Courtesy of The Daily Progress

University Librarian Karin Wittenborg (left) pores over some of the late state Sen. Emily Couric’s political papers, donated to the library at a March 20 ceremony, attended by a number of Couric’s family members, including her brother, John Couric (right).

The political papers of the late state Sen. Emily Couric of Charlottesville were donated to the University Library March 20. Couric’s husband, Dr. George Beller, a cardiologist at U.Va., presented the collection at a ceremony in the McGregor Room of Alderman Library, with other members of Couric’s family in attendance.

Couric, a popular and influential figure in Virginia politics who died in October 2001, was a principled legislator who fought for what she believed. Highlights of her collection include the following:

• Constituent correspondence on a variety of issues affecting her istrict.

• Legislative records, including files on the Advanced Mathematics and Technology Diploma Seal for high school graduates, Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative, and her bill requiring insurance companies to
cover colorectal cancer screening.

• Video and audio tapes of media appearances and campaign advertisements.

• Campaign files for her 1995 and 1999 state senate elections, as well as files detailing her campaign for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

“We are honored by the family’s decision to donate this important
collection to the University Library,” said University Librarian Karin
Wittenborg. “The Emily Couric Papers will add to the University’s outstanding resources in 20th-century political and public affairs, which include the papers of U.S. Senators Carter Glass, Harry F. Byrd (both Sr. and Jr.), Hugh Scott, William B. Spong and Charles Robb.”