AHJ_ah05593 Inventory of the Delos Smith Papers, 1922-1973 Smith (Delos) Papers University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
American Heritage Center Dept. 3924, 1000 E. University Avenue University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: 307.766.2574 Fax:307.766.5511 Email:ahcref@uwyo.edu URL:http://ahc.uwyo.edu/
2018

University of Wyoming

 Finding aid encoded by Leslie Waggener. 2018 Finding aid is in English Collection Summary Smith, Delos Delos Smith papers 1922-1973 05593 4.0 cubic ft. (4 boxes) University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center. English Papers of a a journalist, science editor, and music critic with United Press International (UPI) who also authored publications about the lives of music composers. Biography of Delos Smith

Delos Smith (1905-1973) was a science editor with United Press International (UPI). He wrote two columns for UPI, “Science Today,” and “The Music World.” Smith was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and was educated privately in keeping with his family's desire to direct him into the Methodist ministry. But despite family opposition, he chose to be a newspaperman and secretly got his first job in 1922 as a cub reporter on the Oklahoma City News. Smith's 42-year career with UPI began in 1931, and soon after he was singled out for the general news desk at UPI world headquarters in New York and was named overnight editor. He was responsible for planning news coverage on a global basis and sometimes took personal on-the-spot charge of domestic stories as well. He was appointed science editor in 1952 and it was in this capacity that he became best known. His writing in the field of science ranged from aerospace to zoology and earned him a variety of awards. In addition to his daily science column, Smith also served as UPI's music critic and authored a set of serialized articles (1953-1956) for Woman’s Day magazine titled “The Music in Your Life” about the lives of composers. He also authored a reference work, Music Is Your Life: The Lives of the Great Composers, which was published by Harper and Brothers in 1957.

 Scope and Content

The collection contains loose newspaper articles and scrapbooks of newspaper articles by Smith (1922-1971); background materials and telexes of “Science Today” columns (1972-1973); columns and background materials for Music Is Your Life (1953-1956); photographs of Delos Smith working as a journalist and of the UPI press room (1932-1955); memos and correspondence regarding UPI and stories written by Smith (1936-1973, undated); directories, published materials, and correspondence about the history of UPI (1933-1950); UPI newsletters (1947-1951); and press identification cards, membership cards, political buttons, badges, and medals (1930-1971).

 Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

 Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

 Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by Delos Smith at the date of processing.

 Acquisition Information

This material was received from Mrs. Delos Smith in 1974.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

 Access Terms United Press International. Composers -- Biography. Journalism, Scientific. Journalists -- United States. Music critics -- United States. <?xm-replace_text {Title as Subject}?> Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Journalism Music