(2016-1160-F) Arthur Fletcher, Mary Frances Berry, Bobby Doctor, and Stuart Ishimaru

The materials in 2016-1160-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Arthur Fletcher, who served as chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) from 1990-1993, was a Republican and long time federal government official often referred to as the “father of affirmative action.” Fletcher occupied positions in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush administrations. Fletcher died in 2005. Mary Frances Berry, served as chair of the USCCR for more than a decade (1993-2004). She was appointed to the USCCR by Jimmy Carter and was a board member until Bill Clinton named her as chair in 1993. Berry has held many positions at institutions of higher learning all over the country and authored many books. Bobby Doctor, a lifelong civil rights activist, served as interim national director of the USCCR for a period of several months in 1993. Stuart Ishimaru served as Acting Staff Director of the USCCR from 1993-1994. He held two other positions in the Clinton administration—Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division (1994-1999) and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (1999-2001). The records for Arthur Fletcher, Mary Frances Berry, Bobby Doctor, and Stuart Ishimaru encompassing the entire period of the Clinton administration include correspondence, resumes, publications, notes, memoranda, reports, speech drafts, faxes, forms, newspaper articles, and scholarly pieces. The majority of the records concern Berry. Publications generally deal with the primary activities of the USCCR. Letters revolve around people recommended to act as Director of the most prestigious civil rights organization in the United States. In the Alpha File there can be found letters (accompanied by resumes) dealing with Berry, Doctor, and Ishimaru attesting to their qualifications to serve in various capacities on the USCCR—Berry as Director and Doctor and Ishimaru generally as Staff Director. In addition, there is communications from Arthur Fletcher, the outgoing Director of the Commission. He wrote an open letter (dated October 10, 1995) addressed “to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and every Republican member of the 104th United States Congress.” Fletcher excoriated members of his own party for their poor efforts concerning race issues. Furthermore, he didn’t think Democrats understood the full ramifications of the struggle either. Fletcher wrote this letter in his final days as a member of the USCCR. The Subject File contains publications describing findings of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. For example, the USCCR in September 1995 came out with a work entitled Racial and Ethnic Tensions in American Communities: Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination; Volume III: The Chicago Report. In another instance the Commission in September 1998 released a work entitled Helping Employers Comply with the ADA: An Assessment of How the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is Enforcing Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Principally composed of records from the Counsel’s Office, the White House Staff and Office Files contain much in the way of newspaper articles devoted to Mary Frances Berry. Any mention of her name is highlighted in yellow with handwritten notes providing additional information.