The John Joseph Moakley Archive has a broad range of papers and other material from the congressman’s life and work. Scrapbooks of Joe Moakley from the 1940s and 1950s offer glimpses into his life during and shortly after World War II. Press clippings, miscellaneous papers, and campaign materials document his service in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate. These resources illustrate his early commitment to the environment, particularly Boston Harbor and its islands. Moakley championed bread-and-butter issues such as fair housing, economic development, and veterans’ benefits. His participation in the painful desegregation/forced busing controversy that galvanized Boston in the 1970s also is recorded.

Moakley Papers Description and Arrangement

Scope and Content Note

Joe Moakley’s congressional career from 1972 to 2002 is recorded in files, videos, photographs, and citations. The Archives has constituent service and policy files; reports of the Congressman’s legislative and voting records; and documents related to his campaigns. Congressman Moakley’s interest and advocacy for international human rights, dating from a constituent service issue in the early 1980s, are demonstrated through materials that include the declassified files of the Moakley Commission, which investigated the murders in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter. Other documents reflect Moakley’s service as chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee and his role in congressional law making, as well as his promotion of the combined "Third Harbor Tunnel" and "Big Dig" project, the largest public works project in U.S. history.

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Subject Terms

Boston Harbor Islands (Mass.)
Busing for school integration
Cigarettes -- Safety regulations -- United States
Democratic Party (U.S.) History 20th century.
El Salvador -- Politics and government -- 1979-1992
Jesuits -- El Salvador
Legislators -- Massachusetts.
Legislators -- United States.
Massachusetts -- Politics and government--1950-2001.
McGovern, James P., 1959-
Moakley, John Joseph, 1927-2001
Politicians -- Massachusetts.
O’Neill, Tip
United States -- Congress -- House.
United States--Politics and government--1973-2001.

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Series 1: Administrative Files, 1973-2001, n.d.

Description: This series contains materials related to the day-to-day workings of Moakley’s Washington and District Offices including awards received by Moakley, office files and subject files.  

Arrangement: Divided into six sub-series: Awards and Events, Biographical Files, Correspondence, Subject Files and Office Files and Schedules.

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Series 2: Legislative Files, 1973-2001

Description:  The Legislative Files document Moakley’s legislative initiatives and his stand on issues of the day as documented by copies of bills, correspondence and his voting records. The series is divided into three sub-series: Bills Sponsored/Co-sponsored, Legislative Correspondence, and Voting Records.

See Also: In-depth files on Moakley’s key legislation and public policy efforts are located in Series 3: Legislative Assistants’ Files.

Arrangement: Divided into three sub-series: Bills Sponsored/Co-sponsored, Legislative Correspondence, and Voting Records.

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Series 3: Legislative Assistants’ Files, 1968-2001

Description:  The records in this large series represent files created by Moakley’s legislative directors, assistants and aides as they drafted bills, advised Moakley on possible legislative strategies, researched pending legislation, represented him at meetings and kept him abreast of current issues. Moakley’s Rules Committees files were not transferred to the Archives, instead they are official records retained by the National Archives. The types of materials include correspondence, memoranda, draft legislation, statements and speeches and secondary material collected for reference.

Topics covered in this portion of the collection include foreign policy, defense spending, government affairs, the environment, energy, aging, trade, transportation, and education. The legislative files have been divided into sub-series by the name of the staff member who created them, with the exception that legislative directors’ materials were often interfiled in other staffers’ papers.  Additionally, some of the staffers generally acquired the files of those who had previously covered those subjects and they remain interfiled with their papers.  Because each staffer managed their own files the arrangement varies according to the staffers’ method of organization.

Arrangement: Divided into 9 sub-series:  3.1: Carlton Currens, 3.2 Jack Dooling, 3.3 Ellen Harrington, 3.4 James McGovern, 3.5: Sophie (Wattles) Hayford, 3.6: Steve LaRose, 3.7 Kathleen Texeira, 3.8: Kelly Timilty, 3.9 General files (No staffer assigned)

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Series 4: District Issues, 1973-2001

Description: Arranged alphabetically by topic, this series includes files on a variety of legislative issues, federally funded projects and programs important to the state of Massachusetts and the Ninth District. The files document projects such as the Big Dig/Central Artery Tunnel Project, the Moakley Federal Courthouse, Boston Harbor clean-up and sludge disposal, and various economic development initiatives. Other topics include the federally mandated busing for Boston Public Schools, congressional redistricting, the Walpole landfill issue and economic development issues in the Ninth District. Boxes 1-8 represent the working files of District Directors Roger Kineavy (1973-1994) and Fred Clark (1994-2001). Boxes 8-10 are the files of Sean Ryan, Washington Liaison from 1993-2001.

See Also: Additional materials related to the Boston Harbor clean-up and the Walpole landfill issue can be can be found in Sub-series 3.3: Ellen Harrington’s files.

Arrangement: Alphabetical 

Restrictions: Access to sensitive or confidential materials may be restricted; consult Archivist.

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Series 5: Campaign Files, 1953-2000

Description:  This series documents Moakley’s campaigns for Congress from 1970 to 2000. The materials are the working files of Moakley’s campaign staff; including campaign managers, Roger Kineavy and Fred Clark. The files include correspondence, public relations materials, strategy papers, position papers, opponent research, issue research, voter information and financial information. Based on interviews with former staff, the files of previous campaigns, including materials from the 1950s, were used in planning for the next campaign cycle. As a result, documents from earlier campaigns are interfiled with later campaigns. The files are arranged chronologically in the context in which they were found.

See Also:  Memorabilia, photographs and audiovisual materials related to his campaigns located in Series 9: Special Materials. For campaigns pre-dating 1973, see also Sub-series 11.1: Political Papers.

Arrangement: Chronological by campaign cycle and alphabetical within cycles. Oversized materials are stored in Box 25.

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Series 6: Constituent Services, 1973-2001

Description: This series documents the constituent services handled by Moakley and his staff. Moakley regarded constituent service as one his most important functions and would often personally handle requests. The district offices handled the majority of these requests, with complex casework and aid and assistance requests handled by District Directors Roger Kineavy (1973-1994) and Fred Clark (1995-2001). Requests were fielded via phone, letter or through informal constituent sessions held at Castle Island, district offices, post offices or for a time via his mobile congressional office. Typical transactions included information requests, responding to inquiries regarding legislative issues, assisting groups in Massachusetts to secure federal grants, and helping individuals with difficulties involving the Federal government (casework).

Restrictions: Access to sensitive or confidential materials may be restricted; consult Archivist.

Arrangement: Divided into six sub-series: 6.1: Aid and Assistance Files, 6.2: Casework, 6.3: Constituent Index Cards, 6.4: Constituent Services Logs, 6.6: Information Requests

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Series 7: Public Relations, 1970s-2001

Description:  This series documents the efforts of Moakley’s press secretaries to deliver Moakley’s message to constituents and the general public via television, radio, newspapers, and mailings. Moakley’s press secretaries were Jack Dooling (1974), Amy Levy (1976), John Weinfurter (1977-1980), Jim McGovern (1984-1993), and Karin Walser (1994-2001). The files include newsletters, press releases and specialized mailings. Many of these items are interfiled in other parts of the collection.

See Also:  Photographs and audiovisual materials located in Series 9: Audiovisual Recordings and Series 10: Photographs.

Arrangement: Divided into three subseries: 7.1: News Clippings, 7.2: Newsletters and Mailings, and 7.3: Press Releases.

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Series 8: Speeches, 1970s-2001

Description: The series is comprised of speeches and remarks delivered by Moakley at events, before congressional committees or on the House floor. The speeches provide insight on Moakley’s stands on issues of the day, legislative initiatives and interactions with constituent groups.

See also: related materials in Sub-Series 7.3 Press Releases.

Arrangement: Divided into two sub-series: Congressional Speeches and Non-Congressional Speeches

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Series 9: Special Materials, 1952-2001, n.d

Description: This series encompasses all the audio recordings, video recordings and memorabilia collected by or given to Moakley during his nearly thirty years in Congress. The items often tell the story of Moakley’s trips to foreign lands, relationships with constituents, campaign strategy, public policy in action, events he attended and honors received by Moakley.

Arrangement: Divided into three sub-series: 9.1: Audio Recordings, 9.2: Video Recordings and 9.3: Memorabilia

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Series 10: Photographs, 1970-2001

Description: The images in this series document various aspects of Moakley’s activities as a congressman including congressional hearings and meetings, district events, political campaigns, foreign policy trips and publicity photos. The photographs are mostly prints but there are also slides, contact sheets, and negatives.  Unidentified or undated photographs are listed at the end of each category.

See also: Photographs from Moakley’s early life in Series 11. Images available in digital format as noted.

Arrangement: Divided into 5 categories: Campaigns, Congress, Events, People and Portraits and Publicity Photographs.

Restrictions: Materials may be restricted based on copyright status; consult Archivist.

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Series 11: Non-Congressional Papers, 1926-1998

Description: This series documents Moakley’s pre-congressional career in Massachusetts politics and his personal life. The papers are divided into four categories: Political papers, Personal Papers, Photographs and Special Materials.

Arrangement: Divided into four sub-series: 11.1: Political Papers, 11.2: Personal Papers, 11.3: Photographs and 11.4: Special Materials. 

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