UC Berkeley to Archive Retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer's Papers

BERKELEY, CA — U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, announced Thursday morning at University of California at Berkeley that materials from her four decades in politics will be archived there.

The senator, who said she is retiring from politics when her term is over in January, made the announcement at Bancroft Library's Heller Reading Room. Boxer also announced a partnership with the university's Institute of Governmental Studies to host a lecture series to inspire women to enter politics.

"It's an emotional day," Boxer said to a crowd of about 50 people. She reflected on what was like to be a woman in politics when she started 40 years ago.

One question she was asked back then was, "When do you have time to your dishes?" and another was, "Isn't your husband making enough money?"

This year, the two candidates who advanced from the June primary to the November election for her seat are both women, state Attorney General and Democrat Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Orange County.

Boxer was first elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors in 1976 and after that won 11 straight elections.

"It wasn't planned that way," she said.

When her husband asked her after her first election to Congress how long she planned to work in Washington, she told him four years. She's been in the Senate since 1993. Before that, she spent 10
years as a Congresswoman and six years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors.

"I'm so proud, so proud to leave my papers to UC Berkeley," Boxer said.

She said several reasons played a part in the decision, including the political support from the residents of Berkeley and Oakland.

"This is where I got my start, in the Bay Area," Boxer said.

She cited the stature of UC Berkeley, which has been consistently ranked as the top public university in the nation. Boxer is a product of public schools. Her son Doug Boxer, a 1988 graduate of UC Berkeley, also approached her about the idea of leaving her papers to the school.

Also, according to the senator, university officials said yes to everything she asked for. She was adamant that her papers be something people can learn from rather than simply placed in a box.

"I wanted this to be a living archive," she said. Elaine Tennant, director of the Bancroft Library, said, "Sen.
Boxer's papers are a wonderful addition."

Theresa Salazar, curator of the Bancroft Library's Western Americana collection of documents, who will be responsible for the archive, said she's really excited.

The women politicians from California, "they're rock stars in our eyes," Salazar said.

The papers are not yet at the university and even when the do arrive, it will take time for the library to process them.

"Political collections are huge," Salazar said. The agreement with the university to hold the lecture series also
factored into the senator's decision, she said. The annual event, which will begin next year, will put women
leaders in the spotlight. The senator will give the inaugural talk. Ethan Rarick, associate director of the Institute of Governmental Studies, said, "It's a great new opportunity for us."

The institute tries to put on public events that explore important issues in a public way, Rarick said.

"The Boxer series will do that to an extraordinary degree," he said.

UC Berkeley senior Francia Moran said the lecture series sounds interesting.

"Getting women involved politics more is necessary," Moran said

By Bay City News

Photo courtesy office of Senator Barbara Boxer