Guide to the Roger Kahn Papers National Baseball Hall of Fame Library National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 25 Main Street Cooperstown, NY 13326 This guide to the collection was prepared by Claudette Scrafford and reviewed by Russell Wolinsky in March 2008. Collection Number: BA MSS 50 BL-3105.2001 Title: Roger Kahn Papers Inclusive Dates: 1936 - 2004 Extent: 21 linear feet (38 archival boxes) Repository: National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum and Library 25 Main Street Cooperstown, NY 13326 Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Roger Kahn between 1936 and 2004. The papers include personal and professional correspondence, contracts, litigation documents, fan mail, newspaper articles and photos. The majority of these papers relate to Kahn’s articles, short stories and books. Acquisition Information: This collection was a gift of Roger Kahn in 2001. Preferred Citation: Roger Kahn Papers, BA MSS 50, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Access Restrictions: By appointment only during regular business hours; email [email protected]. Copyright: Property rights reside with the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the library. Separations: Photos have been separated to cold storage in the Photograph Department. Audio/video tapes have been separated to A/V storage room. Museum artifacts have been separated to the Collection Department. Our Sports magazine, June 1953, separated to HOF Serial GV561.O97. History: Roger Kahn, born in 1927, grew up in Brooklyn where he attended prep school and, like most of his fellow Brooklynites, rooted enthusiastically for the Dodgers. He joined the New York Herald Tribune as a copy boy in 1948 and rose quickly to become a baseball writer. He began to cover the Dodgers in 1952, and also traveled with the other New York teams, the Giants and the Yankees. At the age of 26, he was the newspaper's "star" sports reporter, making a salary of $10,000. In 1956, Mr. Kahn was named sports editor of Newsweek magazine and then from 1963 to 1969 became editor at large of The Saturday Evening Post. For a decade he wrote a monthly column for Esquire magazine. Five times his articles were voted the best in the country and awarded the E.P. Dutton prize. In 1972, he published The Boys of Summer, which became the country's number- one best seller and a phrase that is now used hundreds of times by writers and fans during the baseball season. Mr. Kahn's other books include a biography of Jack Dempsey, a memoir of the season in which he owned a minor league baseball team, a history of a student uprising at Columbia University and a recollection of the era when the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants ruled the world. Three anthologies are entirely devoted to some of the best of Mr. Kahn's writing. In 2006 he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. On that occasion, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called Mr. Kahn "an icon of our game." He lives in Stony Ridge with his wife and has two grown children; Alissa Keenan, a ceramist, and Gordon J. Kahn, A.I.A., a prominent architect. Source: www.rogerkahn.com Scope and Content: This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Roger Kahn. The majority of these papers deal with his research, interviews and correspondence relating to his articles, stories and books. Items include litigation documents, contracts, financial statements, manuscripts, photos, audio and video tapes. System of Arrangement: This collection is organized into five series with the provenance kept where possible. Series I contains files such as correspondence, fan mail, litigations, contracts, research files on individuals, Kahn articles by publication, public appearances and book tours. Series II is organized by book title. Each title may include research notes, newspaper clippings, manuscript, interviews, correspondence and fan mail. Series III is two oversize boxes of photos, organized by book; promotional shots of Kahn, his family and miscellaneous. Series IV is an oversize box containing awards, citations, posters received by Kahn. Series V is one oversize box and one smaller box containing audio and video tapes of interviews, book promotions and personal appearances. Controlled Access Terms: These records are indexed under the following terms in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library catalog. Researchers wishing to find related materials may wish to search under these terms. Corporate Names Brooklyn Dodgers New York Giants New York Yankees American League National League Minor League Utica Blue Sox Columbia Mets Random House MacMillan Publishing Warner Books New York Times New York Herald Tribune Sport magazine Sports Illustrated Esquire Saturday Evening Post Personal Names Black, Joe Campanella, Roy Campanis, Al DiMaggio, Joe Erskine, Carl Furillo, Carl Giamatti, A. Bartlett Kahn, Roger Monroe, Marilyn Reese, Pee Wee Robinson, Jackie Roe, Preacher Rose, Pete Rosenthal, Harold Spahn, Warren Thomson, Bobby Forms Correspondence Manuscript Reviews Clippings Interviews Sportswriters Tours - Book Fan mail Photographs Audio cassettes Video cassettes Content List Series I contains files arranged into seven archival boxes. Files include correspondence, fan mail, litigations, contracts, research files on individuals, Kahn articles by publication, public appearances and book tours. These are arranged chronologically where possible. Only items of interest are listed, folders may contain further information. Box 1 Folders 1-6 contain professional correspondence to and from Kahn. Folder 1 Correspondence, 1954 – 1966 Folder 2 Correspondence, 1971 – 1972 Folder 3 Correspondence, 1973 – 1975 Folder 4 Correspondence, 1976 – 1979 Folder 5 Correspondence, 1980 – 1989 Folder 6 Correspondence, 1990 – 1997; 2004 Folder 7 Correspondence-Personal, undated, 1952, 1954 1971-1973, 1977 Folder 8 Correspondence-Personal, 1985, 1988, 1992 – 1998 Folder 9 Fan Mail – general, 1950 – 1998 Box 2 Folder 1 Contracts and Agreements, 1971 – 1999 Damon Runyon Biography – 1974 How the Weather Was – 1986, Korean paperback Rescuing Roger – 1989 The Golden Age – 1993 125 Years of Baseball – 1994 Folder 2 Financial Records – general, 1956 – 1998 Random House royalties – 1958 Reader’s Digest - $10.00 article, 1961 Fawcett Publications royalty statement, 1970 Esquire Kahn expenses, 1971 Attorney invoice, 1987 Research Assistant expenses, 1997 Folder 3 Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns vs. Kahn, 1997 Copyright infringement claim – Baseball: An Illustrated History Folder 4 Correspondence – New York Times, 1987 – 1991 Four-page letter from Ira Berkow, re: Los Angeles Times article Folder 5 Samuel S. Vaughan correspondence, 1984 – 1993 Random House V.P. & editor Folder 6 John Herman correspondence, 1990 – 1993 Ticknor & Fields editor Folder 7 Gerard McCauley correspondence, 1988 – 1990; 1993 Literary agent Folder 8 Charles Rembar correspondence, 1990 – 1993 Rembar & Curtis Esquire Folder 9 MacMillan Publishing, Inc. correspondence, 1988 – 1991 Agreement amendment – Pete Rose book Charles Scribner’s Publishers – March 13, 1991 Box 3 Litigations v. Kahn Folder 1 Gulf & Western Corporation, 1983 Folder 2 Warner Books correspondence & litigation, 1989 – 1991 Pete Rose Enterprises, Pete Rose Folder 3 Simon & Schuster, 1989 – 1993 Original transcript of Examination before trial Folder 4 MacMillan Publishing, Inc., 1992 - March 1993 Folder 5 MacMillan Publishing, Inc., April 1993 – January 1994 Box 4 Kahn articles published in various publications Folder 1 Articles in miscellaneous publications Folder 2 New York Times Folder 3 Sport magazine Folder 4 Time magazine Folder 5 Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Notre Dame Magazine, Herald Tribune Folder 6 Sports Illustrated Folder 7 Saturday Evening Post Folder 8 Esquire, 1959, 1960, 1969, 1970 - 1974 Folder 9 Esquire, 1975 – 1976, 1986 article published in Japanese Folder 10 Playboy Box 5 Folder 1 Brooklyn College Panel Discussion, 1987 “The Grand Game of Baseball” Folder 2 Public Speeches, undated Folder 3 Cincinnati Public Library, 1988 “Casey at the Bat” Folder 4 New York Public Library, Dec 15, 1987 “Baseball and the American Dream” (see Series V, audio tape of presentation) Folder 5 Public Appearances, 1972 – 1998 Folder 6 Attended Events Bill Corum Memorial Dinner, 1971 NY Baseball Writers’ Dinner, 1973, 1992 Superstar of the Year Dinner, 1973 Rudolph Giuliani Breakfast, 2001 Folder 7 Articles, Quotes, Interviews on Kahn, 1956 – 1985 Folder 8 Articles, Quotes, Interviews on Kahn, 1988 – 1999 Box 6 Contains files on individuals kept by Kahn. Content of files vary depending on individual. Folder 1 Joe Black Farewell Message as President of National Association of Market Developers, May 1968 Remarks at Virginia Union University, May 1969 Remarks at Sept. 1969 seminar Folder 2 Al Campanis Articles on racial remarks, 1987 (see Series V, “Nightline: Baseball in Black & White”) Folder 3 John Dowd 32-page biography Folder 4 Carl Furillo Obituaries and reactions Telephone interviews of his death with Erskine, Reese, Shuba Folder 5 Frank Lane Interview transcript Folder 6 Charles Radbourn Correspondence, Ernest Lanigan, 1949 Correspondence, Lee Allen, 1963-1968 Biography, stats, articles Folder 7 Harold Rosenthal Correspondence, articles Folder 8 Jackie Robinson Our Sports magazine copies, J.R. editor, 1953 June 1953 Vol.1, No 2 HOF Serials GV561 .O97 Obituaries, biographies, articles Funeral service program Folder 9 Early Wynn Articles Box 7 Folder 1 Mark