Scope and Content Note
The A. B. MacDonald papers date from 1878 to 1976 with the bulk of the material dating from 1893 to 1942. The collection documents MacDonald’s career as a reporter for the Kansas City Star and other publications, his family life and history, and his personal interests. The collection is organized into six series: Professional Materials, Investigative Journalism, Speaking Tours, Personal and Family Papers, Other Interests, and Oversize.
The Professional Materials series dates from 1894 to 1939 and largely consists of copies of MacDonald’s writings for the Kansas City Star, The Country Gentleman, Ladies’ Home Journal, and other publications. The series includes scrapbooks, diaries, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, and photographs. The scrapbooks were compiled by MacDonald and provide comprehensive documentation of stories he wrote over the course of his career in tandem with correspondence and ephemera related to his work. The diaries document the final years of his career and include entries of a professional and personal nature. Diaries documenting his life in retirement are located in the Personal and Family Papers series. Other notable material in the series includes correspondence from William Rockhill Nelson and a letter from Booth Tarkington responding to a request for an interview.
The Investigative Journalism series, dated from 1913 to 1944, documents two of the most well-known crime cases MacDonald reported on, the Leo Frank murder trial and lynching case (1915), and the A. D. Payne murder investigation (1930). MacDonald was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for his help solving the Payne case. Materials include a scrapbook, correspondence, legal reports, and clippings. The Leo Frank scrapbook documents MacDonald’s role as one of the first reporters to speak out against Frank’s murder conviction and includes correspondence with Frank and his lawyers. The material also includes copies of legal arguments in the case and editorials about the case from various other sources. The A. D. Payne material includes correspondence from Gene Howe (Amarillo Globe-News) asking MacDonald to consult on the case, a signed deposition from A. D. Payne’s mistress, Verona Thompson, numerous articles about the case and MacDonald’s help solving it, and correspondence and ephemera related to MacDonald's Pulitzer Prize win.
The Speaking Tours series, dated from 1917 to 1935, contains materials related to MacDonald’s association with evangelical preacher, Billy Sunday, and his participation in the Chautauqua lecture circuit. The series primarily consists of scrapbooks containing writings, clippings, correspondence, photographs, advertisements, and ephemera. The Billy Sunday materials document MacDonald’s reporting on and participation in Sunday’s campaigns from 1917 to 1918 and their continued association until Sunday’s death in 1935. The diary entries included in the scrapbooks provide a firsthand look inside the campaigns and detail people and places MacDonald encountered. The Chautauqua scrapbooks document MacDonald’s two summer seasons on the Chautauqua lecture circuit where he lectured on topics relating to prohibition and temperance.
The Personal and Family Papers series dates from 1878 to 1976, with the bulk of the material dating from 1893 to 1942, and documents A. B. MacDonald’s family life and history. Material includes correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, and ephemera. Material in this series was most likely compiled and preserved by MacDonald’s son, Malcolm MacDonald, and includes material created by him before and after A. B. MacDonald’s death. The bulk of the correspondence in this series is to Malcolm MacDonald and includes letters from his father, mother, siblings, and family friends. The letters, especially those from A. B. MacDonald, provide insight into the MacDonald family’s life. The diaries were written by both A. B. MacDonald and Malcolm MacDonald and document the last few years of A. B. MacDonald’s life. The photographs document the MacDonald family’s life at home, their travels, and their genealogy. Other materials related to genealogy include family trees, obituaries, and miscellaneous research.
The Other Interests series dates from 1909 to 1942 and includes materials MacDonald collected relating to the Old West and Abraham Lincoln, both topics of special interest. Materials include correspondence, photographs, clippings, and scrapbooks. Information and ephemera about outlaws and other promininent figures feature heavily in the materials about the Old West. Also included are documents related to MacDonald’s book (co-written with Fred Ellsworth Sutton), Hands Up! Stories of the Six-Gun Fighters of the Old West. In addition, this series includes three scrapbooks of clippings and ephemera MacDonald compiled about Abraham Lincoln and his legacy.