A Guide to the Jack Newfield Papers, 1910, 1932-2005 (bulk 1964-2005)

Biographical Note

Investigative journalist, Jack Newfield (1938-2004), made a career out of exposing abuses of power in his native New York City. Born in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesent, Newfield lived most of his adult life in Greenwich Village, New York. After graduating from Boys’ High School, he attended Hunter College, earning a degree in journalism in 1961. Newfield, a supporter of and participant in the civil rights movement, spent two nights in a Mississippi jail in 1963 after his arrest at a sit-in.

The next year, Newfield joined the Village Voice and worked there as a columnist, reporter, and editor for twenty-four years. While at the Voice, he helped define the idea of the alternative press through his investigative articles and unwavering defense of New York’s dispossessed. He became popular in part for his periodic “10 Worst Judges” and “10 Worst Landlords” pieces, as well as for his Thanksgiving neighborhood heroes columns and other recognitions of local activism. In 1988, after twenty-four years, Newfield left the Village Voice due to a dispute over the direction of the paper.

Newfield then joined the New York Daily News as an editor and writer for a new investigative reporting unit. Three years later, he quit after making a principled choice to support the striking newspaper pressmen and refusing to cross their picket line. He quickly joined the New York Post as a columnist. During this time, however, the New York Post almost closed, and a group of writers, which included Newfield, took over production of the paper until Rupert Murdoch reacquired it in 1993. Newfield left the New York Post in 2001 after ten years when a new editor, wanting to take the paper in a different direction, fired him. Subsequently, Newfield wrote columns and investigative articles for the New York Sun, the New York Observer, and The Nation. In 1980, the Center for Investigative Reporting awarded Newfield the George Polk Award for Political Reporting. He also received the 25-Year News Achievement Award from the Society of Silurians in 2000 and a New York State Bar Association Special Award in 1986 for his series of articles on Bobby McLaughlin.

In addition to his career as a newspaper journalist, Newfield wrote many books, among which the most prominent include: A Prophetic Minority (1966), Robert Kennedy: A Memoir (1969), The Abuse of Power: the Permanent Government and the Fall of New York (1977), City for Sale: Ed Koch and the Betrayal of New York (1988), and Only in America: the Life and Times of Don King (1995). A Prophetic Minority, written in 1966, studies the origins and development of the “New Left” radicals of the 1960s. Newfield wrote The Abuse of Power, a classic urban muckraking bestseller, with Paul DuBrul in 1977. City for Sale, written in collaboration with Wayne Barrett, documents the municipal corruption in Mayor Ed Koch’s administration from 1981 to 1988. In, Only in America, Newfield presents a complex portrait of boxing promoter Don King, which includes an examination of his dominance of the boxing world and his exploitation of fighters. Newfield, along with filmmaker Charles Stuart, won an Emmy Award in 1991 for writing in connection with the Frontline documentary Don King, Unauthorized, which aired on PBS.

Newfield traveled with Robert Kennedy during his presidential campaign in the late 1960s and was present at Kennedy’s assassination in 1969. Drawing on his close relationship with Kennedy, Newfield wrote and published Robert Kennedy: A Memoir in 1969; it was reissued in 2003. Additionally, in 1998, he and Charles Stuart collaborated to produce a documentary for the Discovery Channel entitled Robert Kennedy, A Memoir.

Other books written by Newfield include: Bread and Roses Too: Reporting about America (1971); A Populist Manifesto: The Making of a New Majority (1972); Cruel and Unusual Justice (1974); The Education of Jack Newfield (1984); Somebody's Gotta Tell It: The Upbeat Memoir of a Working-Class Journalist (2002); The Full Rudy: The Man, The Mayor, The Myth (2003); American Rebels, editor and introduction (2003); American Monsters, co-editor (2004).

Jack Newfield considered himself a participatory journalist, deeply involved in politics and advocacy. He investigated and reported but also championed his causes and criticized and named his adversaries. His articles often affected change by influencing policy, policymakers, and other media. Notable examples include the creation of a law banning the use of lead paint in apartments, changes in campaign finance laws, the prosecution of corrupt nursing home owners, and the enforcement of regulations to protect the frail and elderly in nursing homes. Furthermore, his series of articles on Bobby McLaughlin, who was wrongly convicted for murder, led to McLaughlin’s exoneration and release from prison in 1986. Newfield was still writing and working when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer in September 1986. He died on December 21, 2004, at the age of 66.

Sources:

www.jacknewfield.com. “About.” www.jacknewfield.com. http://www.jacknewfield.com/about.html (accessed August 4, 2010).

Amateau, Albert. “Jack Newfield, 66, journalist, Villager, club critic.” The Villager 74, no.33 (December 22-28, 2004).

Barrett, Wayne. “Jack Newfield, 1938-2004.” The Village Voice, December 21, 2004.

Shudel, Matt. “Muckraking N.Y. Reporter Jack Newfield Dies at 66.” The Washington Post, December 23, 2004.

Scope and Contents

Newspaper clippings, correspondence, notes, legal documents, drafts, manuscripts, galley proofs, diaries, appointment/date books, annotated books, audiovisual material, and photographs comprise the Jack Newfield Papers, 1910, 1932-2005 (bulk 1964-2005), and document Jack Newfield’s career as an investigative journalist and author.

Newfield’s research files compose the bulk of the papers and consist mainly of annotated newspaper clippings and correspondence. In the instances where a subject became an article, the file also includes his annotated typescript notes and drafts. Because the collection spans Newfield’s entire career, the contents of a file will often extend over several decades. The research files constitute source material for many of his books as well as for articles published in the Village Voice, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Sun, and The Nation. Major topics covered by the files include New York City politicians, such as mayors, local officials, and judges, particularly those involved in scandals or corruption; neighborhood development; boxing; organized crime; the civil rights movement; journalism and journalists; and race relations in America. Furthermore, they reflect Newfield’s special relationships with Robert F. Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, Mike Tyson, Bobby McLaughlin, and Bill Patterson.

The series concerning Newfield’s writings documents the creation and development of his articles, speeches, and books as well as his involvement in various radio, television, and film projects. To varying degrees, the papers contain material for all of his books and film projects, including notes, galley proofs, scripts, correspondence, and manuscripts. Newfield’s personal papers contain legal documents and depositions; material concerning awards and recognition; calendars and appointment books; and his diaries from 1981, 1989, and 1995 to 2004. His correspondence consists of a small amount of personal correspondence from 1991 to 2004 and fan mail from the 1960s to 2000. Photographs in the papers depict Newfield, his family, Robert Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, Mario Cuomo, John Gotti, Don King, and David Dinkins. The remainder of the collection contains the collected writings of others and audiovisual material, including videotapes, audiocassettes, and micro cassettes.

Forms part of the News Media History collection.

Archivist's Note:

Jack Newfield wrote folder titles and at times extensive notes on the front of his file folders. All of Newfield's files were placed in new acid-free folders, but the original folders were also retained in each file. Folder titles reflect Newfield’s original labeling. In the case of unnamed folders, unclear titles, or illegible writing, the archivist created folder titles, which are indicated by brackets.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and the University of Texas at Austin assumes no responsibility.

This collection is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval.

Separated Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Jack Newfield Papers, 1910, 1932-2004, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Ed Sevcik, Courtney Chartier, Javier Franco Garza, and Lauren Goodley, May 2007. Subsequent revisions were made by Megan Mummey, August 2010.

Detailed Description of the Papers