This series provides a brief overview of Harman's life as a student at Smith College and her non-professional life. It contains mostly correspondence, newspaper clippings, and award certificates. Of special interest is a letter in the Smith College folder that Harman wrote to her parents, describing her daily life and activities at college. "A Day in the Life of Jane Harman" is a whimsical composition of newspaper clippings and captions depicting a fictional day in Harman's Congressional work. The piece was possibly created by some of her staff members.

This series relates to Jane Harman's non-Congressional professional life. It is organized into five subseries: White House, Publications, Correspondence, Organizations and conferences, and Office files. The White House subseries pertains to Harman's time in the Carter administration as Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet. It includes copies of correspondence with Secretary to the Cabinet Jack Watson, President Carter, and various White House officials and staff. Publications contains articles about Harman or articles authored/co-authored by Harman during the 1970s. Some articles of interest about Harman include those that report on her decision to leave the Carter administration to spend more time with her family and her effects on staff/cabinet relations at the White House. Writings authored by Harman during her legislative career can be found throughout SERIES IV. LEGISLATIVE FILES and SERIES VI. MEDIA ACTIVITIES.

Ranging from 1974 to 1992, the Correspondence subseries includes intra-office and outside correspondence from Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue; papers pertaining to family business and the Harman Family Foundation; and correspondence regarding political contributions and thank yous. The political contributions and thank yous correspondence is to Jane and Sidney Harman or just Jane Harman regarding contributions (monetary and otherwise) to various political campaigns, including letters from Patrick Leahy, Tom Daschle, Harriett Woods, Barbara Boxer, Robert C. Byrd and various other Democratic candidates and organizations.

The next subseries, Organizations and conferences, contains materials on organizations with which Harman was involved or conferences that she attended. The items from the Women's Legal Defense Fund (WLDF) from 1971 detail her involvement with litigation on behalf of the WLDF including legal documents and related correspondence. Of particular interest is a case in which the WLDF wrote an amicus brief on behalf of a woman who was declared "unfit" in a divorce case because she worked outside the home. Later items mainly concern Harman's monetary contributions to the organization.

Women and the Constitution was a 1988 seminar held at the Carter Center. Harman chaired a panel on "The Contemporary Supreme Court and Women." The materials consist mainly of correspondence from 1987 to 1988 about the conference, including a letter from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and conference materials. Conference participants included Rosalynn Carter, Lady Bird Johnson, Bella Abzug, Geraldine Ferraro and Coretta Scott King.

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDIIA) is associated with the U.S. Democratic Party. In 1988 the NDIIA assembled a group to consult on the Chilean elections, and this was the nature of Harman's involvement. The contents include 1988 reports, correspondence and other materials concerning the Chilean elections and international election observing.

This series contains materials on Harman's political activities since the mid-1970s. It is divided into four subseries: General correspondence, Speeches, Democratic National Party, and Campaigns. General correspondence includes incoming and outgoing correspondence arranged chronologically by year (1995-98) and correspondence organized by type and listed in chronological order (1992-98). The correspondence arranged by year is to and from other members of Congress, agency officials, organizations, corporations and local officials and leaders. It covers a range of topics but is often related to political and legislative matters or projects with which Harman was involved or in which the correspondent requested her participation.

The correspondence organized by type uses the original designations of Harman and her staff and includes thank you letters, correspondence with government agencies, and recommendations for government appointments. The relationship between this correspondence and the chronological correspondence is fluid in terms of subject matter. Additional correspondence may also be found in SERIES IV. LEGISLATIVE FILES in various topical files.

The Speeches subseries dates from 1973 to 1980 and includes addresses given to law-related groups, various Bar associations and private organizations. They are arranged chronologically. Speeches that Harman gave during her political campaigns can be found later in this series according to the particular race, and Congressional speeches and addresses can be found throughout SERIES IV. LEGISLATIVE FILES.

Harman has been involved with various aspects of the Democratic National Party since her college years and the Democratic National Party subseries contains files beginning in 1980. In 1984 Harman served as counsel to the Democratic Platform Committee. The correspondence folders contain lists of contents in the front of the folder and the corresponding numbered tabs remain in the folder.

The Democratic Policy Committee published the "Weekender" as a newsletter to keep Democratic House members informed of Congressional happenings. The publication was issued irregularly but it is arranged in chronological order.

The Campaigns subseries contains materials on all of Harman's House campaigns from 1992 to 1996 and her gubernatorial campaign in 1998. The files are arranged according to the particular campaign and are more abundant for her later races. They contain newspaper clippings, publicity materials, briefing books, issue files, and working files. Audiovisual materials relating to Harman's political campaigns, including interviews and campaign ads, can be found in SERIES IX. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS.

Friends of Jane Harman is Harman's campaign fundraising group. The files for this group are largely correspondence with campaign supporters, political colleagues, and staff of Friends of Jane Harman.

Harman won the 1994 race for Representative of the 36th District. However, the election results were very close and Harman's opponent Susan Brooks called for an investigation into voter fraud. Investigations of those allegations continued to some extent into 1996, but no charges were found to be of substance. This section contains correspondence, legal documents, press materials and other information from this period.

There is one folder containing materials on Janice Hahn's 1998 House race for the 36th District.

The reference materials included in this subseries were used by Harman and her staff and relate to the various aspects of conducting a campaign. They are arranged by author and then chronologically within author.

This series is the largest in the collection, representing the files of Harman's office from the 103rd Congress through the 105th Congress (1993-98). It is arranged in 11 subseries: Voting and attendance records, Bills sponsored/cosponsored, Co-signed letters, House National Security Committee, Legislative staff files, Project files, Subject/issue files, Whip schedules and reports, Briefing books, Legislative Weekly Updates, and Research materials.

The Voting and attendance records subseries contains records of votes and attendance for Jane Harman for the specified term. They are arranged chronologically by session.

Bills sponsored/cosponsored also provide a record of Harman's legislative activities in addition to her voting and attendance records. These are copies of most of the bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions that Harman either sponsored or cosponsored from the 103rd to 105th Congresses (1993-98). They are arranged chronologically by Congress. Legislative profiles from the 104th and 105th Congresses provide an overview of the status of bills Harman sponsored.

In addition to writing and sponsoring bills, Harman also contributed to official legislative letters that were sent to colleagues, the White House, or other government agencies. Co-signed letters represents the letters Harman co-signed from the 105th Congress (1997-98). They are arranged alphabetically by the topic assigned by Harman's office staff. The topics range greatly from AIDS drug assistance program funding to Land and Water Conservation Fund funding to transit projects in California.

As part of her legislative responsibilities, Harman served on a number of committees during her tenure. The House National Security Committee subseries contains copies of files from this committee for the 104th and 105th Congresses. These files are closed for 30 years until January 1, 2029 according to Rule XI and Rule XXXVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives of the 105th Congress. The committee files are arranged chronologically by Congress and then alphabetically by topic within a Congress. Although there are no other file groups specifically identified as committee files for the other committees on which Harman served, committee-related materials can be found in the Legislative staff files, especially in Ron Stone's files, and in Subject/issue files, mainly in Defense and Women in the armed forces. See the Appendix for a listing of Harman's committee assignments for the 103rd-105th Congresses.

Legislative staff files, dating from 1993 to 1998 with the bulk from 1997 to 1998, represent the work of four Legislative Assistants and the Legislative Director of Harman's legislative staff: Maria Alongi (1997-98?), Bryan Banks (1998), David Flanders (1995-98), Danny Geffen (1993-96?), and Ron Stone (1993-96?). David Flanders was the Legislative Director from 1995 to 1998 and then Chief of Staff from June 1998 to December 1998. The work of additional members of the legislative staff (John Conger, George Raach, Mary Vesely, and Mike Hammon) can be found throughout SERIES IV. LEGISLATIVE FILES in various subject files. The first folder in this subseries, Legislative assignments, delineates the assignment of legislative topics to various staff members for 1996-98. The staff files are arranged alphabetically by the staff member's last name. Maria Alongi also worked on topics with, or took over responsibilities from, Danny Geffen and Ron Stone and those files are listed under Geffen/Alongi or Stone/Alongi.

Project files consist of legislative and non-legislative projects in which Harman and her staff were interested or with which they were involved. They date from 1995 to 1998 and are arranged alphabetically by topic.

Subject/issues files are divided into three areas: Defense, Women in the armed forces, and General. Public hearings and published reports remain open. The files are arranged alphabetically by topic and range from 1993 to 1998. Topics represented in the Defense files are the B-2 bomber, Big Think Forums, defense conversion/dual-use technology, export policy, defense firms, Los Angeles Air Force Base and base realignment/closure, missile defense, military programs, and weapons of mass destruction.

The Women in the armed forces files are arranged alphabetically by topic and date from 1993 to 1998. Many files in this group relate to integrated training and sexual harassment in the armed forces.

The General subject/issues files are arranged by Congress and then alphabetically by subject. General - 105th is the largest of the groups and is preceded by Major legislative initiatives and issues - 105th. Files pertaining to specific bills are usually listed by number (e.g., HR 988 - Attorney Accountability Act). Legislative summary files and files descriptive of a session's activities are usually listed first.

Whip schedules and reports are correspondence and newsletters from the Democratic Whip. They date from the 104th Congress (1995-96) and 1st session of the 105th Congress (1997). The Whips are responsible for rallying their respective parties and coordinating party activities regarding legislation. The Democratic Whip for the 104th and 105th Congresses was David E. Bonior (D-Michigan).

Briefing books are prepared by Harman's staff or other organizations to provide a concise source of information about a particular topic. They are organized by year, then alphabetically by topic. Briefing books relating to Harman's political campaigns can be found in SERIES III. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.

Legislative Weekly Updates are memos to Harman from her legislative staff in Washington, D.C. These serve to update her on current projects and legislation, propose future actions, and provide recommendations on whether to attend various events, sessions, or hearings. These Updates are from 1998; it is not known whether the Updates were produced in earlier years. For updates from her district staff in California, see SERIES VII. OFFICE ADMINISTRATION.

Research materials are mostly government publications or publications from private organizations that are not widely available elsewhere. These are arranged by year, then alphabetically by author/title.

This series shows the interaction between Harman and her constituents. It is arranged in six subseries: Constituent mail, District concerns, District visits, Constituent requests, Response form letters, and Response correspondence.

Constituent mail is incoming correspondence from constituents to Harman's offices from 1993 to 1998. It is arranged chronologically by Congress and session beginning with the 103rd Congress, 1st session (1993) and ending with the 105th Congress, 2nd session (1998). Within a Congressional session, the folders are arranged alphabetically by topic. The topic heading "Random" is the staff's equivalent of miscellaneous letters.

This subseries was sampled to reduce bulk and represents 20-25% of the original material. The remainder is a representative sample of the original content, given that the sampling method reduced every topic by the same percentage and the original topics remain.

The District concerns subseries contains materials relating to important issues in Harman's Congressional district. The topics are arranged alphabetically, beginning with Airport issues and ending with Women. Two additional topics, North end of district issues and South end of district issues, follow Women and contain materials specific to certain cities and towns in Harman's district. These are arranged alphabetically by town. Places included in the North end are Lawndale, Marina del Rey, Venice, and Westchester. Places included in the south end are Avalon, El Segundo, Gardena Valley, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, and Torrance.

The District visits subseries contains materials on Harman's visits to her district from 1994 to 1998. The visits are organized chronologically. Visits with a special purpose or for a specific event as delineated by her staff are noted.

In addition to voicing their views on current or upcoming legislation in constituent mail, constituents also asked Harman's office for assistance on more specific matters relating to their communities. Constituent requests contains those requests from 1994 to 1997. Some letters were forwarded to other agencies that could be of more help.

Due to the volume of correspondence received by a Congressional office, it is difficult for Congresspersons and their staffs to write individual responses. Response form letters contains the form letters that Harman and her staff used to respond to much of the regular constituent correspondence they received. There are various form letters from 1993 to 1998.

Response correspondence consists of responses to items that Harman's office sent out from 1993 to 1996. Occasionally Harman's office wrote personalized replies to incoming constituent mail using pre-written prints. The original constituent letter often accompanies these.

This series is divided into three subseries: Publications and mailings, General, and Newspaper clippings. In the Publications and mailings subseries, "Legislative Happenings" is a newsletter that Harman sent to her constituents.

Harman's office staff collected newspaper clippings about Harman and issues that interested her. Only those articles directly pertaining to Harman have been kept in the Newspaper clippings subseries. The clippings are organized chronologically by month.

This series represents the overall operations of Harman's offices. The legislative office staff is just one component of the overall staff it takes to successfully operate Harman's district and Washington offices. There are four subseries: Chief of Staff files, Office files, District Office Updates, and Reference materials.

The Chief of Staff is in charge of the entire staff that works for the Congressperson. From 1993 to 1998, at least four different people held this position in Harman's office and the Chief of Staff files contain materials the chiefs of staff retained and kept separate from other office files. Bill Black has one file that dates from 1993. It is not apparent from the collection whether he was Chief of Staff for the entire 103rd Congress. Mark Kadesh was Chief of Staff from 1995 to 1997. The notebooks contain Kadesh's notes from his day-to-day work and are not dated in any definitive manner. Mike Monasmith was the Chief of Staff from 1997 to 1998. His files are organized alphabetically by topic. David Flanders was the Chief of Staff for the last part of 1998. It does not appear that he kept any specific office files, although his notebooks in SERIES IV. LEGISLATIVE FILES may contain office related content.

Office files are the general files that the staff used in their daily operations. The "Bible" is the office handbook from the 103rd Congress, although it is not complete. The guestbook lists those visitors who signed in when visiting Harman's district office. The scheduling memos provide insight into how Harman and her staff organized her schedule and decided which events and meetings were worth attending. They are organized chronologically from 1994 through 1998. The General files are arranged by Congress and then alphabetically by topic. Most of those files are from the 105th Congress (1997-98).

District Office Updates are memos sent to the Washington office to update Harman and the Washington staff on the activities of her district office. They include staff news and assignments, progress reports on constituent issues and notices of important events and activities. They are arranged chronologically.

Reference materials are the publications and reports that Harman and her staff used to inform themselves on how to operate a Congressional office and the rules of being a Congressperson. They are organized by Congress.

This series is arranged in seven subseries, mimicking the topical arrangement of the rest of the collection. The Biographical subseries contains photographs from Harman's youth and of her family. The Professional activities subseries contains images from her time in the White House and as a Senate staff member, including a picture of Harman with Justice Harry Blackmun.

The Political activities photographs date from 1987 to 1998 and are organized alphabetically by topic. The Legislative activities subseries contains photographs related to Congressional activities and initiatives. They are organized alphabetically by topic and date from 1993 to 1998. The Fort Jackson photographs under Military document Harman's experience with the Army basic training physical fitness testing with the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment.

The Constituent services subseries, dating from 1995 to 1998, contains various pictures of Harman with constituents and at various constituent events. The Media activities subseries contains publicity and press photos from 1997-98. The Office staff photographs are from 1995 and 1996 and depict various members of Harman's staff as well as her office environment, including her Army Barbie and G.I. Barbie.

This series contains Audiotapes, Videotapes, Films and Computer media. Arranged chronologically, the Audiotapes feature interviews with Harman on various subjects including NAFTA, defense spending, and gender integration in the military. Only those audiotapes for which there are use copies may be accessed immediately. An asterisk (*) next to a title indicates there is a use copy available. If a use copy does not exist, 3 weeks advance notice must be given for a use copy to be made.

The Videotapes are arranged chronologically with the bulk of the videotapes dating from 1996 to 1997. Dealing with topics such as women in the military, defense spending, the environment, education and gun control, many of the videotapes feature interviews with Jane Harman on local and national television. In addition, some of the videotapes are promotional material publicizing Harman's candidacies for both the House of Representatives and Governor of California. Only those tapes for which there are use copies may be viewed immediately. An asterisk (*) next to a title indicates there is a use copy available. If a use copy does not exist, 3 weeks advance notice must be given for a use copy to be made.

Notes, letters, or other written materials accompanied a few of the videotapes; this is indicated in brackets at the end of the title. The written material is in a separate folder at the end of SERIES VII. OFFICE ADMINISTRATION. Some of the tapes are in formats other than VHS; this also is indicated in brackets at the end of the title.

Although the majority of audiovisual materials are in playable formats, some may require players that are obsolete or that may not be available.