Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of Hedrick Smith, journalist, author, and documentarian, were given by Smith to the Library of Congress in several installments from 1986 to 2019. Some of these installments were received as gifts while others were received as deposits, which were later converted to gifts. Material relating to Smith's television program, “The Power Game,” was given to the Library by the program's producer, Philip Burton, in 1990.
Processing History
A preliminary list of the Hedrick Smith Papers was compiled for the early material received in 1986 and was revised in 1992 by David Mathisen and Lisa Madison. Part I of the collection consisting of accessions from 1986 through 1993 was arranged and described in 1999 by Connie L. Cartledge with the assistance of Sherralyn McCoy. Part II of the collection consisting of accessions from 2001 through 2010 was arranged and described in 2020 by Michael Folkerts with the assistance of Jake Bozza, Rosa Hernandez, Colleen Kim, Amanda Loeb, Kate Madison, Kathleen O'Neill, Laney Stevenson, and Tammi Taylor.
Digital files were received in Part II of the Hedrick Smith Papers on a variety of storage media, each of which was assigned a unique Digital ID number. Use the Digital ID number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital. Empty files, temporary files, and extraneous program files were removed during the course of processing.
Some items in the Hedrick Smith papers have undergone mold remediation.
Transfers
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Video and sound recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Books have been transferred to the Library's general collection. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Hedrick Smith Papers. Patrons are encouraged to contact these divisions in advance of a research visit.
Technical Requirements
The Hedrick Smith collection contains digital files that were stored on .zip discs, 3.5" and 5.25" discs, CD-RW's, DVD-R's, a Jaz drive, and Panasonic Optical Disc Cartridges.. All files were created in a Windows and Mac operating systems, versions unknown. The content is primarily text documents created in Microsoft Word 97 (.doc files) and Microsoft Write (.wps files). Also includes image files (.gif, .tiff, .jpg), moving image (.vob) and audio files (.wav). The format for a portion of these files have not been identified. Files are accesible using a standard file viewer.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Roman numeral designating the Part followed by a colon and container number or digital ID number, Hedrick Smith Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.