The Crockett Papers are a small, fragmentary collection, which fail to document fully his long and interesting career, but which nevertheless contain some important documentation on the early development of journalism and public relations. The collection was received from the donor in a highly deteriorated condition, and it seems likely that part of the collection received by the Historical Society may have been literally peeled off the walls of his room at the Overseas Press Club. Other items such as his scrapbooks had been partially disassembled, no doubt as Crockett attempted to reuse earlier, successful material. Internal evidence suggests several scrapbooks concerning his public relations work and other topics may have been turned over to the New York Public Library and to Western Maryland College.
The papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, a diary, and writings of several types. The most deteriorated portions of the collection have been microfilmed and are available only in that form.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of notes concerning some of the highlights of his career apparently prepared by Crockett for various self-promotion efforts; biographical clipping scrapbooks and loose clippings; and memorabilia. Of special interest is one item that chronicles his frequent nervous breakdowns and paranoia. The scrapbooks also contain sufficient references to Crockett's hotel public relations work to confirm how well known he was in New York City society. Also present is a recording of a short radio program about Crockett on the occasion of his 89th birthday and a biographical interview by MCHC donor Gregor Ziemer about Crockett's career and blindness. In truth, much of the collection can be properly regarded as biographical material, for his life and personal experiences were a frequent topic for his writings.
The CORRESPONDENCE consists of five folders of general letters, 1903-1965. Unfortunately most of the letters are incoming and a large number are acknowledgements of articles or letters sent by Crockett to prominent people that only hint at the content of Crockett's letter. Prominent correspondents include Brooks Atkinson, Alben W. Barkley, Bennett Cerf, Elmer Davis, Jim Farley, Arthur Godfrey, James C. Hagerty, Herbert Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, H.V. Kaltenborn, William F. Knowland, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., Claire Boothe Luce, H.L. Mencken, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Chase Smith, E.R. Stettinius Jr., Robert Taft, Arthur Vandenberg, and Walter Winchell. Also included in this series are copyright-related material, letters concerning Crockett's patriotic World War I songs, and a small file on the Pilgrim Society.
The DIARY is a typescript of Crockett's experiences during a visit to the Philippines in 1913. Crockett's observations of the Filipinos and their American governors were acute and his opinions of the Philippine situation were quite influential in the shaping of official U.S. policy.
WRITINGS of various kinds form the most important part of the collection. These files have been arranged by genre as: books, a musical, magazines, and articles. Many of Crockett's articles and stories were published without a by-line, but he clearly identified in the collection all published articles which he wrote or ghosted.
The collection includes published copies of several of Crockett's books, as well as some examples of the publicity which he developed in order to market them. Several of the volumes are extensively annotated, suggesting that the elderly Crockett hoped to revise them for publication. Similarly motivated is an unpublished book “An American School of Drinking,” which was a reworked version of Old Waldorf Bar Days and The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, and a collection of short stories written for World Traveller.
Among the unititled book-length manuscripts is a draft of Crockett's unpublished autobiography. Probably the single most valuable document in the collection because of first-hand observations of the early days of journalism and public relations work, this autobiography was worked and reworked during his latter years. The collection includes one complete draft which is undated, as well as numerous drafts of individual chapters, many of which appear unconnected to the complete draft.
The collection also include a large file of unidentified and undated articles, a number of which were probably intended for his column of reminiscent writings, “Springboard to Yesterday.” Also of note here is a scrapbook containing the articles which he wrote about his 1904 automobile tour of Europe, together with some of the original photographs (now in the Visual and Sound Archives) he took to illustrate the series, and a scrapbook containing articles for World Traveller.
Other writings include several issues of Nomad and World Traveller magazines and an unproduced musical about China.
