View XML QR Code

John D. McCallum Papers, circa 1920-1988

Overview of the Collection

Creator
McCallum, John D. (John Dennis), 1924-1988
Title
John D. McCallum Papers
Dates
circa 1920-1988 (inclusive)
Quantity
26 Linear feet of shelf space, (42 Boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 799 (collection)
Summary
Professional papers of author John Dennis McCallum, along with a small amount of personal material.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Author John Dennis McCallum (1924-1988) grew up in Tacoma, Washington. His parents were Mildred Tiedeman McCallum and George McCallum, and he was one of five siblings. He graduated from Washington State University in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in English and journalism, after interrupting his education to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II with the 670th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He was a student-athlete who became a prolific author, a radio and television broadcaster, and a popular and successful lecturer.

McCallum played briefly in professional baseball with the Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League, and then began his professional writing career. First, he worked as a staff journalist for several Pacific Northwest newspapers, then moved to New York, beginning his work there with a daily sports column for a small tabloid newspaper. Within a few years, he had a nationally syndicated column for the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He published his first book in 1954, eventually producing nearly 40 in total, mostly popular biographies and sports reference books. His books include sole-authored works as well as many collaborations, and some projects where he operated behind the scenes as a ghostwriter. In addition to these activities, he engaged in a variety of editorial work, and served as public relations director for the National Football Hall of Fame.

In 1961, he married dancer and television actress Marjie Millar, whom he met while working on her biography. They divorced in 1963. The biography, with the working title "Talk About a Girl," never published, is now lost.

McCallum received recognition for his important contributions to Washington State athletics, and was named to the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame (1969) and the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame (1993). Among his other honors are the Washington State University Alumni Achievement Award (1975) and a distinguished service award from Pacific Lutheran University (1972). His best-known book, a biography of Ty Cobb titled "The Tiger Wore Spikes," was named the best sports book of 1956 by the New York Times.

Return to Top

Historical Note

Many terms historically used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities are offensive and were used to dismiss, discount and dehumanize these individuals and communities. Terms often focused on a perceived impairment and not the person. MASC recognizes the harm caused by these terms. We retain the language in this finding aid to document history and preserve context.

Return to Top

Content Description

This collection consists of professional papers of author John Dennis McCallum, along with a small amount of personal material. It includes correspondence, manuscripts of books and articles by McCallum and others, galley proofs, McCallum publications (articles and pamphlets), unpublished manuscripts, collected research material, publicity and promotion for McCallum's books and lectures, reviews of his work, and photographs.

The papers include documents associated with 24 of his published books, many of his newspaper and magazine articles, some of his other professional endeavors including public speaking and broadcasting, and small amount of personal material related to his family and his wife, Marjie Millar. The full spectrum of his writing is evident, from early newspaper columns through his many books, and projects unfinished at the time of his death. The collection contains extensive evidence of McCallum's work, offering insight into his writing process and, especially, his collaborations, as well as the business aspects of making a living as a professional writer. His sports reference books (football, basketball, boxing) and popular biographies are well represented. McCallum carefully documented his professional accomplishments, and much of this documentation is included in the "personal brochure" portion of the collection (Series 1).

Series 1. "Personal brochure," circa 1930s-1986. This is McCallum's dossier of promotion and publicity material, minor McCallum publications (pamphlets and clippings of articles), reviews of his work, honors, program and event information, and correspondence, including fan mail.

Series 2. Correspondence, 1936-1987. Personal and professional correspondence. Most of the correspondence is incoming, related to McCallum's books and other professional projects. Several of the subjects of McCallum's biographical books are among the correspondents, notably Ty Cobb, members of the Kelly family of Philadelphia, members of the Eisenhower family, and forensic pathologist Charles Larson. Authors James Warner Bellah and Vic Hurley, creative collaborators of McCallum, are represented, as well as many well-known American sports figures, and business associates including McCallum's literary agent, Barthold Fles, and various publishers. There is also a smaller amount of personal correspondence with family members and friends.

Series 3. Book files, 1942-1986. This series constitutes the bulk of the collection, and includes materials related to McCallum's published books, both sole-authored works and collaborations: manuscripts (many are incomplete, and in some cases not in order), correspondence, collected research materials, photographs, and a small amount of promotion material and reviews. This series is divided into 24 subseries, each corresponding to an individual title:

Subseries 3.1: "Big Eight Football," circa 1978.

Subseries 3.2: "Big Ten Football since 1895," circa 1975-1976.

Subseries 3.3: "College Football, USA" (collaboration with Charles Pearson), 1954-1973. Includes manuscripts, correspondence, and research material related to an earlier version of the project, which covered both college and professional football.

Subseries 3.4: "Getting Into Pro Football," 1947-1977. The contents of this series cover a long period of development for this project, much of which was never published. Most notably, there is material from an early collaboration with Washington State College athletic trainer Wilbur "Doc" Bohm on a general handbook of sports for boys emphasizing fitness and training. As background research for this project, Bohm conducted a survey of prominent athletes, trainers, and coaches in 1954, and their responses are included in this subseries.

Subseries 3.5: "The Gladiators: A Chronicle of PLU Sports," circa 1972.

Subseries 3.6: "Ivy League Football," 1976-1982.

Subseries 3.7: "PAC-10 Football: The Rose Bowl Conference," 1970-1982.

Subseries 3.8: "Southeastern Conference Football," circa 1979-1980.

Subseries 3.9: "This Was Football," circa 1953-1959.

Subseries 3.10: "College Basketball, USA," circa 1970s.

Subseries 3.11: "Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions," circa 1930s-1970s.

Subseries 3.12: "World Heavyweight Boxing Championship," circa 1973-1978.

Subseries 3.13: "Beginner's Book of Fishing," circa 1957.

Subseries 3.14: "Crime Doctor" (collaboration with Charles Larson), circa 1940s-1970s.

Subseries 3.15: "Dave Beck" (collaboration with Dave Beck), circa 1959-1986.

Subseries 3.16: "Dumb Dan," 1953-1955.

Subseries 3.17: "Everest Diary" (collaboration with Lute Jerstad), 1963-1972.

Subseries 3.18: "Going Their Way," circa 1968-1969.

Subseries 3.19: "Scooper" (collaboration with Scoop Conlon), circa 1950s-1960.

Subseries 3.20: "Six Roads from Abilene," circa 1960s.

Subseries 3.21: "The Story of Dan Lyons" (collaboration with Dan Lyons), circa 1972-1973.

Subseries 3.22: "That Kelly Family," circa 1942-1970s.

Subseries 3.23: "The Tiger Wore Spikes," circa 1955-1956.

Subseries 3.24: "Ty Cobb," circa 1965-1975. This subseries contains several versions of the book manuscript, but most are incomplete, and some are intermixed.

Series 4. Other McCallum publications, 1950-1986. The publications in this series include newspaper columns, magazine articles, pamphlets, encyclopedia contributions, and album liner notes. The series contains manuscripts, clippings, tear sheets, full issues of periodicals, and pamphlets.

Series 5. Unpublished manuscripts by McCallum, and some unidentified manuscripts, circa 1960s-1980s. This series contains materials related to several unpublished projects.

Series 6. Unpublished manuscripts (McCallum collaborations and works by other authors), circa 1940s-1986. This series contains materials related to several unpublished projects, including "Crime Doctor II," a sequel to "Crime Doctor," McCallum's published collaboration with Dr. Charles Larson; a biography of Hugh McDonald in collaboration with James Warner Bellah; and a biography of Bellah with the working title "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

Series 7. Speeches, broadcast projects, personal and miscellaneous material, and memorabilia, circa 1920-1982.

Series 8. Media: audio recordings and film, circa 1950s-1980s. This series is divided into three subseries:

Subseries 8.1. Audiocassettes. McCallum produced or collected these recordings in the course of conducting research for various books. Transcripts and other related documents are located in other series in the collection.

Subseries 8.2: Washington State University media.

Subseries 8.3: Other media produced or collected for McCallum projects (professional and personal, non-WSU).

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]

John Dennis McCallum Papers, circa 1920-1988 (Cage 799)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in eight series. This arrangement was created during processing, in the absence of an existing organizational scheme. Much of the material was received as loose papers, intermixed and unlabeled. Many of the book-length manuscripts in the collection are incomplete. They were reconstructed from sections and pages that had been scattered, and, sometimes, intermixed with other unrelated material. Series 1 is arranged as it was received, in McCallum's original order. Series 2 is arranged alphabetically.

Acquisition Information

John McCallum's family donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in 1989 and 1990 (MS.1989.75, MS.1990.09).

Processing Note

Cheryl Gunselman processed this collection in 2013-2014.

In 2022, in response to evolving standards regarding the language used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities, Gayle O’Hara added a Historical Note to this finding aid.

Related Materials

John Dennis McCallum Manuscripts, 1956-1960 (Cage 64)

David Stidolph Papers, 1941-1997 (Cage 798) includes extensive correspondence with McCallum, covering a wide range of personal and professional topics.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Cheryl Gunselman
2014

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West