Dr. Elston Roady Collection

Collection — Container: Drawer 11

Identifier: MSS 2005-002

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Elston Roady Collection documents Dr. Roady's studies of elections on the local (Leon County, Florida), state (Florida), and national levels and his research in political campaign finance. The materials include typescripts and reference materials used in creating his revised edition of Florida Votes (1972), background information and letters to Florida Secretary of State Firestone from Roady and Annie Mary Hartsfield about their proposal to update the 2nd edition through the 1980 elections (an updated version was not published); a speech Roady delivered when he was given the "Distinguished Alumni Award" by the Illinois State University Alumni Association; a Florida Supreme Court Petition for Rehearing involving Florida Governor Claude Kirk; election materials; a scrapbook compiled for the 1956 Florida gubernatorial campaign of Fuller Warren; reference materials pertaining to the Watergate issue, and memorabilia.

Dates

created: 1920-1988
Other: Majority of material found in 1968-1973
Other: Date acquired: 01/00/2005

Creator

Roady, Elston E. (Elston Edward), 1920- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Born April 9, 1920 in Kane, Illinois, Dr. Elston Roady is a nationally known and respected educator and political scientist. Prior to joining Florida State University in 1947 as a professor in the Political Science Department, he received his B.S. in Social Science and Speech from Illinois State University in 1942, his M.A. in 1947 and PhD in 1951 from the University of Illinois.

At Florida State University, he served as Instructor in Political Science (1947-1949), Assistant Professor (1951-1954), Associate Professor (1954-1958), and Professor from 1959-1984. He retired in 1983, and is now Professor Emeritus. Roady returned to Illinois State University in the summer of 1958 as a Visiting Associate Professor of Social Science and was awarded the Pi Sigma Alpha Outstanding Professor Award in 1981. In 1986, the Illinois State University Alumni Association awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Award.

In addition to establishing himself as a highly respected instructor, Roady is also recognized for his expertise in political campaign finance and elections on the local, state, and national levels. He has served as a consultant to numerous state governments and helped draft new election laws for 15 states and several foreign countries. He has provided post-election analyses for Time, U.S. News and World Report, and Newsweek magazines, National Public Radio, CBS, and ABC television. Several political candidates have sought his assistance in writing speeches, analyzing campaign strategies, and developing political platforms. He has also served as an advisor to two Presidential Commissions on elections.

Roady is the author of Florida's New Campaign Expense Law and the 1952 Democratic Gubernatorial Primaries (1954); Florida Votes, 1920-1962; Selected Election Statistics (co-authored with Annie Hartsfield, 1963); Florida Votes, 1920-1970 (co-authored with Mary Hartsfield, 1972); Republican Campaign Financing in Florida, 1963-1967(1969); Model State Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Law (1959), and Party Regularity in the 63rd Congress (1952).