; and the United Way of Greater Albuquerque, where Alice King served as a member of the board.

Photographs (undated, Box 108-110), includes over 2000 images and negatives found dispersed throughout the original collection, most of which are undated and unidentified.

Audio Visual (1978-1994, Box 111), includes VHS cassettes, audio cassettes and audio reel to reel tapes, the majority being campaign advertisements.

Books and Magazines (1966-1994, Box 112-124), contains over a dozen cubic feet of books, many of them personalized by the authors, and magazines about New Mexico and the Southwest.

Scrapbooks (1971-1993, Box 125-165), is a series of forty-one scrapbooks, assembled from press clippings provided by the New Mexico Newspaper Clipping Bureau. The books were assembled by Alice King and her four grandchildren.

Memorabilia (1967-1994, Box 166-200), contains thirty-five boxes of memorabilia, from awards, plaques, and certificates to campaign memorabilia, children’s drawings, and business cards. Items from Boxes 166-184 are currently on display in the Governor Bruce King Reading Room.

Oversize (1970-1994, Box 201-205), contains election returns all of Bruce King’s gubernatorial campaigns and a selection of signed posters.

Dates

  • 1961-1997

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Access Restrictions

None

Extent

From the Collection: 206 Cubic Feet

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