Governor Ralph Carr : An Archival Research Handbook to a Colorado Governor's Collection

Abstract: The governor collections at the Colorado State Archives are a rich source for research and information about social science and the history of the state, but they are not always easy to research due to their differences in taxonomy through different eras. In my work with creating an archival research handbook for a governor collection I chose governor Ralph Carr to both illustrate the challenges as well as the thrills with historical research in a collection from the office of the governor. Ralph Carr's collection takes patience to research. Some series will have inconsistent taxonomy and other series lack sub-series, and if a researcher is not familiar with the terminology of state affairs, many documents can pose a challenge. It is my hope that this handbook will be of use for both amateur researchers as well as provide a few short-cuts for more seasoned scholars. Governor Carr's collection covers some of the most dramatic years in Colorado history, the first part of WWII, and it is frequently requested for research, but many researchers get stuck between the vast amount of documents only sorted by dates, for instance in the series marked "Council of Defense", which contains many interesting documents about the Japanese-Americans who were to be deported to the Granada Relocation camp, or Camp Amache, as it was popularly called. It is my hope that the guide will not only provide such researchers some relief, but also to get the reader a sense for Colorado History, The Colorado State Archives and for the Governor collections in general.