Scope and Content Note
Part I of the papers of Irving Raskin Levine (1922-2009) span the years 1945-1964, with the bulk concentrated in the period 1949-1964. The majority of the items document Levine's early career as a foreign correspondent during the Cold War in which he reported on major news events and the economic, political, and social development of countries on four continents. In 1957 Levine was the first American television network correspondent with permanent accreditation in the Soviet Union; prior to that time American television reporters were allowed into the Soviet Union only for brief periods. Part I was arranged by the staff of the George Arents Research Library at Syracuse University before it was transferred to the Library of Congress. The papers consist of four series: Correspondence, Subject File, Writings File, and Miscellany.
The Correspondence series, 1947-1963, consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence exchanged primarily between Levine and staff members of NBC News and The Times of London. Also included are research correspondence for his books, letters from listeners, and requests to speak. Among the subjects discussed in the correspondence are news assignments, filming and transmission arrangements, and activities of the Council on Foreign Relations. Letters from listeners to the radio news program Monitor are filed with the scripts for the program in the Subject File.
The Subject File, 1945-1964, consisting mainly of radio and television scripts, notes, and research material, comprises the majority of Part I of the collection and is divided into four categories: domestic assignments, foreign assignments, news commentaries, and special programs. The domestic assignments relate primarily to Levine's coverage of the 1954 elections for the Today Show. Many of these programs were televised from the NBC Mobile Color Television Unit in the early days of color broadcasting. Although the foreign assignments material documents Levine's early reporting experiences with the International News Service, most of these papers chronicle his assignments as a chief correspondent for NBC News in Moscow and Rome. Prominent topics include the Hungarian uprisings, the launching of Sputnik, the 1960 Olympic games, and visits to Rome by American dignitaries. Clearance stamps and occasional censored cut marks appear on some of the Moscow scripts. Among the Moscow scripts are those for Monitor Replies to Listeners and This Is Moscow. The Moscow subject files also contain scripts for a radio segment by Levine's wife, Nancy Cartmell Jones. Other overseas assignments took Levine to locations such as the Congo, Algeria, and Tokyo, Japan, to cover breaking news events and diplomatic conferences and summits.
The final categories in the Subject File are news commentaries and special programs. Represented among the news commentaries are fourteen network programs from 1953 to 1964, such as Emphasis, Monitor, Nightline, and World News Roundup. The Monitor files also contain correspondence from listeners which Levine used for many other Monitor programs. Special programs, produced for radio and television by NBC News, feature domestic and foreign news events between 1953-1961 and include year-end news analyses, election coverage, and documentaries.
The Writings File in Part I, 1947-1963, reflects Levine's productivity in a wide variety of formats, including articles, books, speeches, and dispatches. The articles, written for magazines in the United States and for The Times of London, cover a number of topics and often include both drafts and final printed copies. The majority of the papers pertain to Levine's books Main Street, Italy; Main Street, U.S.S.R.; and Travel Guide to Russia. Research material for the latter work includes the "Daily Review of the Soviet Press," a mimeographed publication in English by the Soviet Information Bureau that differs from the typescript press excerpts in the Subject File that were used in compiling material for broadcasts. Notes and research material are extensive for the two books on the Soviet Union. The dispatches include mailers, or articles sent by mail rather than cable, to the International News Service from Vienna, Paris, London, and other locations, 1949-1950. Also represented in the dispatches are teletyped news reports from Korea in late 1950 and dispatches from Moscow, 1955-1959, mostly to The Times of London.
Papers in the Miscellany series, 1946-1955, relate primarily to Levine's academic endeavors at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and his association with the Council on Foreign Relations. The papers of the Council on Foreign Relations consist of notes, lists, and reports of discussion panels on the major foreign policy questions of the early 1950s.
Part II
Part II of the Irving R. Levine Papers spans the years 1930-1995, with the majority of the papers concentrated in the period 1971-1994. The papers supplement files in Part I and pertain principally to Levine's career as chief economics correspondent for NBC News in Washington, D.C. A pioneer in economics reporting on television, in 1971 Levine became the first network correspondent to cover economics on a full-time basis. The papers in Part II are organized into the following series: Notebooks and Notes, Correspondence, Scripts, Subject File, Chronological File, and Miscellany.
The Notebooks and Notes series, 1947-1993, documents Levine's professional activities as a news correspondent primarily from 1980 to 1993, although there are also four early notebooks relating to the Korean War. The papers in this series record Levine's preparation for and coverage of various news events. Many of the notebooks contain tape notes identifying specific segments of video and verbatims. "Verbatim" is a media term for material used in broadcasts, such as quotations from interviews and press conferences.
The Correspondence series, 1952-1995, consists chiefly of incoming letters and memoranda. The general correspondence contains letters primarily from the public discussing Levine's broadcasts and a few letters from individuals or organizations asking Levine to consider doing a broadcast on a specific subject. The National Broadcasting Company's internal memoranda and email messages provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a major news network. The internal memoranda relate principally to staff changes and policy issues. Many of the email messages are staff notes to Levine discussing background information for broadcasts and the logistics for filming specific segments.
The Scripts series, 1950-1995, contains Levine's commentaries for many of the NBC News radio and television programs. The majority of the series consists of scripts, although some background material is interfiled with the scripts, particularly in the later years from 1989 to 1995. In some instances, however, drafts and final copies of scripts have been retained in the Subject File. Levine's files for NBC Nightly News, the Today Show, and News-on-the-Hour are the most comprehensive, reflecting the wide range of economic stories of national and international significance that Levine broadcast during his tenure as an economics correspondent from 1971-1995. Subjects prominently featured are banks and banking practices, labor unions and employment issues, economic recession and recovery, currency and taxation, tariff and trade matters, and budget appropriation and deficit reduction legislation. Subjects covered by scripts may also be found in individual program files such as NBC Nightly News. Supplementing Part I of the papers are scripts of Levine's broadcasts as a war correspondent during the Korean War, 1950-1952.
Papers in the Subject File, 1930-1995, comprise the bulk of Part II. Including a wide array of material, such as correspondence, scripts, interviews, verbatims, and background material, most of the Subject File was created to assist Levine and other staff in preparing various news segments and specials for broadcast. In addition to the subjects mentioned previously in the Scripts series, there are extensive files on the major international economic summit conferences from 1978 to 1995 and papers relating to savings and loan association failures. This series also contains transcripts of a number of remarks by prominent national and international officials whom Levine interviewed during his career. Although most of the interviews are filed chronologically in the folder labeled "Interviews: transcripts," transcripts may also be found among files on various subjects.
The Chronological File, 1988-1995, consists of printouts generated from Levine's computer. Some overlap exists between this series and many of the other series because the Chronological File contains a wide range of material that appears in other series of Part II as well.
The final series, Miscellany, 1936-1995, includes correspondence, speeches and speech material, book drafts, articles, school publications, and background material. This series relates primarily to Levine's financial accounts, speeches, and writings. National Broadcasting Company expense accounts record details of his daily professional activities, often indicating names of specific individuals, organizations, and government agencies that he contacted in covering news events and economic matters. The bulk of the speech files contain material relating to Levine's talks as a lecturer for various cruise lines. Most of the Miscellany series consists of drafts and background material relating to Levine's unpublished manuscript written with John Rich entitled "Victory in Korea." Also worthy of mention are Levine's early articles and published photographs from his service as a lieutenant with a photographic battalion of the Army Signal Corps in World War II. Some of Levine's early writings and published photographs appear under the pseudonym Irving R. Lorwin.
Part III
Part III of the papers of Irving R. Levine span the dates 1937 to 2013, with the majority concentrated in the period between 1955 and 2000. These papers supplement files in Parts I and II and pertain chiefly to Levine’s tenure as a foreign correspondent for NBC News in Moscow, Soviet Union and Rome, Italy, among other foreign assignments. Part III also contains material not represented in Parts I and II and chronicles Levine’s later life and career in the years after retiring from NBC News in 1995. This includes documentation of Levine’s tenure as dean of Lynn University’s School of International Communication, his role as a spokesman for the First Penn-Pacific Life Insurance Company, an unpublished memoir written in the early 2000s, and regular appearances as a commentator on CNBC and Nightly Business Report. The papers in Part III are arranged into the following series: Correspondence, News Correspondent File, Speeches and Writings, Lynn University File, and Personal File.
The Correspondence series, 1945-2013, is arranged into three groupings: General, Personal, and Fan Mail. The series comprises primarily incoming letters, though letters written by Levine to his family between 1945 and 1965 are also included. The General Correspondence is further organized into chronological and alphabetical groupings and contains letters that are primarily professional in nature. Several folders that contain correspondence to and from NBC News are found in the General Correspondence, as is correspondence with The Times of London and Doubleday and Company, Inc. The Personal Correspondence contains letters written by Levine and his family members, primarily his father. The Personal Correspondence chronicles the period while Levine was serving in the United States Army, Signal Corps, as a chief with the International News Service, and later as a foreign correspondent with NBC News. Correspondence from Levine’s wife, Nancy, and their children can also be found in the Personal Correspondence. The Fan Mail includes listener’s and reader’s comments regarding Levine’s work. Dates span the period of 1954-1994, though the majority dates between 1954 and 1965. Correspondence associated with Levine’s tenure as dean of the School of International Communications at Lynn University is located in the Lynn University File.
The News Correspondent File, 1945-2006, contains material related to Levine’s career as a news correspondent and commentator. Though not comprehensive, the series documents much of Levine’s career as a broadcast journalist and includes material from his time as a chief with the International News Service, as a foreign correspondent with NBC News, and later as an economics correspondent with NBC News. Also contained are scripts and printed matter from the television program, Nightly Business Report for which Levine was a regular commentator in the years after his retirement from NBC News. The series comprises scripts, notes, correspondence, articles, press releases, and ephemera representing many of the countries Levine visited and assignments he undertook in the course of his work. Material chronicling Levine’s work in Moscow, Soviet Union and later Rome, Italy between 1955 and 1969 are the most heavily documented of Levine’s foreign assignments. Cables and notes represent much of Levine’s work in Moscow. Story ideas, notes, article drafts, scripts, and Levine’s extensive coverage of Pope Paul VI’s trips and activities chronicle his work in Rome. Also included are United Nations memoranda, United States Army Far East Command leaflets and memoranda, and dispatches Levine sent regarding armistice negotiations during the Korean War. Scripts for Meet the Press, Nightly Business Report, and several special radio and television documentaries are also contained in this series. Documentation of Levine’s work as an economic correspondent is less robust, but is represented by clippings, handouts, and correspondence regarding economic summits between 1974 and 1998. National Broadcasting Corporation newsletters and memoranda and Levine’s press passes spanning 1950 to 1989 are also comprised herein. Some digital files are included in this series and take the form of text files from the 1993 G-7 Economic Summit. Request access using the digital ID number.
The Speeches and Writings, 1940-2006, comprise the bulk of Part III and documents many of Levine’s articles, book manuscripts, speeches, notes, and publicity surrounding his various lectures and appearances. Drafts and notes for several unpublished books feature prominently. Among the unpublished works in this series is a memoir compiled during the early 2000s chronicling Levine’s career and experiences as a broadcast journalist, titled “A Reporter’s Life: 50 Years of History in the Making.” Related material includes chapter drafts, notes, proposals, correspondence with his research assistant, and research files. An unpublished tour guide for Rome, Italy is also included in this series. “The Complete Guide to Rome” and “The Walker’s Guide to Rome” are among the working titles for this manuscript, which was written between 1966 and 1968, shortly after Main Street, Italy was published in 1963. Related material includes chapter drafts, notes, maps, and correspondence with research assistants and publishers. Some material documenting two other unpublished works, titled “Victory in Korea” and “Cold War Correspondent,” is also included. Minimal documentation of Levine’s published works is found in Part III. Articles are arranged in topical and chronological groupings and are primarily concentrated between 1947 and 1950, during which period Levine was working for the International News Service and based in Vienna, Austria. Speeches, lecture notes, and publicity materials for Levine’s lectures and talks represent the majority of this series and span nearly the whole range of Levine’s career from 1953 to 2006. Where possible, dates were estimated for speech fragments, notes, and quotes, which Levine often clipped from newspapers as inspiration or fodder for jokes and lecture topics. Complete lectures, publicity materials, programs, and correspondence regarding appearances is filed chronologically. Also included in this series are speeches, correspondence, and articles related to the “World Traveler” column Levine wrote as a spokesman for First-Penn Pacific Life Insurance Company between 1996 and 1998.
The Lynn University File, 1993-2006, contains correspondence, publications, daily memoranda, meeting minutes, and evidence of other endeavors undertaken by Levine as dean of the School of International Communications at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Daily memoranda sent to Levine by his assistants form the bulk of this series and list Levine’s important meetings and appointments, travel itineraries, and notable incoming correspondence. Much of the series details programs, workshops, and events Levine undertook in an effort to expand the School of International Communications. Digital files are also included in this series and represent text files removed from floppy disks. Request access using the digital ID number.
The Personal File, 1940-2009, relates largely to Levine’s life outside broadcast journalism and includes documents regarding Levine’s education, service in the United States Army, Signal Corps, and marriage. Clippings featuring articles about Levine form a large part of the series. Several folders pertaining to personal interest topics, such as citizens band radios, bow ties, and management of household expenses and investments are also found in this series. The Personal File also includes articles written and photographs taken by Levine while serving in the photographic battalion of the Army Signal Corps during World War II. Notes, article drafts, a timeline of travel, paperwork documenting service and training, and issues of the newsletter Close-Up, which was written by and for the Signal Corps Photographic Center, Long Island City, New York, among other items also document Levine's time in the Signal Corps.