The papers of Clark R. Mollenhoff document a considerable part of his career as an investigative reporter. They provide an important source of information on the career and techniques used by a notable journalist. The collection contains an almost complete set of Mollenhoff's newspaper articles, 1943-1973, magazine articles, drafts of books and articles, research material (including government documents annotated by Mollenhoff), notes and notebooks, correspondence, poetry, songs, speeches and other remarks, radio and television scripts and recordings, journalism award exhibit books, scrapbooks, and related material. A large portion of Mollenhoff's research files, consisting primarily of government documents, press releases, newspaper clippings, transcripts of trial proceedings and hearings, and other widely available material have been removed. The Mollenhoff Papers are divided into four sections: general papers, writings, subject files, and unidentified and fragmentary research material. A significant number of photographs and sketches relating to Mollenhoff's activities can be found in the Society's Iconographic Collection.
The GENERAL PAPERS contain biographical and genealogical material; correspondence, 1945-1973; speeches and other remarks, 1953-1974 (including two tape recordings with accompanying transcripts); radio and television scripts and recordings, 1955-1966; notes and notebooks; seven journalism award exhibit books (on 1 roll of microfilm); and memorabilia. There are also articles and related material about Mollenhoff. These include a tape recording of a news report about Mollenhoff's 1966 press conference clash with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and sixteen scrapbooks (on 3 rolls of microfilm) of chronologically arranged newspaper and magazine articles. Some of these scrapbooks also contain a few articles by Mollenhoff, correspondence, and notes. The substantive correspondence located
in the scrapbooks has been indexed. There are five folders of formerly restricted correspondence (Box 73): letters from Mollenhoff to his mother, 1945-1961; correspondence with the Cowles organization, 1952-1965, concerning Mollenhoff's stories, his membership on the United States Advisory Commission on Information, and the uses of “executive privilege”; correspondence and related material, 1963, regarding a false quotation by Robert Riggs of a 1953 statement by Mollenhoff on freedom of information; a copy of a 1958 letter to Paul Veblen, Assistant Editor of the Santa Barbara (California) News Press, about the use of Mollenhoff's checklist for investigative reporters and about his plans to pursue questioning of President Eisenhower; and a 1965 letter from Sam Romer, a former colleague, regarding Romer's position at the Washington Daily News and his unsuccessful attempts to cover the story of Otto Otepka.
The WRITINGS section consists of material related to seven of Mollenhoff's eight books, most of his newspaper and magazine articles, poetry and music scores, and other writings. Located here are drafts, notes, research material, correspondence, and reviews for Washington Cover-Up, Tentacles of Power, Despoilers of Democracy, The Pentagon, George Romney, Strike Force, and Game Plan for Disaster, which often detail the investigations which resulted in his newspaper articles. The file for George Romney has notes on Mollenhoff's 1967 interview with Romney, and the Game Plan for Disaster file contains a draft of an unpublished chapter on Martha Mitchell. There are also plans, chapter drafts, and related material for unpublished works, the most substantial of which concerns the Ku Klux Klan. First drafted in the late 1950's and completed in a second version in 1967, Mollenhoff's book was never published because of the great number of works on the Klan released in the mid-1960's. The Klan files contain both of Mollenhoff's book drafts, the second of which is complete. There is also a great deal of early research material first used by Mollenhoff and Fletcher Knebel for their fourteen part newspaper series on the Klan, April-May, 1957. Included here are memos, notes, and drafts and published copies of the Mollenhoff and Knebel articles.
The bulk of the section consists of copies of Mollenhoff's newspaper and magazine articles. There are two folders of published articles which appeared in several periodicals, e. g. Nieman Reports, Look, Reader's Digest, and The Atlantic Monthly, on such issues as press freedom and responsibility, freedom of information, and organized labor. These are followed by lists of newspaper articles written by Mollenhoff, drafts of magazine and newspaper articles, 1950-1974, and wire service copies of newspaper articles, 1953-1973. Published versions of Mollenhoff's newspaper articles are mainly from the Des Moines Register and Tribune, 1943-1973, though there are also some from the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. All are contained in ninety scrapbooks (on 12 rolls of microfilm). Although the articles are not in a strict chronological sequence, each volume contains material for a particular time period. There are a few volumes which contain notes by and articles about Mollenhoff; many of the volumes contain articles by other journalists. The articles without bylines from the Register and Tribune's Washington bureau are usually by Mollenhoff. Other writings by him in this section include a draft reminiscence (with notes) about Polk County, Iowa, in the 1940's, and poetry and music scores. There is also a checklist for the local investigative reporter, prepared by Mollenhoff for a seminar he conducted at the American Press Institute, Columbia University, ca. 1955, detailing areas of possible official misconduct.
The SUBJECT FILES are arranged alphabetically and contain notes and notebooks; speeches; reports; draft, wire service, and published copies of articles by Mollenhoff, some of which are annotated; correspondence; a transcript of an interview of Mollenhoff; government documents annotated by Mollenhoff; and research material, including a tape recording and one roll of microfilm. A major portion of the file concerns subjects of Mollenhoff's investigative reporting. There are also files on his participation in such organizations as Sigma Delta Chi, the United States Advisory Commission on Information, and the Gridiron Club. The balance of the section concerns Mollenhoff's activities as a family counsel for the Phillip Martin Estate, 1947; a Nieman Fellow, 1949-1950; an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, 1960-1961; and the White House Ombudsman, 1969-1970.
The investigation portion contains several noteworthy files. The largest group of material is about the Teamsters and was used by Mollenhoff for his articles and for Tentacles of Power. Included here are reporters' memos on the Minneapolis Teamsters, ca. 1956, and Mollenhoff's notes on interviews with Jimmy Hoffa and others. The files on two of Mollenhoff's stories of the early 1950's are also noteworthy. One file has Mollenhoff's draft description of his investigative techniques and the subsequent exposure, 1952, of the fraudulent tax exempt status of the Des Moines University of Lawsonomy. The other contains correspondence and related material regarding his award-winning investigation of the Alcohol Tax Unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The Lyndon Johnson file has Fletcher Knebel's notes in the early 1960's on the relationship between Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy. There are also memos, correspondence, and interview notes, mid to late 1950's, in the folders for Sherman Adams and for Murray Chotiner. The Bobby Baker file has a great variety of material, including a copy of an interview of Senator John J. Williams (Democrat, Delaware) by Mollenhoff and others, and a copy of a 1965 Senate report on the Baker hearings, which was later published in sub-stantially different form. There are also interview notes, drafts and copies of articles, and related material concerning Wolf Ladejinsky, 1955-1956.
The files on Mollenhoff's organizational affiliations have a substantial amount of material regarding his participation on the Freedom of Information Committee of Sigma Delta Chi. Located here are correspondence, notes, speeches, articles, and committee reports. There is a considerable amount of material about cooperation between Sigma Delta Chi, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and other journalism organizations. Many of Mollenhoff's articles on freedom of information appeared in the publications of these organizations. The material relating to Mollenhoff's membership on the United States Advisory Commission on Information consists largely of correspondence. Included is documentation of the organization's opposition to the release to foreign audiences of George Stevens' movie on the American civil rights movement, March on Washington, 1964. Mollenhoff's term as a Nieman Fellow is represented mainly by class papers and other writings. There is a great deal more material concerning his travels through Great Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Russia as an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow: interview notes, drafts and published copies of articles on the politics and labor conditions of the countries that he visited, notebooks, and related material. Especially notable here are drafts regarding an attempted coup which occurred during Mollenhoff's stay in Ethiopia. The files on Mollenhoff's tenure as White House Ombudsman contain a great many memoranda sent and received by Mollenhoff, as well as those created for his own future reference. In addition, there are notebooks, diary notes of a July 17, 1969, meeting with John Erlichman and Richard Nixon regarding Mollenhoff's assignment as Ombudsman, and a topical file. The topical file has notes, articles, memos, and related material on the creation of the Ombudsman position; an interview of Mollenhoff by a New York Post reporter; the controversy over Mollenhoff's access to Internal Revenue Service files; a pardon for James R. (Jimmy) Hoffa; and Mollenhoff's support of the nomination of Clement Haynesworth to the Supreme Court.
There are seven folders of UNIDENTIFIED AND FRAGMENTARY RESEARCH MATERIAL. Located here are annotated newspaper clippings, copies of letters and memos, printed items annotated by Mollenhoff, and related material. For the most part, there are too few items in any one category to establish a separate file unit; in some cases, the significance and/or origin of an item is uncertain.
There is a considerable amount of correspondence throughout the collection with members of the Cowles organization, with reporters and editors throughout the United States, and with important political figures. Letters of substantive content from prominent individuals have been indexed in the appendix.
