The Donald B. Hyatt Papers are organized into three series: Biographical Information, Television, and Motion Pictures. The collection reflects Hyatt's involvement with numerous television documentaries, particularly Project XX and Victory at Sea. The bulk of the collection consists of film scores for Project XX by Robert Russell Bennett, and films.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION contains two articles about Hyatt: “The World of Donald Hyatt,” a reprint from the January 1961 issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, and “Hyatt's Candid Culture,” an article published in the April 1961 issue of TV Radio Mirror, as well as a transcript and questions from a telephone interview regarding the production of Victory at Sea (November 10, 1972).
The TELEVISION file is the largest series in this collection and documents the programs with which Hyatt was involved. Included are treatments, outlines, continuities, drafts of scripts, music scores to thirty-four programs from Project XX, schedules, shot lists, and miscellaneous production and promotional materials for such programs as America's Music, The American Experience, DuPont Show of the Week, Project XX, The Secret of Freedom, Wisdom, The World of ..., and Victory at Sea. In addition several productions are filed alphabetically under Special Projects if no other more appropriate television series title could be determined. The subject matter of these documentaries is diverse; for example, programs for Project XX and Special Projects range from “The Jazz Age” to “Eisenhower on Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief.” The World of ... series includes programs on such personalities as Benny Goodman, Bob Hope, Darryl F. Zanuck, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jimmy Doolittle, Maurice Chevalier, and Sophia Loren, while Victory at Sea focuses on World War II naval battles. Researchers should consult the contents list to obtain a complete program listing.
The MOTION PICTURE file contains a script for the movie version of Victory at Sea.
