Scope and arrangement
The Harold Ross letters to William Shawn consist of internal New Yorker memoranda (mostly written by Ross to Shawn) regarding various articles; a typescript of a review by St. Clair McKelway and a carbon copy of a letter to James Thurber. Items are dated 1942-1947; some typed memos bear revisions and notes in pencil.
The collection indicates Ross (known for his detailed memos) and Shawn candidly discussed a review submitted by former New Yorker reporter and editor, St. Clair McKelway. In the six page article McKelway declared Alfred Kinsey a genius and described Kinsey's forthcoming book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Ross and Shawn wrestled to make a decision about the piece; one editor, presumably Ross, regarded it as too sentimental and compared it to a Victorian novel. They ultimately declined to publish it because of its overt sexual content and the fact McKelway had only read one chapter of the not yet published book.
The other memos mention Janet Flanner, Joseph Lewis, Brendan Gill, Time, and Life. In his 1947 letter to Thurber, Ross refers to Thomas Carlyle's doubts on the subject of genius.