The papers, 1921-1967, of Thomas D'Arcy Brophy contain a vast amount of material relating to the advertising field, public service projects, civic organizations and numerous related fields. The collection is contained in 76 archival boxes arranged according to subject, in alphabetical order. Under each subject, the papers are in chronological order by month.
The major portions contain material concerned with Mr. Brophy's advertising firm, Kenyon and Eckhardt; the American Association of Advertising Agencies; the Advertising Council; the National War Fund; the United Service Organizations, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, there are various medical organizations represented and a variety of projects that played an important part in Brophy's life and work.
To a large extent the collection retains its original basic organization much as it was when it was received, in order to maintain the files with a certain amount of continuity. This is particularly true of the Kenyon and Eckhardt files, the advertising organizations, and the files of the American Heritage Foundation. Because their method of filing changed from time to time, in certain instances it was necessary to shift the order of materials to a clearer method. Consequently the correspondence in this collection is arranged by two methods. First there is the correspondence relating to a particular institution, organization, or topic; this will be found filed under the appropriate subject headings. This often contains letters that Brophy exchanged with individuals of importance. An example would be the American Heritage Foundation in which correspondence folders contain a majority of the letters of prominent individuals such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, Henry Ford II, Cardinal Spellman, Bedell Smith, Thomas E. Dewey, John Foster Dulles, Adlai Stevenson, and Winthrop Aldrich.
The rest of the correspondence is not filed under subjects but is organized into a general correspondence file, Boxes 27-33. This was set up to combine a number of different filing systems used by Brophy's office and to provide for miscellaneous letters. The general correspondence is filed according to an individual's last name, with a few letters filed by organization or company. Because of the two locations of correspondence there may be particular individuals' correspondence filed in both the subject correspondence and the general correspondence. An example of this is the two letters from Richard Nixon. One is under American Heritage Foundation correspondence and the other is found under the N-General correspondence for 1958.
For the most part however, the more important correspondence is in the subject files. Most is directly related to the public service programs and projects with which Brophy was involved. Other correspondence concerns advertising and public relations individuals, appreciation letters, and business correspondence. This includes his own advertising firm and his private interests, with very little correspondence of a personal nature. The correspondence includes letters to and from Brophy, letters to organizations with which he closely worked, telegrams, memos, notes, some inter-office and sometimes information sent to him along with a letter, by an associate. There are certain smaller subject headings which do not contain correspondence filed in separate folders, rather the correspondence is interfiled among the rest of the subject matter, according to date.
The subjects are explanatory in themselves, however in some instances particular organizations overlap one another, primarily because of similar interests or projects. The National War Fund which was organized at the outbreak of World War II gave time and energies to the national war effort and enlisted the time of organizations, individuals and companies toward the cause. These groups worked together in all phases of advertising and solicitation. They paralleled the Advertising Council's War Advertising Council, as both were interested in the same goals. Also the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers had a joint committee, the ANA-AAAA, therefore, material concerned with this committee can be found under either organization. The Advertising Council did a majority of the work for the American Heritage Foundation, and material pertaining to this organization is located under both subject headings. Because Brophy was the founder and director of the Advertising Council, chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, director of the National War Fund, and chairman of the National Outdoor Advertising Bureau, there is a close and overlapping relationship among these various groups.
Among the files of the Kenyon and Eckhardt Advertising Agency are client records contained in thirteen boxes. Of these, the Kellogg account is of particular importance. The client records contain a vast wealth of information on the functions of advertising and the means of creating promotional material to appeal to the mass media. The client records contain correspondence, inter-office communications, meeting reports, plan boards, advertising directives and some advertisements and background information. The Kenyon and Eckhardt papers include, in addition to client records, Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings and minutes, employee and client lists, branch office material, inter-office communication, personal files, plan boards, radio and television departmental files, research division material, staff memoranda and company policies and conferences.
The American Heritage Foundation files contain papers covering nearly all aspects of the foundation's work, plus background information on the structure of the basic organization. They include material on the Freedom Train, the Crusade for Freedom, the Register and Vote campaigns, and the many other projects the foundation carried on under Brophy's presidency.
The subject folders as a whole contain correspondence, numerous memoranda, releases, annual reports, speeches, printed matter, minutes, clippings, study reports and advertising programs. There are financial reports, press notices, and general office communications. The material in boxes 75 and 76 includes advertising campaign kits, portfolios, documents and full page magazine advertisements pertaining to the American Heritage Foundation, the National War Fund, the United Service Organizations, and the Advertising Council. The papers, pertaining primarily to civic organizations, public service projects and Brophy's business concerns, contain very little material directly concerned with national politics.
