Biographical files :

10+ boxes; 1 box of photographs with 900+ folders of clippings, articles, ephemera, and photographs concerning persons associated with the St. Louis media. A department finding aid lists the names of persons represented in the files.

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Oral history collection:

The oral history collection was started in the summer of 1989 to preserve – through interviews with persons connected with radio, television, the press, public relations, and advertising in St. Louis – the history of area media and biographical information about persons active in the media. Interviews have been made with:

Carl R. Baldwin.

Reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from the 1930s to his 1973 retirement; historian. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Joan Colegrove.

Manager of radio station KACO. Interviewed by Frank Absher, 1999.

Rex Davis.

Broadcaster, news director for KMOX radio and host of KMOX’s At Your Service. Interviewed by Frank Absher, 1997.

D. Goodrich Gamble.

Rewrite man and city editor for the St. Louis Star-Times, 1930s-1950s; copy editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1950s. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Bob Hille.

One of the original announcers for KXOK in the late 1930s; broadcaster for KSD Radio and TV from the 1950s. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

James Lawrence.

Reporter and editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1940s-1960s. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Kay Morton.

Radio commentator on WTMV, WIL, and KXOK, 1930s-1960s; freelance television commentator. Interviewed by Frank Absher, 1999.

Selwyn Pepper.

Reporter, news editor, and city editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1935-1982. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Donald Thompson.

Editor of the St. Louis Argus. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Arthur Witman.

Photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from the 1930s to the early 1960s. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

William Woo.

Former managing editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

Sue Ann Wood.

Reporter, city editor, and managing editor for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1955-1983; reader’s advocate for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1984-1990; news editor and writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1990 to her retirement in 1998. Interviewed by Jennifer Toth, 1989.

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Personal papers and collections on individuals:

Beatrice Adams, 1902-1997. 3 boxes.

Gardner Advertising executive vice president and member of its Board of Directors; 1950 National Advertising Woman of the Year; writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and St. Louis Commerce; founding member of the Women’s Advertising Club of St. Louis. Collection contains her speeches; copy of her book Let’s Not Mince Any Bones: An Admittedly Unorthodox History of Gardner Advertising Company’s First Sixty-Five Years (1972); photographs and material from the Women’s Advertising Club and its Gridiron Dinner.

Spencer Allen , -1999. 1 folder.

Television news anchor and director, professor of journalism, president of the Press Club of Metropolitan St. Louis. Letter, March 9, 1989, giving list of jobs with dates; reminiscences of KMOX-TV in 1958; 2 color photographs.

Sam B. Armstrong, -1970. 1 folder.

"Funeral of Sam B. Armstrong, September 8, 1970." Typescript of speeches by Dr. John T. Wayland, James Kearns, Harry Wilensky, Carl Baldwin for Post-Dispatch correspondent, city editor.

Carl R. Baldwin1908-1994. 1/2 box.

Journalist for the East St. Louis Journal and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch historian. Collection contains "Chronology of a Labor Racket Investigation," May 28, 1954, typescript copy of personal account of his investigation and the Time magazine account, "Shakedown in St. Louis," May 31, 1954; other articles and biographical material. Copies of his books, Echoes of Their Voices (1978); Captains of the Wilderness (1986); St. Louis: Its Neighborhoods and Neighbors are in the St. Louis Authors Collection in the Library’s Special Collections department.

Alvin T. Barnes, -1997. 1 folder.

Sports of All Sorts, by Al Barnes, a compilation of Barnes’s columns for the Granite City Press Record. Barnes, who died in 1997, was the sports information director at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. He worked at several newspapers in the area, including the Cairo Evening Citizen, the St. Louis Star-Times and the Post-Dispatch. After retiring in 1981, he devoted his efforts to the Granite City Sports Hall of Fame.

June Wuest Becht. 1folder.

Articles on the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis by St. Louis freelance writer.

Dorothy Brainerd , 1907-1989. 2 boxes.

Food and travel editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Women’s Advertising Club’s Woman of the Year in 1964 Women’s Advertising Club of St. Louis. Correspondence and reference material for Brainerd’s columns in the  Post-Dispatch .

Bob Broeg.

Several of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist and editor’s books on football, baseball, and other sports have been added to the St. Louis Authors Collection; his manual typewriter, with his name in gold lettering on carrying case, is in the collection.

Jesse "Spider" Burks 1922-1975. 1 box+ oversize.

African-American radio disc jockey who started his career in 1947 at KXLW and worked at KSTL, KATZ, and KADI; also hosted a TV variety show. Collection includes photographs, clippings, awards and certificates, and memorabilia covering his career. Also, one videotape of the program produced by Tom , "The DJ’s and Their Music," for Los Angeles station KSCI 18 TV, February 15, 1999, which features material on Burks.

Edna Carroll. box + scrapbook.

Reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal ; editor for the Associated Press and Chicago Tribune; writer at Gardner Advertising. Two scrapbooks with Courier-Journal articles, 1943-1945, personal photographs, participation in Women’s Advertising Club of St. Louis ; samples of her work at Gardner.

Louise Munsch /Alva N. Dopking..2 folders.

Louise Dopking’s Just for Women program was on WEW radio in 1940s-1950s; Al Dopking was chief of the St. Louis bureau of the Associated Press. Biographical information; photographs showing Louise Dopking at WEW, Al Dopking.

Frank (John Francis) Eschen 1/2 box of materials covering 1942-1960.

Eschen was director of Special News Events, announcer, and reporter on KSD radio . Copies of Eschen’s radio scripts, speeches, notes, correspondence, and other material. Includes reviews of Municipal Opera shows, 1947; an account of Eschen’s trip to Rome for the ceremonies marking John Glennon’s elevation to the rank of Cardinal at the Vatican in 1946. Eschen accompanied John Cardinal Glennon, to Rome in February 1946 and reported his elevation to the Cardinalate at St. Peter’s Basilica and his unexpected death in Dublin on March 9, 1946. Eschen also broadcast from Nuremberg, Paris, and London. Also, introduction to speech by Father James Keller, founder of the Christopher movement, February 1951; speech to National Conference of Christians and Jews, Belleville, Illinois, February 1960.

Reed Farrell . 1 box.

Radio personality from 1957 on KWK, WIL, KSD, radio and KMOX radio; emcee of the Reed Farrell Morning Affair, broadcast from the lobby of the Chase Hotel on KPLR from 1972 to 1974, and then syndicated as the Reed Farrell Show on KSD-TV. Includes 30 photographs showing Farrell and guests on his television show; videocassette interviews with Milton Berle, John Davidson, Robert Goulet, the Lennon Sisters, Cloris Leachman, Minnie Pearl, Louie Prima, and Mark Wilson.

Harry Fender, 1896-1995. 26 boxes.

St. Louis-born actor, radio, and television personality, who hosted an interview show for approximately 25 years (1947-1970s) from the Chase Hotel and was host of KPLR-TV’s Captain 11 children’s show in the 1960s; Broadway performer, 1920s; St. Louis police officer, 1932-1945. Collection includes photographs, books, theater programs, clippings, correspondence, audio- and videotapes, and memorabilia covering Fender’s various careers. Of interest are family photographs, newsletters, and programs from his early years with such local groups as the Park Opera Company and the Delmar Opera; correspondence from such well-known entertainers as Florenz Ziegfeld, Eddie Cantor, and Max Morath; some 500 photographs of Fender with celebrities he interviewed for radio stations KXOK and KMOX radio; an autograph book with hundreds of signatures from celebrities; audiotapes of interviews with Charles Lindbergh, Bob Hope, Sophie Tucker, and Jack Benny; Fender’s Captain 11 uniform and the houndstooth jacket that he wore on the Chase program; and his audiotaped autobiography A Far Cry from Broadway.

Ferman Family. 1 photograph.

"The Ferman Family ‘News Team:’ Harold Ferman, Milton Ferman, Dorothy F. Gardner, B. Peter Ferman." Portrait cameos. "Out of the same family household came three guys and a gal in the early part of 1900 that split up to join the news gathering teams for the various newspapers publishing at the time – The Globe-Democrat, the Star-Times, and the Post-Dispatch." Photographs show Dorothy Ferman Gardner, who worked at both the Globe-Democrat and the Post-Dispatch, at one time writing the advice column as "Martha Carr;" Harold Ferman, chief news photographer of the Star-Times and later a public relations photographer; Milton Ferman, investigative reporter of the Star-Times and publisher of the Tri-Color News for the U.S. Army XXII Corps in Europe during World War II; and B. Peter Ferman, who, after a stint in World War II as a photographer for 15th U.S. Army Headquarters,worked briefly for the Post-Dispatch and later as a string photographer for the International News Service.

Harry W. Flannery. 1 folder.

St. Louis radio commentator/reporter who worked for CBS’ Berlin bureau. Two letters, 1941, Berlin, to Flora M. Robson., Belleville, Illinois; clippings.

Alfred Fleishman. Approximately 50 linear feet, consisting of 84 document and record storage boxes, 4 boxes of oversize photographs and plaques, 3 boxes of audiotapes, 3 boxes of miscellaneous slides and negatives, and one box of audiocassettes.

Personal papers and business records of Alfred Fleishman, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. A prominent businessman and community leader, Fleishman is associated with major civil and cultural organizations in the St. Louis area, among them Civic Progress, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis, and the Regional Commerce & Growth Association. He served on the boards of the St. Louis Public Library, Jewish Hospital, the Urban League of St. Louis, and the St. Louis Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, among others. Fleishman has had an influential role within the St. Louis Jewish community. Through his contacts and travels, he fostered support and aid for Israel. He also played a significant role in improving race and labor relations in the St. Louis area. Fleishman continues to write a weekly column on communications for the St. Louis Business Journal. He is also the author of a number of books on semantics and communication. A gifted amateur photographer, his photographs have been exhibited and published.

The Fleishman Papers, ca. 1930s-1997, contain correspondence, personal business files, and printed materials regarding his career in public relations and his role as a civic leader. Topics covered include biographical material, Fleishman’s military career in World War II, public relations work for Fleishman-Hillard, his teaching at Lindenwood College and Washington University, his KMOX radio program, speeches and correspondence, American relations with Israel, American Jewish organizations. Also in the collection are photographs taken by Fleishman, and personal mementos.

D. Goodrich Gamble , 1905-1991/Mary K. Abney Gamble. 10+ boxes.

Gamble, reporter for the St. Louis Star-Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; his wife, a writer, was in advertising and public relations for several St. Louis retail businesses. Collection includes newspapers, documents, photographs, and memorabilia related to their lives and careers; portraits; 470 letters, 1942-1945, from Gamble to his wife during army service in World War II, with related clippings and publications, medals, and other memorabilia; autographed letter, 1953, from Harry S. Truman to Mary Gamble.

Bob Hardy, 1930-1993. 1 folder.

KMOX radio broadcaster, news director, and host of At Your Service. Copy of 1973 speech.

Jonnie King. 1 folder.

St. Louis radio personality who started at KXOK in 1965 and has worked at a variety of stations, including KSLQ, KADI-AM and FM, KGLD-AM, and WRTH. He is best known for his syndicated morning feature, The Breakfast Serial. Collection includes biographical information, letters, radio station brochures, promotional materials, and memorabilia; audiotape demo of The Breakfast Serial.

Barbara Perry Lawton. 1 folder.

Articles and newsclippings, 1960s-1980s, by St. Louis writer, editor, and public relations practitioner. Includes biographical information.

Louise McDaniel. 3 boxes.

Collection of video- and audiotapes of the public service announcements and annual reports, 1974-1991, of the Missouri Affiliate of the American Heart Association made while McDaniel was public relations director for the association.

 

Joseph W. Miller, 1838-1925.

Father Was a Quiet Man. Typescript memoir, 42 pp., by Clarence E. Miller. J.W. Miller, reporter and critic for the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, became an editorial writer for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1892. The account includes letters from his 1869 stagecoach and rail trip to California.

Sam Muchnick, 1905-1998. 1 box.

Two scrapbooks, 1926-1932, of sports reporting, chiefly baseball, by Muchnick for the St. Louis Times. Muchnick was on the sports desk when the St. Louis Cardinals won their first pennant and World Series in 1926. He went on to be known as a wrestling promoter in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest.

Selwyn Pepper. 1/2 box.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter and editor; also served as the newspaper’s reader’s advocate. Pepper’s notes and other materials pertaining to the 1953 Bobby Greenlease kidnapping case; copies of Post-Dispatch issues with Pepper’s reports on the case; correspondence, chiefly with James Deakin, regarding his book on the Greenlease case; copy of galleys of Deakin’s A Grave for Bobby (1990), along with Pepper’s 1990 Post-Dispatch article. One folder of material concerning World War II includes clippings, communiqués, and press announcements from General Douglas MacArthur. Pepper was on MacArthur’s staff. Copy of "We forgot to write: the demise of personal letters is bad news for chroniclers of history," by Berkley Hudson; "Letters carry couple back to war days," by Bill Smith, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 19, 1992 (story about Pepper and his wife, Naomi Pepper, during World War II).

Kristen Peterson. 3 folders.

Commercial photographer and photojournalist published in St. Louis newspapers, Newsweek, Town and Country, and other publications. Copies of St. Louis Symphony Rotogravure sections of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1989; two photo features in Town and Country.

Don Pietromonaco, -1997. 1/2 box.

Promotional material and tributes, clippings, approximately 115 photographs, audiotaped airchecks, and videotape regarding Pietromonaco, disc jockey and radio personality who was known as Johnny Rabbitt on radio station KXOK, 1964-1969.

Joe Pollack. 1/2 box.

Copies of newspaper and magazine articles, including columns, travel features, and reviews of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, editor, columnist, and critic.

Roy Queen. 1 folder.

Country music star with program on KMOX radio from 1929 to the early 1950s, and later on other St. Louis stations. Includes letters of congratulations, proclamations, photographs, biographical information, and a copy of Roy Queen, "The Grandaddy of Country Music:" The Biography of a Legend in Country Music Since 1929, by B.W. Holt. (1997).

Alfred Reville.

Working Thirty-Three Years for a Great Newspaper. Typescript ms., 8 pp. Reville, a printer, worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from 1933 until his retirement in 1966.

John Roedel. 2 boxes.

KSD radio staff announcer and one of the original news team when KSD-TV went on the air in February 1947. Five phonodiscs of Roedel’s auditions, ca. 1947; 16 audiotapes of interviews conducted by Roedel on KSD radio, chiefly 1964-1975; film of KSD program on St. Vincent’s Hospital, Chase Hotel, 1958; 17 videotapes of his work on Channel 5 news programs, 1978-1985; KSD-TV news scripts, 1979 and 1985, from Roedel’s last broadcast before retirement.

Mina Sennott. 1/2 box.

Editor of Bemistory, the staff publication of the Bemis Bros. Bag Co president of the Industrial Press Association of Greater St. Louis and vice president of the International Council of Industrial Editors; president of Theta Sigma Phi, professional organization for women in journalism. Includes awards: Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge (1956) and Missouri Industrial Editors Annual Commu-nications Award (1960); reports on her travel to India in 1960 as one of three editors conducting a seminar organized by the Indian Association of Industrial Editors.

Lemoine Skinner, Jr. 1 box.

Post-Dispatch reporter. Scrapbook of clippings of Skinner’s articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ca. 1940-1945.

Caralee Stanard, 1896-1988. 1 box.

Papers and photographs relating to Stanard’s column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch under the pen name Sylvia Styles and to her work in the Public Relations department at Webster University. The collection contains her articles; correspondence; news releases, 1962-1968; photographs and material on fashion designers; and articles and clippings relating to Webster University.

Clarissa Start. 4 boxes.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist and feature writer, author. Scrapbooks, 1938-1963. Several of her books are available in the St. Louis authors collection, Special Collections, at St. Louis Public Library.

J. Roy Stockton. 1 framed sketch by Amadee.

Stockton was sports editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the 1950s-1960s.

Nannie Mitchell Turner. 2 videotapes.

From Turner’s funeral, with biographical material, from KMOV-TV. Married to William Mitchell, founder of the St. Louis Argus newspaper, Turner became its business manager and later president-treasurer of the Argus Publishing Company. She also was a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was named First Lady of  the Black Press by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Mary M. Utterback, -1998. 5 folders.

Papers relating to her work as advertising and public relations director for Thomas W. Garland, Inc. specialty stores and president of the Women’s Advertising Club of St. Louis, 1974-1975. Includes examples of her work; nomination for St. Louis Advertising Woman of the Year; awards and other materials.

Arthur Witman, 1902-1991. 2 boxes.

Staff photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1932-1970. One box contains clippings of Witman’s work for the newspaper. See also St. Louis Post-Dispatch.