Archives West Finding Aid

This series includes an array of personal and biographical materials regarding Chet Huntley. Materials include memorabilia from Huntley's various endeavors, items he collected that reflect on his family history, and general biographical documents. Elementary and high school materials include a report card from 1925 and yearbooks ("The Trail") from 1927 and 1929. White House documents in this series consist of two photocopied Nixon Administration staff memos critiquing Huntley's public comments on Administration policies as well as proposing intervention on behalf of the Big Sky Resort development if Huntley would agree to support Montana Republican candidates.

This series includes incoming and outgoing correspondence with a diverse group of public figures and personal friends. Correspondence regarding Huntley's writing projects (series V) and the Big Sky Resort (series VIII) are located within those series. Materials include correspondence with international, national, and state political leaders, famous journalists and entertainers, well-regarded authors, and other American cultural figures. Some of the most notable individuals in this series are Chung Yum Kim (South Korea), Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Hubert H. Humphrey, Mike Mansfield, Arnold Olsen, Ted Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, Henry M. Jackson, Dean Rusk, George C. Wallace, Tim Babcock, H.G. Merriam, John Chancellor, Vadim Golovanov, Bob Hope, Joan Crawford, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mitzi Gaynor, Jack Benny, Douglas Fairbanks, Dick Cavett, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., Lady Bird Johnson, and Mrs. Chester W. Nimitz.

This series includes transcripts from Huntley's radio and television programs. Materials are predominantly narrator copy for news broadcasts but a few interview transcriptions are also present. The contents within this series are arranged conceptually and chronologically. Box one contains general materials from both radio and television broadcasts. Often a definite determination of radio or television broadcast could not be established; thus, materials are arranged chronologically based on the best available date information. Box one also includes a script for "Strange and Terrible Times." The film version of this production, 78(X):15, can be found in the Audio and Moving Pictures series of this collection. Boxes two through six are all radio scripts. Perspective, Emphasis, and Horizons were five-minute editorial commentaries for NBC Radio.

This series contains a mixture of typed and handwritten text for speeches Huntley delivered during his career as a newscaster and after retirement. Most documents exhibit editorial changes Huntley inserted up to the moment before delivering the address. Dates are identified in the content description whenever a date could be reliably established. Materials reflect a range of topics from commentary on current events to advocacy for investment proposals.

This series ranges from manuscript materials to magazine and essay collection articles. Chet Huntley's autobiographical account of growing up in rural Montana, The Generous Years, is prominent in this series. Materials include manuscript drafts, production proofs, promotional materials, and book reviews. This series also includes a mixture of drafts and clipped selections Huntley submitted to national magazines and published essay collections. "Somehow it Works" is a bound photo essay produced by NBC News staff, using the 1964 U.S. Presidential election as a focus for reflections on the American political process.

Materials in this series are articles, reports, and general documents Huntley collected as an outcome of his professional activities and as research for broadcast scripts and public addresses. The contents of this series reflect some of the most controversial aspects of Huntley's career, such as his opposition to the American Federation of Television Radio Artists (AFTRA) strike and the Federal Communications Commission's investigation into conflict of interest allegations generated by Huntley's concurrent endeavors as a reporter and an investment spokesperson.

This series includes magazine articles, newspaper columns, and small publications detailing the development of his broadcast career, retirement, economic development projects, and his death. Materials in this series were collected by Chet Huntley, his wife and family, as well as by long time friends. Most of the materials in this series are undated.

This series contains materials related to Chet Huntley's involvement with the development of Big Sky Resort south of Bozeman, Montana. Materials include property description documents, a U. S. Geologic Survey topographic map, correspondence, publicity packets generated during several different stages of development, press clippings, and "master plan" packets prepared for potential investorsùsome of the latter are bound and others are in folders. Press clippings include an array of newspaper articles, letters to the editor, and magazine features including a significant amount of material regarding local reactions to the project and protests based on environmental concerns. Written materials on Big Sky consist of handwritten notes reflecting on the Huntley's desire to develop the resort. These notes appear to be a draft speech for an investors' conference. The Lone Mountain Ranch property description includes several embedded photographs. These photographs were retained within the document to preserve their original context.

This series contains 433 photographs spanning Chet Huntley's life, with particular emphasis on his years with NBC News and the development of the Big Sky Resort. Photos 78(IX):178 - (IX):244 & 78(IX):384 - 78(IX):432 are a mixture of family photographs, candid images of Huntley during news broadcasts, and professional promotional glossies. For preservation purposes, photos 78(IX):245 - 78(IX):275 were removed from a photo album titled "Chet Huntley in Dayton February 18, 1969." A photocopy of the album cover is included with photo # 78(IX):245. Photos 78(IX):286 - 78(IX):384 and 78(IX):433 are Big Sky development images. This collection includes modern film negative for the following prints 78(IX):1, 78(IX):5, 78(IX):137, 78(IX):138, 78(IX):142, 78(IX):154, 78(IX):205, 78(IX):289, 78(IX):290, 78(IX):291, 78(IX):292, 78(IX):373, 78(IX):377.

This series contains materials from several different media formats ranging from audiocassette tapes to 16 mm film reels. Contents include materials Huntley created during his broadcasting career, materials he collected for personal interest, as well as items of appreciation and memorial. Items 78(X):1 through 78(X):5 are LPs; 78(X):6 is an audio cassette of unknown relationship to Chet Huntley; 78(X):7 and 78(X):8 are reel-to-reel audio tapes; 78(X):9 through 78(X):16 are 16mm film; 78(X):17 is a Fairchild Moviepak Seventy 10 cassette (single-sided film within a cassette case), and 78(X):18 is a VHS cassette duplicating materials on film reels 78(X):10, 78(X):12, and 78(X):13. Items 78(X):19 through 78(X):24 are audio cassettes and reel-to-reel audio tapes that were added to this collection in 2017. Items 78(X):26 through 78(X):29 were donated as part of accession 2019-003.

The materials in this series include mounted plaques, medallions, certificates of award and appreciation, honorary degrees, and memorial declarations bestowed upon Chet Huntley as a result of his professional career as well as one item of memorabilia. Three items in this series were bestowed with a parchment certificate. The one item of memorabilia in this series is a button inscribed with "Goodnight David, Goodnight Goliath," relating to Huntley's retirement from NBC News.

This series includes two bronze sculptures of Chet Huntley. The Chrysler Realty Corporation commissioned these sculptures in preparation for the opening of the Big Sky Resort. Derek Wernher completed the sculptures in 1972. In 2018 a sketch by American illustrator Leo Hershfield was moved from the 'biographical' folder in Series I to this series.

The materials in this series were donated to Archives and Special Collections in 2018 by Sharon Huntley Kahn, Chet Huntley's daughter, and include materials compiled by Kahn and materials given to Kahn by Tippy Huntley.