Correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, publications, and assorted government documents associated with Fred Schwengel from his time in both the Iowa legislature (1945-1955) and the United States Congress (1955-1965; 1967-1973). Much of the collection and Schwengel's career is related to the life and legacy of President Abraham Lincoln, and especially Schwengel's involvement with the Centennial Commemorations of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's Inaugurations. The collection includes correspondence between Schwengel and other Lincoln historians and collectors, as well as documentation from the United States Capitol Historical Society, of which Schwengel was a founding member and the first president.