Frederick Enos Woltman papers , 1924-1970
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Woltman, Frederick Enos, 1905-1970
- Title
- Frederick Enos Woltman papers
- Dates
- 1924-1970 (inclusive)19241970
1940-1970 (bulk)19401970 - Quantity
- 13.5 linear feet, (11 containers, 1 volume) : 7 record storage boxes, 2 manuscript boxes, 2 photo boxes (medium flat), 1 volume
- Collection Number
- Ax 768, /repositories/2/resources/1011 (aspace_uri)
- Summary
- Frederick Enos Woltman (1905-1970) was a Pulizter Prize-winning investigative reporter known for impactful anti-communist exposés. The collection consists of correspondence, minor manuscripts, biographical material, clippings regarding Woltman and his work, the Sou Chan papers, and photographs.
- Repository
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University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives
UO Libraries--SCUA
1299 University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 5413463068
spcarref@uoregon.edu - Access Restrictions
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Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
- Additional Reference Guides
-
See the Current Collection Guide for detailed description and requesting options.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Historical Note
Frederick Enos Woltman (1905-1970) was born in York, Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Pittsburgh. He began his career in journalism as an investigative reporter for the New York Telegram. In 1932 he and Joseph Lilly collaborated on a series of articles about the real estate mortgage and bond business. This work earned the World-Telegram a Pulitzer Prize.
Woltman spent the bulk of his career writing articles meant to expose Communist infiltration into education, labor unions, church groups, and the government, as well as documenting Communist front organizations. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for this work which, among other things, predicted Earl Browder's expulsion from the Communist Party and the uncovering of Gerhard Eisler as the top agent of Moscow in the United States. In 1954 he wrote a five-part series critiquing Senator Joseph McCarthy, citing that he had largely influenced the American public to be more "security conscious" but had since "become a major liability to the cause of anti-Communism." wrote numerous "expose" articles about communist infiltration into education, labor unions, organized religion and government.
Other topics Woltman reported on include: police brutality, the Amer-asia case, anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, and the Ringling Brothers circus. In addition to his Pulitzer Prize, he also one the 1943 Page One Award of the Newspaper Guild of New York, the Heywood Broun Award of the American Newspaper Guild, the Silurian Annual Award (1946), and an AMVETS Special Citation (1950).
His newspaper career ended in 1957 when he suffered a series of paralytic strokes. Woltman spent years learning to read and speak again and spent his retirement years in Sarasota, Florida.
Content Description
The papers consist of correspondence, minor manuscripts, biographical material, clippings regarding Woltman and his work, the Sou Chan papers, books, and photographs.
Correspondence is largely incoming and arranged alphabetically by name of writer, both individuals and organizations. Major correspondents include: Eliot K. Baldwin; Edward N. Burns; Beverley Chan; Sou Chan; Viola Chan; Jack Cohen; Marshall Coles; David Dubinsky; James A. Farley; Jack Ferriss; Ruth Fisher; Nelson Frank; Elizabeth Hallman; Joseph Hayes; Martin Hoban; Roy W. Howard; Robert Kacocki; MacKinlay Kantor; Baynard Kendrick; George Knoerr; Bo McAnney; John D. McDonald; Arthur G. McDowell; Benjamin Mandel; Norman W. Mattis; Key Mayo; Henry L. Mencken; Ray Middleton; Richard Murphy; Louis B. Nichols; Nancy Ogden; Emmet Peter, Jr.; Oliver Pilat; Muriel Resnick; Martha L. Taylor Sarno; Abe Savage; Anya Smith; H. Allen Smith; Walker Sonte; Norman Thomas; Henry Trefflich; Art Troeleman; Marcello Truzzi; Richard Valentine; Lee B. Wood.
Manuscripts include magazine and newspaper articles, memos, pamphlets, and tearsheets, as well as manuscripts by others.
The Sou Chan papers include correspondence, mainly incoming, as well as poetry, memorabilia, biographical files, and printed materials. Newspaper article clippings comprise three boxes. Woltman planned to write a long article about Sou Chan and the House of Chan. Woltman obtained a collection of Sou Chan's correspondence of about 200 letters, 157 of them by Chan (1942-1968). There are also Chan family photographs available in the Photograph series.
The 1974 addendum consists of Woltman's master's thesis (1928) and a thesis by Joanna Reeves based on the Woltman collection (1967).
The 1986 accession consists of photographs, personal correspondence (1940s-1970s), a bible, a thesis by Joanna Reeves, clippings of Woltman's trips, and awards.
Photographs and negatives were housed and described separately for preservation reasons. Photographs include small to 8x10 sized mostly black and white prints of Woltman's and/or Chan's trips to Hong Kong and "Red" China (1952); prints of Woltman and family; U.S. Steel Corporation; and small photographs of David Dubinsky at the U.N.
Administrative Information
Return to TopDetailed Description of the Collection
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Description: Woltman (Frederick Enos) papers
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Anti-communist movements--United States--History--20th century
- Communism--United States--History--20th century
- Investigative reporting--United States--History--20th century
- Journalists--United States
- Reporters and reporting--United States--History--20th century
Geographical Names
- China--Photographs
Form or Genre Terms
- Correspondence
- Manuscripts for publication
- Photographs
