Archives West Finding Aid

The R. Frank Atwood papers document the political career of long-term Bellingham attorney and Washington State Senator Roy Franklin Atwood. Collection materials span the period 1958-1988, with the majority of records dated 1961-1977.

Committee records and Legislative Information files document Atwood’s role and interests as a policy-maker in the Washington State Senate. Records generated by Senate committees bodies including the Legislative Budget Committee, Judiciary Committee and Higher Education Committee contain copies of meeting minutes and agenda, drafts, working papers, reports and correspondence dated 1961 to 1975. Together with files generated by other (non-Senate) Legislative committees, task forces and advisory groups, these materials reflect Atwood’s involvement in matters such as budget planning for state institutions, proposals to make Point Roberts an International Park, Higher Education funding, pension policy and urban development. Transcripts in the Judiciary Committee files document investigations into campaign practices during the 1972 gubernatorial election. Records for the Higher Education Committee and Council on Higher Education reflect Atwood’s role in efforts to improve funding and management of community and state colleges in Washington. These files document his support of expanded graduate programs at Western Washington State College, and attempts to rename several state colleges as state universities. The collection also contains copies of some of the legislative changes and amendments sponsored by Atwood (the majority of these records are dated 1973-1974), and background information files pertaining to the Legislative process.

Campaign and election records document Atwood’s State Senate campaigns between 1962 and 1970. Arranged chronologically, campaign files include correspondence, memos, pamphlets, clippings and ephemera. One folder of material concerns also his unsuccessful 1988 campaign for the Whatcom County Superior Court. The series contains a small amount of information documenting election returns between 1962 and 1972.

Correspondence spans the period 1962-1975 and comprises mail to and from Atwood’s constituents, general political correspondence, subject-related mail and personal and legal correspondence from Atwood’s Bellingham address. Political correspondence includes letters between Atwood and other state legislators regarding the details and passage of legislation, committee appointments, and arrangements for meetings and official engagements.

The collection also contains a small amount of material documenting Atwood’s membership of the Washington State Bar Association’s Legislative Committee. Committee files dated 1967-1972 include minutes, correspondence, and copies of bills and amendments proposed in the Washington State Legislature. An additional folder reflects Atwood’s membership of the Budget Committee of the United Way of Whatcom County.