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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The son of former Sen. Dale Bumpers says his father's diaries will be permanently removed from the Bumpers Papers collection at the University of Arkansas library.
Brent Bumpers said Thursday that the diaries, which have been available to the public for a year, were personal and should never have been included with his Senate papers. Brent Bumpers initially questioned the authenticity of the diaries after excerpts criticizing Bill and Hillary Clinton were printed in the newspaper and other outlets, but changed his mind once he read them.
"The musings do appear to be authentic," Brent Bumpers said in an email. "The reason for my initial skepticism -- before seeing any of the documents -- was simply the idea of him being a 'diary keeper' and the complete lack of any prior reference to such documents by him or any staff member."
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1Ib4zz5 ) reports that the diaries were temporarily removed from the collection on March 18. They included over 1,000 boxes of materials that Dale Bumpers, a Democrat, donated to the university in 2000. The Bumpers collection is the second-largest in the university's library next to a collection of papers from former Sen. J. William Fulbright.
Dale Bumpers spent 24 years in the Senate, and served as governor of Arkansas.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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