Modern Political Archives is Currently Closed

As of October 9, 2023, the Modern Political Archives (MPA) is closed for an indefinite period. The MPA collections, which have been housed at the Howard H. Baker J. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs, will be placed in secure storage until completion of the planned Libraries Storage Annex, a modern climate-controlled facility that also will house special collections and the University of Tennessee Archives. The Baker School will expand its operations into the space now occupied by the MPA reading room and collections.

The archives contains over 4,000 linear feet of material (manuscripts, books, photos, film, sound recordings, digital files, memorabilia and ephemera) representing the careers and legacies of select Tennessean members of the US Congress, the federal judiciary, and presidential cabinets. Significant MPA collections include the papers of four former US senators: Howard Baker, Jr.; Estes Kefauver; Fred Thompson; and Bill Brock.

The bulk of those collections will be unavailable to researchers or to staff for an indefinite period. However, selected materials from the MPA will remain available as digital collections:

• Photographs from the Life and Career of Howard Baker
• Howard Baker Speeches and Remarks, 1966–1985
• Senator Howard Baker Audiovisual Materials
• Estes Kefauver Image Collection
• Crime Documents from the Estes Kefauver Collection
• Of Monkeys and Men: Public and Private Views from the Scopes Trial

Please direct questions about the Modern Political Archives to staff of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives at special@utk.edu