David Alsobrook Papers

Collection

Identifier: 1246

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains David Alsobrook's personal and professional correspondence, research files on primarily on historical and archival topics, records related to the planning and administration of the Carter, Bush Sr, and Clinton presidential libraries, and files from Alsobrook's tenure directing the History Museum of Mobile. Also present are materials from the publication of his book, Southside: Eufaula's Cotton Mill Village and Its People, 1890–1945, and family records, chiefly from his parents and paternal grandmother.

Dates

1961-2017

Creator

Alsobrook, David Ernest, 1946-2021 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research without restriction. Items containing PII have been redacted.

Boxes 11 and 12 in accession 17-074 were closed for the lifetime of David Alsobrook. They are now open.

Biographical Sketch

David Ernest Alsobrook (1946–2021) was born in Eufaula, Alabama, and raised in Mobile. He earned an undergraduate degree from Auburn University in 1968, and taught high school English and Alabama History before pursuing graduate studies. He completed an M.A. in history in 1972 at West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in history in 1983 at Auburn University. Alsobrook worked as an archivist at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, before moving on to a long career with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). He was Supervisory Archivist at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1981 to 1991. He also served as director of both the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, and the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. He left NARA in 2007 to serve as the Director of the History Museum of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama, until his retirement in 2015. Alsobrook is the author of numerous articles and book reviews, and published Southside: Eufaula's Cotton Mill Village and Its People, 1890–1945 in 2017.

Alsobrook died October 28, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama.

Extent

32 Cubic Feet (36 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This finding aid is organized by accessions. Each accession represents an addition to the collection. Each accession also represents a transfer of physical and legal custody of archival materials from the donor(s) to Auburn University Special Collections and Archives.

Processing Information

Accession 17-053 processed by Elizabeth Bates, February 16, 2018.

Accession 17-074 processed by Lisa Glasscock, May 18, 2018.

Accession 18-041 processed by Jennifer Wiggins, December 19, 2018.

Accession 19-010 processed by Elizabeth Bates, March 11, 2019.

Previous finding aids transcribed into ArchivesSpace by Elizabeth Bates, 2019.