Chuck Grassley gift agreement to UNI advises ‘restricted collection’ for some material

Although longtime Iowa U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley has filed paperwork to run for his eighth re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2028 — when he’ll be 95, pushing him over 100 by the end of the term should he win — the University of Northern Iowa is preparing to receive his Senate papers once he finally retires.

That includes forming a planning committee, identifying space for the material, strategizing ways to digitize the collection, and developing a new Chuck and Barbara Grassley Center — including its mission, governance and funding.

But UNI archivists and collections personnel already have done significant work reviewing and analyzing the Grassley inventory in storage at UNI’s Rod Library from the lawmaker’s time in office before the U.S. Senate — spanning eight terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959 to 1975 and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1981.

And that analysis is imperative, according to Grassley’s gift agreement committing to UNI all his political papers spanning seven decades of public service in the state House, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, where he’s been since first assuming office Jan. 3, 1981.

Because while the goal of the historical gift is to make Grassley’s documents “available for research to the fullest extent possible, as early as practicable following their deposit in the University of Northern Iowa,” the gift agreement noted some material should be placed in a “restricted collection.”

Restricted items include “materials of a personal or sensitive nature, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or a libel of a living person,” along with “materials relating to confidential personal, family, or business affairs of the donor or other persons.”

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Archivists also can dispose of material deemed to have no value or historical interest — although they must notify Grassley or his estate before doing so.

Of the congressional records received so far, UNI has placed all of Grassley’s “constituent correspondence” in a restricted collection “due to personally identifiable information,” UNI spokesman Pete Moris said.

One set of case files containing constituent complaints on topics such as the Atomic Energy Commission, Justice Department, Defense Department, and Housing and Urban Development included the constituent complaints, “notes by Mr. Grassley’s staff on how to deal with the problem; a request from Mr. Grassley’s office to the appropriate government agency; the response from the agency to Mr. Grassley’s office; and Mr. Grassley’s reply to the constituent.”

“We have not encountered any other material in the collection that needs to be restricted due to personally identifiable information,” Moris said, noting that when someone doing research requests material, UNI’s Rod Library team “does a preliminary review of the material requested to check for anything that might require restrictions.”

“However, this has not happened to date.”

UNI also has not disposed of any material or returned any material to Grassley, according to Moris.

Once it starts receiving Grassley’s Senate materials — post retirement — archivists must look for documents that could be Senate property and return them, per the agreement.

And any documents or materials placed in the restricted collection must be reviewed periodically “to determine if any material should be made available for research and public access, returned, or disposed of.”

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Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com