John C. Stennis Papers

The Stennis Collection contains files, documents, photographs, audio/video material, oral histories, and memorabilia that document the career of United States Senator John C. Stennis, a Democrat from Mississippi who served in the Senate forty-two years. A few items relate to his pre-Senate career as a member of the Mississippi Legislature, as a District Attorney, and as a Circuit Judge. Senator Stennis was a Kemper County native, and an alumnus of Mississippi State University and the University of Virginia Law School. After leaving the Senate in 1989, Stennis resided on the MSU campus and lectured to political science classes until failing health forced him into a nursing home. He died in 1995. Senator Stennis was a key player in the Joe McCarthy episode, and he served on a variety of significant committees. He was the first chair of the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct, was actively involved in the development of the U. S. space program via the Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, and was chair of the Armed Services Committee and its Preparedness Subcommittee. In the latter two positions, he had a highly visible role in the Vietnam War era. Stennis also was active in the Appropriations Committee, which he chaired near the end of his career, and was involved in transportation studies and legislation. Since he was serving in the Senate during the Civil Rights revolution of the 1960s, his papers reflect his active role on that era, both in Mississippi and nation-wide. Though he never served on foreign relations committees, Stennis kept abreast of world affairs. His interest in that area is documented in the collection, by such materials as a diary he kept during a trip to Russia in 1958. His collection thus provides rich details of world, American, and Mississippi history during the latter half of the twentieth century.