Title: John Scott Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1944-1976

Creator:

• Scott, John, 1912-1976

Call Number: U.S. Mss 32AF; MCHC77-103

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes); plus additions of 11.4 c.f.

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, 1944-1976, of John Scott, a journalist, broadcasting executive, and special assistant to the publishers of Time. Scott also worked as a steel worker in Magnitogorsk during the 1930s. The collection documents Scott's research and writings which include reports for Time and several books. Also included are photographs, correspondence, memos, and subject files.

Language: English, French

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0032af

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John Scott, journalist and Soviet authority, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Scott Nearing. He attended the University of Wisconsin, 1929-1931, and after leaving school dropped his last name (Nearing). Armed with a welder's certificate and a determination to see the world and write, he sailed for Russia in 1932 where he spent five years working in the Magnitogorsk steel complex. The 1937 purge forced him from Soviet industry, but Scott remained in the country for several more years, working as a correspondent for Havas, the French news agency, and the London News Chronicle.

Scott spent portions of 1940 and 1941 traveling through the Balkans, the Middle East, Asiatic Russia, and Japan, and his resulting news reports attracted considerable attention. In 1941 he returned to the United States, and the following year he became a contributing editor for Time magazine. As such, his assignments included the State Department, London, and Stockholm, where he headed the Time-Life bureau until 1945. After the war, Scott reopened Time's Central European bureau in Berlin. In 1948 Time reassigned him to the New York office, promoting him to special correspondent and then to assistant to the publisher in 1952.

From 1952 until 1973 Scott's assignment was to roam the globe collecting observations and information for in-depth research reports to be used by the magazine's staff. The resulting book-length reports provided such detail and perspective on world conditions that they were in great demand even beyond the Time staff. Among the reports are: The U.S. Military Presence in Europe and the Middle East (1952); Western Europe's Economic Revival (1953); The Middle East (1954); Latin America in Travail (1955); East of Suez - The Asian Subcontinent (1956); Asian Journey - A Study of Southeast Asia (1957); The Soviet Empire - The U.S.S.R. and Its Satellites (1959); Africa - The Frontier Continent (1959); The New Europe - Can Six and Seven Make One? (1961); The Soviet Economic Offensive: A Report on Public Diplomacy (1961); Crisis in Communist China (1962); How Much Progress: A Report on the Alianza para el Progreso (1963); The Soviet World - Growth, Disintegration and Reform (1965); Hunger - A Report on the World Food Crisis (1966), Peace in Asia - The War in Vietnam in Context (1967); The Middle East at War (1970), and Detente Through Soviet Eyes (1974). In addition to these reports for Time, Scott published several books. Behind the Urals, issued in 1942, described his life in the Russian steel factories. His second book, Duel for Europe: Stalin vs. Hitler appeared in the same year, and it was followed in 1945 by Europe in Revolution. Political Warfare: A Guide to Competitive Coexistence (1955) was a study of ideological conflict in the Cold War era. As its subtitle indicated, Democracy Is Not Enough (1960) was a personal survey of hunger in the underdeveloped nations.

Other titles include Man's Struggle to Feed Himself (1969); Divided They Stand (1973); and China, the Hungry Dragon (1967).

In 1973 Scott resigned to become vice-president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a position he held at the time of his death in 1976.

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 2 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (U.S. Mss 32AF): Original Collection, 1955-1970
• Part 2 (MCHC77-103): Additions, 1944-1976

Acquisition Information

Presented by John Scott, New York, New York, and Stephen Kotkin, Berkeley, California. Accession Number: MCHC61-012, MCHC62-013, MCHC65-004, MCHC70-089, MCHC70-105, and M86-306

Processing Information

Original Collection processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, July 1978.

U.S. Mss 32AF	Part 1 (U.S. Mss 32AF): Original Collection, 1955-1970 Physical Description: 1.6 c.f. (4 archives boxes)  Scope and Content Note Reports to the publishers of Time and books form the nucleus of the John Scott Papers. Of the reports, the collection includes material on five -- Asian Journey, East of Suez, The Middle East at War, The New Europe, and The Soviet Economic Offensive. In addition, there are materials on two volumes, Democracy Is Not Enough and Political Warfare, which although written primarily for outside readership, were substantially based upon his Time reporting. Because of this relationship, the volumes and the reports have been filed together chronologically. The type of documentation present varies for each title, but in each case the material is presented in the order produced. For Democracy Is Not Enough, the material is most extensive; included are research files and notes, outlines, preliminary chapters and fragments, rejected materials, three complete drafts, and correspondence to and from Julie Fay Treloar, his research assistant. For The New Europe there are two complete drafts; a folder of miscellaneous chapters, fragments, and revised outlines; and a copy of the report in its final, near-print form. Political Warfare is documented by a complete manuscript draft. Four reports -- Asian Journey, East of Suez, The Middle East at War, and The Soviet Economic Offensive -- are represented only in their final form. The first two titles are incorporated in the preliminary chapter drafts of Democracy Is Not Enough. Also part of the collection are two speeches, which are only a sample of the over 200 talks based on his research which Scott delivered each year.
	Series: Reports and Volumes
Box   1 Folder   1	Political Warfare: A Guide to Competitive Coexistence(1955), Draft
	Democracy Is Not Enough: A Personal Survey of the Hungry World(1960)
	Research Material
Box   1 Folder   2	Africa and Asia
Box   1 Folder   3	Latin America
Box   1 Folder   4	Soviet Bloc
Box   2 Folder   1-3	Preliminary Chapter Drafts
Box   2 Folder   4	Progressive Outlines, Fragments, and Rejected Material
Box   2 Folder   5	Draft #1
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Draft #2
Box   3 Folder   3	Draft #3 (Final Draft)
Box   3 Folder   4	Correspondence, 1959
	The New Europe: Can Six and Seven Make One?(1961)
Box   3 Folder   5	Outlines, Miscellaneous Chapter Drafts
Box   4 Folder   1	Draft #1
Box   4 Folder   2	Draft #2 (Final Draft)
Box   4 Folder   3	Near-print copy
Box   4 Folder   4	The Soviet Economic Offensive: A Report on Ruble Diplomacy(1961), Near-print Copy
Box   4 Folder   5	The Middle East at War(1970), Near-print Copy
	Series: Speeches	⇧
Box   4 Folder   6	“Will We have War Between China and Russia?,” March 16, 1970
Box   4 Folder   6	“The Miracle of Contemporary Japan,” May 27, 1970
MCHC77-103	Part 2 (MCHC77-103): Additions, 1944-1976 Physical Description: 11.4 c.f. (11 record center cartons, 1 archives box, and 1 flat box)  Scope and Content Note Additions, 1944-1976, of reports and other writings, research, correspondence, memos and photographs, of a journalist and special assistant to the publishers of Time magazine. Of note are the files pertaining to Behind the Urals (1943), which document his experiences as a worker in the Soviet steel factory at Magnitogorsk in the 1930s. The Office files contain mostly correspondence and memos. The largest portion of this collection is under the General files heading, and consists of background material and other research on varied topics; briefing books, and scrapbooks from Scott's travels. The three folders of photographs depict Scott himself at events and in portraits. The remaining files contain Scott's writings in various stages of draft, including reports for Time and one box of manuscripts.	⇧
Box   1-2	Office files, 1970s Physical Description: 26 folders
	General files
Box   2	Important speeches Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   2	Personal Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   2	Personal correspondence
Box   2	Biography brochure updating
Box   3	China, publications on
Box   3	China, population
Box   3	“China and the Bomb” telecast, 1963
Box   3	East/West trade
Box   3	Chapter 9
Box   3	Army and miscellaneous
Box   3	Religion
Box   3	Bibliography
Box   3	Agriculture
Box   3	Introduction
Box   3	Prologue
Box   3	Leningrad
Box   3	Youth, drinking
Box   3	Auto industry
Box   3	Gap in science and technology
Box   3	Soviet-American relations
Box   3	Economy
Box   3	Chart
Box   3	Japan, 1971
Box   3	Economy, 1969-1970
Box   3	Dissent
Box   3	Soviet citizen
Box   3	Khrushchev, Nikita
Box   3	Briefing book for West European trip, 1960
Box   3	Minorities
Box   3	Personal and Time mail
Box   3	Australia
Box   3	From Asia
Box   3	Poland
Box   3	Oil
Box   3	Soviet economies
Box   3	Soviet material
Box   3	Arts and literature
Box   3	Budget
Box   3	Minutes of meetings and progress reports
Box   3	Time Magazine
Box   3	Aspen Institute of Humanities, August 1965
Box   3	Eastern European Publications Exchange Fund
Box   3	Travel
Box   4	Report, “Hunger-The World Food Crisis”
Box   4	Comecon
Box   4	Ideology
Box   4	Dissent
Box   4	Miscellaneous
Box   4	Party and summing-up
Box   4	Soviet trade
Box   4	Time Incorporated
Box   4	Important speeches
Box   4	Letters, paragraphs complete, 1971
Box   4	Scrapbook pages
Box   4	Articles and reports by Scott
Box   4	Challenge
Box   4	Moscow advertising presentation for Time-Life International, October 25, 1965 Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   4	Scraps, clippings, 1968
Box   4	Sam-Hoi script
Box   4	Card file
Box   4	World Food Congress
Box   4	International Advisory Council
Box   4	Soviet trade
Box   4	Book program
Box   4	East Germany
Box   4	Rumania
Box   4	Hungary
Box   4	Economics
Box   4	Soviet Union
Box   4	Strategic Arms Reductions Talks (SALT)
Box   4	Mongolia
Box   4	Magnitogorsk, U.S. Embassy, Moscow, memos and reports (photocopies from National Archives), 1938
Box   4	Time Incorporated
Box   5	Siamerican Mining
Box   5	Minh Duc novel draft
Box   5	Minh Duc Hoai Trinh, draft by
Box   5	Yugoslavia
Box   5	Comecon
Box   5	China
Box   5	Czechoslovakia
Box   5	Bulgaria
Box   5	Poland
Box   5	Personalities
Box   5	Albania
Box   5	Far East
Box   5	Steel
Box   5	Press kit
Box   5	Scrapbook
Box   5	Lectures by Scott, 1974
Box   5	Briefing book, Latin America, 1963
Box   5	Harrison Salisbury memorandum, 1953
Box   5	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Box   5	Soviet espionage
Box   5	Sakharov
Box   5	Hong Kong
Box   5	Korea
Box   6	Russian poetry
Box   6	Press release notes
Box   6	Quotations from President Liu
Box   6	Sino-Soviet split
Box   6	Listener mail, 1966-1969
Box   6	World Food Conference, 1976
	Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Box   6	Politics, Kremlin power and political restrictions on reform
Box   6	Military capacity and arms control, military aid
Box   6	General
Box   6	East/West trade
Box   6	Gold
Box   6	Malaysia
Box   6	Thailand notes
Box   6	Australia
Box   6	Japan
Box   6	Asia material
Box   6	Thailand
Box   6	Indian Ocean
Box   6	Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam
Box   6	Taiwan
Box   6	Singapore
Box   6	Indonesia
Box   6	Toronto article pending
Box   6	Taipei
	Briefing book
Box   6	Soviet Trade offensive, 1961
Box   6	Far East trade, 1957
Box   6	William Cates, draft by
Box   7	Manuscript by Minh Duc Hoai Trinh Note: In French.
Box   7	Australia
Box   13	Scrapbooks of pamphlets and leaflets, East-West political warfare, collected summer 1952 Physical Description: 2 volumes
	Manuscripts
Box   8	Europe draft, early 1950s
Box   8	Articles, drafts
Box   8	Duel for Europe
Box   8	Sullen City, draft
Box   8	Magnitogorsk, final
Box   8	Magnitogorsk, draft I
Box   8	Europe, draft copy 3
Box   8	Writings, 1961-1963
Box   8	Moscow Journal, volume I
Box   8	Writings on Russia Physical Description: 4 folders
Box   8	Magnitogorsk, revised final
Box   8	Crisis in Europe Physical Description: 3 folders
Box   8	Partial draft on Soviet Union
	Writings and reports
Box   9	1948-1951, 1953-1960, 1965-1967 Physical Description: 15 folders
Box   9	Path to Peace, 1954
Box   9	Political Warfare reviews
Box   9	Charles Schatvet, 1954
Box   10	Heavy Industry in the Soviet Union East of the Volga
Box   10	Part of draft on electrical power in Soviet Union
Box   10	Part of draft on fuel and power in Soviet Union
Box   10	Behind the Urals
Box   10	Part of draft
Box   10	Magnitogorsk, draft 2
Box   10	Moscow Journal, volume 2
Box   10	Magnitogorsk, final 2
	Millions Will Starve
Box   10	Appendix
Box   10	Revised version
Box   10	Work from Experimental College
Box   10	Interim Report on Foreign Radio Listening Behavior of Soviet People
Box   10	Magnitogorsk second draft
Box   10	The Battle for Desegregation
Box   10	Parts of report drafts
Box   10	World population research
Box   10	Kenya and Nigeria
Box   10	Research on agriculture and food production
Box   10	Millions Will Starve
Box   10	Draft on world hunger
Box   11	“Towards Western European Integration”
Box   11	Political Warfare, final draft Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   11	Democracy is Not Enough, annotated proof
Box   11	Miscellaneous reports for Time
Box   12	Victory is Not Enough, I, 1944
Box   12	Victory is Not Enough, II, 1944
Box   12	Radio Liberty
Box   12	Teaching, circa 1966
Box   12	“The Soviet Commonwealth”
Box   12	Sam-Hoi
Box   12	Sullen City Physical Description: 2 folders
Box   12	Non-Time articles, circa 1965-1970
Box   12	Time writings, memos
Box   12	Speech materials, 1969-1971
Box   12	Asia speech material, 1972
Box   12	Blurbs
Box   12	Photographs, portraits, speaking engagements Physical Description: 3 folders