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Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm81057844
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of John Bartlow Martin, author, journalist, and United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, were deposited in the Library of Congress by Martin in 1978. Additional deposits were made from 1980 to 1988 by several donors, including Martin's wife, Frances R. Martin, who converted the entire collection to a gift in 1991.
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Audiocassettes and other sound recordings have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Maps have been transferred to the Geography and Map Division. Music sheets have been transferred to the Music Division. Some magazines have been transferred to the Serial and Government Publications Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the John Bartlow Martin Papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of John Bartlow Martin in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for further information.
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions.
Government regulations control the use of security classified items in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified material.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, John Bartlow Martin Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of John Bartlow Martin (1915-1987) cover the period
1900-1986, with the bulk of the material dated between 1939 and 1983. The
winner of numerous awards for excellence in magazine reporting and writing,
Martin credited his achievements in the fields of biography, political campaign
work, and public affairs to the skills he developed as a free-lance magazine
writer from the 1930s to the end of his life. The collection contains family
and personal papers and professional correspondence documenting all aspects of
Martin's varied career, as well as manuscript drafts and research materials for
his magazine articles and books, including an extensive set of files relating
to his highly acclaimed two-volume biography of Adlai E. Stevenson (1900-1965),
As an advance man, campaign speech writer, and political adviser to all of the Democratic presidential candidates from Stevenson in 1952 to George McGovern in 1972, Martin was in a good position to observe and chronicle the development of the modern political campaign at the national level. Martin recorded his observations in journals and memoranda which are perhaps the single most important items in the collection. Although their quality varies from campaign to campaign, with those written for Stevenson's 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns and Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential primary campaign supplying the fullest documentation, the journals provide a singular eyewitness account of the world of mid-century American campaign politics. The papers further include a similar series of personal memoranda kept as a journal by Martin while serving as United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, 1962-1964. Though not fully developed, this journal provides insight into Martin's reflections on the turbulent state of the Dominican Republic's internal political struggle during the administration of President Juan Bosch. However, material in the remainder of the Ambassador File does not allow for a more complete understanding of Martin's diplomatic career than that already available in his published diplomatic memoir,
In addition to political and diplomatic material, the collection also contains a rich assemblage of letters in the General Correspondence series, reflecting Martin's relationships with personal friends, literary colleagues and agents, editors, publishers, and government officials. This series maintains its original arrangement and is filed in reverse chronological order. Although selected portions of his correspondence were kept with associated material, Martin filed many of his letters, regardless of content, in the General Correspondence series and it should therefore be consulted for all phases of his life.
Martin was first and always a writer and one of a small group of independent reporters who made a living from full-time free-lance nonfiction writing. After a short period as a string reporter for the
Martin increasingly began to write serious nonfiction articles for mass-circulation magazines such as
Although he published several books directly from book-length manuscripts, some of Martin's more successful books derived from multi-series magazine articles which he later expanded. Martin's theme in these writings often centered on a specific social dilemma or behavioral problem, such as prison and labor reform, racial segregation, juvenile delinquency, and the mentally ill. The result of this practice was Martin's transfer of manuscripts and research materials from files associated with the articles to those created for the book. Where such situations exist, the Book File contains the final and most complete record of Martin's research and writing.
The best of Martin's articles and books are characterized by exhaustive research and social commitment, and each was the product of many drafts. Martin was an extensive reviser, and most of his drafts are heavily edited, allowing the researcher to trace the literary development of his social themes. The manuscript drafts are located within both the Article and Book files. Accompanied by selected research notes as well as indexes and outlines, they highlight Martin's work habits and the effect of those habits on his writing style and investigative techniques.
In 1952, Martin accepted a position on Adlai E. Stevenson's speech writing team. Referred to as "the Elks," because of the group's headquarters at the Elks Club in Springfield, Illinois, the team included David Bell, Arthur M. Schlesinger (1917- ), Robert Tufts, and W. Willard Wirtz. The Political File contains material relating to this campaign and to other political activities in which Martin participated, as do the campaign journals mentioned above. The journals Martin wrote following Stevenson's 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns are supplemented by a series of exhibit files containing speech drafts, notes, and other items. These files were assembled by Martin as a primary resource and are referred to in references and footnotes throughout the journals. The exhibit files, therefore, along with a corresponding numerical identification system, have been retained in their original order.
After working for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1960, Martin was appointed ambassador to the Dominican Republic in 1962. With the exception of Martin's ambassador's journal, the Ambassador File contains mostly routine records generated by Martin and his family during his two-year appointment. More significant, perhaps, are a series of notebooks written by Martin while ambassador and removed by him while researching his book,
Although Martin was known principally for his many prize-winning
magazine articles, his single greatest writing achievement may have been the
publication of
The collection is arranged in nine series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm81057844
Letters sent and received, including correspondence exchanged by family members other than with Martin, postcards, telegrams, estate papers, notes, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures.
Organized alphabetically by family member and arranged chronologically therein. Containers labeled "restricted" contain restricted material.
Diaries and diary notes kept by John Bartlow Martin, containing occasional literary notes and outlines.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, memoranda, telegrams, postcards, and miscellaneous enclosures.
The correspondence is maintained in its original order and is organized chronologically by year and therein alphabetically by correspondent. The letters within each correspondent's file are arranged in reverse chronologically order.
Correspondence, memoranda, postcards, telegrams, reports, financial and legal papers, photographs, notes, press releases, speeches and statements, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to Martin's appointment as United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Also includes an ambassador's journal in the form of memoranda for the file, which Martin maintained as his personal journal and which he used in the research for his book,
Organized alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, manuscript drafts, notes, reports, press releases, schedules and campaign itineraries, position papers, research material, briefing sheets, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to speeches and counsel provided in specific political campaigns and to individual politicians. Also includes journals and private memoranda in which Martin recorded his personal observations of the political campaigns in which he participated and of the politicians with whom he worked.
The series is divided into two subseries: political campaigns and politicians. The former is organized chronologically by campaign date and arranged alphabetically by subject therein. The latter is organized alphabetically by politician's name and therein alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, manuscript drafts, research material, outlines, editorial material, photographs, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to Martin's published and unpublished articles, book reviews, editorials, and research projects.
Organized by type of material. Articles and editorials are chronologically arranged by publication date, while unpublished articles and research projects are arranged by the date of the manuscript draft or project. Book reviews are arranged alphabetically by the name of the author whose book is being reviewed.
Correspondence, manuscript drafts, research material, outlines, editorial and production material, contracts, photographs, royalty statements, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to Martin's published and unpublished books and research projects.
Organized by type of material, with book titles arranged alphabetically and research projects chronologically therein.
Correspondence, manuscript drafts, notes, printed matter, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to speeches both written by Martin and delivered by him or others.
Organized chronologically by date of speech.
Correspondence, manuscript drafts, research material, editorial and production material, and miscellaneous items and enclosures relating to the publication of Martin's two-volume biography of Adlai E. Stevenson (1900-1965).
Organized by type of material and alphabetically by subject therein. Containers labeled "restricted" contain restricted material.
Correspondence, financial and legal papers, notes, scrapbooks, photographs, military and school records, printed matter, and memorabilia.
Organized alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, reports, speeches, and research material.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.