Title: Robert H. Estabrook Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1947-1966

Creator:

• Estabrook, Robert H., 1918-

Call Number: U.S. Mss 77AF

Quantity: 2.8 c.f. (7 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a journalist who served as editorial writer, chief foreign correspondent, associate editor, and United Nations correspondent for the Washington Post (1946-1971) and editor-publisher of the Lakeville (Conn.) Journal (1971-). Processed papers consist of correspondence on journalism conferences and trips abroad; diaries of trips to Asia (1959), Europe (1955), and the Soviet Union and Poland (1962); notes and reports on other trips in the 1960s to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, and the Near East; free-lance articles for Atlantic Monthly, the CIO's Guild Reporter, Reporter, and The Nation; and speeches. Of special interest are files on the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Conference of Editorial Writers, and the American Press Institute. Also included is a manual for Post correspondents compiled and edited by Estabrook.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0077af

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Robert H. Estabrook was born in Dayton, Ohio, October 16, 1918, the son of Charles B. and Christianne M. (Harley) Estabrook.

In 1936, he was City Editor of the Emmet County Graphic,of Harbor Springs, Michigan. He became the Editor of the Daily Northwestern, of Northwestern University, during 1938 and 1939. In 1939, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern. He became a reporter for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and held that post from 1939 to 1940. At that point, he became editorial writer, and remained with the newspaper until 1942. From there Estabrook went to The Washington Post, and was an editorial writer from 1946-1953, and from 1953-1961, he was Editor of the Editorial Page. It was in 1954, that he received the Sigma Delta Chi award for the best editorial. He became Chief Foreign Correspondent to London in 1961, and maintained that position until 1965, when he assumed the position of Associate Editor. In 1966, he became United Nations Correspondent in New York, a position which he holds today.

Estabrook also served in the Army of the United States from 1942 to 1946, where he worked his way up from the rank of private to captain. During 1945, he was in charge of the Army Newspaper and radio station in Brazil.

While working on The Washington Post, Estabrook also was a lecturer in Journalism at the University of Maryland, from 1948-1949. He has contributed to a number of magazines throughout his career.

Estabrook is a member of a number of organizations, including the National Conference of Editorial Writers, of which he was a founder in 1947, and served as president from 1950-1951; the Overseas Writers; the White House Correspondents' Association; Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Delta Chi; and Delta Tau Delta. He is a former member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Robert H. Estabrook married Mary Lou Stewart in 1942. They have four children: John Stewart, Margaret Harley, James Ross, and David Morse. He makes his home in Pelham, New York, with offices on Madison Avenue in New York and at the United Nations.

The Robert Estabrook papers consist of a great variety of materials, which relate entirely to his career as a journalist, an essayist, and as an editorial writer.

Preceded by a file of correspondence, 1949-1966, the bulk of the collection is made up of a subject file which also includes speeches and writings by Estabrook. Included are files on several conferences; a 261-page diary kept while in Asia in 1957 (filed under A); reports and interviews from trips (filed under T) to the Soviet Union, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean; and speeches given before many different organizations on many different topics, from journalism to world events and affairs; and other files. At the end of the subject file are folders of articles written throughout Estabrook's career, pertaining to political questions, his world-wide travels, and many other subjects.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robert Estabrook, New York, N.Y., December 15, 1966.

Processing Information

Processed by Janice O'Connell, March 6, 1968.

Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1949-1966 (selected)
	Subject File
Box   1 Folder   2	American Press Institute, 1947
Box   1 Folder   3	Awards
Box   1 Folder   4	Asian Diary, Oct. - Dec. 1957
Box   1 Folder   5	ASNE (American Society of Newspaper Editors), 1964-1966
Box   1 Folder   6	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Scope and Content Note: Concerning 3 broadcasts on Caribbean politics
	Conferences
Box   1 Folder   7	East-West Journalists, 1962-1964
	National Conference of Editorial Writers
Box   2 Folder   1	1948-1950
Box   2 Folder   2	1962
Box   2 Folder   3	Manual for Correspondents - Washington Post, 1966
Box   2 Folder   4	National Grange, 1965
Box   2 Folder   5	Riegel, Prof. O. W. (Washington & Lee), 1965
	Speeches
Box   2 Folder   6	Correspondence and Printed Matter, 1965-1966
Box   3 Folder   1	Notes
	Texts
Box   3 Folder   2	1951-1956
Box   3 Folder   3	1956-1966
	Trips
Box   3 Folder   4	Soviet Union, 1962: Cabled Material Scope and Content Note: Constitutes a diary of Estabrook's trip in Russia and Poland
	Caribbean
Box   4 Folder   1	Correspondence before and after 1964 Trip
Box   4 Folder   2	Articles
Box   4 Folder   3	Eastern Europe: Letters before and after 1964 Trip
Box   4 Folder   4	Europe: Diary, 1955
Box   4 Folder   5	Mediterranean: Letters and Memoranda, 1965
Box   5 Folder   1	Middle East: Letters, 1965
Box   5 Folder   2	Scandinavia: Letters and data before and after 1965 trip
	Articles
Box   5 Folder   3	Chronological #1, 1949-1952 (chiefly written for the Atlantic Monthly)
Box   5 Folder   4	Chronological #2, 1952 Scope and Content Note: Six Washington reports
Box   5 Folder   5	Cabled Material, 1963-1964 Scope and Content Note: Contains day-by-day observations in the Middle East, 1963; notes on the Dec. 1963 NATO meeting; and 1964 news reports in article form
Box   5 Folder   6	Critiques Scope and Content Note: Contains Estabrook's review of On the Beach and comments on “A Plea for a New Foreign Policy” by Reverend Ross Allen Weston
Box   6 Folder   1	Undated Articles Scope and Content Note: Contains 5 articles on political questions in the 1950s
Box   6 Folder   2	Typed Drafts Scope and Content Note: Contains 11 articles on current questions in the late 1940s
Box   6 Folder   3	Xerox Copies, 1965-1966
Box   6 Folder   4-5	As Appear in Newspapers, 1948-1960
	As Appear in Magazines
Box   6 Folder   6	Part 1
Box   7 Folder   1	Part 2
Box   7 Folder   2	Miscellaneous Carbons
Box   7 Folder   3	Miscellaneous Printed Materials
Box   7 Folder   4	Newspaper Clips