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Kathleen Kearney Keeshen Papers relating to Marguerite Higgins

An inventory of her papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: Michele Combs
Date: 16 Jul 2024

Biographical History

Marguerite Higgins (1920-1966), pioneering newspaperwoman, columnist, and author, was best known for reporting from the front lines during the Korean War. Honored as the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of international affairs (1951), she had a long career with the New York Herald Tribune (1942-1963), and later, as a syndicated columnist for Newsday (1963-1965). She also wrote books on reporting, Korea, Russia and Vietnam, and contributed articles to several other newspapers and magazines including America, the Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Mademoiselle, and McCall'. She made television appearances on shows such as "Meet the Press" and "Today." A frequently requested lecturer, she traveled as extensively inside the U.S. as abroad. She visited Vietnam several times, and while touring there in 1965 contracted leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, which forced her to return to the U.S. where she died in Washington D.C. on January 3, 1966 at age 45. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Kathleen Kearney Keeshen (1937- ) worked for IBM for many years and earned multiple degrees, including a master's and PhD from the University of Maryland. For her thesis and dissertation on journalist Marguerite Higgins, Keeshen gathered extensive research material and interviewed Higgins's fellow reporters, military officials, husbands, and other who knew her well. Keeshen later developed a friendship with author Jennet Conant, who referred to Keeshen as "a fellow Higgins obsessive." Keeshen allowed her Higgins material to be used extensively by Conant in the preparation of Conant's book Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins (W.W. Norton, 2023).

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Kathleen Kearney Keeshen Papers relating to Marguerite Higgins consists of correspondence-subject files and research files, created or accumulated by Keeshen in the 1970s and 1980s while writing her master's thesis and PhD dissertation (University of Maryland) on journalist Marguerite Higgins.

Correspondence-subject files contains material from Higgins' friends, lovers, colleagues, professional acquaintances, and others whom Keeshen contacted, inviting them to share their recollections of her. Keeshen interviewed some of them by phone or letter; others provided her with written accounts or anecdotes; photocopies of clippings, letters or other items; and so on. Included here are two folders of responses Keeshen received when she ran an advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle soliciting memories of Higgins.

Research files contains a wealth of information accumulated or created by Keeshen. Accumulated items include photocopies of clippings and articles, excerpts from books or journals, and a large file of FBI material related to Higgins. Material created by Keeshen during the course of writing her thesis includes lists, chronologies, bibliographies, indexes, notes, and more. Also in this series are thirteen large three-ring binders documenting Higgins' life and work chronologically; the bulk of the contents are reproductions of clippings by or about Higgins.

Arrangement of the Collection

Material within each series is arranged alphabetically by name or topic.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance 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.

Related Material

See also the Marguerite Higgins Papers.

Subject Headings

Persons

Hall, William E. (William Evans), 1907-1984.
Higgins, Marguerite.
Keeshen, Kathleen Kearney, 1937-
Millar, George, 1910-2005.
Moore, Stanley Williams, 1914-

Subjects

Journalists -- United States.
Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Journalists.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Journalists.
War correspondents -- United States.
Women authors, American.
Women journalists -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Audiocassettes.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Interviews.
Minicassettes.
Photographs.
Research notes.
Sound recordings.
Yearbooks.

Occupations

Biographers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kathleen Kearney Keeshen Papers relating to Marguerite Higgins,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Kathleen Kearney Keeshen, 2024.

Table of Contents

Correspondence-subject files

Research files

Inventory