Research Catalog

Title

Presidential archivist : a memoir / David E. Alsobrook.

Author

Alsobrook, David Ernest, 1946-

Publication

• Macon, Georgia : Mercer University Press, 2020.
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Mercer University Press.

Description

xviii, 275 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"Like many other aspiring young historians in the 1970s, David Alsobrook fell victim to the "PhD glut" and the shrinking number of vacancies in traditional academic jobs. His completion of the Auburn University Archival Training Program in 1975 provided him with an alternative career pathway as a historian beyond teaching and research. A sizable portion of this memoir focuses on Alsobrook's archival career at the Alabama Department of Archives and History and three Presidential libraries. Based almost exclusively on his contemporaneous personal journals, correspondence, and notes, Presidential Archivist includes details about academic and practical training, typical duties, and the revolutionary impact of computerization upon the archival profession over the past four decades. During his National Archives career, Alsobrook had the unique opportunity to know several recent American Presidents and First Ladies-Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, George H. W. and Barbara Bush, George W. and Laura Bush, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Not surprisingly, as an archivist he compiled copious records of his interactions with these Presidents and First Ladies. These records form the basis for his personal observations about each of these remarkable "national treasures" and their contributions to our nation. Alsobrook reveals that public perceptions of Presidents and First Ladies often are quite different from the actual occupants of the White House, most notably, when they are removed from the television cameras' merciless lens"--

Subject

• Alsobrook, David Ernest, 1946-
• Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
• Bush, George, 1924-2018
• Bush, George W. 1946-
• Clinton, Bill, 1946-
• National Archives (U.S.) > Officials and employees
• White House (Washington, D.C.) > History > 20th century
• National Archives (U.S.)
• White House (Washington, D.C.)
• 1900-1999
• Presidential libraries > United States > History > 20th century
• Archivists > Training of
• Archivists > United States > v Biography
• Employees
• Presidential libraries
• United States

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

"The Loveliest Village": The Auburn University Archival Training Program -- Toiling in Milo Howard's Vineyard: The Alabama Department of Archives and History -- "Are You from Georgia?": My National Archives Initiation Rites -- "Eyewitness to History": An Archivist in the White House -- Building "Presidential Pyramids": The Carter Presidential Materials Project -- "National Treasures": My Presidents and First Ladies -- My Fall from Grace: A Cautionary Tale of Redemption and Second Chances -- Epilogue: We Few Who Dwell in the People's House: The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum Dedication.

Call Number

JFE 21-4958

ISBN

• 9780881467635
• 0881467634

LCCN

• 2020017056
• 40030418621

OCLC

1157841436

Author

Alsobrook, David Ernest, 1946- author.

Title

Presidential archivist : a memoir / David E. Alsobrook.

Publisher

Macon, Georgia : Mercer University Press, 2020.

Copyright Date

©2020

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Added Author

Mercer University Press.

Other Standard Identifier

40030418621

Research Call Number

JFE 21-4958