This Register contains the papers of John Hubbard Chafee while he was Governor of Rhode Island, Secretary of the Navy under President Richard Nixon, and while he attempted to win election to the United States Senate from Rhode Island in 1972. He lost the election in 1972 to Claiborne Pell, but won election easily in 1976. He went on to serve in the United States Senate for twenty-three years.  John Chafee’s papers from his tenure as Senator are contained in MsG # 115 and are also held by Special Collections at the University of Rhode Island, although they have not yet been processed.

The papers contained in this record group were removed from the Chafee family’s barn in 1993. Seven years later some of the boxes still had hay in them. It is possible that not all the boxes were removed from the barn. Many of Chafee’s papers may have been simply thrown away.   On May 20, 1968, John Chafee wrote in response to Albert Klyberg’s (then Librarian of the Rhode Island Historical Society) request for the Chafee papers, that he should write to Jean Woolley, Chafee’s secretary, to discuss what items should be saved. “I might say you have an ally in her, as I am a throw it away man and she sternly resists such impulses.” Some of the papers appear to be missing, particularly from the beginning of his term as governor. Correspondence from the years 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1967, for example, did not appear to be kept, although the carbon copies of letters sent were kept from 1963 to 1968.

The papers from the Secretary of the Navy office do not include any correspondence or other official documents. They include a Subject File, a Speeches/ Addresses series, and Newspaper Clippings and Photograph albums. Chafee’s records from the Secretary of the Navy’s office are kept by the National Archives.

This manuscript group is divided into six sub-groups and thirty series. For a description of the collection, see the Summary Sub-group Description.

The papers are generally in good condition. Their storage in the barn exposed them to moisture damage and many of the paper clips and staples have rusted onto the papers. Some of the appointment books, binders, and albums were covered with mildew. The damaged binders were discarded and the books were cleaned. Many copies of newspaper clippings were kept by Chafee’s staff, mainly from Rhode Island newspapers. Unless they were kept in a subject file and identified as to source, they were discarded.