The Wolff Papers contain valuable information on the way in which television documentaries have been constructed by this leader in the documentary genre. Unfortunately, information of this type in the collection documents only a few of the projects with which Wolff was associated as producer or writer. The majority of the programs and documentary films in the collection are represented solely by the finished product -- a videotape or film and a transcript of the program as it aired. Although this documentation does not afford an examination of the evolution of the program, many of these scripts are of interest in their own right. Some consist of original interviews with prominent political and intellectual leaders, while other programs were influential in shaping public attitudes.
The represented documentary specials cover such diverse topics as: the war in the air during World War II, the arts, examinations of nations such as Israel and Italy, race relations, and social upheaval during the 1960s and 1970s. Individuals interviewed in the documentaries or prominently referred to in the papers include Robert O. Anderson, Willy Brandt, Warren Burger, Jimmy Carter, Bill Cosby, James Daley, H. R. Haldeman, Eric Hoffer, Robert Hutchins, Jacqueline Kennedy, George F. Kennan, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Harold MacMillan, John J. McCloy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and William Paley; as well as journalists Charles Kuralt, Andy Rooney, Eric Sevareid, and Dan Rather. Photographs include images from A Tour of the White House with Mrs. Kennedy and images of Wolff with correspondents, actors, or documentary subjects, including Bill Cosby and H. R. Haldeman.
The collection is arranged into two series: General Papers and Production Files.
The GENERAL PAPERS, which are arranged alphabetically by type, consist of material not directly related to the creation of a particular program. Included are Wolff's history of the 334th Infantry, Fortune Favored the Brave, and a book of poetry, Seven Sonnets, also concerning World War II. Relating to CBS in this series are contracts; memos, mainly from the 1960s and 1980s, concerning program development that were exchanged with CBS executives such as Don Hewitt, Bill Leonard, Bill Moyers, Eric Ober, and Frank Stanton (as well as actors Groucho Marx and Peter Ustinov); a few ideas for broadcasts; and a speech and related background material thought to have been written by Wolff for William Paley. Other items of interest in the general correspondence are a transcript of an interview with Harold MacMillan, a lengthy 1966 proposal from Winston Burdette for a broadcast on the Middle East, a 1971 memo from Bill Leonard containing the text of Wolff's remarks about the documentary form for his Mundelein College retrospective, and a 1985 proposal developed with Dan Rather for a series on broadcasting and the First Amendment. Also filed here are several speeches and other miscellaneous writings by Wolff, as well as several photographs.
The PRODUCTION FILES, which comprise the majority of the collection, are arranged alphabetically by title. Individual programs of multi-episode series such as Air Power, CBS Reports, Conversations with Eric Sevareid, and Of Black America are arranged alphabetically by title. The majority of the programs in the collection are represented solely by videotapes and a transcript of the program as broadcast. Except for a few items (most notably Terror in the Promised Land, an ABC program on which Wolff commented), the documented programs are CBS productions.
Unfortunately, several important programs with which Wolff was associated are barely represented. Adventure, which Wolff created in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, is represented only by a folder of newspaper clippings. About The Selling of the Pentagon, the controversial special which helped define the relationship between the U.S. government and television and which led to the publication of the CBS News Book of Standards, the collection contains only a transcript and a videotape.
While the majority of the Production Files consist of records pertaining to film and television documentaries, they also include documentation pertaining to Wolff's four years at WBBM, primarily transcripts of the series The Untouchables, which concerned drug abuse in Chicago, and The Quiet Answer, which dealt with race relations in that city. That program is thought to be one of the first uses of an audio tape recorder in radio production.
Some of the best documented programs require further discussion. For Air Power, the collection contains correspondence regarding the purchase of stock footage -- from which the project was largely created -- from the Office of Foreign Property, and a promotional brochure for the syndicated sale of the series of CBS Films. (Also relating to Air Power is the Steven Scheuer interview conducted on All About TV: The Television Documentary Form, in which Wolff discussed the government's initial interest in the project. Later, when an unflattering episode aired, Wolff found government agents in his office.)
Representing the period of Wolff's European leave of absence from CBS, the collection contains documentation about two films (Kamikaze and Smashing of the Reich) produced by his own production company, Irja Films. Some of the same stock footage used in the production of Air Power was used in these films, and the inclusion of shot lists for Kamikaze allows for interesting comparisons. Also included are correspondence, script drafts, poster designs, and reviews.
After rejoining CBS in 1961, Wolff produced and wrote the popular and successful A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy, and the evolution of this important program is well represented. Included are variant scripts, films, black and white photographs, correspondence, and a copy of the published book that was based on the special. The program 1968 is also strongly represented by draft material, including a script for a related but apparently unproduced special, 1968 Revealed. The programs aired as the series Of Black America are represented by reviews and photographs of host Bill Cosby on the set. The Eric Sevareid series also includes reviews, as well as some correspondence with the prominent individuals interviewed.
All the paper records in the collection are at call number Mss 830 and are listed with box and folder numbers. The contents list indicates call numbers for the photographs, films, and videotapes.
