Guide to the Derek Shearer and Ruth Goldway Papers , circa 1960-1995

(bulk )


John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2022

Collection Overview

Title: Derek Shearer and Ruth Goldway Papers
Date range: circa 1960-1995
Creator: Goldway, Ruth Ellen Yannatta
Extent: 19 Linear Feet
12 records center boxes ; 1 document box ; 3 oversize boxes
Language of materials: English
Repository: John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number: MS.2011.042

Scope & content

The Derek Shearer series contains information about his work with the Clinton Presidential transition team in Santa Monica, California (box 7), and his term as the United States Ambassador to Finland during the 1990's (boxes 1-6). Contained within boxes 1-5 are numerous articles, clippings, and letters. Box 6 contains miscellaneous materials which encompass calendars, writings by Shearer, resumes, biographical information, photographs, and materials from Yale University. Box 7 contains correspondences between Shearer and President Bill Clinton and non-bugetary policy proposals. Also, included are regular and oversized photographs (box 16), and media which include VHS tapes including President Clinton's acceptance speech 1992, and various interviews with Shearer. There are also numerous unlabeled VHS tapes, audio cassettes (interviews with Shearer), and color slides (labelled parade).

The Ruth Goldway series contains materials about her mayoral campaign and and time leading up to and as Mayor of Santa Monica, California. There is a wealth of material by and about Goldway's role as wife to Derek Shearer while he was Ambassador to Finland. The Goldway series includes articles, clippings, correspondence (some to and from Hillary Clinton, box 9), and Evening Outlook newspapers from 1979-1981 (boxes 14-15). Box 13 contains media, which includes reel to reel tapes and cassettes. Some of the media is labelled Chavez endorsement and Santa Monica election.

Access Points

Subject Names Subject Topics Geographical Names Occupations Document Types

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series: 1. Derek Shearer, 2. Ruth Goldway

Biographical / Historical

Born in New York City 1945, Ruth Yannatta Goldway is the daughter of David Goldway and Rosalyn Hersh. Her father once served as chairman of the editorial board of Science and Society, a quarterly journal of Marxist scholarship. She attended the Bronx High School of Science before going to the University of Michigan. After earning her Bachelor of Arts, she received her Masters in English literature from Wayne State University. Having moved to California, Goldway served as assistant to the director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs. During the 1970s she lectured on the role of women in government, Finnish culture and society, urban planning, and consumerism at universities and professional associations throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan. She eventually became friends with liberal activist and politician Tom Hayden, who supported her candidacy for Santa Monica city council. In 1978 she led the Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR). Ruth Yannatta Goldway was elected council member and mayor of the city of Santa Monica from 1979 to 1983. In addition, she helped to found California's system of statewide farmers markets and expanded citizen representation on state regulatory boards. She served as Founder and Chairperson of the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corporation from 1983-1994.Her career shifted into the world of higher education when she became director of public affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. From 1991-1994 Goldway served as manager of public affairs for the Getty Trust, the largest arts and education foundation in the United States. During this time she received a small part in the 1993 movie Dave, playing the Secretary of Education in the cabinet of fictional President Bill Mitchell. Goldway and her husband, Derek Shearer, were friends of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Shearer was appointed the United States Ambassador to Finland in 1993. The couple remained in Finland until 1997, during which time Goldway authored several articles for the Finnish magazine Gloria, organized seminars on womens issues and assisted in the promotion of American products and services. Her memoir of her overseas experience, Letters from Finland, was published in Finland in 1998. She is on the board of Tree People, the New Visions Foundation, and the USC Center for Sustainable Cities. Goldway is a founding member and chair of a networking and mentoring organization, Women in Logistics and Delivery Services Ruth Yannatta Goldway has the distinction of being the longest-serving presidential appointee currently in Washington. She was first appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 to the Postal Regulatory Commissions predecessor (the Postal Rate Commission), and twice was reappointed by President George W. Bush. President Barack Obama appointed her chairman of the Commission on August 6, 2009.

Biographical / Historical

Derek Shearer was born in Los Angeles, California on December 5, 1946. He was married to Ruth Goldway and had three children, Julie, Anthony, and Casey. Shearer received his B.A. in 1968 from Yale University and his Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Union Graduate School. His father, Lloyd Shearer has been one of the leading journalists in the United States. Derek Shearer currently resides in Pacific Palisades, CA. with his wife Sue Toigo and two dogs, and two cats. Shearer founded the International and Public Affairs Center (IPAC) at Occidental College in Los Angeles and served as its first Director. In addition, he has taught courses on domestic and international economics and politics, public policymaking, and public and private sector management. He was appointed Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in February, 1993. In 1994 President Bill Clinton nominated him to be United States. Ambassador to Finland. Among his many accomplishments were the creation of the administration's coordinated strategy to the Nordic-Baltic region and the hosting of the Clinton-Yeltsin summit in Helsinki. After diplomatic service, Ambassador Shearer was a fellow at the Economic Strategy Institute and then at the Woodrow Wilson Scholars Center in Washington, D.C. He was also a visiting Woodrow Wilson fellow and ambassador-in-residence at a number of colleges. He served as a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Gore during the 2000 Presidential campaign and to Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2007-2008 Presidential primary. He endorsed and supported Senator Obama in the general election. Ambassador Shearer's articles on foreign affairs and public policy have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, and many weekly and monthly publications. He has authored numerous scholarly and policy articles in books and journals and has lectured at leading universities in Europe, Asia, and Australia, including speaking tours for the United States government in China, Japan, Greece, Australia, and the Baltic States, Chile, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Syria, Peru and Bolivia. n addition, he also taught at the University of Maryland, Tufts, and UCLA, as well as at Occidental. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an United States and Japan Leadership Fellowship, and a Swedish Bicentennial Fellowship, among other honors he is listed in Whos Who in the World, Whos Who in America, and other such publications. Shearer is also a senior fellow at the Center for Public Diplomacy located at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School. He also served a political advisor to the United States military, and was the moderator of the Chiefs of Defense meetings for United States Pacific Command in Honolulu in 2005, and for Central Command in Tampa, Florida in 2008. Earlier in his career, he was an official in state and local government in California. His public policy books include Economic Democracy (co-author Martin Carnoy), A New Social Contract (with Carnoy and Rumsberger), Putting People First, 1992 Program of the Clinton-Gore campaign (with Magaziner, Reich, et al), and the Public Policy Reader (edited with Lee Webb). President Clinton followed Ambassador Shearer's recommendation to create a National Economic Council in the White House to coordinate overall economic policy.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: There are no restrictions on access for non-digital materials, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view born-digital records. Born-digital materials in this collection have not been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical digital media is restricted.
Use of the materials: Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation: Derek Shearer and Ruth Goldway Papers, Ms.2011.042, Brown University Library.
Contact information: John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Brown University Library staff.
Encoding: This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-10-21.
Descriptive rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Sponsor: Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Separated material:

Separated Materials

Paperback book, American What Went Wrong? by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele (copyright 1992) and Kutsu valtiotieteellisen tiedekunnan maisteri- ja tohtoripromootioon toukokuun 26 päivänä (1995) removed and cataloged for the Brown University Library.

Inventory


Series 1. Derek Shearer
Box 1-2

Subseries 1. Diplomatic papers
Boxes 1-6

Container Description Date
Boxes 1-2 Correspondence
Boxes 3-4 Travel Documents and Schedules
Box 4 Articles
Box 5 Clippings
Box 6 Personal Papers

Subseries 2. Clinton Presidential Transition and Correspondence
Box 7

Container Description Date
Box 7 Correspondence
Box 7 Non-budgetary Policy Proposals

Subseries 3. Media
Box 8

Container Description Date
Box 8 Tapes, Cassettes and Slides
Contents Note: The media subseries comprises numerous audio and video recordings of Shearer and to a lesser extent Goldway. The subseries includes 34 videotapes (VHS), 2 audiocassettes, 2 boxes color slides labeled "Parade", and 1 3.5 inch floppy disc. Much of the material is unlabeled and undated.

1983-1999, undated1991-1999

Series 2. Ruth Goldway

Subseries 1. Professional Papers , 1970-1998
Boxes 9-11

Container Description Date
Boxes 9-11 Correspondence
1970-1998
Box 11 Desk Diaries Finland
1994-1996
Box 11 Santa Monica California
1970-1979

Subseries 2. Printed Materials

Container Description Date
Box 9 Clippings
Box 11 Flyers and Pamphlets
Boxes 14-16 Newspapers
1979-1981
Box 16 Oversize Photographs

Subseries 3. Media

Container Description Date
Box 13 Tapes and Cassettes

Series 3. Restricted
Box 17
Contains personal and financial information that is restricted until after the deaths of both Ruth Goldway and Derek Shearer.