Descriptive Summary
Midgley, Leslie, 1915-2002
Midgley, Les, papers
1936-2002
Materials are written in English.
2005-229
4 ft.
Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
The Les Midgley Papers, 1936-2002,
contain correspondence, memoranda, articles, scripts, drafts, financial and legal
documents, and research files, which illuminate the newspaper and television news
career of Les Midgley.
Biographical Note
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Leslie Les Midgley
(1915-2002) was the son of J. George Midgley (1887-1979) and grandson of the seventh
Mormon Church president Heber J. Grant. He began his journalism career in 1935,
working as a police reporter for the
Deseret News. In
1940, Midgley settled in New York City as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune, leaving in 1950. Following several years as an
editor for Look magazine and Collier’s Weekly, he shifted into television as a producer for CBS
News. In 1954, Midgley wrote a morning program, entitled F.Y.I., with Andy Rooney and then produced a half-hour news show with
Eric Sevareid.
Next, Midgley produced specials on international events, before becoming executive
producer of CBS’s
Eyewitness to History in 1959. The
show was cancelled four years later, and he became produced for The Evening News with Walter Cronkite. When President
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Midgley controlled the continuous on-air
reportage following the assassination through Kennedy’s burial. In 1972, Midgley
left The Evening News to work on documentary specials
and became head of CBS’s Special Reports Unit. After his retirement from CBS in
1980, Midgley joined NBS News as vice president for special programs, leaving a few
years later in order to teach.
During his years in the television news industry, Midgley continued to write
editorials and research articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals. In 1989,
he published an autobiography,
How Many Words Do You Want?:
An Insider’s Story of Print and Television Journalism. Midgley married
Jean Burke (d. 1965), with whom he had three children: Leslie Midgley, Jr., Andrea
Connors, and Peter Midgley. In 1967, he married actress and consumer advocate Betty
Furness (1916-1994).
Source:
Oliver, Myrna.
Leslie Midgley, 87; Developed TV Specials
on Breaking News.
Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/29/local/me-midgley29 (accessed
September 13, 2010).
Scope and Contents
The Les Midgley Papers, 1936-2002, contain correspondence, memoranda, articles,
scripts, drafts, financial and legal documents, and research files, which illuminate
the newspaper and television news career of Les Midgley. Primarily concerning
Midgley’s tenure as executive producer at CBS News, the collection includes
memoranda from Frank Stanton, Richard Salant, Gordon Manning, and others about
special projects, programming, and Nielsen ratings as well as from NBC about his
transition from CBS. Articles, correspondence, news story drafts and scripts, and
research materials document his numerous television shows and news reports about the
Vietnam War, the banking industry, President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the
Warren Report, and his years with
The Evening News
with Walter Cronkite. The collection also contains early correspondence, articles,
and drafts from Midgley’s newspaper career with the Deseret
News, the New York Herald-Tribune, Collier’s Weekly, and Look magazine as well as editorials for newspapers, magazines, and
journals after he started work in TV news. Correspondence, reviews, royalty
statements, drafts, and financial records relate to the publication of his
autobiography, How Many Words Do You Want?
Furthermore, correspondence, drafts, and publications document his family history
and his grandfather Heber J. Grant.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is divided into four series:
- I. CBS News
- II. NBC News
- III. Other work
- IV. Personal
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research use.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Midgley, Leslie -- Archives.
Cronkite, Walter
Subjects (Organizations)
CBS News
NBC News
Subjects
Journalists -- United States
Editors--United States
Broadcast journalism--United States
Preferred Citation
Les Midgley Papers, 1936-2002, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin.
Related Material
This collection was separated from the Scheffler
(Philip) Papers.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jocelyn Petyak, December, 2010.
Detailed Description of the Papers
2.325/F31
CBS News:
General correspondence:
Correspondence:
Arranged by date:
1972-1974
2.325/F32
1975-1979
2.325/F31
Arranged by subject:
Feinman demand for retraction,
1977-1978
CBS management,
1961-1968
Local News,
1965-1969
Network affiliates,
1967-1968
Washington Bureau stories,
1966-1969
2.325/F32
Chappaquiddick, 1979
Station affiliates,
1967-1968
Stollmack’s television crew,
1965-1969
2.325/F33
Letter on Pope John Paul II in Poland, June
18, 1979
Sloan Foundation, October 3,
1978
Editorial Policy,
1961
2.325/F31
Memos:
Arranged by date:
1972-1973
2.325/F32
1974-1978
2.325/F31
Arranged by sender:
Gordon Manning,
1965-1967
2.325/F34
Richard Salant,
1966-1970
Assorted, 1936-1999
2.325/F34
Programs:
Warren Report Broadcasts:
Preliminary research and correspondence,
1966-1967
Script critiques, 1967
Materials related to Josiah Thompson,
1967
2.325/F32
A CBS Inquiry: The Warren
Report:
Assorted materials related to Mark Lane's book A Citizen's Dissent,
1967-1968
Correspondence, outlines, and scripts,
1966-1967
Background, worksheets, and notes for Steven White’s
book, 1967-1969, undated
2.325/F31
The Evening News with Walter
Cronkite:
Correspondence arranged by subject:
Commercials,
1965-1969
Staff, 1965-1968
2.325/F32
General, 1964-1969
Comments on stories,
1966-1970
Assorted, 1962-1993
2.325/F34
Memos, 1966-1972
2.325/F31
Promotional and Research Material, 1965-1966,
undated
2.325/F32
Special Research done
for Salant and Manning,[1968]
2.325/F34
Drafts and scripts, 1967,
undated
Assorted materials related to Webster stabbing piece,
1969-1971
2.325/F31
Documentary series:
Where We
Stand:
May 16, 1972 episode notes, transcripts, and
interviews, 1972
Assorted correspondence, clippings, and notes,
1971-1974, undated
Vietnam: A War that is
Finished clippings and correspondence,
1975
2.325/F33
Americans in
Indochina:
Correspondence,
1973-1978
Bound Vietnam
Chronology, January 24,
1973
2.325/F32
Program ideas, 1973-1978
2.325/F34
Press coverage,
1978-1979
2.325/F31
Conference materials:
Report on the Chatham Seminar on
Television and Society,
1979
2.325/F33
Ottawa Conference program and correspondence,
1972
Tarrytown Conference, 60 Minutes
Storybook History and Documentary Activity Report,
1976
2.325/F31
Press:
Clippings and responses,
1972-1979
2.325/F32
Magazines and clipping of Midgley interview about Agnew
Broadside, 1969
2.325/F31
Assorted:
Public television:
Public Television: A Program for
Action,
1967
Assorted correspondence and clippings,
1967-1974
Correspondence about awards,
1975-1979
2.325/F32
Trouble with Rock
deposition for Morris Diamond v. CBS,
1977-1978
Vietnam trip:
Press pass and assorted memorabilia, 1966,
undated
2.325/F34
Diary and assorted memorabilia,
1969-1974
Assorted correspondence, scripts, and interview transcripts
related to the re-investigation of JFK's assassination,
1978-1979
2.325/F32
Assorted, 1972-1974
2.325/F31
NBC News:
NBC Magazine cost estimates, staff
records, and segment lists, 1981-1982
John Chancellor series notes, correspondence, and research,
1981
Correspondence, 1980-1982
Budget information, 1979,
undated
Documentary ideas and notes,
1979-1980
2.325/F34
Clippings, brochures, and magazines,
1979-1982
2.325/F32
Other work:
Proposed purchase of magazine, 1971,
undated
2.325/F33
Notes, correspondence, and drafts related to Ideology? No, Television, published in
Financier,
1986-1990
How Many Words Do You Want?
Contracts and early draft,
1989
Proposal, titled How Long Do You
Want It…And What Do You Want It To Say,
undated
Book, 1989
2 copies
Clippings and correspondence,
1988-1991
Early fiction story drafts,
undated
Research and drafts of Mammon vs. the
Lord aka Bank Runs…Not What They
Used to Be, 1990-1991
2.325/F34
Where Did the Money Go?
clippings, drafts, and proposal,
1988-1989
Annenberg project, 1987
Duke University project, 1984
Smithsonian project, 1986
Frank Costello article drafts, 1947-1949,
undated
2.325/F32
Personal:
Clippings and correspondence,
1966-1983
2.325/F33
The Century Association
membership nomination and interview transcripts, 1990,
undated
Letter and clipping from J. George Midgley,
1978
Obituaries for J. George Midgley,
1979
2.325/F34
Correspondence, 1962-1969
2.325/F32
Curriculum Vitae, 1989
Obituary in Journal News,
2002
Video of memorial service,
undated