Title: John Stuart Hamilton Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1924-1946, 1986

Creator:

• Hamilton, John Stuart, 1899-1986

Call Number: U.S. Mss 143AF; Audio 1853A; MCHC 78-095

Quantity: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box) and 1 tape recording; plus additions of 0.4 cubic feet

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers of John Stuart Hamilton, a correspondent and journalism professor, consisting of correspondence, memoranda, and writings. The bulk of the collection is made up of detailed memos on daily activities and information requests submitted by Hamilton as chief of the night bureau of the War Department Public Relations Bureau from May 1941 to January 1942. This period is further documented by a letter describing the White House press room on December 7, 1941. Included with the small correspondence file are two letters describing the selection of the Pulitzer Prize winners in 1934. Writings consist of photocopied articles for Business Week, 1943-1946, and cabled stories sent to the London Daily Mail as that paper's Tokyo correspondent in 1924. Particularly noteworthy among this material is Hamilton's eyewitness coverage of an atomic bomb test in a May 1946 article and his scoop of the Japanese withdrawal from the League of Nations. Also includes a recorded reminiscence as a world correspondent and letters to his wife during World War II.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0143af

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The career of John Stuart Hamilton encompasses both practicing and teaching journalism. Born May 11, 1899 in Wesfield, Marquette County, Wisconsin, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in journalism in 1922, received an M.A. in 1931 from the same institution, and did further graduate work at Columbia University and Berlin University.

During the early 1920s Hamilton was a correspondent in Tokyo for several large newspapers. He left that city in 1923 to become city editor of the Hilo Tribune Herald. Two years later he moved to Paris to become director of the Press Bureau at the U.S. Embassy. In 1928 he joined the staff of the New York Times as copy editor.

Following the completion of his M.A., the School of Journalism at New York University appointed him assistant professor. In 1940 he became associate professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, taking a leave in May 1941 to become Night Editor for the newly-reorganized War Department Public Relations Bureau. In 1942 he began a four-year association with Business Week magazine as a staff writer covering events in Washington. After the war Hamilton returned to teaching at Columbia.

Hamilton was married to Mathilde Rachel Hamilton. He died in Sarasota, Florida on April 28, 1986.

The papers, which consist of correspondence, memoranda, and writings, are most useful for the documentation which they provide for Hamilton's activities during World War II. Most of the collection consists of detailed MEMORANDA of daily activity and informational requests issued by Hamilton during his work as Chief of the Night Bureau with the War Department Public Relations Department from May 1941 to January 1942. This period is further illuminated by a letter describing the White House press room on December 7, 1941. Also included with the small amount of professional CORRESPONDENCE are two letters describing the selection of the Pulitzer Prize winners in 1934. Hamilton's MAGAZINE WRITINGS consist of two photocopied scrapbooks of articles written for Business Week from 1943 to 1946. Among this material, his eyewitness coverage of an atomic bomb test in a May 4, 1946, article is particularly noteworthy. PRESS DISPATCHES consist of stories cabled to the London Daily Mail and the Indian Daily Mail in 1924 and include his scoop of the Japanese withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Also includes letters written to his wife, Mathilde “Til” during World War II, mainly regarding his experiences as news editor in the War Department, and a recording from 1986 with a humorous account of his life as a world correspondent and a money-making proposal to save old villages.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John S. Hamilton, 1970, 1975, 1978, and 1986. Accession Number: MCHC70-121, MCHC75-053, MCHC78-028, MCHC78-095, M86-218

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn Mattern, October 1976 and September 1978.

U.S. Mss 143AF Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1934, 1941, 1946, undated
	Press Bureau memoranda
Box   1 Folder   2	1941 May-1941 August
Box   1 Folder   2	1941 October-1942 January
	Writings
Box   1 Folder   3	Magazine articles, 1943-1946
Box   1 Folder   4	Press dispatches, 1924
MCHC78-095	Letters to wife, 1941-1943
1853A/1	Reminiscences recording, 1986