George A. Beller donated the documents of his late wife Emily Couric, a former Virginia state senator, to the University Library Saturday.
The donation "adds great richness and depth to our existing collection," University Librarian Karen Wittenborg said. "People studying her impact as a Virginia legislator would learn a lot." Couric's documents will join the writings of other famous Virginia politicians, such as Senator John Warner and the late Senator Robert Byrd Sr.
The documents, which currently are being kept in the special collections section of Alderman Library, will be moved to the new Harrison Institute/Small Library this summer.
The collection, among other things, includes a full set of Couric's political papers. One box of materials, which currently is being sorted, contains transcripts of all of Couric's speeches.
The collection also includes the research materials for a number of bills that Couric proposed in the Senate and letters and correspondence with constituents on political issues. According to Beller, the donated documents include material on her proposed colorectal cancer screening bill. The bill, which was inspired by the death of her sister's husband, Jay Monahan, was drafted to require insurance companies to pay for colon cancer screenings. It has since passed into law, and it was the first of its kind in the United States.
Couric's collection, however, is not limited to writings. Media tapes document all of her media advertisements and some of the speeches that she gave on the floor of the Virginia Senate.
"Nothing was ever thrown away," Beller said, emphasizing the completeness of Couric's work. Beller noted that that Couric carefully documented her grassroots campaigns, commenting that anyone who is interested in running such a campaign would benefit from her writings.
Beller also called attention to Couric's interaction with her constituents.
"One of the things she prided herself on was constituent issues," Beller said. "The documents cover issues that were raised by constituents, and how they were resolved."
Couric's influence as a politician was notable, and she was expected to gain even more political power in Virginia had she not lost her battle to pancreatic cancer, Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato said.
"Emily Couric had an excellent chance to be elected lieutenant governor in 2001," Sabato said. "Following that, she probably would have been elected the first woman governor in 2005. It's a tragedy in that sense -- she had not yet fulfilled her destiny."
Beller said Couric's family chose to donate her documents to the University because it seemed appropriate, given that she represented issues concerning the University during her political tenures.
"She had a great affection for the University of Virginia," Beller said. "She highly respected its academic stature"
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