Rep. Donald M. Payne meets with President Bill Clinton in 2001.
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Archives and Special Collections Center at Seton Hall University’s Walsh Library announces the acquisition of the Donald M. Payne Papers, a historical manuscript collection of congressional papers from the late Donald M. Payne, New Jersey’s first African-American congressman, who represented the state’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2012.
“Congressman Payne was a proud Seton Hall alumnus, and the university is honored to be chosen as the home for the records of his time in office,” said University Libraries Dean John Buschman. “His work on health issues in Africa, on education and on human rights and social justice were three important themes that he stressed and worked on continuously in his two-plus decades in congress. His papers are sure to be of interest to both researchers and the general public alike.”
Rep. Payne’s son, Donald M. Payne Jr., who represents the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives, said Seton Hall University is the natural home for his father’s collection.
“Seton Hall and the Village of South Orange are located in the 10th District where my father represented his constituents tirelessly for 24 years in the U.S. Congress. I know he would want us to donate this treasured collection to his much-loved alma mater, so they could be made available to students, researchers and scholars interested in the work of Congress,” said Payne Jr.
“My father lived a fascinating and fruitful life, dedicated to human rights and conflict resolution. Anyone reviewing the collection will find insight and inspiration, not only through my father’s work as a Congressman, but his lifelong passion and dedication to making the world a better place. It is the hope of my family that others will use his life as an example and follow their own dreams, talents, and goals to create a legacy like his.”
The vast collection is comprised of more than 13,000 items — legislative documentation, research files, news clippings, photographs, audio-video recordings and USB flash drives — that chronicle the deceased congressman’s influence and impact in foreign affairs, including Somalia and other countries in Africa, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Haiti and other politically-sensitive locations around the world. It includes documents on major federal legislation in which he was involved such as increasing education grants for students, reducing interest rates on college loans, and famine relief to the Darfur region of Sudan as well as on his work to secure billions of dollars in foreign aid for treating H.I.V., AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The Donald M. Payne Papers collection is available at the Archives and Special Collections Center in the Seton Hall University Walsh Library in South Orange. The materials are stored in separate folders in more than 100 boxes and can be accessed via a finding aid.
They are available for viewing by appointment by calling 973-761-9476 or emailing brianna.losardo@shu.edu.