Collection Description

The Frank W. Hatch, Jr. papers are divided into five series: Personal; Political: 1978 campaign; Political: Hatch Act; Political: Miscellaneous; and Clippings. The collection is housed in 5 record cartons (offsite) and one oversize box (onsite).

The bulk of the papers in the collection relate to Francis W. Hatch, Jr.'s campaign for governor in 1977-1978. The papers illustrate: 1) how such a campaign is put together (e.g., fund raising, strategic planning, staff organization, volunteer networks, press relations); 2) the day-to-day activities of the candidate; 3) the evolution of dominant issues; and 4) the changing attitude of the press, constituencies, and individuals toward the candidate.

The collection also provides insight into such aspects of Massachusetts political history as ticket splitting; friction between the liberal and conservative wings of both the Democratic and Republican parties; the ascendancy of conservative ideology with the Republican hierarchy; and perceived weaknesses of Governor Dukakis by Hatch and other candidates.

Included in the collection are incoming letters (some with replies); form letters from Hatch to individuals and constituencies; memoranda and instructions from headquarters; drafts of speeches, press releases, and copy for fliers; lists of workers and invitees to campaign parties; press releases; interviews; campaign ephemera; and press clippings.

In addition to materials related to the 1978 campaign, the collection also includes papers of Hatch's battle in the late 1970s to publicize state tax delinquent lists. Hatch won the right to obtain these lists when he took the Mass. State Department of Corporations and Taxations to trial, having claimed that millions in revenue were owed to the state because of political favoritism and dishonest tax filing. If newspapers published these lists, he reasoned, debtors would be compelled to make good on their debts or face more immediate legal action. Disclosure of the lists had far-reaching effects in both the public and private sectors, and Hatch received a great deal of praise, as well as criticism, as a result, and the issue of taxation became an important one for the state gubernatorial race of 1978.

The files in this series have been arranged topically, by those individuals and businesses which were most affected by the "Hatch Act," as it was called. For the most part, they consist of correspondence to or about individuals and businesses, as well as legal documents both collected and current to the legal action since many of those concerned faced or initiated litigation as a result of the publication of the tax delinquent lists. Where it was possible to consolidate types of materials (such as "invoices"), this has been done. Researchers should be aware that material in these more general files may relate directly or indirectly to any of the more specific subject-matter files. "See" references are noted in the contents list where a direct link between two or more files exists. Also included here are other miscellaneous or unidentified notes and press releases related to the entire subject. The files have been arranged alphabetically by title.

The third series (Political: Miscellaneous) contains a few items related to Hatch's other political campaigns and other political papers not related to his campaign for governor in 1978 or the "Hatch Act".

The newspaper clippings relate primarily to the 1978 campaign for governor, the issue of the "Hatch Act," and the publication of the delinquent tax lists, specifically as it related to the campaign. To reduce the bulk of newspaper clippings, articles that did not provide information about Hatch or his campaign, and duplicates (e.g., wire service stories and syndicated articles or press releases running in more than one paper) were discarded. Random sampling was used in the choice of which newspaper's story to keep; in the case of differing versions of the same story, all were retained. Though random sampling does not show the range or extent of papers across the state that ran a particular story, it does reveal a cross-section of the coverage of Hatch's campaign.

The clippings are organized chronologically within subjects, most being about the campaign in general. A few of the original office headings have been used, however, notably the Division of Corporations and Taxation. This issue is separated here, as in the general papers of the collection. However, because the issue was extremely important in Hatch's campaign against his anticipated opponent, Michael Dukakis, the two subjects cannot be completely separated.

Finally, also included are a group of misc. clippings from 1973-1974, filed in chronological order, relating to general legislative actions. These clippings are unsorted and contain a significant amount of duplication.

The following is a list of highlights from the correspondence. All letters are in the 1978 campaign correspondence unless otherwise noted.

• George Bush, 19 April 1978
• Michael Dukakis (in Political: Hatch Act), 3 August 1978
• Jack Lemmon, 9 March 1978
• Charles Mathias, 4 October 1978
• Governor Robert Ray (Iowa), 11 October 1978
• Governor Francis Sargent (Mass.), 12 September 1978
• Governor Richard Snelling (Vermont), 13 October, 6 November 1978
• Caspar Weinberger, 22 September 1978