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Lewis (Jerry) papers
LSC.2124
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Jerry Lewis papers
source:
Lewis, Jerry
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2124
Physical Description:
73.4 Linear Feet
(6 record carton boxes, 27 document boxes, 3 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1956-2012
Abstract: Charles Jeremy Lewis was an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1969 to 1979 and then the
US House of Representatives from 1979 to 2013. This collection contains papers, photographs, and videotapes which were formerly
held by Lewis's congressional office and transferred to UCLA upon his retirement in 2013. The materials document the work
done by Lewis over his half century of involvement in local, state, and federal politics, containing everything from election
records to legislative background material to personal correspondence.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue
the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of item], Jerry Lewis Papers (Collection 2124). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donated by Jerry Lewis, 2012.
Processed by Cal Margulis and Vanessa Febo in 2013–2014 in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance
from Jillian Cuellar.
The processing of this collection was generously supported by Arcadia.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
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UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9974252173606533
Charles Jeremy Lewis was born in Seattle, Washington, on October 21, 1934. He grew up primarily in California, however, graduating
from San Bernardino High School in 1952 and UCLA in 1956. After receiving his BA, Lewis returned to the Inland Empire and
worked for many years as a successful insurance broker. In 1964, he decided to run for a position on the San Bernardino City
Unified School District board, which he won and held until 1968. His appetite for politics whetted, in 1966 he worked on the
staff of Jerry Pettis, who was elected to Congress to represent California's 33rd district. In 1968, Lewis made a run of his
own to represent California's 73rd district, encompassing eastern San Bernardino, in the California State Assembly.
Lewis served in the Assembly for ten years, authoring a number of pieces of legislation which would prove to have significant
statewide and national impact. In 1972, he authored the Child Development Act, which consolidated all child care and preschool
programs into one overarching program managed by the Department of Education. In 1976, he wrote legislation that created the
South Coast Air Quality Management District, which has been one of the main drivers of air quality improvement in Southern
California. Lewis made an unsuccessful bid for California State Senate in 1974, but four years later pulled off a successful
run to represent California's 37th Congressional district in the 96th United States Congress.
Over the next thirty four years, Jerry Lewis was reelected by the people of the Inland Empire sixteen times, never with lower
than 61% of the vote. In his second term, he was appointed to the US House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations,
where he would remain until his retirement in 2012. His position on this committee—including a stint as chairman from 1999
to 2005—gave him the power he needed to pursue an extensive legislative agenda. Nationally, Lewis worked to uncover fraud
and expand oversight of federal agencies. But his most lasting achievements were his work on land, water, and energy issues
facing the state of California. The construction of the Seven Oaks Dam, designed to prevent the disastrous flooding which
was once common in the area, as well as numerous efforts to reduce fire risk in the San Bernardino Mountains, can all be credited
to Lewis's dedicated committee work.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Public Relations, 1956–2012
- Subseries 1.1: Press Clippings, 1969–2012
- Subseries 1.2: Press Releases, 1979–2005
- Subseries 1.3: District Mailers, 1971–2007
- Subseries 1.4: Correspondence, 1969–2012
- Subseries 1.5: Travel, Events, and Speeches, 1956–2012
- Series 2: Election Campaigns, 1968–2010
- Subseries 2.1: California State Assembly, 1968–1978
- Subseries 2.2: California State Senate, 1973–1976
- Subseries 2.3: United States Congress, 1970–2010
- Subseries 2.4: Other Campaigns and Appointments, 1968–1993
-
Series 3: Legislative Files, 1969–2013
- Subseries 3.1: California State Assembly, 1969–1978
- Subseries 3.2: US Congress, California Subject Files, 1979–2013
- Subseries 3.3: US Congress, National Subject Files, 1979–2013
- Series 4: Media, 1961–2012
- Series 5: Electronic calendar print outs, budget requests, and CDs, 1996-2009
Jerry Lewis's political career spanned almost a half century, from his election to the San Bernardino City Unified School
District board in 1964 until his retirement as representative of California's 41st district in 2013. In that time, his offices
collected a remarkable amount of material relating to his career as a legislator. The collection contains internal memoranda,
external correspondence, photographs, maps, posters, legislative information, artifacts, memorabilia, and most of all background
documentation on the many local, state, and national issues that Lewis was most concerned with.
The most unique material in this collection is contained in Series 1 (Public Relations), Series 2 (Election Campaigns), and
Series 4 (Media). The first series contains documentation relating to the daily operation of Lewis's offices: press clippings
on Lewis and his legislative activities, copies of press releases and office mailings, correspondence with constituents and
fellow politicians, and travel and event documentation. The second series consists of documentation relating to every election
that Lewis ran in from his first campaign for California State Assembly in 1968 to his second to last campaign for Congress
in 2008. Finally, the fourth series contains all of the video tapes, photographs, and books maintained by his office, including
video tape masters of commercials from Lewis's first campaign for Congress in 1978 and hundreds of photographs of Lewis with
everyone from constituents visiting DC to Ronald Reagan to the comedian Jerry Lewis. Since the majority of the material in
these three series does not exist elsewhere, researchers interested in understanding the internal workings of Jerry Lewis's
congressional office will find these sections to be invaluable.
The remaining material, contained in Series 3 (Legislative Records), covers the many local, state, and national subjects that
Lewis was concerned with during his time in both the California State Assembly and the US House of Representatives. There
are also reams of documentation produced by Lewis and other office members indicating their opinions on issues and strategies
they planned to take in passing legislation. This material may be of great benefit to a researcher concerned with minute details
of particular issues or the internal workings of the House Appropriations committee.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lewis, Jerry