Title: Alvin and Irene Steinkopf Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1902-1999 (bulk 1938-1999)

Creators:

• Steinkopf, Alvin, 1897-1981
• Steinkopf, Irene, 1901-2004

Call Number: Mss 683; PH 6666; Audio 1573A; M2001-009

Quantity: 4.0 cubic feet (3 archives boxes, 2 record center cartons, and 2 flat boxes), 2 tape recordings, 2.6 cubic feet of photographs (11 archives boxes and 1 card box), and 1.0 cubic feet of negatives (4 flat boxes and 1 card box); plus additions of 0.1 cubic feet of photographs

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers, mainly 1938-1999, of Alvin Steinkopf, an Associated Press (AP) correspondent, documenting his work in Berlin, Poland, and Russia, 1938-1942, and in post-World War II Britain, as well as papers of his wife, Irene Steinkopf, also a journalist. The career papers include printed and draft news stories and photography of news events in Poland and Smolensk, 1940-1941. There are frequent letters exchanged while the couple lived apart during the early war years. The correspondence includes only limited contacts with AP executives, although there are exchanges chiefly of a social nature with Louis Lochner, Glen Stadler, and Clifton M. Utley. Other papers document World War II internment at Bad Nauheim and military service during World War I. Irene's papers include diaries and Chicago radio station WJJD scripts about the role of women during World War II. In addition to his wartime photography in Poland and Russia, Steinkopf photographed Queen Elizabeth's visit to Nigeria in 1956, as well as the couple's life and associates in Milwaukee, Vienna, Prague, Sarajevo, London, and their European vacations.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00683

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Alvin J. Steinkopf was born on a farm in Sibley County, Minnesota, on March 27, 1897. He graduated as valedictorian from his high school in Hutchinson, Minnesota, and went on to Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During 1916 Steinkopf was the editor of both the school newspaper, the Marquette Campaigner, and the school journal, the Intercollegian. In April 1917, he graduated early with majors in economics and business administration so that he could enlist in the Army. Steinkopf served for two years during World War I and was honorably discharged as a corporal in July 1919.

In the early 1920s, Steinkopf joined the staff of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, working as a rewrite man, reporter, city editor, and Sunday feature editor. In 1924 he moved to Milwaukee as a member of the Milwaukee Sentinel staff. In 1925 he became that paper's night city editor. While working in Milwaukee, Steinkopf met and married Irene Norman, the newspaper's movie editor. He joined the Associated Press (AP) in 1931, the news organization with which he was to be associated for the rest of his career.

In 1934 the AP sent Steinkopf to Europe, where he reported from Vienna, Budapest, and Central and Eastern Europe. During 1938 and 1939 Steinkopf headed the AP bureau in Budapest. Later in 1939 the AP assigned him to its Berlin bureau. In this capacity Steinkopf covered the German campaigns in Poland and Russia. When the United States entered the war in December 1941, Steinkopf, along with the American press corps and many diplomats, were interned at Bad Nauheim, Germany until May 1942, when they were repatriated.

After returning to the United States, the Associated Press loaned Steinkopf to WBBM in Chicago, where he worked as a CBS news broadcaster for two years. During this period Steinkopf was also a frequent public speaker about his experiences and knowledge of war-time Europe. In 1945, Steinkopf returned to Europe to cover the end of the war, and his subsequent career was chiefly based in Prague and London. In London Steinkopf worked primarily as a feature writer, and he covered the British royal family including the coronation of Elizabeth II and her trip to Nigeria in 1956. Steinkopf retired in 1962 and settled in San Francisco. He died on June 27, 1981, and was buried in Luck, Wisconsin, where his parents had owned a farm.

Irene Elvira Norman, his wife who was also a journalist, was born in Massachusetts on December 14, 1901. As a child, her family moved to Milwaukee, where, upon the death of her father and her mother's serious illness she was placed in an orphanage. Irene attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a journalism degree in 1923. She met Alvin Steinkopf while employed as the motion picture editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, and they were married in 1927. The Steinkopfs lived in Europe during the 1930s, although because of health reasons Irene lived alone in Copenhagen and Rome and eventually moved back to the United States alone in 1941 as wartime conditions worsened in Berlin. During World War II she did radio broadcasts for WJJD in Chicago, as well as delivering many public lectures, chiefly about women's role in the war effort. After Alvin's death in 1981, Irene moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, to live with her friend Evelyn Loebel. She died on June 2, 2004.

The Steinkopf Papers consist of three series, the ALVIN STEINKOPF PAPERS, the IRENE STEINKOPF PAPERS, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Because Irene actively pursued her career only before her marriage and during World War II, her professional papers are smaller than his, but even for Alvin the career papers in the collection are not extensive. The 1920s and 1930s when he worked in Milwaukee and then in Eastern Europe is largely undocumented. It is likely the papers for these years were lost during the course of the couple's many moves. A substantial portion of the collection consists of letters addressed to both Steinkopfs, which for convenience, has been filed entirely with Alvin's papers.

The ALVIN STEINKOPF PAPERS consist of his personal letters to Irene; general correspondence exchanged with professional associates, relatives, and friends; writings and memorabilia.

His letters to his wife are primarily before their marriage and during the years 1938-1941 when, for her health, she lived in Copenhagen and Rome. The general correspondence dates primarily from the post-World War II years, and it primarily concerns the couple's common friendships and associations. There is only limited administrative contact with AP executives in the collection, although there are a few letters from managers such as Kent Cooper, John Evans, John Lloyd, and Frank Starzel. There are many letters, although chiefly of a social nature, from Louis Lochner, Glen Stadler, Clifton M. Utley, and other AP correspondents. One of the sound recordings is dictated letters to Nick Carter and Preston Grover. Evidence of a few additional contacts with Associated Press personnel can be found in the scrapbooks. A large quantity of correspondence concerns arrangements for public speaking while with WBBM in Chicago during World War II. Of autograph interest in the correspondence is a letter from Sean O'Casey humorously turning down a request for an interview from Steinkopf in 1960.

Writings, in both clipped and draft form, cover Steinkopf's career from his college days to his retirement in 1962, although there are many gaps. There is little documentation of his reporting before and during the early World War II years, although there are clippings, wire stories, and occasional drafts from 1939 through his internment at Bad Nauheim in 1941-1942. Also included from his early years are copies of the Marquette Campaigner, which Steinkopf edited; one copy of the Intercollegian, the school journal; articles he wrote for newspapers in Wisconsin during World War I; and clippings from the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The most extensively documented period is from his post-World War II assignment as a feature writer at the London AP bureau. These files include a clipping scrapbook and individual draft and wire service stories. The original wire service stories are filed alphabetically by subject as Steinkopf labeled them (e.g., bachelor husbands and women veterinarians). More important and separately filed, are the stories on the royal family and on the London bureau and several AP colleagues. Some of the memorabilia in the collection also relates to these assignments.

There are two subject files in Steinkopf's papers. One concerns his service in World War I as an ambulance driver with the 125th Ambulance Company. In addition to news stories filed from Camp MacArthur in Texas that were published in the Evening Wisconsin in Milwaukee, there are general orders, a few personal letters, photographs, and memorabilia. Most useful is a small diary neatly recopied by Irene. The file on Bad Nauheim, among the most interesting material in the collection, consists of draft news stories written while interned, photographs of internees, and varied documentation such as church bulletins; notebooks for classes taken at the journalists' university, diplomas, and graduation programs, and lists of house rules and internees.

The IRENE STEINKOPF PAPERS consist of correspondence, diaries, and writings. The correspondence consists of Irene's letters to her husband while they were living apart. They cover the period from 1939 to 1942, as well as the immediate post-World War II months. Her other correspondence is filed with the previously-described alphabetical correspondence in her husband's papers. The letters to the Steinkopfs include some individuals who were primarily her friends: Louise Cattoi, a fellow Milwaukee reporter; Ellen Wilson, the widow of Gordon MacQuarrie; and Evelyn Loebel.

Irene's diaries vary over time from brief chronological notes to true diaries. One journal entitled “Random Ramblings” covers her experiences before and during early World War II Europe, 1934-1941. Some of these “Ramblings” were written contemporaneously by hand while other entries were typed and added later. One of the sound recordings is an interview with her husband Alvin about tea and teatime probably intended for one of these “Ramblings.” While the early diaries are of widest interest, the later volumes contain useful insights into her life in a Wisconsin retirement home. Irene' writings consist primarily of WJJD radio scripts about the role of women in World War II, speeches about her experiences in Europe, and a series of articles published in 1930 on the living conditions of Native Americans in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, her autobiographical book, which is mentioned in the correspondence and which she apparently completed shortly before her death, was not received in the Archives.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series provides the most comprehensive coverage of the Steinkopfs' life and careers. Albums, loose prints, and negatives document their individual careers and as well as their lives together, their professional associations, and their travel in Europe. Alvin Steinkopf took a camera with him while on assignment from 1939 to 1941, and these images are perhaps the most valuable documentation in the collection. In 1939 he was part of a tour of journalists from neutral nations to Lemberg, Poland, where German prisoners had been killed during the invasion. In addition to his own photographs of the scene, there is a packet of images distributed by the Germans for propaganda purposes. Steinkopf visited Poland again in 1940, escorted by Dr. Walbaum, a German. Frequently left on his own, Steinkopf was able to photograph wartime conditions, as well as the Jewish ghettos in Lublin, Warsaw, and elsewhere. In August 1941 he was the first American to enter Smolensk after the Russian city fell to the Germans. Once again, Steinkopf made good use of his camera. Pre-war photographs of Sarajevo and Prague are also included in the albums. Many of Steinkopf's post-World War II photographs cover vacations in Europe and England. Most often these are the kind of scenic views photographed by most tourists, but there are also images of his AP colleagues and their work environment, and coverage of a few of his feature story assignments such as Queen Elizabeth's travel to Africa in 1956 and the Mayflower II.

Many of Steinkopf's photographs are available online as part of the Wisconsin Historical Images database. (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/advancedSearch.asp)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Alvin and Irene Steinkopf, San Francisco, California, and Sheboygan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1967-2001. Accession Number: MCHC 67-154, MCHC 71-040, M84-397, M91-172, M91-225, M97-241, M2001-009

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn Mattern, 2011.

Mss 683	Series: Alvin Steinkopf Papers
Box   1 Folder   1a	Biographical information, miscellaneous material
Box   1 Folder   1b	Address book, 1934-1998
	Memorabilia
Box   1 Folder   2	General
Box   6 Folder   1	Scrapbook
Box   1 Folder   3	World War II Germany
Box   1 Folder   4	Great Britain
Box   5 Folder   3	Royal funerals
Box   1 Folder   5	Elizabeth II, Queen of England
Box   1 Folder   6	British Royal visit to Nigeria
Box   1 Folder   7	Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Box   1 Folder   8	Polish political cartoons, 1950
Box   1 Folder   9	Marriage of Grace Kelly
Box   1 Folder   10	Miscellaneous reminiscences
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   11-18	Alvin to Irene, 1926-1932, 1939-1941, 1945-1948, 1955-1957, undated
	Alphabetical correspondence
Box   1 Folder   19	Associated Press, miscellaneous staff, 1941-1981, undated
Box   1 Folder   20	Bartel family
Box   1 Folder   21	Carter, Nick
Box   1 Folder   22	Cassidy, Morley and Phyllis
Box   1 Folder   23	Cattoi, Louise (Milwaukee reporter)
Box   1 Folder   24	Cooper, Kent
Box   1 Folder   25	Derka (Ludwig) family
Box   1 Folder   26	Dippel, John
Box   1 Folder   27	Evans, John M., 1941, 1962-1963
Box   1 Folder   28	Fischer, Ernest, 1942-1944
Box   1 Folder   29	Frederick family
Box   1 Folder   30	Gilmore, Eddie, 1963-1964, 1975
Box   1 Folder   31	Goldberg, Abe, 1948-1967
Box   1 Folder   32	Grover, Preston, 1942-1983
Box   1 Folder   33	Hawkins, Mary, 1939-1940
Box   1 Folder   34	Henriquez, Richard
Box   1 Folder   35	Henshall, Chick
Box   1 Folder   36	Hercher, William
Box   1 Folder   37	Holmes, Paul
Box   1 Folder   38	Hutchison, George
Box   1 Folder   39	Hyde, James
Box   1 Folder   40	Irons, Evelyn
Box   1 Folder   41	Jordan, George C.
Box   1 Folder   42	Keavey, Hubbard
Box   1 Folder   43	Kersting, H.G.
Box   1 Folder   44	Kleckner, Robert S.
Box   1 Folder   45	Knutsen, Gertrude
Box   1 Folder   46	Knutsen, Karla
Box   1 Folder   47	Krueger, Karl
Box   1 Folder   48	Lloyd, John, 1947-1963
Box   1 Folder   49	Lochner, Louis P., 1939-1952
Box   1 Folder   50	Loebel, Evelyn and Eugene, 1943-1982
Box   1 Folder   51	Marquette University
Box   1 Folder   52	Matzhold, Louis
Box   1 Folder   53	Mead Public Library
Box   1 Folder   54	Minderman, Earl and Florence
Box   1 Folder   55	Musyl, Erich
Box   1 Folder   56	Oleson, Ethel
Box   1 Folder   57	Press Association (William McCambridge), 1942-1944
Box   1 Folder   58	Puelicher, Gertrude (National Federation of Press Women), 1943-1944, 1978
Box   1 Folder   59	Quast, Walter and Esther
Box   1 Folder   60	Ramsdell, Lisa and Kirby
Box   1 Folder   61	Reedy, Tom, 1962-1963
Box   1 Folder   62	Reinhardt, Agnes
Box   1 Folder   63	Remick, Grace and Fred
Box   1 Folder   64	Rooney, Michael
Box   1 Folder   65	State Historical Society of Wisconsin Field Services staff
Box   1 Folder   66	Schoeneman family
Box   1 Folder   67	Shoemaker, Paul D.
Box   1 Folder   68	Smith, Jack, 1962-1963
Box   1 Folder   69	Stadler, Glen, 1945-1983
Box   1 Folder   70	Starzel, Frank, 1956-1962
Box   1 Folder   71	Steinkopf, John
Box   1 Folder   72	Tagatz, George
Box   1 Folder   73	Taylor, Elizabeth
Box   1 Folder   74	Thuermer, Angus
Box   1 Folder   75	Ullein-Reviczky, Lovice, 1934-1986
Box   1 Folder   76	Utley, Clifton, 1948-1974
Box   1 Folder   77	Van Cleef, Paul
Box   1 Folder   78	Walbaum, Dr., 1940-1949
Box   1 Folder   79	War Department
Box   1 Folder   80	Whiting, Dinty
Box   1 Folder   81	Wilson, Harry and Ellen MacQuarrie Wilson
Box   4 Folder   1-4	Zainer, Caroline, and Jean Ann Young, 1951-1998
Box   2 Folder   1-5	A-W
Box   2 Folder   6	First names only
Box   2 Folder   7-8	WBBM, 1942-1945
1573A/1	Recorded letters to Nick Carter (New York) and Grover Preston (Paris), undated Note: Recorded with Fiddler on the Roof music.
Mss 683	Writings
Box   2 Folder   9	Marquette University, 1916
Box   7 Folder   1	Scrapbook of unsigned stories in Evening Wisconsin and from Camp MacArthur
Box   2 Folder   10	St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1920-1923
Box   2 Folder   11	Czechoslovakia, 1939
Box   2 Folder   12	Poland, 1940
	Germany
Box   2 Folder   13	Wire stories, 1941-1942
Box   2 Folder   14	Clippings
Box   7 Folder   2	Scrapbook, 1942-1944
Box   2 Folder   15	European papers, 1950s
	Great Britain, 1945-1962
Box   2 Folder   16-18	A-Z
Box   2 Folder   19	Associated Press staff biographies
Box   2 Folder   20	Churchill, Winston
Box   2 Folder   21	Graham, Billy
Box   2 Folder   22	Mayflower II
Box   2 Folder   23	Royal weddings
Box   2 Folder   24	Scotland
Box   6 Folder   2	Scrapbook
Box   2 Folder   25	Miscellaneous writings
	Subject files
Box   2 Folder   26	World War I
Box   5 Folder   2	Bad Nauheim internment
	Series: Irene Steinkopf Papers	⇧
Box   2 Folder   27-32	Correspondence, 1939-1949, 1956
	Diaries
Box   2 Folder   33	Chronological memoranda, 1934-1947
Box   2 Folder   34	“Random Notes on Ramblings in Europe,” 1934-1941
Box   2 Folder   35-37	1947-1980
Box   3 Folder   1-8	1981-1999
1573A/2	Interview by Irene of Alvin her husband about teatime, perhaps for a “Rambling” note, undated Note: Recorded with music.
Mss 683	Writings
Box   3 Folder   9	WJJD scripts, 1943-1944
Box   5 Folder   1	Miscellaneous writings
PH 6666	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
	Print albums
Box   11 Item   19-21	Photocopied photo albums to be used for reference
Box   1	Album 1: Alvin J. Steinkopf, career and family, circa 1902-1962
Box   2	Album 2: Irene Steinkopf, 1921-1962
Box   3	Album 3: , 1932-1961 (mainly 1947-1948)
Box   4	Album 4: Austria: with photographs, 1934-1938 Note: Later snapshots of Austrian associates, and extensive commentary about their experiences by Irene Steinkopf.
Box   5	Album 5: Poland, Danzig, and Smolensk, 1938-1941 Note: Some photographs in album are of a graphic nature.
Box   6	Album 6: Associated Press assignments (mainly Sarajevo, Danzig, and Rome), 1938-1952 (mainly 1938-1940)
Box   7	Album 7: Assignments (some by Associated Press photographers), 1938-1960
Box   8	Album 8: Italy, 1940-1941
Box   9	Album 9: Travel, 1940-1947 (mainly 1947)
Box   10	Album 10: Czechoslovakia, 1945-1948
	Loose prints
Box   11 Item   11	Steinkopf portraits
Box   11 Item   12	Steinkopfs' friends
Box   11 Item   13	Bad Nauheim
Box   11 Item   14	Loose prints from Poland Note: From album 5.
Box   11 Item   15	Propaganda photographs of dead at Lemberg
Box   11 Item   16	Loose prints from Smolensk Note: From album 5.
Box   11 Item   17	World War I
Box   11 Item   18	Loose 35 mm contact prints not matched with negatives Note: Bad Nauheim, 1941; Channel swim, and Rita Hayworth wedding, 1949; Elizabeth II in Wales, 1953; Elizabeth II in Africa, 1956; Mayflower II, 1957; miscellaneous views of Associated Press friends and family.
	Oversize prints
Box   11 Folder   25	Irene Steinkopf and residents of Chadbourne Hall, 1923
Box   12 Folder   1-2	World War I panoramas at Camp Douglas and Texas
M2001-009	Miscellaneous photographs of family and friends, circa 1934-1999
PH 6666	Negatives
Box   13	Negative Album A: London and Europe, 1947-1948
Box   11 Folder   22	Alvin's finding aid for Album A
Box   14	Negative Album B: London, Ireland, Scotland, Vienna, Mayflower II, Riviera, 1956
Box   11 Folder   23	Alvin's finding aid for Album B
Box   15	Negative Album C: Germany, Poland, Russia, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Austria, 1939-1940 Note: 35 mm negatives taken with Contax camera.
Box   11 Folder   24	Alvin's original finding aid for Album C Note: Revised finding aid filed with the negatives.
Box   16	Negative Album D: Britain, United States, Finland, 1959-1960 Note: Album includes contact prints for reference.
	Loose negatives
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.1	Images from Album 1
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.2	Images from Album 2
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.3	Image from Album 3
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.6	Images from Album 6
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.9	Image from Album 9
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.10	Images from Album 10
Box   17 Folder   PH 6666.11	Images from Album 11