Neil MacNeil Collection
Scope and Contents
The Neil MacNeil Collection contains materials from the U.S. Congress in the late-nineteenth century to the twentieth century collected by Neil MacNeil, a journalist and authority on the history of Congress. Included are bound, handwritten "Records" of various sessions of Congress; minutes of the Committee on Military Affairs for several years; printed press credential cards and visitors' passes for Congress; and transcripts from "Time Magazine" symposia in which MacNeil was a panelist in 1972 in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.
The Georgetown University Library also received the book collection belonging to Neil MacNeil. Amounting to over 6,000 monographs, serials, and pamphlets, the book collection was divided between the main stacks and the rare book collection of the Georgetown University Library.
Dates
- Creation: 1833 - 1978
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 Note
Neil MacNeil (1923-2008) was a longtime American journalist who was an expert on the U.S. Congress. Born on January 3, 1923, in the Bronx, New York, MacNeil graduated from Harvard University in 1948.
MacNeil began his professional career as a journalist with the "New York Times." In 1949, he moved to Washington, D.C. to cover news from the U.S. Congress for the United Press. From 1958 until 1987, MacNeil covered Congress for "Time" Magazine. He was one of the first television Congressional correspondents. In addition, he was a political comentator on several national news programs.
MacNeil published "Dirksen: Portrait of a Pubic Man" (1970), "The Presidents' Medal: 1789-1977" (1977), and "The American Senate: An Insider's Story" (2013, posthumously).
Neil MacNeil died in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2008.
[Source: "New York Times Historical" obituary on 6/12/2008].
Extent
2.4 Cubic Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Neil MacNeil, 1979.
- Title
- Neil MacNeil Collection
- Author
- Scott S. Taylor, Booth Family for Special Collections, Georgetown University Library
- Date
- 2022 August
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057
speccoll@georgetown.edu