Maurice A. Donahue was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1948 as part of its first Democratic majority. In 1950, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate, became Senate Majority Leader in 1958, and in 1964, became Senate President, a position he held until 1971 when he took the position of Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Governmental Services at the University of Massachusetts. Legislation he sponsored while in the Senate established the Willis-Harrington Commission on Education, the University of Massachusetts Boston campus and Medical School, state scholarships for needy students, commissions to improve vocational education, study problems of urban school systems, and extend educational facilities in Massachusetts.

The papers reveal Donahue's shaping of his political career, his leadership of the Massachusetts Democratic party organization, and his interactions with and affect on state events and government in the 1960s. The papers include 80 scrapbooks of clippings, most relating to Donahue's Presidency of the Massachusetts Senate 1964-1970 with some dating from 1960; cards on courtesy actions for constituents; appointment calendars 1964-1971; correspondence 1964-1970; tapes of radio talks; typescript texts and recordings of speeches; films; photographs of Donahue and other Massachusetts leaders; press releases; awards, citations, plaques, memorabilia; a charcoal sketch of Donahue; and a billboard-sized poster.