Nancy L. Buc papers (AMS.1U.B9)

This collection consists of the papers of Nancy L. Buc, an attorney who was the first woman to hold several positions in the US government (Chief Counsel to the Food and Drug Administration, Attorney-Adviser to the Chairman, then Assistant Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, both at the Federal Trade Commission). She was also the first woman partner in her New York law firm, and one of the first few women founders of a law firm in Washington, DC. She graduated from Brown University in 1965. The collection documents Buc's personal and professional life. Materials include biographical information, correspondence, conference material, speeches, writings, subject files, print material, photographs, and electronic records dating from 1950-2015. The collection is arranged into 10 series.

Series I, BIOGRAPHICAL, 1954-2011, highlights Buc's biography, educational and family background, professional development, and schedules. Material includes awards and honors, clippings about Buc, an extensive collection of date books, education-related material including from Buc's primary and secondary schools, her diploma and other ephemera from Pembroke College in Brown University, and her applications to the legal bar after obtaining her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Series 1 also includes Buc's drivers licenses and identification cards and her mother's obituary. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 2, CORRESPONDENCE, 1961-2013, contains personal and professional correspondence, arranged chronologically. Included in correspondence are letters of congratulations to Buc upon her appointment as Chief Counsel of the Food and Drug Administration in 1980 (#3.10-3.12) and letters from Rosemary Pierrel Sorrentino, Buc's mentor and the Dean of Pembroke College in Brown University from 1961-1972 (#3.25).

Series 3, CONFERENCES, 1983-2007, includes programs, proceedings, conference schedules, participant lists, and other related material regarding conferences that Buc attended or at which she spoke. This series is arranged chronologically.

Series 4, SPEECHES AND RELATED, 1964-2012, contains a list of speeches Buc gave between 1987-1989, notes, speaker bios, speaker notices, and speech text for various personal and professional talks by Buc. Speeches of note include: "Speech in [Pembroke College] Convocation"(1964), "Cinderella in the Goldfish Bowl" (1974), "Statement of Nancy L. Buc Before Food and Drug Administration Public Hearing on Direct-to-consumer Promotion of Prescription Drugs" (1985), and "Memorial Minute for Rosemary Pierrel Sorrentino" (2003). Series 4 is arranged alphabetically by record type, then by title of speech.

Series 5, WRITINGS BY NANCY L. BUC, 1973-1994, includes drafts, final publications, and some related correspondence regarding articles, books, chapters, columns, outlines, and papers written or co-written by Buc. Works of note include chapter three of Women Lawyers: Perspective on Success (1984), "Escalating Health Care Costs: Government and Business Aim At the Problem -- And At Each Other" (1984), "RU 486, the FDA and Free Enterprise" (1992), and "FDA Regulation of Advertising for Over-the-counter Drugs" by Buc and Robert P. Brady (no date). Though Series 5 contains outlines written by Buc potentially for the purpose of lectures or panel presentations, researchers seeking talks by Buc should see Series 4, Speeches. Series 5 is arranged chronologically then alphabetically by title.

Series 6, SUBJECT FILES, 1971-1995, includes a small set of clippings and other items collected by Buc on Miles W. Kirkpatrick, Ira Millstein, and Wallace Terry. This series is arranged alphabetically by last name.

Series 7, PRINT MATERIALS, 1972-2005, contains a small set of booklets, commemorative volumes, newsletters and reports collected by Buc on topics of professional interest. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then title.

Series 8, PHOTOGRAPHS, 1958-1994, consists of one folder of black and white photographs of Buc during various moments in her life including childhood, her college years, and time as an attorney in Washington, DC. Series 8 is arranged in one folder.

Series 9, ELECTRONIC RECORDS, 1987-1992, contains a half file box of VHS tapes. Recordings document talks and conference presentations by Buc. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type then by the original titles contained on the carriers. These tiles are noted in quotation marks.

Series 10, RESTRICTED, 1950-2015, is divided into two subseries: Subseries 1, Louise Lamphere vs. Brown University Exhibit Files; and Subseries 2, Other Restricted Material.

Subseries 1, Louise Lamphere vs. Brown University Exhibit Files, 1970-2015, regards Buc's participation on a Pembroke Center exhibit planning committee, which formed to highlight a key moment in Brown's history for the University's 250th Anniversary celebration. The planning committee chose to exhibit the history of the landmark class action lawsuit, Louise Lamphere vs. Brown University, where in 1974, an assistant professor named Louise Lamphere was denied tenure in Brown's Anthropology Department. Believing that she was a victim of sex discrimination, Lamphere challenged the university. In May of 1975, she filed suit against Brown in U.S. District Court, arguing both that she had been discriminated against and that the small number of women on the Brown faculty at the time reflected systemic bias. In 1977, the case was settled before the charge of sex discrimination was decided when the university entered into a consent decree that bound Brown to undertake fundamental changes to foster the hiring, promotion and tenure of female faculty members in every discipline – revisions that, over time, advanced opportunities for women at Brown and in higher education throughout the United States.

Subseries 1 contains general project files, research material collected from the Brown University Archives and Corporation and files sent to Buc from Pembroke Archivist Wendy Korwin and Louise Lamphere documenting Lamphere's experience during her tenure review and the subsequent lawsuit.

Files contained in Subseries 1 are closed until January 1, 2025.

Subseries 2, Other Restricted Material, 1950-2013, contains a small set of files including student and professional records and other personally identifying information that has been removed from throughout the collection.

Files contained in Subseries 2 are closed until January 1, 2025.