Archives West Finding Aid

The Jack Olsen Papers are a rich resource for researchers interested in the diverse range of subjects Jack Olsen wrote about from the early 1950s through the 1960s. This collection also offers a rare opportunity to trace individual pieces of writing from their genesis to their published product. Jack Olsen has carefully preserved the notes, source materials and multiple drafts of much of his early work. This is especially true for the monographs series where the writing process of Olsen's book-length projects Black is Best, The Climb Up to Hell, and I'll Take Baseball is documented.

The Jack Olsen Papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, manuscript drafts and notes, source materials, reviews, and audiotapes. For the most part, the collection is arranged according to the original organization imposed by the author. The collection is divided into the following series: Correspondence, Monographs, Articles and Short Stories, Jack Olsen News Reportage, Jack Olsen Ideas and Concepts, Audiotapes, Photographs, and Oversize Material.

The Correspondence Series is arranged chronologically and is largely comprised of letters between Jack Olsen and Tom Sancton, a close friend Olsen met while working at the New Orleans Item.

The Monograph Series is arranged alphabetically. Within this series a researcher can find notes, source materials, manuscript drafts and completed manuscripts for three of Jack Olsen's published books: Black is Best (a biography of Cassius Clay), The Climb Up to Hell (an investigation of the deadly 1957 climb of a four man international team up the north face of Eiger, a mountain in the Swiss Alps) and I'll Take Baseball (an autobiography of Buzzie Bavasi written with Olsen's assistance). The series also includes materials related to Over the Fence is Out, a humorous book about his childhood Olsen published under the pseudonym Jonathan Rhoades, and work related to two unpublished novels.

The Articles and Short Stories series, also arranged alphabetically, is comprised of notes, source materials, manuscript drafts and published articles written by Jack Olsen. Most of the articles in this series were written while Olsen was a staff member of Sports Illustrated.

The Jack Olsen News Reportage series, arranged chronologically, traces Olsen's early days as a newspaper reporter. This series is mostly comprised of original and copied versions of the articles Jack Olsen wrote in the period from 1950 to 1959, although some notes and source materials are included.

The Sound Recordings series, arranged alphabetically first by monograph and then by article, comprises taped conversations used as source materials for much of Olsen's work. The series begins with a fascinating collection of 34 reels of taped conversations with Cassius Clay and members of his family, and continues with tapes for The Climb Up to Hell, I'll Take Baseball, and tapes for various articles.

The Photographs series archives an impressive collection of photographs and slides used by Olsen to write The Climb Up to Hell. The series also contains amusing on-the-job photographs of Jack Olsen's days in the Chicago bureau of Time Magazine.