The Chester L. Morrison Papers document his activity as a news reporter and analyst for radio and periodicals between 1942 and 1966. The collection consists of correspondence, articles, scripts, notes, and notebooks.
The correspondence file (1943-1960) contains only a few letters on World War II and one letter (1960) concerning an article written by Pat Coffin, “Electronics Worker's Son,” for Look.
The articles section consists of draft copies of Morrison's reports to the Boston Herald, Chicago Sun, Coronet, and Look. These articles, dating mainly from 1942-1946, contain extensive information on World War II campaigns in the Near East, the European theatre, and on the treason trial of Robert Best (1946). Also included in this section are unidentified non-fiction stories (1942-1959) and fiction articles. The file of Morrison's Look articles after 1946 is supplemented by a list of Morrison's Look writings (1951-1966).
The scripts document most of his broadcasting activities during World War II. There are CBS (1942-1942), NBC (1943-1945), and those Coronet-sponsored broadcasts (1946) which relate mainly to Morrison's World War II activities.
Morrison's notes and notebooks are divided into two sections, World War II and post-World War II. The fifteen World War II notebooks relate to his reports from the battlefronts in the Near East and England; many entries were made under fire, and reflect the reactions of a man in battle. The twenty-one post-World War II notebooks (1952-1962, undated), include personal observations on the poet Robert Frost and on John F. Kennedy as well as notes on cities and countries Morrison was assigned to cover, including Cuba, Hiroshima, and Vietnam.
