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Edward A. Harris Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: --
Date: May 1966

Biographical History

Edward A. Harris (1910-1976) was an American newspaper journalist. Born in St. Louis, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1933 and joined the staff of the St. Louis Star-Times as a columnist and general reporter. In 1940 he took a position as City Hall reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, later becoming a regular reporter and local political writer. He was assigned to the Post-Dispatch's Washington Bureau in 1943 and for the next ten years covered numerous White House news conferences and events, Senate and House hearings, presidential campaigns and national conventions. During his Washington tenure, he concentrated on civil liberties issues and corruption investigations, winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1916. From 1951-1957 he served as West Coast bureau Chief for the Post-Dispatch, taking a leave of absence in 1957 to obtain a Master's Degree from U.C.L.A. In 1959, Harris bought Hidden Valley Farm, a 912-acre property in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia where he farmed, wrote books, and contributed a weekly syndicated agricultural column entitled "Down on the Farm."

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Edward A. Harris Papers consists of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts, and published material.

Correspondence consists of incoming letters, dating from 1929 to 1958. Subject files is comprised of materials from Edward Harris's high school, college, and post-graduate years (1928-58). Also included are office memos (1941-1947) between the St. Louis office and Harris. Early news stories contains news story material for the St. Louis Star Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1933-1952). There are file folders (1943-1954) on eight major news stories which Harris wrote for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as well as file folders on the Presidential convention and campaigns (1919-1952). Stevenson campaign clips (1952), syndicated column "Down on the Farm," promotional material, and some miscellaneous material are also included. Manuscripts are of books, short stories, and a teleplay. The manuscripts are all typescript, except for one book holograph. Published material consists of a book (1958), articles about Harris (1934-1953, articles by Harris, (1934-1952) and one short story by Harris (1933), as well as an article by others (1916). There is a file folder of newspaper clippings (1941-1954) by Harris and a file folder of newspaper clippings (1948-1953) by others. Scrapbooks of clippings cover nearly twenty years (1943-1961).

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically and then chronologically. Subject files are arranged alphabetically by topic. Manuscripts and published material are arranged alphabetically by type and within that by title. Scrapbooks are arranged chronologically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Harris, Edward A., 1910-1976.

Subjects

Journalism.
Journalists -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.

Occupations

Journalists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Edward A. Harris Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Edward and Miriam Harris.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Subject files

Manuscripts

Published materials

Scrapbooks

Inventory