Visual Materials from the Lawrence E. Spivak Papers
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists primarily of photographs related to Lawrence Spivak's long career in radio and television journalism. The bulk of the images are routine portrait photos and group shots of national and international political figures who were guests on the public affairs panel series Meet the Press. Also included are numerous autographed portrait photographs of Meet the Press guests as well as images from Spivak's two other TV series, Keep Posted and The Big Issue. Further materials include miscellaneous photos relating to Spivak's career as well as original and reproduction cartoon drawings relating to Meet the Press and to the magazine American Mercury (early 1940s).
The material spans the years 1945-1980; the bulk falls into the period 1950-1975. The photographic materials include 5,072 photographic prints (most are 8" x 10" black-and-white silver gelatin prints), 637 contact sheets (7,839 images), and a number of negatives. There are also cartoons: 31 drawings and 14 photomechanical prints.
Dates
- Creation: 1940-1980
- Creation: Majority of material found within ( 1950-1975)
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to research.
Requesting Materials
For information about service in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, including obtaining copies, see "Using the Reading Room."
Rights Restrictions
Publication may be restricted. For full information see "Rights and Restrictions Information" for the Visual Materials from the Lawrence E. Spivak Papers.
Biographical Note
Lawrence Edmund Spivak was born in 1900 in New York City. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1921 and began his career in publishing as business manager of Antiques magazine. In 1934, he became business manager of American Mercury magazine; he later became its publisher and editor. In Washington, D.C., in 1945, with radio producer Martha Rountree, Spivak co-founded and co-produced the weekly public affairs program Meet the Press, first on radio, and then in 1947 added a separate television edition on the NBC network. Separate shows were produced until 1950, when the radio edition ceased. In 1953, Spivak bought Martha Rountree's interest in the program. The National Broadcasting Company purchased Meet the Press in 1955, and Spivak remained as regular panelist, producer, and moderator of the program until he retired in 1975. He was a consultant to NBC after 1975. Spivak died on March 9, 1994.
For a more extensive biography see the Manuscript Division's finding aid for the Lawrence E. Spivak papers, 1917-1994.
Extent
5,750 items (ca)
Abstract
Collection consists primarily of photographs related to Lawrence Spivak's long career in radio and television journalism. The bulk of the images are routine portrait photos and group shots of national and international political figures who were guests on the public affairs panel series Meet the Press. Also included are numerous autographed portrait photos of Meet the Press guests as well as images from Spivak's two other TV series, Keep Posted and The Big Issue. Further materials include miscellaneous photos relating to Spivak's career. Also, original and reproduction cartoon drawings relating to Meet the Press and to the magazine American Mercury (early 1940s).
Arrangement
The collection is organized in several cohesive sections. The bulk of the collection is grouped in LOTs according to subject matter or physical characteristics. The Meet the Press photographs are in three LOTs arranged chronologically by broadcast date with a separate folder for each program. The finding aid covers all three LOTs giving access by broadcast date and by the name of each guest. For Keep Posted there is also a checklist of programs and for LOT 13025 (F) there is an alphabetical index of guests who appeared on Meet the Press.
- LOT 11683 (H): Autographed portraits of associates, by Hank Walker
- LOT 11684 (H): Reproductions of cartoons and ads for Meet the Press
- LOT 13025 (F): Meet the Press radio and television programs
- LOT 13026 (F): Autographed photos from Meet the Press
- LOT 13027 (F): Keep Posted television program
- LOT 13028 (F): The Big Issue television program and specials
- LOT 13029 (F): Miscellaneous photos of Spivak
- LOT 13031 (H): Large photos from Meet the Press
- LOT 13032 (H): Autographed portraits of associates
Corresponding negatives are noted on the back of prints when those negatives have been processed in series LC-S64.
The Cartoon Drawings are filed with the division's individually indexed drawings in the CD 1 series.
Provenance
Lawrence E. Spivak donated all of the materials to the Library of Congress. Some of the pictorial materials came to the Prints and Photographs Division from the Manuscript Division; some, Spivak gave directly to Prints and Photographs. The donations were intermittent, 1970 to 1985.
Transfer; LC Manuscript Division (Papers of Lawrence E. Spivak), 1979 and 1992 (DLC/PP-1979:165 and DLC/PP-1992:228).
Gift from Lawrence E. Spivak, 1972, 1980, 1985 (DLC/PP-1972:184, DLC/PP-1980:012, DLC/PP-1985:611).
Online Content
To see already digitized images from this collection, search our Online Catalog by call number or descriptive words.
Transfers
Some materials were transferred from the Manuscript Division to the Prints and Photographs Division. A portion of the collection including broadcast transcripts, correspondence, and other manuscript materials is still located in the Manuscript Division and can be identified as part of the Lawrence E. Spivak papers, 1917-1994. An inventory of this material is available in their finding aid. More information about the division can be found at the Manuscript Division Homepage and Contact Page.
Some sound recordings and videotapes have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division and can be identified as part of the Meet the Press Collection. All Meet the Press shows received in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division from the following sources are in the Meet the Press Collection: Spivak (Lawrence E.), NBC/Spivak (Lawrence E.) and NBC. More information about the division's research centers can be found at the MBRS, Moving Image Section Homepage and Contact Page as well as the MBRS, Recorded Sound Section Homepage and Contact Page.
Bibliography
- Library of Congress., Melville, A. (1980). Special collections in the Library of Congress: a selective guide. Washington: The Library.
Alphabetical Index for LOT 13025 (F)
Download the Alphabetical Index for LOT 13025 (F) for a listing of the various guests of Meet the Press correlated with their locations in the collection. Guests include national and international figures such as heads of state, presidential candidates, members of Congress, mayors, governors, cabinet officers, civil rights leaders, labor leaders, economists, ambassadors, physicians, and occasionally a cultural or sports figure.
Processing History
The collection finding aid was compiled by Arden Alexander, Vickie Crawley, and Sarah Rouse in 1993. This finding aid contains unverified data from old container lists for LOT 13027, LOT 13028 and LOT 13029, which were transcribed by Erin Ebert in 2020. Finding aid encoded by Kristen Sosinski in January 2021.
Not all of the groups of material are described at the same level of detail. Additional materials that form the Visual materials from the Lawrence E. Spivak papers not included in this finding aid are listed below. For more information about service of these additional materials, search our Online Catalog by call number.
- Visual materials from the papers of Lawrence E. Spivak [unprocessed portion]
- PR 13 CN 1979:165
- PR 13 CN 1979:231
- PR 13 CN 1980:012
- PR 13 CN 1991:293
- PR 13 CN 1995:004
- PR 13 CN 1995:090
Source
- Spivak, Lawrence E. (Lawrence Edmund), 1900-1994, collector. (Creator, Person)
Subject
- Rountree, Martha. (Person)
- Spivak, Lawrence E. (Lawrence Edmund), 1900-1994. (Person)
- Spivak, Lawrence E. (Lawrence Edmund), 1900-1994. , donor. (Person)
- Meet the Press Collection (Library of Congress) (Organization)
- National Broadcasting Company--People--1940-1980. (Organization)
Genre / Form
- Drawings--1940-1980.
- Gelatin silver prints--1940-1980.
- Group portraits--1940-1980.
- Portrait photographs--1940-1980.
Topical
Uniform Title
- Title
- Visual Materials from the Lawrence E. Spivak Papers
- Subtitle
- including photographs from Meet the Press radio and television programs
- Author
- Prepared by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress
- Date
- 2021
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Part of the Prints & Photographs Division Repository
Prints & Photographs Reading Room
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