University of Wyoming
Reginald Wright Kauffman was an author, editor, and journalist. While he mostly wrote novels, he also wrote poetry, self-help, non-fiction, and children’s books. Politically, he was originally a socialist before becoming an independent republican. Many of his earlier novels (including “House of Bondage”) dealt with the issue of white slavery, or forced prostitution. A supporter of women’s suffrage, he represented the United States at the first Congress of Men’s Societies for Women’s Suffrage in 1912, and promoted women's suffrage while traveling through Europe and parts of Africa.
Prior to WWI, Kauffman was a reporter and editor for various circulations, including the Philadelphia North American and the Saturday Evening Post (under George Horace Lorimer). He then worked as a war correspondence during WWI. From 1914-1915, he worked in France and Belgium for the North American Newspaper Alliance. After the U.S. entered the war in 1917, he was an accredited war correspondent with the French, Belgium, British, and American forces in Europe, and was the only accredited correspondent in French waters with the U.S. Navy. Kauffman was vocally opposed to military censorship with regards to journalism. After the war, he served as a representative of the Republican party in Europe as a peace delegate and as a member of the Red Cross in 1918-1919. He served as editorial columnist for the "Washington Post," the "Boston Transcript," and the "Bangor Daily News."
Kauffman spent twelve years of his life in Geneva, Switzerland, where he established the New York Herald Tribune’s news-bureau at the League of Nations, worked for the League’s adoption of the U.S. delegation’s draft for the Narcotics Treaty, and was involved with negotiations involving the endorsement of the Hays Motion Picture Code.
The Reginald Wright Kauffman collection contains business and professional correspondence; scrapbooks and newspaper clippings; books, manuscripts, and articles written by Kauffman; and manuscripts and correspondence written by his wife, Ruth. Both Kauffman’s career as a reporter and editor and as a novelist is represented in the collection.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
There are no known other archival collections created by Reginald Wright Kauffman at the date of processing.
This material was received from Andrew John Kauffman (son) in 1988 and Xenia Valerie Zeldin (granddaughter) from 1989-1990.
The collection was processed by Emily Christopherson in May 2012.
Item Description, Box Number, Reginald Wright Kauffman papers, Collection Number 09598, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Arranged alphabetically. Contains personal and professional correspondence (most of which is unorganized and includes correspondence with some well-known individuals), newspaper clippings and reviews relating to Kauffman and his writings, various speeches given by Kauffman, literary contracts, and other files relating to his various personal and professional interests. Series also contains one folder of photographs, depicting Kauffman and his family.
Arranged alphabetically by title. Contains short stories and articles written by Kauffman that were published in various journals and magazines; newspaper clippings of articles and columns written by Kauffman while working at the Philadelphia Press, Saturday Evening Post, Boston Transcript, Bangor Daily News, and the New York Herald Tribune; and drafts and notes for other writings. Most of his manuscript notes (on notecard-sized paper) are unidentified.
Arranged alphabetically by title. Contains published copies of Kauffman’s books and novels.
Arranged alphabetically. Ruth was Reginald Wright Kauffman’s wife. This series contains books and other manuscripts written by Ruth Kauffman, correspondence to and from Ruth, and a file relating to her involvement with WWI.