Biographical/historical information

John Porter East was born on 5 May 1931 in Springfield, Illinois. The first American-born ancestor of the East family was Susanna Sharples, born in 1747, into a family of Quaker immigrants to Pennsylvania. In 1769, she married Jacob Talbot. Their daughter, Rachel Talbot (1780 – 1851), married William East (1773-1864) in 1797. William East, born in North Carolina, was the son of William and Frances (Cochran) East. The couple had 12 children. Later, the family migrated to the Middle West, including branches in Michigan and Illinois.

East's parents were Laurence John East (d. 1973) and Virginia Porter East (d. 1981), both of Normal, Illinois where a number of the East and related Porter families also live. Both his parents were college graduates. Laurence John went on to earn a graduate degree from University of Illinois (M.S. 1927). Laurence John East was then appointed principal of the elementary school attended by his son John. Later he worked for the Illinois State Department of Public Health until entering the Navy in World War II. His grandfather, John Porter, lived in and was once mayor of Olney, Illinois. His uncle, Christian East, who died in 1954, also lived in Olney. During World War II, Laurence John East served in the Navy and took his family with him when he was assigned to Washington State and Kansas. In 1945, John East graduated from grammar school in Olathe, Kansas.

After the war, Laurence East returned with his family to Springfield, Illinois, where John resumed his education. In 1948 or 1949, Laurence moved the family to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, where he served as superintendent of the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School, in Normal, Illinois, from 1948/1949 to 1962/1963.

in 1949, John graduated from the Bloomington-Normal High School in 1949. John East then attended a college preparation school prior to enrolling in college. Interviewed after John's election to the Senate, Illinois State Rep. W. Joseph Gibbs, who had been in John's high school class, noted that "He was a congenial fellow. . . . Well liked." A former girlfriend, Connie Hathaway Humphrey, who had dated John in high school and who was secretary to longtime Springfield Republican boss, William F. Cellini, remembered that East had served on the student council and was "very bright." From Fall 1949 to Spring 1953, John attended Earlham College, a small Quaker liberal arts college, in Richmond, Indiana.

John graduated from Earlham with a BA on 8 June 1953. His military service records state that his BA degree was in "Pre-Law". A life-long swimmer, he had played tackle on both his high school and college football teams. In college he was also a member of the debate club and the public speaking club. He won 5th place in a national debating championship and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Regarded by his teachers as an exceptional student, he achieved a "fair" knowledge both German and Spanish languages. During the summers of 1951 and 1952, he also worked as a lifeguard in Saugatuck, Michigan.

While still an undergraduate at Earlham College, East met and became engaged to a Pennsylvania girl, Priscilla "Sis" Sherk (born 9 July 1931) who was on the cheerleading team. The couple married in September 1953. Priscilla moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia when East was at Quantico and received 100% of his pay while he was there. The couple had two daughters: Kathryn (Chip) born in 1955; and Martha Ellen (Marty) born in 1960.

MILITARY SERVICE, 1953 - 1955 On 12 May 1953, shortly before receiving his diploma from Earlham College, Porter enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He passed the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) with Category 1 – 3 score, agreed to the Loyalty Oath, and attested that he was not a member of any of the organizations on the Consolidated List of Organizations Designated by the Attorney General (Totalitarian, Fascist, Communist, or Subversive). East served as a recruit and then Private First Class, United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) from 12 May – 18 September 1953.

From 4 July through 18 September 1953, East attended the 10-week 8th Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia, whereupon he was appointed a 2d Lt., in the USMCR. From 12 October 1953 to 23 March 1954, he attended the 20-week 26th Special Basic Course (SBC) at Quantico, Virginia.

Between 23 March through 31 July 1954, he attended the 16-week Basic Field Artillery Officer's Course, at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, graduating 51st in a class of 77 students. From 3 August 1954 to 16 August 1955 he was assigned to K Battery, 4th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Promoted to 1st Lt. in the USMCR, on 19 March 1955, he continued to serve as a 1st Lt. in Battery K, at Camp Lejeune, from 9 July through 17 August 1955. On 17 August 1955, East was released from active duty, stating that he could be reached through the University of Chicago Law School beginning on 4 October 1955. He had won a full scholarship to the prestigious school. While no longer on active duty, East continued to serve in the 9th Marine Corps Ready Reserve Division (MCRRD) 22 August 1955 through 9 October 1957.

Only a few weeks later, in September 1955, East's ambitious plans for his future came crashing down on him, when he contracted polio (anterior poliomyelitis). He was only 24 years old and the father of an infant daughter (Kathryn). And it was only a few months before the Salk vaccine ended the scourge of polio forever. The vaccine came too late for East. He survived polio but it marked him forever:

According to a long 1982 biographical article in the Los Angeles Times: East is left with residual paralysis in both legs and some limited dysfunction in his right shoulder. He has full control over bladder, bowel and sexual functions and is able to drive a car with hand controls.

However, he never walked unassisted again. East then spent more than a year in recovery and rehabilitation in hopes of returning to active duty, but he never achieved sufficient recovery to do so. Eventually, on 27 June 1957, a Marine Corps Medical Board found him unfit for service due to his physical condition. On 13 August 1957, he submitted a letter of resignation to the USMCR which was accepted on 10 October 1957.

Indeed, tragedy stalked John East's family. A sister had died at birth. His brother, Larry, later committed suicide in 1966 after several years of psychiatric treatments for depression. He father died in 1973. His mother died shortly after he entered the Senate in 1981. These experiences, and his own struggle with polio and paralysis; and, later, with hyperthyroidism, urinary tract blockages, and depression, marked him for life. In political terms, it informed his own strong philosophical position on abortion and aid to the handicapped.

LAW SCHOOL AND GRADUATE SCHOOL, 1955-1964 By the time East resigned from the Marines, however, he had recovered sufficiently to consider a less strenuous career. He had been a pre-law major at Earlham College. He returned to that path. Due to his physical condition, however, he was unable to attend the University of Chicago Law School despite having received a scholarship. In 1956, therefore, he entered University of Illinois Law School, receiving his law degree in 1959. He then moved his family to Florida to establish a law practice.

After practicing law for only a short time during 1959-1960, East realized that he did not really want to practice law. Perhaps, it was the requirement that he attend court and address juries that dissuaded him. He later suggested that after contracting polio it took him ten years before he felt fully at ease in public again. He quickly redirected himself and enrolled in the graduate school at the University of Florida, receiving his MA in 1962 and his Ph.D. in 1964, both degrees being in political science. His dissertation, entitled "Council-Manager Government: The Political Thought of Its Founder, Richard S. Childs, was published as a book by University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1965. A paperback edition was published in 2011. In his subsequent academic career, East focused on the study of political thought and theory, especially American conservative political thought, and theory, through biography. Most of his numerous publications focus on the political thoughts of leading individual conservative leaders.

EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY FACULTY, 1964 - 1980 Even before receiving his Ph.D., East had accepted a position on the faculty of the Political Science Department at East Carolina University. He served in this position for the next 16 years until he resigned to take his seat in the United States Senate in 1981. The John Porter East Papers includes a substantial body of material relating to his teaching and administrative activities.

While serving on the East Carolina University faculty during 1964-1980, East distinguished himself, for his teaching, administrative abilities, publications, and his political activities. He received two "Excellence in Teaching Awards" while at ECU. He managed the Political Science Honors Program for a number of years. He published one book, and more than a dozen articles in academic journals and served on the editorial boards of several journals and professional organizations. In 1972, East won promotion to full professor. In the 1960s and 1970s, he drew increasing public attention off campus. During this period, East appeared regularly on a local "Crossfire" television debate program which pitted him as the conservative protagonist against another ECU faculty member, Janice Faulkner, who represented the liberal perspective. His papers contain numerous letters of commendation and regard from students, colleagues, and administrators, public figures, and academicians.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS, 1966 - 1980

East's early political ventures were not nearly so successful. In 1966, he was the unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate in the 1st District of North Carolina, which included Greenville. In losing to Democrat Walter B. Jones, however, he won over 40% of the vote, an unusually high percentage for the time. In 1968, he was elected as a delegate to Republican National Convention, but later in the year, he was defeated as a candidate for North Carolina Secretary of State by the longtime incumbent Thad Eure. In 1976, East was elected to the Republican National Committee and served as a delegate to Republican National Convention. Later that year, he co-chaired Gerald R. Ford's unsuccessful presidential campaign in North Carolina. In 1980, he was unanimously reelected to the Republican National Committee and again attended the Republican National Convention. Despite his losses, East's campaigns established his credentials as a strong conservative and energetic campaigner and began to raise his visibility among North Carolina voters statewide.

In 1979, when East began his campaign for the United States Senate, his prospects for success did not look good. He was running against former North Carolina attorney general, Robert Morgan, had won his senate seat by a landslide in 1974, yet fewer than 5% of North Carolinians even knew who John East was. Morgan was the prohibitive favorite. However, East won the key support of North Carolina incumbent Republican Senator Jesse Helms. With Helms' assistance, East put together a highly effective organization spearheaded by the Congressional Club and raised a substantial campaign treasury. In the end, the East campaign outspent Morgan's campaign by $1,332,565.00 to $956,648.00 or approximately 1 to 1.4. Senator Helms had established the Congressional Club in 1972 to help him raise funds to repay the debt from his recent senatorial campaign. Afterwards, he had repurposed it as a bi-partisan campaign to elect conservatives to political office. Helms, who had worked closely with East at the 1976 Republican National Convention, knew that East shared his basic political philosophy, and offered his support to East's candidacy. Both men had served on the 1976 Platform Committee and had together written much of the final document. East had been elected to the Republican National Committee in 1976 and was unanimously reelected in 1980. In 1980, Jesse Helms continued as honorary chair of the Club, but Thomas Ellis, as chair and Carter Wrenn, as Executive Director, actually ran the organization. Subsequently, they both played important roles as advisors to Senator East. With Congressional Club's behind-the-scenes support, East's name recognition problems ended. Following East's election to the Senator, he become an honorary co-chair of the Club, along with Helms, and the Congressional Club expanded its activities to include patronage and personnel recommendations during the Reagan Administration. The collection includes files on hundreds of individuals whom the Club evaluated for federal positions.

In a January 1981 interview, Senator East described his relationship with Senator Helms. Reporter Al Manning noted: "'He's a close political associate. . . . I've been encouraged by him. . . .'" "He [East] realized taking on an incumbent Democrat, Robert Morgan, would not be easy. "'I knew it would be a difficult race,' East said. 'But I thought he was vulnerable. I knew the ingredients for victory were there.' "He said his handicap was of no great consequence during the campaign. "'It was no problem,' he said. 'I manage to live with it. I enjoy find health otherwise. I did not emphasize it. I did not hide it.'"

East ran an energetic campaign marked by very effective use of television advertising and polling, with the assistance of his family. He wife, "Sis" who had served on the Greenville Recreation Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission, could speak ably on a number of public issues. A regular tennis player and swimmer, and former cheerleader, she was an energetic campaigner. East's campaign biography states: "Sis East shares John's concerns about the direction our country has taken in recent years. Both Easts are very hopeful the 1980 elections will be a turning point in America – for a return to principle and restoring responsibility in government. Sis believes that the conservative ideals we share will make it possible for the American family to regain its strength and vitality."

The two East daughters: Marty [Martha Ellen] & Chip [Kathryn] also appeared on the 1980 campaign trail. Chip, who worked for Greenville Parks & Recreation Commission; and Marty who was a junior at ECU could easily participate in many campaign events, although neither was a political insider.

East campaigned on both domestic and foreign policy issues. On foreign and defense policy, he complained that Senator Robert Morgan and the Carter Administration had demonstrated weakness in foreign affairs, most notably in passing the Panama Canal Treaties that transferred ownership of the Panama Canal to Panama: Carter for proposing the treaties and Morgan for providing the vote which ensured passage of the treaties. The Iranian hostage crisis and the failed attempt to rescue the American hostages highlighted this issue, which dragged on throughout the election campaign. The Carter Administration's efforts to enforce the SALT II Treaty before the Senate had approved it further seemed to confirm this argument. East campaigned to greatly strengthen national defense and opposed efforts to limit defense spending. He also opposed the Carter Administration's embargo on grain exports to the Soviet Union as punishment for their invasion of Afghanistan. While he supported punishing the Soviet Union, he argued that it was unfair to put the whole burden on American farmers to do the punishing.

On domestic and economic policy, East had a plethora of attractive targets. The nation was suffering from both high inflation and rising unemployment, which the Carter Administration seemed unable to handle. High fuel prices caused by the 1973 Arab oil embargo, and national fuel conservation measures, were both unpopular. A rising tide of imported goods from Europe and Asia were hurting American manufacturers and their employees, especially the kind of industries that dominated the North Carolina economy: agriculture, clothing and shoemaking, and furniture. The Carter Administration had eliminated agricultural price supports for tobacco farmers, had restricted advertising for tobacco products, and had prohibited tobacco usage in public buildings and transport. The tobacco industry had been one of North Carolina's leading industries for over a century at the time – hundreds of thousands of farmers and their families depended on it - and it hurt Senator Morgan to be associated with the Carter Administration's policy regardless of its impact on health. East also criticized the Carter Administrations policies on food stamps, trade liberalization and tariff reduction. East called for reform of the food stamp program, higher tariffs on imported manufactured products, especially cloth, clothing, and shoe and furniture imports, that hurt North Carolina manufacturers and caused a rise in bankruptcies and unemployment. This enabled East to make inroads among urban workers who would normally have voted for the Democratic candidate.

Meanwhile, the Carter Administration's policies on school desegregation, including busing to promote integration, were unpopular in North Carolina as they were elsewhere in the nation, especially in the South. East was firmly opposed to busing, but he did not emphasize these or other "family issues" during the campaign realizing that it would inflame opponents against his candidacy without gaining any new support. Morgan, who had never supported busing, suffered anyway, since he did not seem to be able to prevent the federal government from imposing the policy any more than he had been able to prevent the federal government's anti-tobacco policies. The attempt to codify women's rights in an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution also hurt Senator Morgan although he did not actively support the proposal either. In other words, it seems that Morgan's failure to take strong positions on issues caused him to lose support on both sides. By the same token, the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, liberalizing laws on abortion, also hurt Morgan, since it overturned longstanding laws which had strong local support without gaining support among groups already supporting Morgan. As with the tobacco issue and the busing issue, Morgan did not actively support the Roe v. Wade decision, or the ERA, but his failure to oppose them, or do anything about them, weakened him in the same way. For his part, East did not emphasize the abortion issue, or the right to life issue, or the ERA, but his arguments to restore traditional, conservative, policies, such as voluntary prayer to the public schools, appealed to those who opposed federal intrusion into traditionally state matters, and strengthened the East campaign without overly alarming those who supported those issues. In the end, East won a narrow victory receiving 898,064 votes (49.96%) to Robert Morgan's 887,653 votes (49.38%). Two minor candidates received 11,958 votes (0.06%).

SENATE CAREER, 1980 - 1986 In the Senate, East received several important committee assignments. He became a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a position formerly held by Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., and chaired its Subcommittee on Separation of Powers Subcommittee and was on its Security and Terrorism Subcommittee. He was also a member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and served on its Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Subcommittees. He also served on the Senate Energy Committee and its Conservation and Supply, Regulation, and Research and Development Subcommittees. He later served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on its Military Construction, Manpower and Personnel, and Seapower and Force Projection Subcommittees. In most respects, East was a conventional Republican conservative in the Senate. For the most part, he eschewed the political limelight and concentrated on traditional senatorial responsibilities as befitted a junior senator. He worked hard to respond to constituent complaints and demands. From January through September 1981, he missed only 4 out of 300 roll call votes in the Senate, Columnist Richard Oppel wrote: "The pace takes its tool on a man confided to a wheelchair. He speaks of 'feeling the enormous demands' of the Job." About the issues of the accessibility issues facing him, he said: "My attitude is positive. . . . I do not anticipate any long-term problems of consequence. . . . My goal is to assemble a good staff and to provide good constituent services," he said. " I must learn the functions and the rules first so I can be effective on substantive issues."

He published frequent newsletters to his constituents. He studied Library of Congress briefing reports on many of the issues before the Senate. He strongly defended the Reagan Administration and his fellow Republicans against attacks in the news media, often leavening his critical remarks with humor. "American national media people are hasty . . . They don't have the intelligence to deal with legal matters. In judiciary committee meetings, they don't understand the language, but they get on TV and tell 200 million people what the meeting was about. "The Charlotte Observer pointed out that Senator Helms and I voted the same 94 percent of the time. . . . I told them Helms voted wrong 7 percent of the time. The poor fellow has been up there for a decade. He could get confused after all that time.

The biggest problem he faced in the Senate turned out to be his inexperience as a politician. He had never served in public office and was somewhat unprepared to live under the extraordinarily intense spotlight that shone upon his every move as a senator. In perhaps the greatest blunder of his political career, East attended an informal news conference after addressing the High Point Chamber of Commerce, in which he "reportedly alluded to a long-ago morals charge against Richmond and [Sen. Thomas F.] Eagleton's electric shock therapy for depression" which caused him to resign as a vice presidential candidate during the 1972 election campaign. The resulting "Eagleton – Richmond flap" caused East "agony". He later apologized and tried to move on, but "is known to privately feel that news reports of the incident were distorted." Senior Republican Senator Barry Goldwater added sting to East's regrets by also criticizing East. For the rest of his term, he remained very careful in his references regarding Eagleton.

Like most Republicans in the Senate, Senator East favored a strong national defense, opposed embargoes on foreign trade and favored protective tariffs against unfair foreign competition. He opposed deficit spending and favored a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. He introduced several such amendments. He was a strong defender of agriculture in general and of the tobacco industry in particular. Only on a few issues did he step into the limelight. As a former Marine, he actively participated debates on foreign and defense policy, especially in the debate over the Carter Administration's SALT II Treaty [Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II], which had never been approved by the Senate. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, he was also particularly vocal on the impact of court decisions, especially in the cases of "racial busing, school prayer, abortion and other social issues." In an August 1981 interview, for example, "he said that the federal courts are the 'major violators of the traditional separation of powers between the three branches of government in the American system. . . But as it stands now . . . a lot of people in this country have simply been pushed around – or should I say bused around – by unelected federal judges who make policy decision without regard to popular sentiment or the authority of Congress.'" He opposed forced busing for racial integration and promoted prayer in the public schools. His stance on the Abortion – Right to Life issue drew the most public attention to him since he had not campaigned on this issue. East differed from most of his colleagues – Democratic and Republican - on the abortion issue. He did not oppose contraception and he supported allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the mother. He broke ranks with the extremes on both sides, questioning the use of "viability" outside of the womb as the determining point for the beginning of life. In putting forward this belief, he took the lead on proposing a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution and drew significant opposition in the media in doing so. He chaired hearings on the proposed amendment. He explained his position in a Los Angeles Times article, published in 1982, in this way: "When I was in the Marine Corps and contracted polio, I don't know that I would say I was viable," says East, who was stricken in 1955, one year before the Salk vaccine became available. "It's a little presumptuous, down-right egotistical, to say 'I am viable,' I go it alone.' The Devil you do! You think you do, but you're dependent on other people in this life and you are from the time of being an unborn child until you die. "Yet, the concept that the whole Roe vs. Wade mentality turns on is, quote, viability . . . young man! . . . Marine Corps! . . . macho! . . . the whole thing . . . you're at the peak of your physical capacity, struck down like THAT (he snapped his fingers), totally dependent on little nurses coming in that weigh half as much or a third as much as you do. All of a sudden, you're no longer viable. Now, if viability is the test of livability, of the right to live, should I have been just left to die!"

Perhaps the most surprising difference between East and his colleagues was his position on the issue of federal aid to the handicapped. Assistant Senate Historian Don Ritchie is reported to have noted that East was the first member of either house of Congress to have arrived in Congress confined to a wheelchair. The Senate had to change its rule requiring senators to stand while addressing the body to accommodate him. It also had to install an elevator and a restroom for the handicapped to allow him to access the Senate Chamber. Despite such efforts, accessing the Senate Chamber continued to be a problem for East. The underground shuttle tram, for example, could not accommodate East's wheelchair, so he had to wheel himself 600 feet back and forth every time he attended a session or voted. Considering his physical condition, many hoped that he would become a leading supporter of federal programs for the handicapped. However, when 59 senators requested that President Reagan reconsider budget cuts in education and rehabilitation programs for the handicapped, East was not among them. According to Los Angeles Times staff writer Betty Cuniberti:

"That is East's style. Plunge in, pull yourself up, don't complain. "He does not set himself up as a champion of the handicapped. During his expensive campaign, conducted almost entirely on television, he was never shown in his wheelchair. Some constituents and senators were surprised to learn he was disabled when he arrived on Capitol Hill. 'We (his campaign planners) thought, and I always have since I've had polio, rather than use it as an excuse to badger more money out of the government or badger more sympathy out of people, why don't you just try to put your life back together, be creative and productive and contribute?" said East. 'I don't play up the issue. I spend 99.9% of my time with able-bodied people, and I think that's a contribution. And the notion that if I had wasted away in a V.A. [Veterans Administration] hospital and complained about not having enough government largess of some kind, or was out demonstrating, or lying in the street or obstructing a train – to get into all that business, sometimes I think you reach a point if you get out and perform and work and create and do and succeed, you will do more. Those people do more for the cause than all the screamers and the yellers and the hollerers. When you're around somebody who's constantly playing up their disabilities and their ailments and their hurts and their pains, they're a darn bore.'"

On the other hand, East did not totally ignore the issue of aid to the handicapped and was not philosophically opposed to it. For example, he supported moving funds from the proposed Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, in Washington, DC, to increase funding for the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center, which had helped both Roosevelt and East to recover from polio. But it never became a central focus of his activities.

Betty Cuniberti predicted that East would enjoy serving in the Senate. "For John East, the college debate champion, the Senate must be the ultimate platform. "Here is a place where he can, even from a wheelchair, rise above other men and shine. Here is a place where he can submerge himself each and every day in one consuming interest: political theory."

ILLNESS AND DEATH OF SENATOR EAST For a few years, it seemed that Cuniberti's prediction might come true. During the last two years of his Senate career, however, East's health began to deteriorate. The main problem does not seem to have been his paralysis, due to polio, but rather to a series of other maladies that became increasingly serious, including hyperthyroidism , a low white blood cell count, and urinary tract blockages. Depression, for example, is a known symptom of hyperthyroidism or, possibly a result of treatments for hyperthyroidism. During 1985, these various illnesses resulted in his hospitalization on several occasions and caused him to miss large parts of the Senate's sessions. He began to believe that the illnesses had permanently damaged his intellect. It is possible that the various treatments he received may have induced or aggravated the depression which led him to suicide on 29 June 1986. Ultimately, it was the likely the growing number of his health issues and his growing fear that his condition would grow worse rather than better, led him to announce in September 1985 that he would not be a candidate for reelection in 1986.

After that, East's health appeared to return, and he began to attend Senate sessions more regularly. He seemed to be more cheerful and energetic. Thus, it was a shock and a surprise to even his family and close friends when he committed suicide at his home in Greenville, North Carolina during the Senate's Fourth of July break. A few days after East's death, on Monday, 30 June 1968, the Washington Post traced his final days: East's last appointment in Washington was Friday afternoon, when he met at his Capitol Hill office with Judge Antonin Scalia to discuss Scalia's nomination to the Supreme Court. East, a member of the Judiciary Committee, was to have voted on the nomination. East returned to his home in Alexandria Friday afternoon and drove to Greenville Saturday with his special assistant, John Petree, for the Fourth of July congressional recess. East's wife, Priscilla, was visiting her mother in Hilton Head, S.C., and East apparently was home alone, police said. His body was found by Petree, who had come to see East shortly after 8 a.m., police said.

Administrative information

Custodial History

August 22, 1986 (unprocessed), 152 cu. ft.; Office files (1980-1986) of U.S. Senator. Donor: Mrs. Priscilla East

September 30, 1986 (unprocessed addition 1), 12 cu. ft.; Files (1980-1986). Donor: Mrs. Priscilla East

December 3, 1986 (unprocessed addition 2), 4 cu. ft.; Files (1965-1984), including correspondence, subject files, TV commentaries, Congressional Record statements, and scholarly articles. Donor: Mrs. Priscilla East

March 15, 2018 (unprocessed addition 3), 0.36 cu. ft.; Addition includes a poster (22" by 28") promoting the election of John P. East to the U.S. Senate in 1980 from North Carolina. Donor: Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Priscilla East

Gift of Roger E. Kammerer, Jr.

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