Scope and Content Note
The papers of Joseph Kingsbury-Smith (1908-1999) span the years 1902-2009, with the bulk of the material dating from 1945 to 1995. The papers are primarily in English, with French and some Russian, and also contain many notes in shorthand. The collection is organized into five series: Correspondence, Hearst file, Working file, Miscellany, and Oversize.
The Correspondence series consists of an alphabetical file as maintained by Kingsbury-Smith, although some folders have been combined, added, or renamed. The folders contain correspondence and related material and were labeled with either the name of the correspondent, the geographic place of origin, or the name of an organization. The same folder titles are often found repeated in different series. For example, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis folder in the Correspondence Series contains correspondence with Onassis as well as letters by Kingsbury-Smith to his daughter describing in detail his meetings with Onassis. The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis folder in the Working File includes correspondence concerning articles and a book proposal, drafts of writings, and photographs of Onassis to be used for publication. Researchers looking for particular subjects or people are advised to check all of the series for related material.
The Hearst File contains the internal material pertaining to the Hearst Corporation in all its facets, the Hearst Family Trust, and Kingsbury-Smith's papers concerning Hearst family members. During his many years with the Hearst organization, Kingsbury-Smith became more than a trusted employee; he became a close and trusted friend of the family. This is especially true of his relationship with William Randolph Hearst, Jr., the second son of William Randolph Hearst, Sr. The two men became what may have been each others' closest friend. They not only worked closely together, they, along with their wives, traveled and socialized together. Material spread throughout the papers evidence their long relationship starting in 1944 when Hearst arrived in Europe, where Kingsbury-Smith was already stationed, to try his hand at being a war correspondent. Their 1955 trip to Moscow, along with Frank Conniff, where they interviewed a series of Soviet officials, netted the men the Pulitzer Prize for 1956. By the closing years of Hearst's life, Kingsbury-Smith was drafting his Editor's Reports that ran in the Hearst newspapers. The William Randolph Hearst, Jr. papers that are in the Hearst file are a testament to their close friendship. The material includes confidential correspondence, transcribed telephone conversations, and memoranda and notes on conversations. Other Hearst family members with significant files include Austine McDonnell Hearst, Millicent Willson Hearst, Randolph A. Hearst, and Patricia Hearst. The Patricia "Patty" Hearst file includes some correspondence with Patty Hearst but also here, and in other parts of the Hearst file, are items documenting the reaction to the kidnapping and legal battle as well as the family's and Kingsbury-Smith's long and determined effort to secure a Presidential pardon for Patty Hearst.
The majority of the Hearst File, however, pertains to the trust, the corporation and the workings of the various Hearst news organizations. When William Randolph Hearst, Sr. died in 1951, his will established the Hearst Family Trust which administers the charitable foundations and owns the Hearst Corporation and appoints the board of directors for the corporation. In accordance with the will, there are thirteen trustees. Five are family members and eight are non-family members, generally pulled from the top executive ranks of the corporation. The trust will not expire until the last grandchild that was alive in 1951 has died. Until that time the family does not control the assets of the corporation. Kingsbury-Smith was appointed to the board of directors in 1956 and as a trustee in 1960. He continued to serve in both capacities until his retirement in 1996. His files for the trust and the board contain confidential notes and memoranda to file on meetings and conversations, transcribed telephone conversations, as well as the standard reports and minutes. The Hearst file includes folders of correspondence, notes, and transcribed conversations for top executives of the corporation, including Frank A. Bennack, Richard E. Berlin, Frank Massi, John R. Miller, and John P. Wallach, as well as many editors and writers. There are also files for many of the individual news services, newspapers, and magazines of the Hearst empire including those that Kingsbury-Smith worked with: the International News Service (INS), King Features Syndicate, and theNew York Journal-American.
The Working File folders were originally labeled by Kingsbury-Smith as "background"and they contained both the background material and drafts of articles by Kingsbury-Smith along with correspondence. Because these folders include more than just the background research, and in most cases show the work in progress from research to drafts to published articles, the series designation "Working File" seemed more apt. The folder titles indicate the subject being written about, be it a person, place, or topic. These folders include drafts of writings, cabled news stories, transcriptions of interviews, notes on conversations (many in shorthand), copies of published articles, correspondence, printed matter, and photographs. The chronological file of "stories sent" contains only the article drafts and no related material. Kingsbury-Smith did his most important reporting while in Europe with INS and subsequently this series is particularly strong in subjects pertaining to Cold War Europe, the Soviet Union, and international politics and relations. Kingsbury-Smith was stationed in London from 1936-1946 (with two years, 1938-1940, in the hospital), Paris, 1946-1955 and 1966-1968, and stationed in Rome, 1968-1975. During these years, Kingsbury-Smith interviewed, corresponded with, and wrote on most of the world leaders and international political events of the time. The first story that brought him wide attention was his coverage of the executions of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg; as a result of a lottery, Kingsbury-Smith was the only American correspondent in attendance. Nuremberg material is filed under "World War II." His exclusive1949 "interview" (written correspondence through intermediaries and by cable) with Josef Stalin was credited with easing tensions and leading to the lifting of the Berlin Blockade, a story that received world-wide attention. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his 1955 trip to Moscow with William Randolph Hearst, Jr. and Frank Conniff where they interviewed Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov, Nikolay Aleksandrovich Bulganin, and Georgiĭ Konstantinovich Zhukov. Both the Stalin interview and the 1955 Moscow interviews are filed under "Soviet Union" in this series. Related material can be found in both the Hearst File and the Miscellany series also filed under "Soviet Union." Kingsbury-Smith attended and covered the Geneva conferences of 1954 and 1955 as well as a series of post-World War II reconstruction conferences in Europe, 1947 to 1954. These conferences are documented in the Working Files. Because Kingsbury-Smith was stationed in Paris for so many years, the France file is particularly rich. Within that file, folders of particular interest include Charles De Gaulle, Jacques Duclos, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, and the spy scandal of 1954. The file for Great Britain includes notable material on Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon, and Harold Lever. The Dwight D. Eisenhower folders date mostly from 1951 and 1952 while he was in Europe serving as the supreme allied commander in Europe. As evidenced by the files, Kingsbury-Smith developed personal friendships with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the deposed royal family of Greece, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
The Miscellany series includes chronological files of personal correspondence, personal financial material, newspaper clippings, and speeches. The family papers include papers of his wife, daughters, parents, and sister, including their correspondence with Kingsbury-Smith. Also in the Miscellany series are photographs, family and professional, material documenting the awards Kingsbury-Smith received, including the Pulitzer Prize, scrapbooks, and a travel file. The Oversize series holds the large printed material--broadsides, certificates, posters, and publicity--as well as some photographs, a calendar, and a scrapbook assembled in support of a Pulitzer Prize for the 1955 interviews in Moscow.