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Creator
New York Times Company
Call number
MssCol 17785
Physical description
3.15 linear feet (8 boxes); 4.37 Gigabytes (6 PDF files)
Preferred Citation

New York Times Company records. Orvil Dryfoos papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Orvil Dryfoos (1912-1963) was a newspaper executive and the publisher of The New York Times from 1961 to 1963. The Orvil Dryfoos papers document Dryfoos's daily activities and the operations of The Times, particularly during his tenure as vice president, president, and publisher from 1954 to 1963. The collection also contains Dryfoos's private business papers and records concerning the Dryfoos family's finances, travels, and other personal matters.

Biographical/historical information

Newspaper executive Orvil Eugene Dryfoos (1912-1963) was the publisher of The New York Times from 1961 to 1963. Dryfoos was born in New York City and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1934. After college, he worked on Wall Street, and in 1937 became a partner at Sydney Lewinson and Company. In 1941, he married Marian Effie Sulzberger, eldest daughter of Arthur Hays Sulzberger and Iphigene Ochs who held a controlling interest in The Times; they had three children. Dryfoos left trading on the stock exchange in 1942 and committed himself to newspaper publishing. He began working for The Times as an entry-level reporter and makeup editor, and in 1943 became an assistant to the publisher. In that capacity, he gained exposure to all aspects of running the company, including the operations of paper mills and a radio station.

In 1955, Dryfoos succeeded Julius Ochs Adler as vice-president of The Times and became a member of the board of directors. Three years later he was promoted to president of the company. When Sulzberger suffered a stroke in 1957, Dryfoos took over most daily operational decisions. He formally succeeded Sulzberger as publisher of The Times in 1961.

In addition to running the paper, Dryfoos was a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, Dartmouth College, and Fordham University, and headed The New York Times Foundation, the charitable arm of The Times.

A printers' strike broke out on December 8, 1962, and halted the production of The Times and six other New York daily newspapers. Although Dryfoos left most of the bargaining responsibilities to his general manager, Amory Bradford, he was under great personal strain during the strike. The strike finally ended on March 31, 1963, and in early April, Dryfoos traveled to Puerto Rico to recuperate. There he became ill and was flown back to New York City, where he died on May 25, 1963.

Source: "Orvil E. Dryfoos." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981.

Scope and arrangement

The Orvil Dryfoos papers document Dryfoos's daily activities as vice president, president, and publisher of The New York Times (primarily from 1954 to 1963), as well as the operations of The Times during these years. Additionally, the collection contains records concerning Dryfoos's involvement as a trustee or board member for various organizations, and his family's finances, travels, and other personal matters.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by file title. Entries without box and folder numbers cross-reference related material in other files. Included are people files, containing items to, from, or concerning various individuals, and subject files that are titled by topical keywords, document format, organization name, and Times departments and bureaus.

The bulk of the collection is made up of Dryfoos's office files, which consist of correspondence with Times staff members and Dryfoos's copies of memoranda and reports that were distributed among Times executives. Also present are files on the operations of affiliate companies; Dryfoos's daily activities reports, diaries and appointment books; and readers' mail files.

Staff member files, listed by name or grouped in the Staff section, largely contain internal memoranda concerning news coverage, assignments, assessments of staff members, personnel matters (promotions and retirement), and letters between Dryfoos and individual staff members. Occasionally these files include letters from readers commenting on specific stories. Of note are the files for upper-management, such as Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger and Executive Editor Turner Catledge, which deal with personnel, newspaper production, and operational decisions for various departments. Memoranda with executives are located in various subject files as well. Of particular importance is the subject file on the 1962-1963 printers' strike, which features Dryfoos's communications with striking staff members.

Readers' mail makes up a sizable portion of the collection. These files contain incoming letters from readers as well as many of Dryfoos's responses as publisher (1961-1963). Letters feature feedback on news stories and editorials. Notable topics discussed include coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Drew Pearson libel suit; civil rights and race relations; Zionism and Israel, particularly the trial of Adolf Eichmann; The Times' libel case in Birmingham, Alabama; and air pollution.

Diaries and appointment books (1954-1963) provide a thorough look into Dryfoos's day-to-day and even hour-to-hour responsibilities. The diaries contain detailed summaries of every meeting, phone call, and other activity that Dryfoos participated in. The appointment books give brief accounts of Dryfoos's schedule.

The Tributes to Orvil Dryfoos files consist of congratulatory messages sent to Dryfoos from people around the country upon his promotions to vice president, president, and publisher of The Times. In Memoriam files hold sympathy letters sent to The Times in the months after his death. Tributes also include newspaper clippings concerning these events.

In addition to the Times-related records, the collection contains Dryfoos's personal papers, private business records, and his family's papers. Among the personal papers are copies of Dryfoos' birth and death certificates and other personal documents. Present are correspondence files for many of the organizations that Dryfoos was affiliated with as a trustee, board member, or charitable supporter. Family papers include records of household, personal, and travel expenses, and financial records, such as balance sheets, New York Times Company stock holdings and transactions, wills, and estate records for various Dryfoos family members. Photographs of Dryfoos with his colleagues and family are also present.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by file title.

Administrative information

Custodial history

The Dryfoos papers were processed and microfilmed by the New York Times in 1981. The original records that were filmed, which amounted to 19.5 linear feet of files, were not retained. After 1981, 3.42 additional linear feet of material were added to the collection but not microfilmed. The New York Public Library acquired the entire collection (both microfilm and paper portions) in 2007.

Source of acquisition

Donated by New York Times Company, 2007.

Processing information

Compiled by Philip Heslip, 2013

A guide for the microfilmed papers was prepared in 1981 by Charles St. Vil, manager of the The New York Times Archives (the original guide is available at the beginning of reel 1 of the microfilm). At that time the papers were arranged and described in four sections: Biographical file (comprising Readers Mail and the Staff correspondence), Subject file, Tributes, and Private Papers. According to St. Vil's guide: "The Biographical and Subject files represent only a fraction of the Dryfoos papers, since most of his active files were transferred to the central records center, the Corporate Records Library, where they were interfiled with the papers from other offices of the company." These can be found among the New York Times Company records. General files.

The New York Public Library digitized the microfilmed records in 2011. This finding aid describes both the microfilmed and paper files.

Related Material

Forms part of New York Times Company records

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for documents created by New York Times Company principals and staff has been transferred to The New York Public Library.

Access restrictions

The microfilmed files have been digitized and are available in the reading room. Each microfilm reel has a corresponding PDF document. Files can be located by their reel and frame numbers. For example: r.3-2367 points to Reel 3, Frame 2367. Frame numbers line up with the PDF's page numbers.