The Biographical Files provide background on Conte's life and political career. This series has been artificially created by drawing from other series within the collection. Materials within folders in this series are arranged chronologically and include biographical sketches generated by aides; feature articles on Conte; transcripts of interviews; guest lists and notes regarding both of Conte's well-known annual celebrations the Labor Day Atlantic salmon party (1985-1989) and his birthday party (1983-1986) at the Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. There are also obituaries and several folders containing newsclips with substantive biographical content. This series contains a compilation of the famed rhymes he recited on the House floor and a few of his published writings. Tax returns from 1959 to 1975, and a few cards and notes from family members round out this key series.

The State Senate Files document Conte's eight-year tenure as a Massachusetts State Senator representing the Berkshire District. This series makes possible insight into Conte's formative years as a politician and public servant. The files reflect Conte's early involvement in what would become his major career interests: health and human services, education, the environment, and transportation. As a State Senator he served on more committees than had any other member of the state Legislature, and was the youngest legislator, in the history of the Commonwealth, to serve as chairman of the important Committee on Insurance.

This series documents his extensive involvement in legislative and investigative committees and his correspondence with constituents. Included in the nine boxes are campaign materials, correspondence, speeches, and subject files.

The one box of campaign materials is arranged in chronological order according to campaign year. Files for each campaign include addresses, correspondence with constituents and colleagues, newspaper clippings, endorsements, and campaign expenditures. Senator Conte's campaign addresses are particularly useful in revealing his political convictions as well as issues central to 1950s politics.

The four boxes of correspondence are the largest group of files within the State Senator series and reveal his diligent attention to his district's concerns and his dedication to serving his constituency. The correspondence, comprised of both incoming and outgoing letters, is almost entirely constituent-oriented with nearly one quarter of the correspondence consisting of general requests made by constituents, all of which were dutifully completed. The files are arranged both alphabetically by the name of the correspondent and by general subject.

Perhaps more than any other group of files in this series, Conte's speeches reveal his personality and opinions. Conte's speeches were candid, often humorous, and suggest that he was not afraid of difficult fights. The box of speeches is arranged in alphabetical order by subject or location of speech. Often folders contain more than one speech made on a single subject.

The subject files consist of three boxes and are arranged alphabetically. Each subject file contains an assortment of materials including correspondence, background material, newsclippings and Conte's handwritten notes. Most of the files pertain to legislation or committee activity. Prominent issues reflecting public sentiment during the 1950s McCarthyism, the Cold War and defense spending, unions, and the push for public works are recurring themes. During his years as a State Senator, Conte was particularly well known for his investigative work into mismanagement of union health and welfare trust funds; for authoring legislation establishing accident and health insurance for all state, city, town, and county employees, the first such law in the United States; and for introducing a bill outlawing communism in Massachusetts.

Also well documented in the subject files is his interest in the environment, evidenced in his work as chairman of the Conservation Committee and illustrated by his repeated efforts to obtain new state conservation and recreation areas.

His efforts to curb juvenile delinquency and his investigations of such health insurance agencies as Blue Cross and Blue Shield foretold his future vigorous support for health and social service programs in Congress. Conte also received attention for his vehement opposition to Governor Foster Furculo's proposal to establish the first sales tax in Massachusetts.

Included in the subject files are five folders of newsclippings provided by a newsclip service to which Conte subscribed. The clippings are extremely useful in obtaining background information on Conte's legislative and campaign activities.

The variety of subjects represented shows the diversity of Conte's interests, ranging from farming legislation to foreign affairs, and from an investigation of Gypsy Moths to authorship of a "Witches Bill" which exonerated the final eight victims of the Salem Witch Trials. Many topics represented in the subject files also appear in the State Senate speech files.

SEE ALSO: Crusade for Freedom

SEE: Water Supply

SEE ALSO: Tax, Sales

SEE ALSO: Youth Service Board

SEE ALSO: Pension Bills

SEE ALSO: Utilities, Public

SEE: Conservation Committee

SEE ALSO: Conservation Committee

SEE ALSO: Health and Welfare Trust Fund

SEE: Conservation Committee

The Travel Files is one of the few series in the collection to reveal at length Conte's own thoughts and impressions. These appear in the handwritten letters and taped recordings he sent to his staff while he traveled. This series contains itineraries, correspondence, background materials, transcripts of personal reports, newsclippings, press releases, thank-you notes, and speeches. The files are arranged chronologically and total two boxes.

Many of Conte's early trips stemmed from his service on the House Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. The trips were often inspection tours of America's foreign aid programs to developing nations. The most complete files concern Conte's six week tour of Africa and Europe in 1961, accompanied by his good friend and fellow committee member Robert Michel R-IL, and constitute nearly one-half of this series. Here Conte offers interesting commmentary on topics ranging from industrialization, agricultural practices, and political structures to descriptions of the climate and local customs. On that 1961 trip Conte made a stopover in Berlin. There he witnessed the flow of East German refugees into West Germany and the hardships endured by the German people as a result of the official separation of the city of Berlin by the construction of the Berlin Wall. His personal accounts of these events and others exemplify his concern for human rights and help to explain his strong support for well-funded foreign assistance programs to developing nations.

Although primarily known for his activism on the domestic front, Conte also played an international role by representing the United States when dealing with foreign leaders. His forays into diplomacy are documented in the China and Soviet Union files. The efforts of the Carter and Reagan administrations to improve Sino-American relationships are reflected in the files on the China Trips in 1977 and 1983. In 1985 Conte was a member of the first Congressional delegation to meet with the Soviet Union's leader Mikhail Gorbachev. As Tip O'Neill said in his eulogy of Conte: "I don't know how many places we went around the world together, but Sil could ask the leader of a nation the most pertinent question that would have taken a diplomat two years to ask. He could get to the point."

Conte occasionally made taped recordings while traveling and these audiotapes are included in the collection often accompanied by a typed transcript. The trip to Africa and Europe in 1961 is especially well documented with audiotapes and transcripts for nine different countries.

Additional series that document Conte's travels include the Speeches, Press Releases, Radio & TV Files, Newsletters, Photographs, and Audio-Visual Materials.

The VIP Correspondence series consists of three boxes of incoming correspondence designated by Conte or his staff for inclusion in a special "VIP" album. For preservation reasons all letters have been removed from the albums and placed in acid free folders.

Most frequent correspondents in the VIP series include: James A. Baker III, Charles E. Bennett, William Brock, Jimmy Carter, Lawrence Couglin, Elizabeth Dole, Michael Dukakis, Vic Fazio, Gerald Ford, Edward Kennedy, Robert Michel, James C. Miller III, Tip O'Neill, Leon Panetta, Ronald Reagan, Donald Regan, George Shultz, Olympia Snowe, David Stockman, and Jamie Whitten.

Although designated "VIP" by Conte's staff, many of the letters are routine they reflect the networking activities and daily interaction among members of Congress. There are notes thanking fellow members of Congress for small gifts (often home-state products), thank-yous for co-sponsorship of a bill or resolution, Dear Colleague letters, and occasionally a more substantive letter discussing an important national or local issue.

The preponderance of letters from such individuals as David Stockman, White House Budget Director; James C. Miller III, Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and President Ronald Reagan document the major reworking the national budget sustained during the Reagan presidency and underscores the administration's need for Conte's cooperation as the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee in order to implement "Reaganomics." These letters illustrate the growing urgency of the federal budget deficit as a potent political issue by the 1980s.

An alphabetical index to letters is available in Special Collection and Archives Reading Room.

Over the course of 17 congressional elections Conte won both party nominations three times and ran unopposed eight times and often won elections by 70% of the vote or more. Full-fledged campaigns were seldom necessary.

The files for each campaign include Conte's official candidacy announcements, correspondence expressing support or congratulations to Conte, information on the Republican party campaign fundraisers and national platform, and Conte's campaign newspaper, The Conte Record.

The later campaign files (1978-1990) contain the so-called Issue Books, which were prepared by Conte's staff to provide detailed, factual summaries of Conte's recent (usually in the last Congress) legislative accomplishments and his stance on important campaign issues.

Other series that relate to campaigns include the Scrapbooks, Issue Books/Briefing Books, Biographical Files, and Speeches.

Files regarding Conte's first Congressional campaign in 1958 can be found in the State Senate series.