Scope and Contents of the Records

The Texas Office of the First Lady encompasses the official governmental activities of the spouse of the governor. These records document the activities of Anita Perry in her capacity as Texas First Lady from 2000-2015, with records dating 1969, 1996-2015, undated, bulk 2008-2013. These include acting as hostess during receptions at the Governor’s Mansion; presiding over selected welfare organizations and initiatives; participating in fundraisers, galas, and social causes; accompanying the governor in official travels; participating in select ceremonial duties; and decorating the Governor’s Mansion.

Records of this office comprise paper and electronic records, including incoming and outgoing correspondence (letters, emails, invitations etc.), informational fliers, programs, brochures, ephemera, newspaper articles, certificates and proclamations, photographs, CDs, speech transcripts, radio and video public service announcement (PSA) scripts, audio files, biographical and introductory notes for Mrs. Perry, electronic slide presentations, administrative documents, travel itineraries, schedules, media advisories, media articles, and social media contributions to and from Mrs. Perry’s account. Electronic records described in this finding aid that are part of the Texas Digital Archive are indicated as such in the inventory. Restrictions on access to the content of records are applicable to paper and electronic records.

Subjects include events and social causes that Mrs. Perry was invited to attend and participate in by giving talks, donating items, serving on boards, and fundraising; the Texas Historical Commission Main Street First Lady Tour; the Governor’s Mansion Restoration Project; official trips to Spain, Italy, Slovakia and Israel; the Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing at Texas Tech University; the annual Texas Conference for Women; Texas tourism; and breast cancer awareness.

The Invitations series includes invitations to events that Mrs. Perry was invited to in both a personal and professional capacity, which for the most part indicate if they were accepted or declined.

The Plans and planning records series includes requests to attend events, invitee lists, monthly calendars, briefing materials, and travel itineraries and schedules.

The General correspondence series includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of the Office of the First Lady, such as letters, printouts of emails, thank-you notes, and documentation of events.

The Administrative correspondence series primarily consists of correspondence to and from Anita Perry, as well as members of her staff, pertaining to official events and social causes that she was associated with.

The Speeches series includes transcripts of speeches written for and delivered by Mrs. Perry at various events and while endorsing social causes.

The Texas Conference for Women public relations materials series includes programs and other materials for the Texas Conference for Women.

The Biographical information series includes brief biographical notes for Mrs. Perry that served as introductions for her at various events.

The Media files series includes articles about and question-and-answer columns with Mrs. Perry published in print media, speech transcripts, event research material, media advisories, press releases, messages from and to Mrs. Perry on social media platforms, and photographs.

The Photographs series consists of photographs of Rick and Anita Perry approved for promotional purposes, unapproved photographs, photographs from events and official trips, images of the Governor’s Mansion, and images pre-dating Ms. Perry’s time as First Lady.

The Main Street files series primarily consists of programs to the Texas Historical Commission Main Street First Lady Tour events along with a small number of invitation cards.

The Scheduling files series includes the daily schedules for Mrs. Perry, day-by-day and minute-by-minute. They provide precise detail concerning the times and places of her departures and arrivals, indicating the nature of the events, the mode of transportation, and contact persons.

Formats of the original electronic files include word processing or plain text files (.doc, .docx, .txt), spreadsheets (.xls., xlsx), audio files (.mp3), photographs and graphic images (.jpg, .tif, .gif, .png), databases (.mdb), PDFs, PowerPoint, and web-ready images (.htm). Digital files presented for public use will generally be PDF for text documents or spreadsheets, .jpg for photographic or graphic images, .mp3 for audio files. Files in their original format are available on request, restrictions may apply.