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Mildred Gilman Wohlforth Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Mildred Gilman Wohlforth, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, married James Gilman and moved to New York, where she became Heywood Broun's secretary. From 1928 to 1931 she was a reporter for the New York Journal. After divorcing Gilman she married Robert Wohlforth in 1930, and published Sob Sister (1931), a novel about a female tabloid reporter which was made into a movie. In the late 1930s Wohlforth went to Germany as a reporter for the International News Service to interview Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goring, and worked for the Washington Herald covering Eleanor Roosevelt and New Deal projects. Settling in Ridgefield, Conn., Wohlforth wrote articles, stories and novels, worked for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, raised three sons, and published her memoirs in 1973.
The collection consists of papers of Wohlforth. Included in the papers are over 600 letters from friends, family, and literary associates such as Barbara Belford, Silas Bent, Hewood Broun, Robert Benchley, Kyle Crichton, Zona Gale, Julian S. Huxley, Richard and Hildegarde Lockridge, H. L. Mencken, Ezra Pound, and Robert Wohlforth. There are autograph and typed manuscripts for several unpublished novels in various revisions with such titles as Diary of Alice, I Sobbed for Mr. Hearst, and The Woman Angle, as well as the manuscript for The Reminiscences of Mildred Gilman (1973); typescripts for some stories and many articles on a wide range of topics with many relating to issues of marriage and sexuality, such as "Are You Frigid," "Fearless Frances," "I Covered the Crash," "Safe Sex," and "Sob Sister Tells All"; contracts; documents; dreams recorded by Wohlforth; newspaper clippings; and about 120 photographs of the Wohlforth family, Mildred Wohlforth on various reporting assignments, friends, writers, and several movie actors and actresses, including Deanna Durbin, Jane Withers, Tyrone Power, Shirley Temple, Paul Robeson, Hermann Goring, Dorothy Parker, Hewood Broun, and others. There are two videocassettes of an interview with the Wohlforths.
Also present are selected papers of Robert Wohlforth, a journalist, business analyst, secretary-treasurer at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and author of an exposé novel of West Point entitled Tin Soldiers (1934), articles, and short stories. Included are about 100 letters to him by Harold Bender, Kyle Crichton, Pare Lorentz, Lewis Mumford, James Salter, Louis Untermeyer, and others, 15 typescripts of articles or stories, including "I Married a Sob Sister," and "A Nickelodeon Childhood," reviews of Tin Soldiers, and newspaper clippings.
Gift of Eric E. Wohlforth.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
No appraisal information is available.
Organization
Subject
- Journalism -- United States -- 20th century
- Journalists -- New York (State) -- New York. -- 20th century
- Novelists, American. -- 20th century
- Reporters and reporting. -- 20th century
- Women authors, American. -- 20th century
- Women's dreams
Occupation
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 1998
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
Consists of the correspondence of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth with individuals such as Pearl S. Buck, Julian S. Huxley, H. L. Mencken, Ezra Pound, and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description4 boxes
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Consists of the writings of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth, including books, articles, and stories.
This series is arranged into two subseries: Books, and Articles & Stories.
Physical Description16 boxes
Consists of works such as Confessions of a Hearst Sob Sister; Murder, Mayhem, and Good Clean Sex; and The Reminiscences of Mildred Gilman, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description10 boxes
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Consists of articles and stories such as "Abortion vs Birth Control in Japan," "Babies Are Indestructable," and "My Father Enjoys Being Eighty," as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description6 boxes
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Consists of contracts, documents, memorabilia, drawings, and interviews.
This series is arranged into six subseries: Contracts, Correspondence of Others, Documents & Memorabilia, Drawings of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth, Dreams of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth, and Videocassettes (2): Wohlforth interview.
Physical Description1 box
Consists of contracts for Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Consists of correspondence of individuals such as Sinclair Lewis, James Gilman, and Mary Powers, as well as others.
Arranged by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of documents and memorabilia of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of drawings of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Contains the hopes and dreams of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Consists of videocassetes of interviews of Mildred Gilman Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of clippings and magazines.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
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4 folders
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Consists of the correspondence, articles, documents, and printed matter of Robert Wohlforth.
This series is arranged into four subseries: Correspondence, Articles, Documents and Miscellaneous Papers, and Printed Matter.
Physical Description2 boxes
Consists of the correspondence of Robert Wohlforth, arranged in alphabetical order.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
1 folder
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Consists of the articles of Robert Wohlforth, including "The Mechanical Brain," "I Married a Sob Sister," and "Reel Up the Hose, Martin," as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of the documents and miscellaneous papers of Robert Wohlforth.
Not arranged according to any arrangment scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Consists of reviews, tearsheets, and clippings.
Arranged by genre of material.
Physical Description1 box
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Consists of photographs of individuals such as Shirley Temple, Mildred Gilman and Robert Wohlforth, and of a Dive in the Hackensack River, N.J.
Arranged by subject of material.
Physical Description1 box
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