Scope and Content Note
The papers of Daniel Joseph Boorstin (1914-2004) span the years 1882-2004, with the majority of the papers concentrated in the period from 1944 to 1999. They focus on almost every phase of Boorstin's professional life as an author, educator, and an administrator of two of the nation's most prestigious institutions, the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress. Also represented are family papers and Boorstin's academic papers as a student. The papers are arranged in two parts described below. The collection is in English.
Part I
Part I of the Boorstin Papers spans the years 1882-1995, with most of the papers concentrated between 1944 and 1994. The bulk of Part I highlights Boorstin's career as a professor at the University of Chicago, director and historian at the Smithsonian Institution, his tenure as Librarian of Congress, and his endeavors as a lecturer, author, and editor.
Part I consists of seven series: Family Papers , University of Chicago and Smithsonian Institution File , Library of Congress File , Speech File , Writings File , Miscellany , and Oversize .
The Family Papers , 1891-1995, consist primarily of correspondence and other papers relating to Boorstin, his wife, Ruth Frankel Boorstin, and their three children, David, Jonathan, and Paul. The majority of the letters document the personal activities of the family. Boorstin's early letters in the 1950s and 1960s to his wife, Ruth, and to his father, Samuel Boorstin, are particularly insightful, describing his experiences while teaching and lecturing in Europe and Asia. Correspondence and papers pertaining to Ruth Frankel Boorstin are interfiled throughout the collection, since she was closely involved in her husband's professional activities and served as editor and sometimes as coauthor of his publications.
Papers in the University of Chicago and Smithsonian Institution File , 1944-1975, illustrate Boorstin's diverse interests and activities. This series is divided into two subseries: Calendars and Subject File . The Calendars , 1958-1975, provide a glimpse of Boorstin's schedule while a professor of history at the University of Chicago, 1944-1969, and as director and senior historian at the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution, 1969-1975. Since Boorstin became Librarian of Congress in November 1975, his 1975 calendar also includes entries for his first two months as librarian. Some calendars also contain brief notes and notations of telephone numbers and addresses.
Arranged by Boorstin's staff, the Subject File subseries, 1944-1975, includes an extensive array of papers such as correspondence, reports, course material, minutes of meetings, and notes. This subseries documents his teaching and research interests, especially in American culture; his activities as a visiting lecturer and consultant; his duties as an administrator at the Smithsonian; and his membership and affiliation with various organizations and associations. The subseries contains a significant amount of correspondence reflecting Boorstin's friendship and acquaintance with prominent scholars and individuals such as Jacques Barzun, Edward L. Bernays, Henry Steele Commager, Marcus Cunliffe, Maurice English, Abe Fortas, John Hope Franklin, Oscar Handlin, Richard Hofstadter, Hubert H. Humphrey, Henry Kissinger, Dumas Malone, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. , and C. Vann Woodward. Many of the correspondents and organizations in the Subject File also appear in other series of the collection, such as the Library of Congress Subject File and the Writings File . Also overlapping are subject files pertaining to Boorstin's visiting lectures and papers in the Speech File . The Subject File subseries contains little material prior to 1954.
Also documented in the University of Chicago and Smithsonian Subject File is Boorstin's appearance in 1953 before the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities. Boorstin had joined the Communist party briefly from 1938-1939 while at Harvard. He described his membership as an error of youth. His testimony before the committee was not looked upon favorably by all liberals and was not forgotten when Boorstin criticized the protests of student militants in the 1960s, particularly in his article "The New Barbarians" ( Esquire, October 1968). His affiliation with the Communist party was brought up again during his nomination for Librarian of Congress.
Comprising almost one third of the collection is the Library of Congress File , 1950-1995. This series consists of three subseries: Calendars and Schedules , Correspondence , and Subject File . The Calendars and Schedules subseries, 1976-1995, provides a record of Boorstin's professional and personal activities while Librarian of Congress and Librarian of Congress Emeritus. The Correspondence subseries, 1976-1994, contains a wide variety of professional and personal correspondence. The fan mail and general correspondence include both incoming and outgoing letters, while the official correspondence consists only of carbons of outgoing letters. The Manuscript Division received only the official correspondence for 1977-1978. An index of correspondents represented in the official correspondence is filed with the letters. The majority of fan mail relating to Boorstin's speeches, articles, books, and other writings is filed with the relevant presentation or writing.
The Subject File , 1950-1995, is the largest subseries in the Library of Congress File . As librarian, Boorstin promoted the Library as a public institution and strived to stimulate the public's interest in reading. The papers document his many public appearances and press interviews and his establishment of the Center for the Book at the Library. The Center utilized the institution's prestige and resources to increase public interest in reading and led to the CBS television network public service spots entitled "Read More About It." Files relating to social activities and events hosted by Boorstin and his wife further chronicle his active public profile while librarian. Other subjects prominently featured in the Subject File are his nomination for Librarian of Congress and his work with various organizations and committees such as the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. Among the more significant and frequent correspondents in this subseries are Howard H. Baker Jr., Silvio A. Bedini, Edward L. Bernays, Warren E. Burger, Maurice English, Helen Hayes, Henry Kissinger, Louis L'Amour, Peter C. Marzio, Edmund Morris, Daniel P. Moynihan, Lewis F. Powell Jr., David Riesman, Ronald Reagan, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Barbara W. Tuchman, and Herman Wouk.
Papers in the Speech File , 1943-1995, include a wide range of material such as correspondence, notes, outlines, and drafts and final copies of texts. This series chronicles Boorstin's speaking activities from his early years at the University of Chicago through his position as librarian emeritus. Requests for permission to quote or publish from the speeches are filed with speech texts. Items filed in the "Permissions" folder concern multiple permission requests and those that could not be attributed to a specific speech. There is some overlap between this series and the Writings File because many of Boorstin's speeches were published as articles or were incorporated into books.
Comprising almost half of the collection, the Writings File , 1882-1995, documents Boorstin's contributions as an historian of American culture. The papers reflect his productivity in numerous publications, including articles, books, book reviews, editorial projects, and forewords and introductions. Some of his most voluminous papers relate to his award winning three-volume trilogy, The Americans, and the discussion it generated. Boorstin's Americans stressed the everyday aspects of American life, such as cattle drives, folklore, merchandising, and advertising, rather than the standard themes of politics and war. This approach brought criticism from many historians who felt that Boorstin paid little attention to divisive elements, such as the Civil War and the Vietnam War, and was too selective in choosing topics to fit his theses. Others criticized him for being nationalistic, conservative, and unabashed in his enthusiasm for early America. Boorstin continued to write on topics that interested him, and in the 1960s wrote a sharp attack on the mass media and some aspects of popular culture in The Image or, What Happened to the American Dream. The papers also document Boorstin's broadening interest in world history in the 1980s and 1990s with his books The Creators and The Discoverers.
Boorstin's longer works, in particular The Americans, The Creators, and The Discoverers, reflect his vast use of notes, background material, and detailed outlines. Most outlines and notes of books are filed separately from drafts. An exception is The Image, which contains notes and outlines filed with its early drafts. Papers pertaining to Boorstin's books also include complete as well as partial and unpublished manuscripts and beginning ideas and outlines. One unpublished manuscript, "Two From Tulsa: A Tale of Two Cities," was apparently a joint venture between Boorstin and historian John Hope Franklin and includes drafts of both men chronicling their early life.
Also featured in the Writings File are various editorial projects and Boorstin's association with magazine and book publishers. Editorial projects range from individual volumes, such as An American Primer and American Civilization, to the multi-volume Chicago History of American Civilization series. The magazine and publisher files document the demand for Boorstin as an author and consultant. Correspondence and papers relating to his writings are filed with individual works, although there is some overlap between these materials and the magazine and publisher files. Also included in the writings series is autobiographical research material relating to the Leo Frank case in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913. Boorstin's father was one of the attorneys who defended Frank, a Jew convicted of murdering a fourteen-year-old girl and later lynched. The anti-Semitism exhibited in Georgia after the case was a central factor in the Boorstins' move in 1916 to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Items filed in the "Permissions" folder in the Writings File concern multiple requests and those requests that could not be identified as belonging to a specific work. Requests for permission to quote or publish from a particular writing by Boorstin are filed with that writing. Papers filed in the "Foreign translations" folder pertain only to multiple requests, general requests for information, and unidentified works; foreign translation information about specific works are filed with that publication. Royalty statements are filed in the "Royalty statements" folders or with individual publishers in the magazine and publisher files.
The Miscellany series, 1920-1993, consists chiefly of academic files, biographical information, and scrapbooks. The academic file chronicles Boorstin's accomplishments as a student and includes examinations and papers from his high school and college years, notably his Bowdoin Prize essay on Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and correspondence between Boorstin and distinguished Harvard professor, F. O. Matthiessen, while Boorstin was a student at Balliol College, University of Oxford. The scrapbooks were compiled by Ruth Boorstin, although a few of the early ones were maintained by his father.
Part II
Part II of the Boorstin Papers spans the years 1896-2004, with the bulk of the material dating from 1985 to 1999. This installment complements papers received in Part I and documents largely Boorstin’s endeavors as Librarian of Congress Emeritus, emphasizing his activities as a speaker and author and his affiliation with various organizations and foundations. This addition also contains a few files relating to Boorstin’s tenure at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution, and a small number of family papers, consisting chiefly of his wife Ruth Frankel Boorstin’s papers.
Part II is organized into the following eight series: Family Papers, Correspondence, Subject File, Speech File, Writings File, Photographs, Miscellany, and Oversize.
The Family Papers, 1896-2003, are comprised mainly of family correspondence and the writings of Ruth Boorstin. Notable are thirty-eight journals kept by her between 1929 and 2001. The journals detail Ruth Boorstin’s daily activities, including details about her education, work, social engagements, her health, travel, and the weather, with eleven volumes devoted to individual trips. Because she was closely involved in her husband’s professional life, much of his daily life and professional activities are also recorded.
The Correspondence series, 1971-2004, chronicles Boorstin’s activities and interests primarily between 1988 and 2000 and consists mainly of correspondence with government officials, politicians, diplomats, scholars, authors, publishers, celebrities, directors of organizations and foundations, friends, acquaintances, and the public. The correspondence is organized into four categories: chronological file, crank mail, fan mail, and general. Correspondence in the chronological file contains Boorstin’s outgoing letters between 1994 and 2003. The fan mail consists chiefly of incoming letters from admirers. Fan mail relating to specific speeches and writings by Boorstin are filed with the relevant presentation or writing. The general correspondence, including both incoming and outgoing letters, relates to Boorstin’s social invitations, speaking engagements, writing projects, and other requests. Interfiled in the general correspondence are newspaper clippings and magazine articles about correspondents, copies of their writings, and other material relating to them. Correspondents include Ray Bradbury, John Brademas, George Bush, Gerald R. Ford, Derek Freeman, Milton Friedman, Gerald James Holton, Clare Boothe Luce, Roddy McDowall, Edmund Morris, Sylvia Jukes Morris, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lewis Powell, Ronald Reagan, Leo Rosten, Martin C. Shallenberger, and Herman Wouk.
Papers in the Subject File, 1949-2004, document Boorstin's affiliation with various organizations and foundations. The bulk of the files, however, focus on Boorstin's continued association with the Library of Congress after his retirement as librarian. As Librarian Emeritus, he assisted with fund-raising, aided in the acquisition of collections, and participated in Library programs. Also represented are numerous files pertaining to Boorstin's trips for his talks and writing endeavors and his service as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Papers in the Speech File, 1971-2000, include a variety of material such as correspondence, notes, outlines, and drafts and final copies of texts. Although the Speech File contains earlier speeches, the bulk of the speeches featured are from the 1990s to 2000. There is some overlap between this series and the Writings File because many of Boorstin's speeches were published as articles or were incorporated into books.
The Writings File, 1941-2004, is the largest series in Part II. It complements Part I with files relating to Boorstin’s earlier articles and books and contains material relating to his last two books, The Daniel J. Boorstin Reader and The Seekers. Papers pertaining to Boorstin's books include complete and partial unpublished manuscripts and beginning ideas, outlines, and notes. Also present are files pertaining to Boorstin’s 1943 editorial project Delaware Cases, two unpublished books (“The Cautionary Science” and “The Fourth Kingdom”), and files documenting his association with magazines and publishers. Library staff retained the folder headings as received for Delaware Cases. Some files for this book were labeled as duplicate cases or copies. The cases, however, were not identical so all were retained. Also represented are bibliographic materials documenting Boorstin’s prolific output as a speaker and a writer. Several individuals were involved in this project. Angela M. Leonard completed the selective and annotated bibliography in 2001.
The Photographs series, 1917-2003, comprises photograph albums, photograph prints, and a few negatives. Most of the albums relate to Boorstin’s personal and professional travel to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, and India. The albums also document Boorstin’s early years as Librarian of Congress and his tenure as director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of History and Technology. The photographs include a number of portraits of Boorstin ranging from his early years as a student through the late 1990s. Other photographs document his attendance at various functions (including White House dinner parties and exhibit openings), a few family photographs, the dedication of the Library of Congress's James Madison Building, his teaching of American history at the Sorbonne Université in Paris in 1962, his participation in various commencement ceremonies, his travels, and his talks and presentations. The photographs also contain an oversize black and white portrait of an unidentified man taken by photographer Rosalind Solomon.
The Miscellany series, 1936-2004, consists chiefly of address cards and lists, biographical information, material relating to Boorstin’s death, as well as calendars and schedules. The biographical information includes background for an autobiography. Boorstin never completed his memoirs, but he did include autobiographical notes for an unpublished book titled "Remembering Tulsa" located in the book files of the Writings File series.