Part 1 (Mss 827, Audio 1266A, PH Mss 827): Original Collection, 1958-1987
Physical Description: 4.4 cubic feet (12 archives boxes), 27 tape recordings, 49 video recordings, 35 photographs, 1 negative, and 8 transparencies 
Arrangement of the Materials: Part 1 of the Rollin Papers is arranged as BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, CORRESPONDENCE, and PROFESSIONAL PAPERS. The final series is further subdivided into Books, News broadcasting, Print journalism, and Speeches.
Scope and Content Note

The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of newspaper clippings and articles about Rollin, publicity released by NBC about her activities, a mammogram, and photographs. Also listed with the biographical materials are numerous taped and filmed interviews of Rollin. Some of these interviews took place as part of the publicity tours occasioned by the publication of her books. Because these books were so highly autobiographical, however, the publicity about them, like the clippings and print interviews, has been grouped with the general biographical material rather than with the book files described below.

CORRESPONDENCE consists of general correspondence, personal letters, and business correspondence (mainly 1974-1992) exchanged with agents, publishers, editors (especially Genevieve Young of J.B. Lippincott), and others. Also included with the business mail is correspondence with attorney Robert Youdelman regarding the sale of movie rights to First, You Cry, particularly Marlo Thomas' unsuccessful interest in acquiring the television rights and Mortimer Zuckerman's concern over the way in which he might be portrayed in the film. The business correspondence also contains numerous contracts detailing salary and payments for lectures.

The personal correspondence consists of one folder of letters exchanged with Arthur Herzog III, one folder of correspondence with Mortimer B. Zuckerman, and one folder of miscellaneous letters. The Herzog mail consists mostly of his letters to Rollin, the majority of which are undated, although they appear to date from the period of their separation. The Zuckerman correspondence includes carbons of some of her outgoing letters to him, as well as letters she received. These are also largely undated, although most appear to date from the period after their estrangement.

The miscellaneous personal file contains correspondence from family and friends and one letter Rollin wrote in 1958. Among the correspondents in this folder is an exchange with Phil Donahue concerning Rollin's dissatisfaction with her appearance on his program after the publication of First, You Cry, a note from Helen Gurley Brown, and several letters from Grant Tinker and Mary Tyler Moore.

The general correspondence includes a letter to the editor of Time regarding an interview in which she had been characterized as a “child-hater” and several letters to Grant Tinker and Mary Tyler Moore (one containing Rollin's original ideas for the made-for-television movie based on First, You Cry). Prominent correspondents here include Marvella Bayh, Joan Didion, and Erich Fromm. Also here is an undated autobiographical, job-seeking form letter from Arthur Herzog.

The PROFESSIONAL PAPERS are arranged by genre: books, news broadcasting, print journalism, and speeches.

Rollin's three autobiographical books are arranged alphabetically by title. (Rollin's earlier non-fiction works are not represented in the collection.) Each of the three is documented by proposals, variant drafts, publicity, and reader response. The earliest draft material for each book generally consists of multiple revisions of individual chapters and draft fragments rather than complete drafts of the entire books, while subsequent drafts consist of complete revisions. The designations in the contents list, “First draft, Second draft, etc.,” were added in the Archives to indicate the sequence of the revision process, rather than the actual number of the draft. This was necessary because not all drafts were retained. No printed versions of Rollin's books were received with the collection, although First, You Cry and Am I Being Paid for This? are available in the UW Memorial Library. In addition to the manuscripts for the book, the files on First, You Cry include one mimeographed draft of the script for the MTM production as well as a videotape of the finished product. The publicity about this film includes captioned black-and-white stills and color transparencies.

The correspondence Rollin received from the readers of her books is of unusual research interest because her honest and direct literary style caused many correspondents to reply with similarly frank accounts of their own experiences. Readers particularly responded to First, You Cry and Last Wish, and these files include more than an entire box of this type of correspondence. Unfortunately, the papers include only a few copies of the letters that Rollin wrote in reply, although handwritten notes generally indicate the nature of her response.

Rollin's broadcasting for NBC and ABC is represented by scripts, NBC administrative memoranda and story proposals, some viewer correspondence (including 1972 letters from Nora Ephron and Bess Myerson), and off-the-air videotaped versions of many of the stories she covered. Documentation is most extensive for NBC Nightly News, Today, Tomorrow (which she guest hosted), and Women Like Us, a program that Rollin helped to develop. Rollin's work for ABC Nightline is primarily represented by videotape and by a few printed transcripts. Several prominent individuals appear on the videotaped portion of the collection, notably David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, John Chancellor, Phyllis Diller, Mike Douglas, Barbara Mikulski, Walter Mondale, Jane Pauley, Marlene Sanders, Phyllis Schlafly, and Ruth Westheimer.

Research material for Rollin's broadcasting assignments has been retained very selectively. With the files for “Fame,” which was aired as part of First Tuesday, is a complete film transcript (the film is not present in the collection) in which Rollin interviewed celebrities such as Twiggy, Ronald Reagan, Gloria Swanson, Rona Barrett, Cloris Leachman, Joe Namath, Adam West, Dionne Warwick, Dick Cavett, Groucho Marx, Raquel Welch, and various aspiring actresses.

Rollin's career in print journalism is incompletely documented, and only a few copies of printed articles that she wrote for Look, some material relating to the response to “The Motherhood Myth,” correspondence received from readers of Rollin's “Hers” column that appeared in the New York Times, and several unpublished stories are included here.

The Speeches section consists largely of typed and handwritten notes, rather than complete drafts of prepared remarks. Only a few of these are identified and dated.

Series: Biographical Material

Biographical miscellany

Clippings, 1973-1974, 1976-1984, undated

Interviews

Donahue film interview, 1977 October 11

American Cancer Society panel discussion excerpts, 1977 September 7

Mike Douglas Show film interview, 1978

Cityscope film interview, 1978

Seattle Today film interview, 1979

Eyewitness News feature on breast cancer (includes Rollin interview), 1979

PM Magazine, 1982 January 21

Sheila Rushlo Show, 1982 September 21

Larry King Show, 1983 January 28

Breast Diagnostic Center interview, 1983 November

Interviews regarding Am I Getting Paid for This?, 1983

Interview and “Only Child” roundtable discussion, 1984

Film interviews, 1984

Merv Griffin interview, 1984

AM Chicago interview, 1985 October 11

Larry King Show, 1985 October 17

Late from London interview, 1986 February 9

BBC Interview, 1986 September 4

Mike Powell Report, undated

Miscellaneous photographs

Series: Correspondence

Business correspondence and contracts, 1960-1965, 1970-1971, 1974-1986, undated

Condolences on the death of Ida Rollin, 1983

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1969-1980, undated

“Nut mail,” 1977-1978

Personal correspondence

Arthur Herzog III, 1972-1978, undated

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, 1975-1977, undated

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1958-1971, undated

Series: Professional Papers

Subseries: Books

Am I Getting Paid for This? (1982)

Proposal, outline

Title ideas

Manuscripts

Early draft chapters and fragments

First draft

Second draft

Third draft, with editorial revisions

Miscellaneous revisions

Publicity, 1982

Cover art

Reader correspondence, 1982-1984

First, You Cry (1976)

Notes

Manuscripts

Original outline and proposal

Early draft chapters and fragments

Second draft

First segment

Second segment

Third draft

Publicity

Reader correspondence

Answered, 1976-1982

Answered-Men, 1976-1980

Unanswered, 1976-1978

Response to Donahue interview, 1977

Unsorted letters, 1978-1984

Television version

Mimeo script by Carmen Culver, 1978 January 19

Publicity for TV movie

General publicity

Black-and-white stills and color transparencies

Rollin articles for TV publicity, undated

Videotape, 1978

Last Wish (1985)

Notes

Manuscripts

Early chapter drafts and fragments

Segment 1

Segment 2

First complete draft

Editor's notes

Final draft

Dust jacket design

Reader correspondence

Answered

Answered (continued)

Subseries: News broadcasting

ABC

Nightline

Videotapes

1-3: Neonatal care; 4: Sexual harassment, 1982

Rollin spots, 1982 January-1984 June

1: Child abuse; 2: Nuclear war; 3: Teen pregnancy; 4: Divorce, 1982-1983

1: Organ transplants; 2: AIDS; 3: ERA; 4: Violent crime, 1982-1983

Rollin spots, 1982-1983

Baltimore teen contraception, 1982 November 4

AIDS, 1982 December 17

Death and dying, depression, cancer survivors, genetic engineering, surrogate mothers, holiday depression, cholesterol, only child, 1983-1984

Depression, Superbabies, 1983 June 30, 1984 June 7

Transcripts, 1983 April 1

Publicity

NBC

First Tuesday

Script, 1971

“Fame” transcripts, 1971

Mail from viewers, 1970-1978

Memoranda and story proposals

General, 1971-1978, undated

“Women Like Us,” 1979-1980

NBC Nightly News

General scripts, 1970-1980, undated

Rape story, 1974

Videotapes

Juvenile murder, 1975 July 22

Pregnant teens, 1977 March

Segment 3: New Working Woman, 1978 November 9

Uncatalogued, 1978

Rollin spots, 1978

Uncatalogued, 1978

Ghostwriters, health self care, 1979

Promo for Betty Ford, 1979

Segment 3: Death and Dying, 1980 June 27

Confrontation therapy and American Wing of Met, 1980

Abortion, 1981 April 7

Segment 3 spots, 1981

1: Snowstorm; 2: Dial-a-teacher; 3: Liz Smith; 4: Difficult adoptions; 5: Sesame Street; 6: Homosexuality study; 7: Sexual pressure; 8: Mastectomy treatment, undated

Specials

“Conversation with Betty Ford,” 1979

“Medicine in America,” 1978

“American Family: An Endangered Species?,” 1979

Publicity

Videotape

“Failing to Learn,” 1979

“The Pope in America,” 1979

Today

Scripts, 1970-1980

Videotapes

Fort Dix women soldiers, 1979

Promo for American Family, 1979

Lesbian students, 1980 June 4

Unmarried men and women, 1980 June 27

Denver single women, 1980

Denver single men, 1980

Radical nun, 1987 April 22

Tomorrow videotapes, Rollin as host, 1979

Updates, Rollin as anchor, circa 1979

WNBC-TV theatre reviews, 1972

Women Like Us

Scripts, 1979-1980

Publicity, 1979-1980

Videotapes

1979 October 23

Getting married, 1981 April 19

Babies after 35, 1980 January 23

Unidentified scripts

Scripts used for Am I Getting Paid for This?

Subseries: Print journalism

Sarah Lawrence College Alumnae Magazine, 1963

Look

Miscellaneous articles, 1966-1971

Marriage article and drafts, 1979

“The Motherhood Myth,” scripts for Comment and book proposal, 1971, undated

Review of The Look Book, 1975

New York Times

Articles, 1973, 1980

“Best Years of My Life,” reader correspondence, 1980

“Hers,” correspondence, 1982-1984

TV Guide, “Women Like Us,” 1979

Unpublished manuscripts

Subseries: Speeches and notes, 1976-1985