Contents and Arrangement
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Series 3: Rufus G. Poole Papers, 1903-1959

4 boxes

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

Like other Taos Blue Lake collections at Princeton, the Rufus G. Poole Papers chronicle a portion of the fight by New Mexico's Taos Indians to regain land taken from them in the 1906 creation of the Carson National Forest.Rufus G. Poole (1902 - 1968), a New York attorney who had settled in New Mexico for health reasons, was a regional attorney for tie Association on American Indian Affairs when the Pueblo retained him as a special liaison to Senator Clinton P. Anderson (1895-1975') in 1966. Anderson, a powerful New Mexico Senator, was opposed to congressional legislation which would return large amounts of land to the Pueblo directly; his opposition was enough to keep Blue Lake restoration legislation bottled up in Senate committees. Poole was hired to mollify Anderson's strident opposition. Not until President Richard Nixon issued an endorsement of the Blue Lake restoration bill in 1970, however, was the Pueblo able to see its long fight come to a successful end.The Rufus G. Poole Papers include copies of Poole's correspondence regarding the Blue Lake case and his role as special attorney to the Pueblo. Also included are copies of materials relating to Poole's role as a founding member of the National Committee for the Restoration of the Blue Lake Lands. Poole and other Pueblo supporters founded the National Committee in 1967, following a break with the Association on American Indian Affairs, included in the collection are copies of correspondence exchanged between Poole and William C. Schaab (1927--), tie Albuquerque attorney who replaced Poole as special attorney (at Poole's suggestion). Documentation regarding tie history of the Blue Lake case, contained in Box 3, was prepared by Schaab.

Arrangement

The materials in this series have been maintained in the order in which they were transferred to the Mudd Library.

Collection History

Appraisal

No information about appraisal is available for this collection.

Processing Information

This collection is an amalgamation of four smaller unprocessed collections all pertaining to the Taos Blue Lake land dispute. There was no further processing of the material after their transfer to Mudd Library. The contents list was created in Archivists' Toolkit and provides a preliminary inventory.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, any copyright vested in the donor has passed to The Trustees of Princeton University and researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of donor-created materials within the collection. For materials in the collection not created by the donor, or where the material is not an original, the copyright is likely not held by the University. In these instances, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Series 3: Rufus G. Poole Papers; Taos Blue Lake Collection, MC106, Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (mudd): Box 14-17

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Related Materials

Readers should be aware of other Princeton collections pertaining to the Blue Lake case, including the Association on American Indian Affairs Archive, which in turn includes the Oliver LaFarge Papers, Hildegarde B. Forbes Papers, and the Alden Stevens Papers.See also -- "The Return of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo" by William F. Deverell in the Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. XLIX, no. 1, Autumn 1987.

Names:
Association on American Indian Affairs
United States. Indian Claims Commission
Taos Pueblo Council