Scope and Content Note
The papers of Stephen Hess (1933- ) span the years 1961 to 2016. The papers are in English and are organized into the following three series: Brookings Institution, George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Interviews, and White House Files.
Brookings Institution files consist of research material for various projects and books authored by Hess while a Brookings Institution fellow. Hess's research pursuits chiefly concern foreign correspondents in the United States and Washington, D.C. area reporters. The material includes the results of surveys of foreign correspondents conducted in 1982, 1992, and 1999. There are also transcripts, responses, and results of surveys and interviews with reporters conducted in 1978, from 1987 to 1989, and from 2005 to 2006. Other research materials concern the impact of local television news, presidential campaigns and election coverage, and congressional press secretaries. There are also notes, drafts, and other research material for the following books: The Government/Press Connection: Press Officers and Their Offices, Live From Capitol Hill!: Studies of Congress and the Media, International News & Foreign Correspondents, and Through Their Eyes: Foreign Correspondents in the United States.
The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Interviews consist of forty-four digital video interviews of journalists and authors conducted for Stephen Hess's course on career patterns in journalism from 2006 to 2009. The interviews were conducted by Hess in a studio or classroom with an audience present. Hess asked participants to speak about their professional lives, which generally concerned government and politics. Interviews usually included a question-and-answer session with students and audience members. Some files contain video playback errors, such as dropouts, interference, static or color shifting, and audio errors, such as pops, clicks or clipping. Files are as they were received from the donor.
White House Files consist chiefly of memoranda and correspondence with White House officials, cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, and members of Congress during Stephen Hess's tenure in the Nixon administration from 1969 to 1971. As Deputy Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs and subsequently chairman of the White House Conference on Children and Youth, Hess worked closely with Daniel P. Moynihan and John Ehrlichman. The material is mostly arranged in alphabetical, chronological, personal, and subject files. There are also files related to Hess's work with various groups, organizations, government agencies, and commissions, including the White House Urban Affairs Council. Personal files include material concerning a 1969 trip to Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.