Brewer, Basil (1884-1975), Papers, 1911-1965 3132 10 Linear Feet, 77 Volumes
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C Brewer, Basil (1884-1975), Papers, 1911-1965 3132 10 linear feet, 77 volumes This collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri. If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]. INTRODUCTION Correspondence, editorials, newsclippings, pamphlets, photographs, and scrapbooks dealing with Brewer's activities as publisher of the New Bedford Standard-Times in Massachusetts, his philanthropic work, and his political interests. DONOR INFORMATION The Brewer Papers were donated to the University of Missouri by Mary C. Brewer on 2 August 1967 (Accession No. 3733). BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Basil Brewer, son of a Methodist circuit-riding preacher, was born in Rush Hill, Missouri. After graduation from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1901, he taught science in high school and studied law at the University of Chicago. Joining the Scripps-Howard organization in 1908, he became business manager of the Cincinnati Post in 1916 and of the Cleveland Press three years later. From 1921 to 1924 he was editor and publisher of the Omaha Bee, later taking over the Capital News at Lansing, Michigan. Arriving in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1931, Brewer soon purchased control of his newspapers, the New Bedford Standard-Times, Mercury and Cape Cod Standard-Times in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He also acquired several radio and television stations in the New Bedford area. Always active in Republican politics, Brewer served as Massachusetts manager of the Robert A. Taft campaign in 1952. Brewer married Mary M. Caswell of Huntington, Indiana, in 1920. SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The Basil Brewer Papers are arranged into eight series: Awards; Editorials; Speeches; Robert A. Taft Campaign; Robert A. Taft Memorial; Correspondence; Pamphlets, Brochures, and Photographs; and Scrapbooks. The Awards series, dating from 1941 to 1961, is arranged chronologically and reflects Brewer’s participation in local affairs and journalism. The Editorial series is also arranged chronologically and spans the years from 1937 through 1959. Many of the editorials deal with national and international affairs and reflect Brewer’s Republican beliefs. Besides the actual editorial the series often includes reader response, reprints from various newspapers, and related material. A complete list of the editorials follows the inventory. Some editorials are also in the Scrapbooks series. Consult both series. The Speeches series is arranged chronologically. Some of the speeches deal with Communism while others were given at a variety of local events. The Robert A. Taft Campaign series deals with the presidential primary campaign of Taft, and Brewer’s work as campaign manager in Massachusetts. Arranged chronologically the C3132 Brewer, Basil, Papers, 1911-1965 Page 2 series contains correspondence dealing with the organization of the campaign, schedules, newsclippings, and publicity material. The Robert A. Taft Memorial series documents the activities of a foundation formed to develop a memorial to Taft. The series includes agenda and minutes of the meetings of the board of trustees of the foundation, material pertaining to an annual Taft Memorial Dinner, fund raising material, and items relating to the development of a Robert A. Taft Institute of Government. The Correspondence series dates from 1932 through 1965 and covers a wide range of subjects including local affairs, the newspaper business, Republican politics, articles that Brewer was writing, and reminiscences. The Pamphlets, Brochures, and Photographs series includes items written by Brewer and other staff of the New Bedford Standard-Times, material pertaining to Massachusetts history and law, and photographs of Taft’s campaign in Massachusetts All but one of the Scrapbooks contain editorials written by Brewer, which were circulated and reprinted by newspapers all over the country. The scrapbooks contain (unless otherwise noted) the editorials and correspondence from readers reacting to them. They are arranged chronologically by date of the original publication of the editorial. Some of the editorials also appear in the Editorials series. The folders in which they appear are listed at the end of the volume description in the folder list. FOLDER LIST Awards Series f. 1-5 Sigma Delta Chi award for general reporting, 1941 f. 6 China Relief Legion Award of Recognition, 1942 f. 7 Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of Christ, degree of Knight Officer, Portugal, 1947 f. 9-11 National Order of the Southern Cross, Degree of Knight, Brazil, 1949 f. 12-13 Suffolk University, Boston, honorary degree of doctor of journalism, 1951 f. 14-15 New Bedford Institute of Textiles and Technology, Honorary Master of Science degree, 1954 f. 16 Lion's Club “Man of the Year” citation, 1954 f. 17 Elks New Bedford Lodge No. 73, Life membership, 1954 f. 18 Nebraska Navy, Admiral, 1954 f. 19-31 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, Kirksville, naming of Brewer Hall, a dormitory, 1956 f. 32-34 Portia Law School, Boston, Honorary degree of doctor of letters, 1957-1960 f. 35-37 English-Speaking Union, Better Understanding Award, 1957 f. 38 Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission, certificate of honorary membership, 1959 f. 39 Elks New Bedford Lodge No. 73, Honorary Founder of Elks National Foundation, 1960. f. 40-47 Basil Brewer Boys Town of the Desert, 1960 f. 48-63 Portuguese Continental Union of the United States of America, Pedro Francisco Award, 1960 f. 64-67 New England-Israel Freedom Award, 1961 f. 68 U.S. Naval Reserve Surface Division I-22 (M) Award, for press coverage and C3132 Brewer, Basil, Papers, 1911-1965 Page 3 support given to the Naval Reserve, 1961. Editorials Series f. 69-70 1937 f. 71-93 1940 f. 94-111 1941 f. 112-116 1942 f. 117-122 1943 f. 123-143 1944 f. 144-156 1947 f. 157 1949 f. 158-159 1950 f. 160-167 1951 f. 168-171 1952 f. 172-190 1953 f. 191-195 1954 f. 196-199 1955 f. 200-205 1956 f. 206-241 1957 f. 242-249 1958 f. 250-272 1959 Speeches Series f. 273 1945. Jewish War Veterans, New Bedford Post No. 154; on brotherhood. f. 274-277 1949. Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, commencement address. f. 278-279 1950. Loyal Order of Moose dinner; need to suppress communism. f. 280 1950. Polish National Alliance; Russian-Polish relations from 1939; anti- communism. f. 281 1951. Loyal Order of Moose dinner; Korean War; anti-communism. f. 282 1952. Translation from Portuguese of speech made in honor of a New Bedford priest. f. 283-290 1953. Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, commencement address, “Dammed Yankee.” f. 291 1955. Elks Flag Day ceremonies. f. 292-302 1955. Massachusetts Constitution Day, Sagamore. f. 303 1955. International Eucharistic Congress in Brazil. f. 304-306 1955; Sounding Board broadcast; radio debate with editor of Christian Science Monitor on the value of the Geneva Conference. f. 307 1955. Massachusetts Heritage Program of the Massachusetts Bar Association; history of the Massachusetts constitution. f. 308 1956. State of the Nation broadcast. f. 309 1957. Message of welcome in honor of visit of president of Portugal to Brazil. f. 310-311 1957. Robert A. Taft Award dinner; Brewer's opinions of school integration; C3132 Brewer, Basil, Papers, 1911-1965 Page 4 appointment of Earl Warren to the Supreme Court. f. 312 1957. Wamsutta Old Timers; speech on the dangers of communism. f. 313 1958. Luncheon for Portuguese consul in honor of Portuguese naval officers visiting New Bedford; tribute to Portuguese-Americans. Robert A. Taft Campaign Series f. 314-315 Correspondence, n.d. f. 316-334 Correspondence, 1951 August-December f. 335-340 Correspondence, 1952 January f. 341-349 Correspondence, 1952 February f. 350-359 Correspondence, 1952 March f. 360-366 Correspondence, 1952 April f. 367-370 Correspondence, 1952 May f. 371-373 Correspondence, 1952 June f. 374-375 Correspondence, 1952 July f. 376-380 Boston Herald poll, 1951 f. 381-400 Pilgrimage to Plymouth, 1951 f. 401-440 Publicity f. 441-572 Newsclippings, 1951 September-1952 July Robert A. Taft Memorial Series f. 573-574 1953 August-September f. 575-576 1953 October-1954 February f. 577-582 1954 July-December f. 583-596 1955 f. 597-613 1956 f. 614-618 1957 f. 619-621 1958 f. 622-630 1959 f. 631-635 1960 f. 636-639 1961 f. 640 1962 f. 641-643 1963-1965 f. 644-655 Newsclippings Correspondence Series f. 656 1932-1933 f. 657-658 1938 f. 659 1941-1942 f. 660 1944-1945 f. 661 1947 f. 662 1947-1950 C3132 Brewer, Basil, Papers, 1911-1965 Page 5 f. 663 1948 f. 664-665 1949 f. 666 1949-1950 f. 667-672 1950 f. 673 1951 f. 674 1952 f. 675-677 1953 f. 678-679 1954-1959 f. 680-682 1955-1956 f. 683-693 1956 f. 694-705 1959 f. 706 1958-1962. Boys’ Club of America f. 707 1961 f. 708-710 1962 f. 711 1965 Pamphlets, Brochures, and Photographs Series f. 712-715 Published editorials, articles, and speeches written by Brewer. f. 716 Articles in various magazines about the New Bedford Standard-Times and Brewer's journalistic achievements. f. 717 Report by the Advertising Research Foundation on a readership survey of the Standard-Times. f. 718 Pamphlets written by Standard-Times staff members. f. 718 Massachusetts history and law. f. 719-722 Political advertisements. f. 723-725 Massachusetts history and law. f. 726-728 Northeast Missouri State Teachers College 82nd Anniversary Bulletin, 1948- 1950; student handbook; president's reports; commencement address. f. 729-742 Miscellaneous pamphlets, brochures, leaflets and books. f. 743-744 Matrices of political cartoons. f. 745-749 Numbered set of photographs taken during Robert A. Taft's campaign in Massachusetts in April 1952; descriptive key to the set of photographs in f. 745. f. 750-758 Miscellaneous photographs. f. 759 Newspaper matrices of Brewer's editorials, photographs, awards, and volume titled, Mooseheart: The Child City.