- unitid
-
{"value"=>"23101", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b21041383", "type"=>"local_b"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 23101", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1925-1992", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1925/1992"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"William Shawn papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"46 boxes, 3 oversized folders", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"18.65 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Manuscripts and Archives</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The William Shawn papers date from 1925 to 1992, and primarily concern Shawn's work as editor of the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> from 1952 to 1987. The collection offers insight into Shawn's editorial and administrative decisions, his relationships with writers and colleagues, internal tensions at the magazine, magazine finances and business practices, and public perceptions of the magazine and of Shawn. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with staff, contributors, and readers. The collection contains a small number of files concerning Shawn's journalism, editing, and writing before and after his time with the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Shawn, William", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>William Shawn was born William Chon in Chicago, Illinois in 1907. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he worked as a journalist and was the Midwest editor for a news service, the International Illustrated News. He began submitting work to the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> in 1933 when his wife, Cecille Lyon Shawn, obtained a fact checker job there. In 1939, he became the managing editor, working closely with the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>'s founder and editor, Harold Ross.</p> <p>After Ross's death in 1951, Shawn was appointed editor, a position he held for 35 years. Under Shawn's guidance, the magazine gained recognition for its socially-conscious and culturally-influential reporting, while Shawn gained a reputation among many of the magazine's contributors as a skilled and empathetic editor of both fiction and nonfiction.</p> <p>The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were prosperous decades for the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>, though the 1960s onward saw increased conflicts between the editorial and business side of the magazine. In 1978, in the wake of conflicts with chairman Peter Fleischmann over the appointment of his successor, Shawn announced his intention to retire in two years. Shawn ultimately rescinded his resignation. In 1985, the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> was acquired by Advance Publications, a media company owned by S.I. Newhouse. Shawn was pushed out of his position as editor in 1987.</p> <p>Shawn went on to work as an editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and spent much of his time working on a novel. He died in 1992.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The majority of the files in the collection originated at William Shawn's offices at the New Yorker, and were taken to his home when he left the magazine in 1987. The papers were in the Shawn family's possession until their purchase by the New York Public Library.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The William Shawn papers date from 1925 to 1992, and primarily concern Shawn's work as editor of the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> from 1952 to 1987. Shawn's <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> files offer insight into Shawn's editorial and administrative decisions, his relationship with writers and colleagues, internal tensions at the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>, magazine finances and business practices, and public perceptions of the magazine and of Shawn. The <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> files contain correspondence and administrative and editorial files. Personal papers contain a mix of <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>-related material and purely personal documents. The collection also contains files concerning Shawn's early journalism and writing; his editing work with Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; and fiction and poetry written after his retirement from the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>.</p> <p><span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> correspondence files chiefly contain incoming letters and memoranda, though copies of Shawn's outgoing communications are sometimes present. The bulk of the correspondence is held in name files, which are alphabetically arranged by correspondent. Correspondence contains discussion of nonfiction pieces and ideas for nonfiction pieces; fiction editors' opinions on stories; pay and advances; magazine policies and practices; and correspondents' lives beyond their work with the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>. The correspondence files include some manuscripts, but few have editorial comments or marks. Early internal correspondence includes Harold Ross's memoranda to Shawn and copies of Ross's correspondence with other staff members. The Katharine S. White correspondence files contain her comments on non-fiction, fiction, advertisements, and cartoons. Correspondence dated after Shawn's appointment as editor in 1952 increasingly relates to pay, contracts, and general policies.</p> <p>Administrative and editorial files date primarily from the 1960s to 1987. The files document a number of crises at the magazine: the 1965 publication of Tom Wolfe's attack on Shawn in the <span class=\"title\">New York Herald Tribune</span> magazine; staff dissatisfaction and motions to unionize; Shawn's 1978 resignation; controversy over statements made by Alastair Reid in 1984; the magazine's acquisition by Advance Publications in 1985; and Shawn's departure from the magazine in 1987. Shawn's policy statements and memoranda to staff evince his ongoing efforts to reconcile new developments at the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> with his sense of the magazine's identity and his desire to maintain its editorial traditions. Advertising files include correspondence, reports, and draft copy of advertisements for the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span>. Public opinion and press coverage of the magazine are documented through clippings and letters from readers, including copies of letters to the editor from 1970 to 1975.</p> <p>Personal papers date from the 1930s to 1992, and contain files from the <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> office that Shawn identified as \"personal,\" as well as miscellaneous material from Shawn's household. The personal papers include further correspondence with colleagues; social correspondence; correspondence regarding awards and accolades received by Shawn; and writings and notes by Shawn, some of which relate to <span class=\"title\">New Yorker</span> contributors and their work.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The William Shawn papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/23101#c1379181'>Series I: Early Writings and Journalism</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1920s-1939, 1950-1951</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series I includes International Illustrated News clippings and short stories that Shawn wrote under the name \"Daniel Chase,\" among other work.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/23101#c1379182'>Series II: New Yorker Files</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1925-1992</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/23101#c1379370'>Series III: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1929, 1939-1992</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/23101#c1379375'>Series IV: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1987-1992</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series IV contains a small amount of correspondence and several manuscripts sent to Shawn.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/23101#c1379376'>Series V: Fiction and Poetry</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1977-1992</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Wallace and Allen Shawn via Glenn Horowitz Bookseller Inc., 2014.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by<span class=\"name\">Kit Fluker</span> in <span class=\"date\">2015</span>.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Correspondence files for living individuals are closed until the death of the named individual, per seller agreement.</p>"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"Box 46 processed by Heather Lember.", "date"=>"2018-11-06"}
- date_start
-
1925
- keydate
-
1925
- date_end
-
1992
- date_inclusive_start
-
1925
- date_inclusive_end
-
1992
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"William Shawn papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library"}