Papers of W. Earl Hall - Special Collections - The University of Iowa Libraries

MsC 193

Manuscript Register

PAPERS OF W. EARL HALL

Collection Dates: 1917 -- 1969

6 linear ft.

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet:January 1998

Acquisition Note:The papers of W. Earl Hall were given to the University of Iowa Libraries by his widow and son, Mrs. Ruth Reeves Hall and Reeves Hall, from 1969 to 1974.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Photographs: Box 10

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biographical note

Scope and contents

Box 1 Correspondence, 1918 -- 1967

Box 2 Howard Bowen -- Resident Foreign Correspondents Project, 1962

Box 3 American Legion Talks -- Music Man Marching Band Competition Festival

Box 4 W. Earl Hall File Folder from the University of Iowa Alumni Office -- Undated Editorials

Box 5 Radio Broadcast Scripts of "One Man's Opinions"

Box 6 Radio Broadcast Scripts of "One Man's Opinions"

Box 7 Radio Broadcast Scripts of "One Man's Opinions"

Box 8 Radio Broadcast Scripts of "One Man's Opinions"

Box 9 Radio Broadcast Scripts of "One Man's Opinions"

Box 10 Material Concerning Carnegie Fact-finding Mission to South America

Box 11 Miscellaneous Material -- Virgil M. Hancher

Box 12 Letters on Being Appointed to the State Board of Education, 1937 -- Department of Defense Joint Orientation Conference, 1950

Box 13 World War II

Daily Iowan (bound volume), 1917-18

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

W. Earl Hall was born in Ripley, Iowa, on April 7, 1897. As a teenager he worked for the Jefferson Bee. At the University of Iowa, he became the editor of The Daily Iowan, from 1917 until his graduation in 1918. Hall served as an infantry sergeant during WWI, and as a veteran was active in the American Legion. In 1919, Hall was a police reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. The following year, he moved to Mason City, Iowa, and took a job with the Globe-Gazette. He was managing editor at age twenty-two; in 1931 he became the editor; and in 1962 he took over as editor-publisher. His personal trademark during those years was his column, "One Man's Opinion," which was also broadcast on radio throughout much of the state.

Hall was a man of many interests, one of which was highway safety. He founded the Iowa State Safety Council and was vice president of the National Safety Council. He was chairman of both the National Committee for Traffic Safety and of the Public Support Committee for Traffic Safety. W. Earl Hall was a member of Iowa's Board of Regents for twelve years and was given honorary degrees by many Iowa colleges. In 1956 and 1957, Hall toured thirty-one countries as a member of a fact finding group for Radio Free Europe. The following year Hall served as the chairman of the Iowa Crusade for Freedom. He also traveled widely for the American Red Cross. W. Earl Hall was also a music lover. He was a member of the glee club while a student at the University of Iowa. Later in Mason City he was a member of a barbershop quartet, "Rusty Hinges," which was the inspiration for his friend Meredith Willson's 'board of education quartet,' in The Music Man. W. Earl Hall died on April 12, 1969 at the age of seventy-two.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The papers of W. Earl Hall consist of six linear feet of manuscripts dating from 1917 to 1969. The collection reflects not only Hall's professional life, but also his many interests and activities--both personal and civil. His career as a newspaperman, first on The Daily Iowan as a student and finally with the Mason City Globe Gazette is reflected in folders of editorials, and five entire boxes of scripts of his "One Man's Opinion" radio program which was based on his weekly column. Hall's work for the Red Cross, American Legion, Radio Free Europe, the Iowa State Board of Regents, and other groups is documented with subject files containing speeches, correspondence, and travel information. There is information concerning topics ranging from traffic safety to The University of Iowa and band competitions to World War II stories. Correspondence folders include letters from: Philip Adler, John Cowles, James I. Dolliver, Virgil M. Hancher, Loren Hickerson, Paul G. Hoffman, J. Edgar Hoover, Conger Reynolds, Dixie Willson, and Meredith Willson.

Box 1

Correspondence:

1918-1929, including letters from Hanford MacNider
1930-1945, including letters from: Dan W. Turner, Hanford MacNider, Dixie Willson, Fred Biermann, E. P. Adler, Virgil M. Hancher, Paul Gray Hoffman, Edward G. Robinson, J. Edgar Hoover, and John Cowels

1946-1956, including letters from: Virgil M. Hancher, Conger Reynolds, "Ding" Darling, Paul G. Hoffman, Loren Hickerson, James I. Dolliver, J. Edgar Hoover, Karl M. LeCompte, Thomas E. Martin, Bourke B. Hickenlooper, and Dixie Willson

1957-1967, including letters from: Alfred M. Gruenther, Philip D. Adler, Meredith Willson, John Cowles, J. Edgar Hoover, Paul G. Hoffman, Loren Hickerson, Mrs. Virgil M. Hancher, and Hartzell Spence

Box 2

Howard Bowen

Virgil M. Hancher Eulogies

Safety Communications Study

Editorial Miscellany

The Iowa 4-H Club Foundation, 1953-1965

Radio Free Europe Trip, 1958

The American National Red Cross, 1957-1964

Resident Foreign Correspondents Project, 1962 (Governmental Affairs Institute)

Box 3

American Legion Talks

California-Oregon Flood Coverage, 1965

Webster's Third New International Dictionary Controversy, 1961-1964

The Iowa Center for the Arts Project, 1963-65, including correspondence with Virgil M. Hancher and Loren Hickerson

Music Man Marching Band Competition Festival, 1962

Box 4

W. Earl Hall File Folders from the University of Iowa Alumni Office (2 folders)

Undated Editorials (3 folders)

Box 5