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Leonor K. Sullivan - Panama Canal Treaty Collection

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-761019

Scope and Contents

The collection pertains primarily to U.S.-Panama treaty negotiations relating to the Panama Canal and a proposed interoceanic Atantic-Pacific sea-level canal. The collection consists of copies of documents held by the St. Louis University Law Library.

Dates

  • 1943 - 1976

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Biographical / Historical

Leonor Kretzer Sullivan (born August 21, 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri), was a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the first woman in Congress from Missouri. Sullivan attended Washington University in St. Louis. She became a teacher and director at St. Louis Comptometer School. She was married to Congressman John B. Sullivan and served as his administrative aide. Following her husband's death in 1951, she served as an aide to Congressman Leonard Irving.

In 1952, Sullivan ran for Congress herself and was subsequently re-elected eleven times. In Congress, she served for many years as Secretary of the House Democratic Caucus. Congressional committees served included the Subcommittee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (chairman), Banking and Currency Committee, Housing Subcommittee, International Trade Subcommittee, Consumer Affairs Subcommittee (chairman), and Joint Committee on Defense Production.

Sullivan helped create the food stamp program which was opposed by Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson and became law in the 1960s during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

Sullivan was one of very few members of Congress, and the only woman member of Congress, to vote against the Equal Rights Amendment for women in the early 1970s. She did not seek re-election in 1976.

In 1979, Sullivan was featured in the Supersisters trading card set. The former Wharf Street in front of the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis was renamed Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard in her honor.

Sullivan died in St. Louis on September 1, 1988.

Source: Wikipedia, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonor_Sullivan

Extent

3 Cubic Feet (6 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Arrangement

Provenance order is maintained. Material in Boxes 4 through 6 consist of published House bills, reports and resolutions, and are arranged in numerical order according to bill/resolution number.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Leonor K. Sullivan, 1976/1977.

Existence and Location of Originals

The complete collection of Leonor K. Sullivan Papers are held by the St. Louis University Law Library, St. Louis, Missouri.

Status
Completed
Date
1977-04-01
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2024-07: Edited for DACS compliance by John Zarrillo.
  • 2024-07: Collection title updated by John Zarrillo.

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057