Title: Miriam Ottenberg Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1931-1982

Creator:

• Ottenberg, Miriam, 1914-1983

Call Number: Mss 748; Micro 1162; Disc 188A; PH 3817; PH 3817 (3); PH 3818

Quantity: 3.6 c.f. (3 record center cartons and 2 archives boxes), 1 reel of microfilm (35mm), 1 disc recording, 175 photographs, and 4 pieces of ephemera

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Miriam Ottenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Washington Star, best known for investigative reporting on consumer protection and organized crime and for books on the FBI and multiple sclerosis. Included are subject files, notes, professional correspondence, and drafts and printed copies of writing and speeches. Also included is a small amount of personal correspondence and some information about her mother, Nettie Podell Ottenberg, a suffragist and social reformer.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00748

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Miriam Ottenberg was born in Washington, D.C. on October 7, 1914. Her father, Louis Ottenberg, was an attorney; her mother, Nettie Podell Ottenberg (1887-1982), a Russian emigree, was an active woman suffragist who later became known as “Mrs. Day Care” for her efforts on behalf of better child care services. Miriam had a sister, Regina Ottenberg Greenhill, and one brother, Louis Ottenberg, Jr.

Miriam Ottenberg graduated from Central High School in Washington, D.C. in 1931, and attended Goucher College, Columbia University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which she graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 1935. While in Madison, she wrote for the student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal. After graduation she worked as a copywriter for a Chicago advertising agency, Neisser-Meyerhoff (1935-36) and as a reporter for the women's department of the Akron (Ohio) Times until she joined the staff of the Washington Star in 1937.

Ottenberg was the first woman news reporter at the Star, where previously women had written primarily for the woman's page. Ottenberg began her career by covering public service and charity campaigns, such as the Community Chest, and other human interest stories. By the beginning of World War II, she was covering all the major murder stories in the city. During the war she also covered the draft, civil defense, and mobilization.

In 1947, Ottenberg began specializing in investigative crime reporting, eventually becoming a noted pioneer in the field. Her first professional recognition came in 1953, when she was named co-winner of the Washington Newspaper Guild competition for public service articles. She won honorable mention awards in the same category in 1954 and 1958, and in 1959 she won first place in the local news category for her stories on an abortion ring and on murders of women. In an unusual tribute, in May 1958, capital police, jurists, and local and federal government officials held a party to pay tribute to Ottenberg's efforts against crime.

In 1960 Ottenberg won the Pulitzer Prize (and the Bill Pryor Award of the Washington Newspaper Guild) for her series on used car fraud, “Buyer Beware.” Over the years she became known as the “Beware Girl” for her continued investigations of consumer fraud. Her award-winning series included “Homeowners Beware,” “Investors Beware,” “Traveler Beware,” and a series on local stock market abuses. In 1967 she exposed debt-consolidating firms in her series, “Debtor Beware.” To collect information for numerous stories, Ottenberg often donned disguises. The first incidence of this occurred when, in order to expose an adoption racket, she and a fellow reporter posed as a married couple seeking to adopt a child. From about 1966 to 1968, Ottenberg served as editor of “Action Line,” one of the first regular newspaper sections that investigated consumer complaints.

In 1962 Ottenberg published The Federal Prosecutors (Prentice-Hall), a book about the FBI. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with whom she had developed a working relationship and mutual respect after years of reporting on the activities of the Department of Justice, wrote the forward. Ottenberg was one of the first reporters to reveal that the Mafia was an organized crime network. Her 1963 story on Joe Valachi, the mobster who subsequently blew the whistle on the Mafia, presented a new view of organized crime in America. Ottenberg's stories on crime influenced the enactment of at least five new laws: 1) a law allowing police to arrest and search persons believed to be carrying concealed weapons; 2) a law providing stiffer penalties for sex crimes against children, and hospitalization for sexual psychopaths not legally insane; 3) an omnibus law giving law enforcement officers various weapons to combat crime; 4) a law to hospitalize dope addicts; and 5) a law providing mandatory commitment for persons found not guilty of crime by reason of their insanity.

The Women's National Press Club elected Ottenberg president in 1964. She served a one-year term, and maintained an interest in the role of women in journalism, later speaking on the topic a number of times. She was given awards for distinction by the National Council of Jewish Women in 1963 and by the American Association of University Women in 1975.

Ottenberg retired in 1974 due to vision problems and failing health related to multiple sclerosis. (Ottenberg had contracted MS in 1944 at the age of 30, although it was not diagnosed until 1967 or revealed to her until 1971.) During her retirement she began investigating the disease, lecturing extensively, appearing on talk shows, and writing articles on the subject. She also began gathering information and individual accounts of coping with the disease. From this she produced her second book, The Pursuit of Hope (Rawson, Wade Pub.) in 1978. In 1979 she won the Hope Chest Award from the National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society.

On June 10, 1981, Ottenberg was inducted into the Washington Hall of Fame of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. In the same year the Star printed its last edition. Ottenberg, who had helped write the centennial history of the paper in 1952 and who had maintained an interest in its history, collected information and wrote an article about one of the Star's distinguished editors and personal friend, I. William Hill.

After 1980 Ottenberg spent her last years living in an apartment next door to her mother. She died of cancer on November 10, 1982.

This collection best documents Ottenberg's professional career while at the Washington Star and her continued professional activities after her retirement; there is little personal material in the papers. The two major series of the collection, WASHINGTON STAR YEARS and RETIREMENT YEARS, contain similar material (subject files, clippings, professional correspondence, and notes, drafts, and copies of her writing and speeches); but they are distinguished by the fact that the Washington Star Years series revolves around her crime and consumer fraud investigations, while in the Retirement Years series her attention turned primarily to multiple sclerosis. Also present is a small third series of PERSONAL MATERIAL.

The WASHINGTON STAR YEARS series is divided into two subseries: Subject Files and Writing and Speeches. The Subject Files contain material about Ottenberg's career as a journalist and her professional activities as president of the Women's National Press Club (WNPC), instructor of an American Press Institute class, and Federal Woman's Award board member. These files are arranged alphabetically by keyword.

Useful overviews of her career and achievements can be found here in the section of biographical materials and awards, especially in the alumna file and in the general file. The alumna file contains information about her that appeared in college and high school publications, as well as correspondence about awards given her by her alma maters. Also listed in this section are original photographic prints of Ottenberg at work and at various award ceremonies and printed pictures in which she can be seen in the background as a working reporter.

Ottenberg's Pulitzer Prize and term as President of the Women's National Press Club are also well documented here. In addition to many letters of congratulations, the Pulitzer correspondence includes Ottenberg's letters to her parents, who were traveling in Europe and Israel at the time. Ottenberg labeled one bundle of this correspondence “answered,” but the file contains few letters from her. The Women's National Press Club file pertains primarily to her year as president, 1964-1965. Included are correspondence regarding her selection and inauguration, and administrative and financial and programming records of the WNPC. The subject file on women in journalism includes some material regarding her service on the board of the Federal Women's Award. The miscellaneous material consists of an article about women journalists that mentions Ottenberg; notes regarding the decision to change the name of the WNPC to the Washington Press Club and to open membership to men; and a few articles she collected on women writers and journalists.

The subject file on the Washington Star includes the paper's publicity about Ottenberg; clippings and publicity for the “Action Line”; notes and information (including a centennial history which Ottenberg helped produce) about the paper and its staff; a working file for her article about Editor William Hill; and mementos from her retirement.

The Writing and Speeches subseries is divided into three parts: articles, book manuscripts, and speeches. In addition to the run of printed articles (which are available only on microfilm), this section includes subject files, in order chronologically by the earliest date of the file. These files generally consist of correspondence, notes, drafts, and reference material. Some files also include a copy of the final article and reader reaction. The article subject files reflect Ottenberg's long term interest in scams and fraud, especially mail fraud. The murders of women file is unique in that it is one of the few subjects she investigated with an historical perspective. Last in the articles section appear the files of reactions to miscellaneous articles, including correspondence, reviews, and general professional correspondence regarding new story ideas and other matters.

The book manuscript files include material about The Federal Investigators, published in 1962, and another book project that was never published that was to be named “The Prosecutors.” The Federal Investigators file is divided into publicity (correspondence and guest lists for receptions, etc.), reviews, general correspondence in response to the book, and a color poster advertising the book. There are no working files or drafts.

In contrast, “The Prosecutors” file consists primarily of draft chapters, along with some outlines and notes. The notes indicate that she planned five sections, each with a general introduction and two chapters, and the files are arranged accordingly. Ottenberg sent a draft of the Cosa Nostra chapter to the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics for their review; the files for the chapter on drug smuggling, “Goodnight Lucien,” includes a draft sent to the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Customs and correspondence with departmental officials. Two folders of publishing correspondence cover her attempts to secure publishing agreements for “The Prosecutors,” another manuscript to be called “The Five Faces of Crime in America,” and various articles and series.

The speeches file contains both copies of speeches she delivered and associated correspondence and clippings.

Though Ottenberg retired from the Star in 1974 due to health problems, she remained an active investigator, writer, and speaker, as her RETIREMENT YEARS files reveal. These files are organized like the earlier section of the papers: Subject Files, then Writings and Speeches. The material focuses almost exclusively on MS.

The Subject Files subseries includes files about yoga, a therapeutic form of exercise Ottenberg enthusiastically practiced. Also in the Subject Files is material on Gary Smith, a folksinger and naturalist with MS, with whom Ottenberg corresponded. In 1978, Ottenberg published a popular book recounting individual experiences with MS and suggestions for coping with the disease. The Pursuit of Hope files include drafts, correspondence, and reaction. There are generally two drafts for each chapter, although the chapter titles and numbers often changed.

The Speeches files here include correspondence and clippings about speeches on MS, as well as some on general topics such as consumer fraud and journalism careers for women.

PERSONAL MATERIAL, which makes up a small portion of the collection, contains a few examples of her college (and possibly high school) work, some personal correspondence, and some material on her parents. With the school work are notes from an introductory journalism course at the University of Wisconsin. The correspondence, 1935-1936, is primarily from a male friend who signed his letters “Chig.” The letters indicate that they maintained a friendship while Chig developed a romantic interest in Ottenberg that was not returned. Correspondence in later years was between Ottenberg and her parents, a nephew (Dan Greenhill) in Israel, a niece (Jo Ellen Ottenberg), Mrs. I. William (Kay) Hill, and colleagues. Also included are letters from friends after the death of her father in 1960 and letters from Ottenberg describing vacation cruises in the early 1970s.

In the file on her parents are a copy of a legal article by her father, and newspaper stories by and about her mother. Other material about her mother includes notes about their living arrangements, her death certificate and will, and Ottenberg's notes for a memorial tribute. The audio disc is a recording of the presentation of a 1953 League of Women Voters award to Nettie Ottenberg and her acceptance speech.

A printed copy of The Federal Investigators (1962) is available in the Historical Society Library.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the estate of Miriam Ottenberg, via Ray Ottenberg, Washington, D.C., to the UW-Madison School of Journalism. Placed on permanent loan to the Wisconsin Historical Society, April 17, 1984. Accession Number: MCHC84-25

Processing Information

Processed by Brenda Marston (Intern), 1988.

Mss 748	Series: Washington Star Years, 1938-1974
	Subseries: Subject Files
	American Press Institute, 1965
Box   1 Folder   25	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   26-27	Notes
	Biographical material and awards
Box   1 Folder   8	Alumna file, 1958-1965
Box   1 Folder   1-3	General, 1958-1974, 1981-1982
	Pictures of M.O.
Box   1 Folder   33	In print, 1938-1956, undated
PH 3817	Photographs and ephemera, circa 1950-1980
PH 3817 (3)	Oversize items
Mss 748	Pulitzer Prize, 1960
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   4	Answered
Box   1 Folder   5	Not answered
Box   1 Folder   6	Reply not indicated
Box   1 Folder   7	Clippings, press releases, newsletters, magazines
	Washington Star
Box   1 Folder   29	“Action Line,” 1966-1967
	History
PH 3817 (3)	Centennial history, 1952
Mss 748 Box   1 Folder   30	Clippings, publicity, notes, 1965-1981
Box   1 Folder   31	I. William Hill, circa 1966
Box   1 Folder   28	Ottenberg publicity, 1960-1971
Box   1 Folder   32	Retirement
	Women in journalism
Box   1 Folder   23	Federal Woman's Award, 1961-1974
	Women's National Press Club, 1964-1969
	Selection as president, 1964
Box   1 Folder   9	Nomination
Box   1 Folder   10	Congratulations
Box   1 Folder   11	Inauguration
Box   1 Folder   21	Clippings, 1964-1965
	Events, 1965
Box   1 Folder   16	Pierre Salinger talk
Box   1 Folder   17	John T. Conner talk
Box   1 Folder   18	Dinner for Congresswomen
Box   1 Folder   22	Inauguration of Mary Gallagher
Box   1 Folder   19-20	Miscellaneous events
	Organizational records
Box   1 Folder   12	Administrative records, 1964-1965, 1969
Box   1 Folder   14-15	Correspondence and memos, 1964-1965
Box   1 Folder   13	Financial statements, 1964-1965
Box   1 Folder   24	Miscellaneous material, 1956-197[?]
	Subseries: Writing and Speeches, 1947-1974	⇧
Micro 1162	Articles, 1947-1975
Reel   1	Printed articles, reprints, & lists, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953-1975
Mss 748 Box   1 Folder   33A	Reprints and lists
	Subject files
	Buyer Beware (used car sale frauds) series
Box   1 Folder   34	Reprint copies and reaction, 1959-1960
Box   1 Folder   35	Notes about car dealers
Box   1 Folder   36-38	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   1-3	Requests
Box   2 Folder   4	Robert F. Kennedy, 1961-1971
	Cosa Nostra
Box   2 Folder   5	Working file, 1962-1964
Box   2 Folder   6	Reaction, 1963
Box   2 Folder   7	Baker's Union, 1963
	Secret Service
Box   2 Folder   8	Articles, 1964-1965, 1972
Box   2 Folder   9	Working file, 1972
Box   2 Folder   10	Bank robbers, 1965
Box   2 Folder   11	Scams in religion, 1965-1969
Box   2 Folder   12	Chain letter schemes, 1966
Box   2 Folder   13	Action Line, 1966, undated
	Beauty scams
Box   2 Folder   14	Wig offers, 1967-1968
Box   2 Folder   15	Wigs, hair implants, and face peeling, 1974
	Free prize offer scams, 1968
Box   2 Folder   16	Drafts
Box   2 Folder   17-18	Working files
Box   2 Folder   19	Sewing machine offers, 1968
	Mail fraud, 1968-1970
Box   2 Folder   20	Drafts
Box   2 Folder   21-23	Working files
Box   2 Folder   24	Articles
	Stock and securities fraud, 1969
Box   2 Folder   25	Drafts
Box   2 Folder   26-27	Working files
Box   2 Folder   28	Work at home scams, 1969
Box   2 Folder   29	Chain letters to families of GIs, 1969
Box   2 Folder   30	Car theft, 1969
Box   2 Folder   31	Santa Maria cruise, 1970
Box   2 Folder   32	Tax form preparation, 1970-1971
Box   2 Folder   33	Cocaine, 1974
	Murders of women, circa 1975
Box   2 Folder   34	Notes
Box   2 Folder   35-36	Working file
Box   2 Folder   37	Legal services, circa 1970s
Box   2 Folder   38	Miscellaneous, 1969-1974
Box   2 Folder   39-48	Reaction to miscellaneous articles, 1958-1974, undated
	Book manuscripts
	The Federal Investigators (1962)
Box   3 Folder   1	Publicity, 1962
PH 3817 (3)	Publicity Poster
Mss 748 Box   3 Folder   2	Reviews, 1962-1963
Box   3 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1962-1963
	“The Prosecutors,” circa 1964
Box   3 Folder   4-5	Outlines and notes, circa 1964
	Political corruption
Box   3 Folder   6	Working file
Box   3 Folder   7	“Corruption Cases,” draft
Box   3 Folder   8	“Stripper and the Sheriff,” draft
Box   3 Folder   9-10	“Mayor on the Take,” 2 drafts
	Gambling
Box   3 Folder   11-12	Zambito working file
Box   3 Folder   13	“Mannarino,” draft
	Organized crime and narcotics
Box   3 Folder   14	Detroit working file
	“Unmasking of Cosa Nostra”
Box   3 Folder   15	Draft to U.S. Bureau of Customs
Box   3 Folder   16	Draft with notes
	“Goodnight Lucien, Wherever You Are”
Box   3 Folder   17	Notes
Box   3 Folder   18	Draft 1
Box   3 Folder   19	Publishing agent's draft
Box   3 Folder   20	Draft to Treasury Dept.
	White collar crime
Box   3 Folder   21	Working file
Box   3 Folder   22	“White Collar Crime,” draft
Box   3 Folder   23-25	“Lombardozzi,” 3 drafts
Box   3 Folder   26	Labor racketeering, “Papa Bear and the Stolen Papers,” draft
Box   3 Folder   27-28	Publishing correspondence, 1963-1968
	Speeches, 1960-1971
Box   3 Folder   29	“M.O.'s M.O.,” 1968
Box   3 Folder   30	Mount Holyoke club, 1971
Box   3 Folder   31	National Postal Forum, 1971
Box   3 Folder   32	Pulitzer Prize, undated
Box   3 Folder   33-35	Miscellaneous speeches, 1960-1966, 1969, 1971
	Series: Retirement Years, 1974-1982	⇧
	Subseries: Subject Files
	Yoga, 1969-1975
Box   3 Folder   36	Working file
Box   3 Folder   37	Notes, drafts, and articles
Box   4 Folder   1	Administration of yoga classes
Box   4 Folder   2	Correspondence
Box   4 Folder   3	Gary Smith, 1975-1976
	Subseries: Writing and Speeches	⇧
Box   4 Folder   4	Articles, 1976-1978
	The Pursuit of Hope (1978)
	Drafts and outlines
Box   4 Folder   5	Preface
Box   4 Folder   6	Outline
Box   4 Folder   7	Ch. 2, one version
Box   4 Folder   8	Ch. 2, “The Game of Pretense Is Over”
Box   4 Folder   9	Ch. 3, “Families, Friends, and Enemies”
Box   4 Folder   10	Ch. 4, “Love, Sex, Marriage, and Children”
Box   4 Folder   11	Ch. 5, “Blessed Therapy of Work”
Box   4 Folder   12-14	Ch. 6/7, “Coping,” 3 drafts
Box   4 Folder   15	Ch. 7, “Life - and Hope - renewing Exercise”
Box   4 Folder   16-18	Ch. 4/8, doctors
Box   4 Folder   19	Ch. 10, “Faith, Hope, and Helping Others”
Box   4 Folder   20	Ch. 11
Box   4 Folder   21-22	Correspondence, 1976-1980, undated
Box   4 Folder   23	Reaction, 1978-1980
	Speeches
Box   5 Folder   1	General, 1975-77
Box   5 Folder   2	MS, 1980
	Series: Personal Material	⇧
	School work and notes
Box   5 Folder   3-4	English essays, 1931-1932, undated
Box   5 Folder   5	Journalism class notes, undated
Box   5 Folder   6-9	Personal correspondence, 1935-1938, 1959-1974
	Parents
Box   5 Folder   10	Articles, notes, and miscellany
Disc 188A	League of Women Voters award ceremony recording, 1953