Elizabeth Hanford Dole U.S. Secretary of Labor Papers, 1989-1990 | Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections

Series within the Elizabeth Hanford Dole U.S. Secretary of Labor Papers are primarily organized chronologically with some deviations made to increase utility for researchers. The Administrative Records series is divided into sub-series that are organized chronologically, except the Subject Files sub-series, which is organized alphabetically by subject and then by date. The Correspondence series begins with an alphabetical organization with numerous group files based on last name initials then switches to chronological for pre-named files and arranged materials. The Speeches and Newsclippings series are ordered chronologically.

The Elizabeth Hanford Dole U.S. Secretary of Labor Papers arrived with some pre-existing organization with occasional pre-arranged folders, briefing books, and loosely organized materials. The processors retained titles, acronyms, and dates in order to preserve as much original order as possible. When no original order was possible, the processing archivist mirrored the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Papers, having come with more organized original order.

Elizabeth Hanford Dole served as the 20th United States Secretary of Labor within President George H.W. Bush’s Cabinet from January 25, 1989, to November 23, 1990. Dole’s work as the Secretary of Labor saw progress for American workers and increased incentives for women to enter and lead the workforce.

During her time at the Department of Labor, Dole focused on improving the lives of millions of workers within the United States through landmark reforms and legal cases to settle labor disputes, raise the skills of the average American, and open the workplace to women at all levels. Under Secretary Dole’s administration, the long-lasting Pittston Coal Strike ended through negotiations in which the Department of Labor played a key role as mediator. Dole’s office introduced the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), which focused on improving the American education system by evaluating the skills and practical knowledge needed to enter various industries and positions. The Glass Ceiling Initiative highlighted major disadvantages women face in upper management positions and reevaluated the American working world’s relationship with gender.

These accomplishments are only a small selection of activities Secretary Dole engaged in during her tenure, as her office saw many other challenges and changes like international labor reform, child labor, and looking to the future of American labor. The content within this collection covers her time in office and related events to her appointment to her resignation.

Elizabeth Hanford Dole was born Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford on July 29, 1936, in Salisbury, North Carolina. She graduated from Duke University in 1958, earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard in 1960, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1965.

Dole began her career in administration at the age of 29, when she began working for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and for the Office of Consumer Affairs. She was promoted under the Nixon administration to Executive Director of the President’s Committee for Consumer Interests, and in 1973, appointed to the Federal Trade Commission. On December 6, 1975, she married Senator Bob Dole. The following year, Dole took a leave of absence from the FTC to campaign for her husband, who was running on the Republican presidential ticket with Gerald Ford. She served as a Federal Trade Commissioner until 1979 when she resigned to campaign for Bob Dole’s 1980 presidential bid.

She served as Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 1981 to 1983, when she was nominated and confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Dole is the first woman to have served as Cabinet Secretary of two federal departments under two different presidents (Transportation 1983-87, Ronald Reagan; Labor 1989-90, George H.W. Bush). She served as the second female President of the American Red Cross from 1991 to 1998, the first woman to hold the position since founder Clara Barton in 1881.

A presidential candidate herself for the 2000 election, Dole was later elected to the U.S. Senate as the first female Senator for the state of North Carolina in 2002. She served until 2008. In 2012, Dole founded the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which empowers, supports, and honors America’s military caregivers.