Summary Information
Walter Graebner Papers
1927-1969
U.S. Mss 88AF; M89-345; Audio 1864A; PH 3290
1.2 cubic feet (3 archives boxes); plus additions of 0.4 cubic feet, 6 tape recordings, 37 photographs, and 9 lithographs
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Walter Graebner, an author, advertising executive, and journalist for Time, consisting mainly of writings and related material. Half of the collection pertains to eight books written wholly or in part by Graebner. These books deal with his experiences in Britain during World War II, his six-month assignment in the Soviet Union in 1942, and Winston S. Churchill. Documentation is best for My Dear Mr. Churchill (1965), for which there are drafts, publicity, reviews, and correspondence; but there is at least a printed copy of the remaining seven volumes. In addition, there are two collections of articles by Time Inc. writers to which Graebner contributed. Also representing Graebner's writings are cables, drafts, and printed articles for Time and Life (1944); scripts of radio broadcasts concerning the D-Day invasion; proofs and other materials relating to 1954 articles on Churchill for the London Evening Standard and copies and reviews of Saints and Angels News, an Anglican parish magazine which Graebner founded and edited. A small alphabetical correspondence file includes letters from Churchill and his family and staff, Henry R. Luce and other senior staff of Time Inc., Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Francis Cardinal Spellman, and Harold Wilson.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0088af ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Walter Graebner, journalist, author, and advertising executive, was born in Prairie Township, near Columbus, Ohio, on December 16, 1909. The son of a Lutheran minister, Graebner lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Wausau, Wisconsin, before entering the University of Wisconsin in 1929. He left the university in November of his senior year to begin work in the Chicago production department of Time magazine, and he held several professional positions in the magazine's Chicago and New York offices before being asked to go to London as Time's first overseas correspondent in 1937. Except for assignments in the Soviet Union and northern Africa in 1942 and 1943, he has since made London his permanent residence.
At the end of World War II, Time Inc. promoted Graebner from London bureau chief to European Area director, ending his career as a working journalist and involving him in promotion and advertising for the international editions of Time and Life. In 1953 Graebner left Time Inc. to become managing director of Erwin, Wasey, and Co. Ltd., of London, one of Europe's largest advertising agencies. When the company was acquired by Interpublic Ltd. in 1963, Graebner resigned in order to devote more time to personal pursuits, though he retained an office at Interpublic and continued as director and part-time consultant.
During his career as a journalist, Graebner authored and edited a number of books based on wartime experiences, and selections of his reporting were included in two anthologies of the work of Time Inc.'s correspondents. In the early 1950s he wrote My Dear Mr. Churchill, an informal collection of observations and anecdotes based on his friendship with the former prime minister. Published after Churchill's death in 1965, the book appeared on best-seller lists in Great Britain and was translated into several foreign languages.
Arrangement of the Materials
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.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Walter Graebner, London, England, 1965-1969. Accession Number: MCHC65-014, -151; MCHC66-014, -021, -040, -053, -064, -068, -075, -076, -129; MCHC67-156; MCHC69-089
Processed by Jane Wolff and Carolyn Mattern, December 12, 1977.
Contents List
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U.S. Mss 88AF
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Part 1 (U.S. Mss 88AF): Original Collection, 1928-19691.2 cubic feet (3 archives boxes) The Walter Graebner Papers are a small collection consisting mainly of copies of Graebner's writings and related material. More specifically, the collection includes correspondence, copies of books authored or co-authored by Graebner, manuscripts and additional material relating to Mr. Dear Mr. Churchill, copies of some shorter publications which Graebner authored or edited, clippings, notes, and miscellany. In addition there is a four-page AUTOBIOGRAPHY which documents his professional career through the mid-1960s and a number of explanatory NOTES which accompanied Graebner's donations and which could not be filed with the precise material to which they refer. The CORRESPONDENCE consists mainly of a general file composed almost entirely of incoming letters and arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Included are letters from Winston Churchill and members of his family and staff; Henry R. Luce and other senior staff members of Time Inc.; Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; Francis Cardinal Spellman; and Harold Wilson. Other notable correspondents whose letters are of interest chiefly for their autograph value include Clement Atlee, Anthony Eden, Oveta Culp Hobby, Robert Kennedy, and Adlai Stevenson. The correspondence also includes a folder of letters relating to the 1966 auction of a Churchill painting given to Graebner by the artist. A few letters may be found elsewhere in the collection; one folder of correspondence relating to My Dear Mr. Churchill is filed with the papers concerning that publication, and several cover letters are scattered in other files. The BOOKS file consists of signed, hard-cover copies of eight books for which Graebner was wholly or partly responsible. These are: Their Finest Hour and Lights of Freedom, both published in 1941 and edited by Graebner and Allan A. Michie, and both including selections by Graebner; Hitler's Reich and Churchill's Britain and Conversation in London, British and American versions, respectively, of a 1942 conversation between Graebner and Stephen Laird, Time's Berlin correspondent; December 7: The First Thirty Hours, Pearl Harbor stories by the correspondents of Time, Life, and Fortune, including Graebner's cable from London on British and Indian reactions to the bombing, and short biographies of Graebner and many of his colleagues; Round Trip to Russia, Graebner's 1943 account of his six-month assignment in the Soviet Union in 1942, which is filed with a contract, publisher's announcement, and reviews; History in the Writing, by the foreign correspondents of Time, Life, and Fortune, which includes three of Graebner's dispatches; and My Dear Mr. Churchill. In addition to the printed copy of Graebner's last book, the collection includes a considerable amount of material relating to its publication, including congratulations, acknowledgements of complimentary copies, and negotiations concerning foreign and paperback editions and syndication of excerpts. There are also a January, 1954, agreement with Houghton, Mifflin Co.; the “original” manuscript, dated February, 1954; two sets of corrections, dated 1954 and 1956; excerpts published in the London Sunday Express, the Anglo-American Trade News, and the New York Herald Tribune; a small amount of publicity material; and reviews of both the British and German editions. Apart from the books, only a few samples of Graebner's writing and editing are present in the collection. These ARTICLES, SCRIPTS, AND EDITORIAL WORKS consist of cables, drafts, and printed versions of articles written for Time and Life, 1944; scripts of radio broadcasts concerning D-Day, 1944; galley proofs and other material relating to a 1954 article on Churchill published in the London Evening Standard; and copies and review of Saints and Angels News, an Anglican parish magazine which Graebner founded and edited. The CLIPPINGS, 1928-1966, primarily highlight Graebner's career. The MISCELLANY includes a 1943 certificate attesting to his noncombatant status, 1945 and 1953 passports, and papers relating to his role as a consultant to the U.S. delegation to a 1948 United Nations conference on freedom of information.
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Box
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Folder
1
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Series: Autobiography and Notes, 1965-1967, undated
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Series: Correspondence
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General, 1938-1969
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Box
1
Folder
2
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A-G
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Box
1
Folder
3
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H-W
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Churchill painting correspondence, 1965-1966
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Series: Books
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Their Finest Hour, 1941
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Lights of Freedom, 1941
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Conversation in London, 1942
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Hitler's Reich and Churchill's Britain, 1942
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Box
1
Folder
7
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December 7: The First Thirty Hours, 1942
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Round Trip to Russia,
Contract, publisher's announcement, and reviews, 1942-1943
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Box
2
Folder
1
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History in the Writing, 1945
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Box
2
Folder
2
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My Dear Mr. Churchill, 1965
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Correspondence, 1953-1966
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Agreement with publishers, 1954
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Original manuscript, 1954
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Corrections and revisions, 1954, 1956
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Published excerpts, 1965
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Publicity, 1954, 1965, undated
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Reviews, 1965
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Box
2
Folder
9
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British and American editions
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Box
3
Folder
1
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German edition
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Series: Articles, Scripts, and Editorial Works
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Time and Life articles, 1940-1944
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Radio scripts, 1944
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Box
3
Folder
4
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London Evening Standard article, 1954
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Saints and Angels News, 1965-1967
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Series: Clippings, 1928-1966
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Series: Miscellany, 1943-1953
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M89-345
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Part 2 (M89-345, Audio 1864A): Additions, circa 1948-1968
0.4 cubic feet and 6 tape recordings
: Additions, circa 1948-1968, including correspondence, clippings, and photographs connected with Graebner's book, My Dear Mr. Churchill (including some personal correspondence between Graebner and Churchill), and miscellaneous personal correspondence. Audio recordings have been assigned call number 1864A/1-6, and consist of readings of My Dear Mr. Churchill by Commander Edward Whitehead, date unknown.
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PH 3290
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Part 3 (PH 3290): Additions, 1927-1963
37 photographs and 9 lithographs
: Photographs and lithographs, 1927-1963, including images of Graebner as a Wausau, Wisconsin, high school football and track athlete and with Winston Churchill, scenes in London during the bombing of 1940, and later activities. The lithographs are Christmas cards from Winston and Clementine Churchill bearing reproductions of Winston's paintings.
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