The John MacVane Papers, 1935-1977, are comprised of biographical material, correspondence,
scripts, writings, speeches, notes, and miscellaneous material in paper form and on
microfilm. After filming, newspaper clippings, which may be found primarily in the sections
of biographical material and writings, were returned to the donor so are available only on
the microfilm. Films, tape and disc recordings, and photographs constitute the final
portions of the collection.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, 1940-1975, consists of two folders of newspaper clippings, and
other printed matter dealing with various aspects of MacVane's career.
The CORRESPONDENCE, 1940-1974, which is only a minor portion of the total collection,
divides into three categories: general correspondence, fan mail, and dispatches. Although
providing only sketchy documentation, the general correspondence, 1940-1974, contains some
items of note. The researcher will find several interesting letters from MacVane to Stanley
Richardson, London director of NBC News, and to military personnel concerning wartime
broadcast difficulties in North Africa. Other interesting correspondence dating from the
World War II era includes a note from Niles Trammell and xeroxed congratulations from
Charles De Gaulle written upon the publication of MacVane's book, Journey into War. A few wartime letters from MacVane's mother
comprise virtually all the personal material in the collection. Documentation of MacVane's
career as a broadcaster for ABC consists of several lengthymemoranda to and from such
executives as Elmer Lower, William Sheehan, and Jesse Zousmer. Also of interest is MacVane's
critique of a Howard K. Smith broadcast in 1970 and an internal memo on the writing of radio
news. The collection also includes correspondence with Don Hillman of NET in regard to a
special on Alaska. Correspondence deriving from MacVane's wide contacts with diplomats
include letters from Henry Cabot Lodge (1950, 1965, and 1966) and Warren P. Austin (1952)
and to G.M. Malenkov (1953), Charles DeGaulle (1963), and Andrei Gromyko (1963). There is
also a personal handwritten note from Eleanor Roosevelt (1949).
The fan mail, 1941-1946, pertains primarily to MacVane's broadcasts from Europe during
World War II. The dispatches, 1942-1943, relate to coverage of the North African campaign
and consist of cables to and from Richardson concerning the transmission of radio
broadcasts. Also to be found here are dispatches to Merrill Mueller and other NBC
correspondents from MacVane while at the front as well as dispatches to MacVane from NBC
reporter Grant Parr.
The most significant material in the collection consists of news SCRIPTS, 1940-1977, which
are arranged first by network and then by program. Although the collection includes only a
portion of all the material broadcast over the air by MacVane, it, nevertheless, provides
important documentation of many of the events to which he was a witness. With the exception
of a number of scripts for the wartime program U.S.
Army Hour, most of MacVane's NBC scripts are unidentified by program title. As a
consequence these scripts are arranged into three categories - North African scripts, U.S. Army Hour scripts, and miscellaneous
scripts. Within the first category, the researcher will find accounts of MacVane's
experiences with the Allied forces in North Africa in 1942 and 1943 as well as a number of
items written by Merrill Mueller. The category miscellaneous scripts includes two radio
dramas, This is London and The Story of Omaha Beach, in which MacVane
appeared, and a number of post-war scripts. No scripts relating to his work in London, 1940
and 1941, and on the continent, 1944 and 1945, may be found in the collection.
Although MacVane began his employment with ABC in 1953, this section of the collection
dates to 1950 when, although actually in the employ of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., he
produced and moderated United or Not? for
the ABC network. Unlike the NBC material which consists only of radio scripts, the ABC
scripts divide into three categories - radio, television, and ABC affiliates - and then
subdivide alphabetically by program. The collection includes very complete transcriptions of
United or Not? and good documentation of
his contributions to the radio program News Around
the World and the untitled, five-minute spots broadcast on the hour. After 1965
MacVane was a participant on the program Issues and
Answers, and the collection includes transcripts of his interviews with George
Ball, Ralph Bunche, Moshe Dayan, Abba Eban, Arthur Goldberg, Daniel P. Moynihan, John Scali,
and Kurt Waldheim.
The NET material in the collection includes scripts of a series on Alaska and a few scripts
for The World at Ten. In addition, the
researcher will find scripts written by MacVane for Voice of America, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, and several European networks.
Some of the gaps in coverage noted above are filled by the FILMS, TAPES AND DISCS which
accompany the collection. In addition, the researcher will find tapes of a number of MacVane
broadcasts included with the NBC Papers.
The collection contains relatively good documentation of MacVane's WRITINGS, 1935-1977.
Included are articles written for the Brooklyn
Daily News, the International News Service, and various magazines and newspapers.
The researcher will find a particularly complete representation of the series of articles
about the United Nations which he wrote for O
Estado de Sao Paulo. (These are in English.) There are also copies of several
pamphlets concerning the United Nations which were written under the auspices of the Public
Affairs Committee.
Among the more lengthy manuscripts in the collection are “First Objective,”
published in 1943 under the title Journey into
War and two unpublished memoirs, “Wild Blow the Pipes of War” and
“The Great Round Wonder.” This section also includes a small file of poetry and
a fragment of a novel, “Nightfall in Sahara.”
The original collection includes eight notebooks apparently dating from the World War II
period and three from a trip to Alaska in 1960. Because the handwriting was undated, faint,
and difficult to decipher, these materials were not selected for filming. The microfilm
edition does include, however, xeroxed NOTES of an interview with Charles De Gaulle in
December, 1940, and recollections of his departure from Paris in June, 1940.
The final text portion of the MacVane papers is comprised of MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL. Filed
here is a wartime interview with MacVane's mother, an ABC expense account record (1962),
regulations and information for the press corps during World War II, and cosed of
MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL. Filed here is a wartime interview with MacVane's mother, an ABC
expense account record (1962), regulations and information for the press corps during World
War II, and correspondence relating to MacVane's presidency of the American Radio News
Analysts and the United Nations Correspondents Association. The latter includes a copy of
his tribute to U Thant and his presidential report. Of note chiefly for their autograph
value are letters in the latter two files from Dean Acheson, Bernard Baruch, Omar Bradley,
Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, Dwight Eisenhower, Louis Johnson, John L. Lewis, Bernard Montgomery,
Richard Nixon, Robert Oppenheimer, and U Thant.
