Happy Fourth!
Key to the city of Fairfax from the Joseph L. Fisher papers, Collection #C0028, Box 116, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.
Although we don’t collect a lot of political memorabilia, this key to the city of Fairfax from the Joseph L. Fisher collection is a pretty cool piece. It was given to Fisher on July 4, 1979.
Fisher’s career, spanning over fifty years, included planner member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia’s 10th congressional district (1974-1981), Virginia Secretary of Human Resources, special assistant to the president of George Mason University, and president of the National Academy of Public Administration. In addition, Fisher was deeply involved in community activities, having been chairman of the Arlington County Board, chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), president and chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments (COG), and moderator and chairman of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Association. He also wrote several books, including World Prospects for Natural Resources (1964) and Resources in America’s Future (1963).
The Joseph L. Fisher collection relates to Fisher’s career as an economist, educator, and U.S. Congressman. The materials include lectures and comments on conservation and natural resources, scrapbooks, pamphlets, appointment books, and correspondence. Materials that relate to his political career in U.S. House of Representatives include correspondence, speeches, press releases, reports, newspaper clippings, issue papers, testimony, statements, questionnaires, background publications, guidelines, charts, and legislation.
The finding aid for the Fisher collection has been recently updated.
