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. Collection includes sound recordings, moving images, and digital files to which access is restricted. Access to these materials is governed by repository policy and may require the production of listening or viewing copies. Researchers requiring access must notify Special Collections and University Archives in advance and pay fees for reproduction services as necessary.
Paper finding aid with additional information is available in Special Collections & University Archives.
Peter Steele (1918 - ) was a political and industrial writer who supported conservative causes and wrote against socialism and left-wing politics.
He first found employments with CBS, writing scripts, producing, and directing programs for radio and television. He worked for the Associated Industries of Missouri (A.I.M.) as Director of Education, for General Electric as a consultant to write the policy and manual for corporate support, and founded Peter Steele Associates which would later become Communications Research Inc. (now defunct).
While at A.I.M he wrote "Blueprint for World Revolt," which became so popular that A.I.M. published it as a pamphlet that was intended to introduce readers to the evils of socialism. He also wrote numerous other articles and short stories.
The collection contains correspondence, writings, speeches, Associated Industries of Missouri (A.I.M.) files, General Electric reports, Group Research Reports, Inc. files, Communications Research Reports, research lists, and cassette tape recordings by Steele.
Outgoing correspondence is filed by date, 1946-1975.
Incoming correspondence is alphabetically arranged by last name, or title of agency/company.
Writings are organized alphabetically by title of work and included is "Blueprint for World Revolt," "Marxist-Leninist Man," and "That Which is Denied."
Speeches are organized by title of speech and the paper finding aid includes information on where the speech was given and the date.
Associated Industries of Missouri (A.I.M.) files include notices, reports, newsletters, service department reports and other documents.
General Electric files include reports.
Group Research Reports, Inc. files include introductory materials and appendix, individual indexes, organization index, publication lists, and reports.
Communications Research Reports include newsletters and presentation materials.
The collection also includes five folders of xeroxes samples from a notebook that was damaged in a fire. The notebook entries represented an accretion of information on persons as individual members of organizations. Steele was interested in people who actively sought to influence public affairs and he tracked their involvement in long-term movements.
Other material includes an unidentified report entitled "Preserving the Land of the Free," other unidentified writings, charts, and technical experiments.
An addendum contains two cassette tape recordings of a letter addressed to Special Collections Librarian, Ed Kemp, dated April 1979, in which Steele clarifies historical, biographical, and research information. The paper finding aid contains a typed summary of these recordings.