The Constituent Correspondence Series is a continuation of the Correspondence Management System (CMS) Series and covers the period from 1989 until the Senator’s retirement in 2002. Most of the material in this series consists of correspondence from constituents with Senator Thurmond’s response. The remainder is correspondence from colleagues, government officials of various levels, friends and family. Various reports, maps, newspaper or magazine articles which append and/or support the correspondence are included.

Senator Thurmond was noted for the volume of his correspondence. With very few exceptions, all correspondence that included a return address was answered, regardless of the writer’s residency. This resulted in an immense library of form letters on topics ranging from agriculture to the environment to health issues to veterans affairs.

The typical correspondent was either voicing an opinion or requesting assistance of some type. The opinion mail, categorized as “Issue Mail” covers the widest range of topics. Responses ranged from simple “I appreciate having the benefit of your views” letters to multi-paragraph letters reiterating Senator Thurmond’s views on the subject at hand. A sampling of Issue Mail was retained. For incoming form letters, a single sample was retained and the number discarded was noted. For unique incoming issue mail, a 20% sample was retained and the number discarded was noted.

Correspondents requesting individual assistance were usually writing about a problem they were having with a government agency, especially a benefits agency such as Social Security or the Veterans Administration. The Senator’s office typically forwarded these cases to the appropriate agency, retaining a copy for their files. Much of this correspondence was discarded as it contained sensitive information such as medical records, salary history, arrest records or family problems. A small selection of cases that appeared to have necessitated some involvement on the part of the Senator’s office was retained, though sensitive information was redacted. Also discarded were any requests that the Senator’s office referred to a Senator in another state because the writer was a member of that state’s constituency.

Other material discarded from this series includes requests for government documents, declined invitations, unsolicited resumes, duplicates, and thank you notes.