Philip H. Hoff Papers

The Hoff collection consists exclusively of Mr. Hoff's papers accumulated during his three terms as Governor of Vermont from 1962 to 1969. The collection is arranged chronologically with important sub-divisions. These subdivisions are three in number and operate in a cyclical fashion within each two year term of office. The first important section is the Departmental Group File which consists of the Governor's correspondence with the executive officers of both the State of Vermont and the United States Government. These papers are arranged alphabetically (i.e. Administration, Agriculture, Air Force, etc.) and are filed either as a group or individually. This distinction is duly noted in the inventory and is labelled either "Group File - U.S. and Vermont Departments - Interfiled" or "Group File - U.S. and Vermont Departments - Filed Separately." The second sub-division within the cycle is the "Group Subjects File," which consists of correspondence pertaining to significant topics like "Drought, 1965" or "Eastern States Exposition, 1965" arranged alphabetically. The final and least important sub-division is the "Alphabetic File," which contains folders marked from A to Z and holds correspondence of only minor importance. Although this arrangement might appear to be a very straightforward proposition, the researcher must be warned that this system is far from perfect. When investigating a particular topic one should make full use of every file as correspondence from an issue might have been files in both the departmental Group File and the "Group Subjects File." A check of the "Alphabetic File" is worthwhile if only for the sake of thoroughness. As the collection consists of a great deal of paper, a large degree of perseverance will also be necessary.

As the 1960's were a time of great social and economic change in the United States, the Phillip Hoff papers are perhaps most valuable for their reflections of these changes in the State of Vermont. As the beginning of the 1960's of course, there was a spirit of social reform in the air that was being energetically fostered on the national level by President John F. Kennedy. After his assassination in 1963, President Lyndon Johnson gave this spirit massive financial support by making millions of dollars available to the states under the "Great Society" and "War on Poverty" programs. As a staunch Kennedy-Johnson Democrat, Phillip Hoff was fully imbued with the spirit of reform and worked successfully to secure large amounts of federal money for social improvements in Vermont. During his tenure in office vast sums of money were spent bettering educational facilities, highways, public health, civil defense, outdoor recreation areas, and agricultural lands. The collection is literally bursting with correspondence related to these matters in both the Departmental Group File and the Group Subjects File. Particularly interesting in this context are the files regarding educational improvements in the state of Vermont. On all levels, be it primary, secondary, or university, the quality of education was vastly improved, a fact which is fully attested to in Mr. Hoff's gubernatorial papers.

Of the two major files within the collection, the Group Subjects File is perhaps the most fascinating. Within these files is correspondence connected with numerous interesting subjects such as the National and New England Governors Conferences; the Vietnam War; Re-Apportionment of the Vermont General Assembly, Re-organization of the Vermont State Government; the Frank Brown case; the Irasburg Affair; the War on Poverty; civil rights; capital punishment; the New England drought of 1963 - 1965; and rural development in the State of Vermont. At the very end of the collection there is also a special subject file which deals with Mr. Hoff's campaign for governor, as well as a section dealing with the abbreviated campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy for President in 1968.

Notable correspondents in the Hoff collection are numerous in terms of both national and Vermont figures. Among these are: John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, Sargent Shriver, Lyndon B. Johnson, John Kenneth Galbraith, Robert MacNamara, Dean Rusk, Edmund Muskie, Terry Sanford, George Wallace, Winston Prouty, George Aiken, Richard Snelling, T. Gary Buckley, T. Wesley Grady, Thomas Kenney, and many, many more.