How did the Grant Society's Grant Papers end up at Mississippi State? We have a new clue: Mrs. Marszalek is a political powerhouse in the state. If her husband, an emeritus, wanted the archive nearer home, she had tremendous wherewithal to prepare a warm reception for them:She has played a major role in Mississippi politics. She began her career as secretary of the Oktibbeha County Democratic Executive Committee from 1989-1992, also becoming a member of the Mississippi State Democratic Executive Committee (1989-2000). She was the founder and first president of the Oktibbeha County Federation of Democratic Women (1990-1992) and has held a variety of offices in the Mississippi State Federation of Democratic Women (1990- ). In 1992 and 1996, she was elected a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions and subsequently played leadership roles in the two local Bill Clinton presidential campaigns. From 1994 to 2002, she wrote a regular column in the quarterly newsletter, the Oktibbeha Democrat. From 1993-1996, she was co-chair of the Starkville Race Relations Team. She was awarded the Unity in the Community Award from the Oktibbeha County NAACP (1996) and the Democrat of the Year Award from the Oktibbeha County Democratic Executive Committee (1998). In 2003, the Mississippi State University College Democrats named her "Honorary Life Member."Mrs. Marszalek rates her own page on the MSU website without having been employed by the school or published by its press. Her relationship with MSU is strictly that of patron:
She and her husband have established endowed library funds at Mississippi State University and Canisius College. Her papers, gathered in the course of her political career, are deposited in the Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University.Her own papers! So students can study her life and career!
Sorry, I'm getting distracted. The bullseye is that "She and her husband have established endowed library funds" at MSU.
The closely guarded secrets surrounding this transfer are starting to come unraveled. We'll get to the bottom of this. Keep watching and if you have a clue, send it in.
p.s. I have stopped referring to this archive in shorthand as THE Grant papers in deference to the important point made by Brooks Simpson that they are not THE Grant papers, but rather the papers of the Grant Society. "... just as so much of this story has been confusing." Amen
