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Media & Journalism

The Special Collections and University Archives collect and preserve materials relating to the history of broadcast media and journalism.  This relatively new collecting program nevertheless contains rare or unique materials essential for a complete understanding of the role that the broadcast media and journalism have played not only in Washington, D.C. but the nation as a whole.

Strengths of the Journalism Collections


The primary source materials related to media and journalism are in the form of the personal papers of reporters such as Jack Anderson and Richard C. Hottelet and the organizational records and audio archives of organizations such as the Mutual Broadcasting System.

Jack Anderson
Journalist Jack Anderson

Highlights of the personal and professional papers of prominent journalists include the Jack Anderson Papers, the Arthur Edson Papers, the Richard C. Hottelet Papers, the Frederick Kuh Papers, and the Samuel Shaffer Papers.

Jack Anderson (1922-2005), a pioneer of investigative journalism, was a hard-driving muckraker with unconventional research methods. By the time of Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate scoop, Anderson had amassed a list of his own, from exposes of corrupt officials to his discovery of a CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. Anderson's collected papers document many of those important news stories.

The collection is currently closed to researchers. Processing Archivist Sylvia Augusteijn (augusteijn@gelman.gwu.edu) has commenced surveying the collection contents as of September 20th, 2007. As collection materials are processed and approved by the Anderson Family for use by the public, Special Collections plans to make them available to researchers. The Preliminary finding aid for Series 1 is available now.

Arthur Edson graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism during the Depression. His first job was as a sports writer for an Oklahoma paper. He joined the Associated Press (AP) Kansas City Bureau in 1938. He moved to Washington, D.C. on the early 1940's and was, along with other top AP writers, instrumental in bringing the AP into the American Newspaper Guild. By 1948, he was a top feature writer for AP. He covered presidential politics for twenty-four years and did may feature stories for the AP. He moved to "US News and World Report" in 1968 and was due to take a top position there when his career was cut short by the discovery of cancer.* Arthur Edson died in January 1969. The Arthur Edson Papers are available for use by researchers.

Richard C. Hottelet (Sep. 22, 1917-) was a Brooklyn-born American broadcast journalist for the latter half of the twentieth century. He continues to write and lecture. Hottelet is the last living journalist from the original World War II-era group of Murrow's Boys, journalists tutored and/or encouraged by Edward R. Murrow at CBS. The Hottelet Papers, while not fully processed, are currently available for research.

Frederick Robert Kuh (1895-1978) was a Chicago-born journalist best known for his coverage of World War II. He worked for Chicago newspapers throughout his career, serving as London correspondent for the "Chicago Sun" from 1942 to 1947 and as London and then Washington correspondent of the "Chicago Sun-Times" from 1947 until 1963. Kuh was often the recipient of confidential information from numerous government officials in London and Washington, D.C. The Frederick Kuh Papers are fully arranged and available for researchers to use.

The National Intelligencer Newspaper Collection, 1804-1844 contains 298 issues of The National Intelligencer, which reported and published Congressional debates, and gained a national reputation as one of the leading newspapers in the United States in the 19th Century. Two of the men who owned the paper, Joseph Gales (1786-1860) and William Seaton (1785-1866) reported on important debates in Congress and both later served as mayor of Washington, D.C. in the 1820s and 1840s.

Samuel Shaffer (1910- ) received his bachelor of arts degree in 1931 from George Washington University, graduating cum laude. He pursued graduate study at the University of Michigan (1931) and at the University of Chicago (1932-1933). He began his journalist career as a reporter From 1936-42, for the "Washington Herald," later the "Washington Times Herald." From 1942-45, he served as a combat correspondent in the U.S. Marines Corps. For his military service in, World War II, Shaffer received the Purple Heart, two battle stars, and the Presidential Unit Citation. After his military service, Shaffer was employed by "Newsweek" magazine as a reporter in New York city (1945-46) and in 1947 was promoted to Chief Congressional Correspondent, a position which he held until 1975. The Samuel Shaffer Papers are fully arranged and available for use by researchers.

Strengths of the Broadcast Media Collections


Highlights of the broadcast media collections include the extensive audio archives of the Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc. and the Grace Cavalieri Papers, which include nearly 20 years of recordings of her weekly show "The Poet and The Poem".

The Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc. Records, 1958-2000 contain more than 40,000 sound recordings, primarily in audiocassette and reel-to-reel audiotape format, as well as scripts and other supporting documents generated by the various shows produced by the Mutual Broadcasting System from the 1950's through the 1990's, including:

O.J. Simpson trial taps
Audiocassette recordings of testimony from the O.J. Simpson Trial, June 1995. -- From MS2083, the Mutual Broadcasting System Records

The collection also includes an extensive collection of phonographic recordings of music that had been played over the MBS, obituaries, and reports. The collection is not yet processed and access is somehwat restricted. If you would like to access any portion of it, please contact the Department.

While the collection is not complete, it nevertheless documents the first half of 19th Century America.

Research Tools


The Special Collections and University Archives Department provides various access tools that allow researchers to locate useful materials.  To locate books, archival and manuscripts collections, and maps related to your topic use, the Library’s online catalog ALADIN. Each processed collection has a finding aid, which will provide you information about the specific contents of the collections. These finding aids describe the types of materials, subjects, and date ranges found within the collection.

In addition to these tools, Special Collections staff members are available for reference consultations to discuss a research topic, help formulate search strategies, and locate useful materials.

Search:

To limit your Aladin search to books housed in Special Collections, use the "Set Limits" button found on the right side of the page and choose "GW: GELMAN Special Collections" as the location field.

For additional guidance use ALADIN help.