Legislative Files, 1962

Legislative Files, 132.5 linear feet (106 cartons), contain correspondence and other material relating to bills and issues considered by Congress. Files often include copies of the pertinent bills and resolutions, committee prints, and official and constituent correspondence. Legislative files are arranged by year, with general papers followed by topical files for that year. The collection inventory, which follows, contains a detailed list of the files. Those for cities and counties usually relate to projects proposed or being implemented in those localities, such as funding sewage systems and the erection of new government buildings to serve the locality. Files regarding individuals, grouped under the heading "Persons," contain either extensive correspondence with or about the individual, or reference material. Many years include files for Johnston's brother, frequent campaign manager, and aide -- William C. Johnston, former Senator and Anderson publisher Wilton Hall, and Orangeburg attorney Julian S. Wolfe.

Johnston was a member of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee throughout his tenure in the Senate and, in time, wielded significant influence over legislation affecting this area. This is evidenced by voluminous files regarding postal service and government employees.

Extensive files document the importance of agriculture and the textile industry in South Carolina, the effort, 1962 to 1963, to erect a dam at Trotters Shoals, led by Johnston, with Georgia Senator Richard Russell, and the Democratic Party. Party material chiefly consists of speech material issued by the Democratic National Committee for use in campaigning, and is similar to other material filed in the Campaign series.

Johnston's lengthy service on the Judiciary Committee is reflected in voluminous files, 1953 to 1965. In the 1950s, Johnston chaired Judiciary's Subcommittee on Internal Security, investigating fears of communist influence in the United States government as well as in organizations such as the United Nations. In 1962, Johnston chaired a sub-committee of the Judiciary Committee which considered President Kennedy's appointment of Thurgood Marshall to the Second United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Johnston was accused of using delaying tactics to halt Marshall's confirmation. Over one inch of correspondence received from constituents and others from all across the country reflects the bitter division across America over this appointment.

In 1957 the nation focused on events in Little Rock, Arkansas. Extensive records document the passage of civil rights bills in Congress and the reactions of Johnston's constituents and from across the country. A 1957 file on the N.A.A.C.P. regards Johnston's call for an investigation of the organization and suspicion that it had been subverted by the communists.