The papers of William V. Roth, Jr., were transferred to the Delaware Historical Society when he retired from the United States Senate following the 2000 election.  The papers span the dates from 1901 to 2003, with the bulk of the collection covering his congressional career, 1967-2000.  Roth served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, 1967-1970, and five terms in the United States Senate, 1971-2000.

 The collection contains the following record groups:

• Personal/Political/Official Files:  Biographical and personal files, pre-congressional political activities, political files, campaign/election files, VIP files, photographs, awards and citations, scrapbooks, publications removed from other parts of the collection  (40 linear feet)
   
• Legislative Files:  Bills of legislation sponsored and cosponsored by Roth, voting records, Congressional Record, subject files, committee files, correspondence  (138 linear feet)
   
• Constituent Services:  Official correspondence, constituent correspondence, casework, direct mail, service academy nominations, invitations, requests, congratulations, thank you letters, form letters, legislative activities  (243 linear feet)
   
• Public Relations/Media Activities:  Speeches and statements, press files, newsletters and mailings, “Thoughts from Washington” (newspaper column), opinions and editorials, press administrative files, audio-visual materials, press resource files, William V. Roth, Jr., press files, national/regional press files, Delaware press files, Delaware political press files (on specific individuals)  (69 linear feet)
   
• Office Administration: Appointments, office correspondence, finance, memos, form letter index, mail counts, staff and intern information, travel information, office equipment inventories, general office files, guest books, planning calendars  (6 linear feet)
   
• Oversize Material: Newspapers, political cartoons, photographs, memorabilia, campaign material, awards and citations, drawings, legislative files (7 linear feet)
   
• Memorabilia, Plaques, Posters: transferred to the Delaware Historical Society museum collection

These record groups are more fully described in Collection Arrangement and Description.  The full finding aid is not available online, but may contact deinfo@dehistory.org for more information.

The arrangement of the collection represents the original order of each record group.  Each record group is further subdivided into subgroups and series.  Within each series, the organization is usually chronological or alphabetical.  Some materials in the collection are closed to researchers due to government and donor restrictions.

Information on many topics can be found in several parts of the collection, reflecting the organization of Senator Roth’s office.  For example, materials on the same topic might be found in photographs, bills of legislation, legislative subject files, speeches and statements, press releases, and press resource files. 

 When the collection arrived at the Delaware Historical Society, it contained 1,027 boxes, or about 950 linear feet, of material.  After processing, it was reduced to approximately 498 linear feet.  The files contained many items that could be discarded in accordance with basic archival appraisal standards, such as duplicates and mailing envelopes.  Some parts of the collection were weeded and sampled.