Summary Information
Abstract
The Herbert L. Matthews Papers contain the writings, correspondence, and personal
papers of this American journalist, a correspondent and editorial writer for the
New York Times
from 1922 to 1967. Matthews' assignments
spanned the world. As a journalist he covered the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935
and 1936, Spain and the Spanish Civil War, Italy, India, Europe and World War II,
postwar Europe, Latin America; as an editor he wrote about Vietnam, China, and Latin
America.
At a Glance
| Call No.: | Ms#0856 |
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| Bib ID: | 4079089 View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Matthews, Herbert Lionel, 1900- |
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| Title: | Herbert Lionel
Matthews Papers
1909-2002
[Bulk Dates: 1937-1976].
|
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| Physical description: | 18 linear ft. (36 document boxes, 1 flat box, and 7 custom
boxes)
|
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| Language(s): | In English
and Spanish
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| Access: |
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
More information » |
|---|
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in six series
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Description
Scope and Content
The Herbert L. Matthews Papers contain a diverse collection of documents and other
materials from the life and family of journalist Herbert L. Matthews. The bulk of the
papers consists of dispatches for the
New York Times
and
assorted research materials, including notes, periodicals, and photographs. Matthews'
assignments for the
Times
ranged from the Italian
invasion of Ethiopia (then Abyssinia) in 1935 and 1936, to his coverage of Cuba and
Latin America well into the 1960s, with the Spanish Civil War, World War II and post-war
Europe in between. Another large portion of the collection includes manuscripts and
research materials for the nearly twenty books Matthews wrote based on his experiences
as a war correspondent in North Africa, Italy, and Spain in the mid- to late-1930s, his
coverage of the Cuban Revolution, and his memoirs. Other elements of the collection
consist of correspondence with political, intellectual, and artistic figures of the
twentieth century, including Fidel Castro, Winston Churchill, Benedetto Croce, and
Ernest Hemingway. Also included are ephemera collected during his career as a war
correspondent, and materials generated by Matthew's wife, brother, and other family
members.
Series I: Correspondence, 1938-1973
This series contains correspondence, between Matthews and numerous political,
intellectual, and artistic figures of the twentieth-century world, that documents
Matthews' journalism and the relationships he forged with many of these
individuals through his work. The bulk of the correspondence, which also includes
interview transcripts and notes, is related to Matthews' reporting and editorials
on Latin America, and particularly Cuba, for the
New York
Times
in the 1950s and 1960s. This includes most notably Matthews'
notes from his famous interview with Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra in 1957,
an interview with Fulgencio Batista, and correspondence with Ernest Hemingway.
Other correspondence related to Matthews' coverage of Latin America includes
communications with various Latin American presidents, such as Romulo Betancourt
of Venezuela, Francois Duvalier of Haiti, and Juscelino Kubitschek of Brazil.
The majority of correspondence in this series is arranged alphabetically by
author, but several folders are arranged chronologically by year. These folders
contain numerous letters to Matthews regarding Cuba, and his reporting and
writings on Cuba and Latin America. Included here are letters from Ruby Hart
Phillips, a
Times
correspondent in Cuba. The last
folder in this series contains photocopies of correspondence with notable
individuals, including Eleanor Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, and
Nelson Rockefeller.
Series II: Cuba, 1948-1978
This large series consists of material related to the Cuban Revolution and its
aftermath, both in Cuba and the United States. These documents chart Matthews'
life after his reports on the Revolution, particularly his celebrated 1957
New York Times
article announcing the survival and
progress of Fidel Castro and his guerrillas whom the dictatorship claimed had been
defeated. This part of the Matthews Papers represents a considerable collection of
material from Cuban revolutionaries and the revolutionary government, including
statements and publications. The American reaction to the Cuban Revolution is
present here in responses to Matthews' writing for the
New
York Times.
This series also contains manuscripts and notes for
Matthews' several books on the Cuban revolution.
The correspondence in the series, much of which is related to the Cuban Revolution
and Matthews' journalism on this subject, includes letters from Matthews and his
wife, Nancie Matthews, regarding developments in Cuba in 1959; letters between
Matthews and historian Theodore Draper, some of which were reprinted in Draper's
book,
Castro's Revolution: Myths and Realities
(1962); letters from Ernest and Martha Hemingway; communications from the
New York Times;
and congratulatory and critical letters
from Matthews' readers. Also here are personal items, including travel documents,
and a number of photographs of Fidel Castro and Matthews in Cuba in the 1950s and
1960s, some of which were published.
The largest part of the Cuba series holds assorted research materials collected
and used by Matthews for his reporting and his manuscripts. These include an atlas
published by the Cuban revolutionary government, books, clippings from a variety
of periodicals in the United States, Cuba, and Latin America, including clippings
regarding Matthews himself. Publications and statements issued between 1955 and
1968 by the United States and Cuban governments and their agencies, the July 26
Movement and other rebel groups, and other individuals and groups. This part of
the series provides a wealth of historical documents regarding Cuba, relations
between Cuba and the United States, and the response in American society to the
Cuban Revolution and Matthews' reporting in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Matthews' various writings on Cuba and the revolution make up the final portion of
this series, and include articles written for periodicals, addresses, and
manuscripts, notes, and reviews for Matthews' books:
The
Cuban Story
(1961),
Fidel Castro
(1969),
and
Revolution in Cuba
(1975). Also contained here
are materials, written about Matthews by the United States and Cuban press, which
indicate the diversity and severity of reactions to Matthews' coverage of the
Cuban Revolution. Included are notes from conversations with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation regarding an alleged plot to assassinate Matthews.
Series III: Matthews Family, 1918-2000s
This series contains Herbert L. Matthews' correspondence with his family and the
personal papers of several relatives. Matthews' correspondence to his brother John
L. Matthews constitutes the bulk of the correspondence and conveys Herbert
Matthews' perspectives and opinions on many American and world events from the
mid-1940s to his retirement after 1967 and into the 1970s. John L. Matthews'
papers on World War I, his writings, and family photographs provide information
about the life of Herbert Matthews' brother.
Also notable is Nancie Matthews' journal of life with her husband and their
children in fascist Italy between 1940 and their expulsion in 1942. This is a rich
source of information regarding the life of American journalists and their
families in Europe in these first years of World War II. Other folders in this
series contain material about Herbert's oldest brother, Hilliard H. Matthews, and
his service in World War I, and the service and death of Robert Alan Matthews,
Herbert's nephew, in World War II.
Series IV:
New York Times,
1935-1960s
This series documents more than three decades of correspondence and editorial
writing by Matthews for the
New York Times,
his
employer from 1922 to 1967. The series is arranged chronologically by assignment
to a particular nation or region, beginning with the Italian invasion of Abyssinia
in 1935 and 1936, then Spain and the Spanish Civil War, Italy, India, Europe and
World War II, postwar Europe, Latin America, and ending with Matthews' editorials
on Vietnam, China, and Latin America. Generally these folders include notes,
ephemera, periodicals and other printed material used for research, and Matthews'
original dispatches to the
New York Times,
not all
of which were published.
Material on the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) includes a collection
of official maps issued and used by the Italian military, Matthews' personal bag,
and a press armband issued by the Italian government. Material on the Spanish
Civil War contains numerous photographs and publications issued by the Abraham
Lincoln Brigades, and critics and sympathizers of the Republicans. Materials
related to Matthews' subsequent reporting in Italy from 1939 to 1942, and in Italy
during and after the Allied invasion in 1943, include Matthews' interviews with
philosopher Benedetto Croce and newspapers published by partisans and other
anti-fascist forces. In reporting about World War II in Europe, Matthews noted the
widespread destruction of art and the Allies' attempts to mitigate the damaging of
Europe's cultural legacy; a folder retains his notes and writings on this subject.
Notes from the 1960s record the content of conversations between Matthews and John
F. Kennedy and officials in his administration, as well as conversations with
Johnson administration officials, regarding U.S foreign policy, particularly
towards Latin America and Cuba. Finally, this series contains scrapbooks of
Times'
editorials authored by Matthews between 1949 and
1967; created and donated by the
New York Times.
Series V: Personal, 1909-1970s
This brief series contains a disparate array of documents, papers and photographs
about Matthews' life within and beyond his career as a journalist. This section
includes materials related to Matthews' life-long interest in Italian history,
culture, and thought, begun while a student at Columbia University, such as files
on Columbia professor Dino Bigongiari and Matthews' support for the university's
Casa Italiana in the 1960s. This section also holds various personal documents
such as passports and journalist identification cards from Matthews' entire career
as a journalist. Photographs, including photographs of Matthews in World War I,
and a folder of material regarding the work of Spanish artist Luis Quintanilla,
who served the Republican government in the Spanish Civil War, also are included
here.
Series VI: Writings, 1930s-1972
This large series records the multitude of books, articles, and addresses written
by Herbert L. Matthews, and some material written about Matthews, not otherwise
found in previous sections of the Matthews papers. Included are manuscripts, and
often correspondence and notes for, and reviews of, his books:
Two War and More to Come
(1938),
Fruits of Fascism
(1943),
Education of a
Correspondent
(1946),
Assignment to
Austerity
(1950),
The Yoke and the
Arrows
(1957),
A World in Revolution
(1971), and
Half of Spain Died
(1973). Also notable
here is an unpublished manuscript written by Matthews in the 1970s, "Valediction";
and the transcript of an episode of the television show, "The Big Story,"
recounting Matthews' celebrated reports of March, 1955, concerning student
politics under the Peronist dictatorship in Argentina.
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Using the Collection
Offsite
Access Restrictions
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material
from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts, Rare Book and
Manuscript Library (RBML). The RBML approves permission to publish that which it
physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the
patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Herbert L. Matthews Papers; Box and
Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries. Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University
Libraries Digital Library Program Division
Processing Information
Cataloged 08/--/89 Christina Hilton Fenn
Papers processed 1977 BRC
Papers processed 12/26/91 HR
Papers processed 03/09/93 HR
Papers processed 2009 by Justin Jackson (GSAS 2012).
Finding aid written by Justin Jackson in May 2009.
Biographical note written by Mary Boone Bowling in 1975.
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT conversion
September 24, 2009
Finding aid written in English.
2009-10-06
xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz
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Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
Genre/Form
Subjects
| Heading | CUL Archives:
Portal | CUL Collections:
CLIO | Nat'l / Int'l Archives:
ArchiveGRID |
|---|
| Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Authors. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Baker, Carlos, 1909-1987. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Batista y Zaldívar, Fulgencio, 1901-1973. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Betancourt, Rómulo, 1908-1981. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Bowers, Claude Gernade, 1879-1958. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Castro, Fidel, 1926- | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Croce, Benedetto, 1866-1952. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Cuba--Description and travel. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Cuba--History--Revolution, 1959. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Cuba--Politics and government. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Duvalier, François, 1907-1971. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Eaton, Cyrus Stephen, 1883-1979. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Foreign correspondents. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Frankel, Max, 1914- | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Guevara, Ernesto, 1928-1967. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Heads of state. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| India--History--20th century. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Journalists. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Kubitschek, Juscelino, 1902-1976. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Matthews, Herbert Lionel, 1900- | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Muñoz Marín, Luis, 1898-1980. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Politicians. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Quintanilla, Luis, 1900-1980. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Radio scripts. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Reston, James, 1909-1995. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Revolutionaries. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Spain--History--Civil War,
1936-1939--Journalists. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Personal
Narratives. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939--Press
Coverage. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Statesmen. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Sulzberger, Arthur Hays, 1891-1968. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| Thomas, Norman, 1884-1968. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
| World War, 1939-1945--Italy. | Portal | CLIO | ArchiveGRID |
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History / Biographical Note
Biographical Note
New York City native Herbert Lionel Matthews (1900-1977),
sickly as a child and scholarly as a youth, seems an unlikely candidate for a war
correspondent, but he spent his entire career covering some of the most troubled regions
in the world, and some of the most dangerous events of his time, while reporting for the
New York Times.
Matthews served a brief stint with the United States Army Tank
Corps in Europe during World War I. Following his military service, Matthews studied
languages and history at Columbia University from which he graduated in 1922. In 1931
Matthews married Edith "Nancie" Crosse, a British citizen, with whom he had two
children, Eric and Priscilla.
During the first decades of Matthews' forty-five year career
with the
New York Times
he reported on the Abyssinian
War, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, following these conflicts to North Africa,
Spain, Italy and India. After the war, Matthews was chief of the
Times'
London bureau from 1945 until 1949. Upon returning to New York in
1949, Matthews joined the
Times'
editorial staff where he
remained until his retirement in 1967. Matthews retained his by-line while editor, which
allowed him to cover events in Central and South America during the 1950s and 1960s
When Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, claimed in 1956 that
Fidel Casto had been killed by government troops, it was Matthews who broke the story
that Fidel Castro was still alive and consolidating his revolutionary efforts in the
Sierra Maestra Mountains. Matthew's interview with Castro, published in, the
New York Times
on February 24, 1957 helped, in part, to
undermine the Batista regime and revive the struggle of Castro, making him appear as the
best hope for democracy and social justice in Cuba: "[Castro] has strong ideas of
liberty, democracy, social justice, the need to restore the constitution, to hold
elections." Matthews subsequently received much criticism for his coverage--which many
deemed partisan--of Castro. William F. Buckley, for one, lampooned Matthews and the
New York Times
by stating that 'Castro got his job
through the
New York Times'.
Matthews made several trips to Cuba before his final visit in
1972, and spent the last years of his life defending his reporting of the events in Cuba
leading up to and following the Cuban Revolution. On Saturday, February 17, 1997, the
Cuban government unveiled a marble plaque commemorating the 40th anniversary of the
meeting between Castro and Matthews. The plaque was placed on the spot where Matthews
met with Castro at his hideout in the Sierra Maestra mountains of south-eastern Cuba.
Anthony DePalma's
The Man Who Invented
Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times
, which was
published in 2006 by Public Affairs, illuminates both Matthews the reporter and the
controversy surrounding Matthew's coverage of Castro.
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