Small nameplate: W. Manchester

Series I: Writings

Papers related to each of Manchester's 18 books are listed alphabetically in the subseries, Books. Generally, the papers contain correspondence, research and reference materials, manuscript drafts, a fair copy (which Manchester referred to as his first typed clean copy, although there were often drafts which followed the fair copy), a setting copy, galleys, publicity materials, and occasionally fan mail. All other writings of Manchester, including articles, short stories, unpublished or unrealized projects, and dramas, are listed alphabetically in the subseries, Other writings.

Manchester’s working style was unique and he generally applied it from book to book, starting at the beginning with Disturber of the Peace. As he did research, he kept typed notes on each source. Books generally have a series of key documents, called docs, that are listed in an index and individually numbered, usually in red. These documents number from fewer than 100 for Krupp to more than 600 for the Churchill biography The Last Lion. Beyond the docs there is generally much more reference material.

When he was ready to start mapping out the book, he made what he called long notes from his notes. In a memo to his new secretary in 1996, he described a long note as two 8 ½ x 11 pages pasted together end to end. Each Long Note (LN) bears, pasted to it, strips of paper with information, or quotations, or the like. Long notes were stapled and taped into numbered gatherings Manchester called clumps of about fifty pages each. To streamline things, Manchester used codes, and sometimes his codes had codes. In some case, the right side of the strips on the clumps contained a code for the source of the text. The left side had the code for a subject or category. Codes were also sometimes used to outline the chapter topics. An outline was written from clumps; the clump page had a number in top center to keep it in sequence. With the invention of the highlighter, Manchester added the dimension of color to his coding. His codes and outlines bore witness to the complexity of the material.

Material related to The Death of a President has been processed and described at the item level. Please note the restrictions above; in short, all manuscript drafts and galleys, plus papers related to the individuals described above, have been restricted. The container lists those materials which have been restricted. Correspondence and other papers that fall within the restrictions have been removed from folders and marked with a separation sheet. Although some of the papers have been restricted, there is still a wealth of material related to the writing of the book, the drawn efforts to get it published, and Mrs. Kennedy's lawsuit. Transcripts of interviews with over 200 people serve as an oral history of the events surrounding JFK's assassination. There is much primary source material in the hundreds of documents Manchester amassed. Note: In his files, Manchester frequently used the abbreviations, DOAP and TDOAP, when referring to this book.

Material related to all volumes of the The Last Lion is arranged together. Manchester initially performed all of the research and contemplated a two-volume set. A third volume was planned after work had commenced on the first two. There is a good deal of overlap in research materials and outlines reflecting Manchester's changing approach to the work.

For published versions of Manchester's works, see Series II: Printed matter.

Series II. Printed matter

Material related to The Death of a President has been processed and described at the item level. Please note the restrictions above; in short, all manuscript drafts and galleys, plus papers related to the individuals described above, have been restricted. The container lists those materials which have been restricted. Correspondence and other papers that fall within the restrictions have been removed from folders and marked with a separation sheet. Although some of the papers have been restricted, there is still a wealth of material related to the writing of the book, the drawn efforts to get it published, and Mrs. Kennedy's lawsuit. Transcripts of interviews with over 200 people serve as an oral history of the events surrounding JFK's assassination. There is much primary source material in the hundreds of documents Manchester amassed. Note: In his files, Manchester frequently used the abbreviations, DOAP and TDOAP, when referring to this book.

Material related to all volumes of the The Last Lion is arranged together. Manchester initially performed all of the research and contemplated a two-volume set. A third volume was planned after work had commenced on the first two. There is a good deal of overlap in research materials and outlines reflecting Manchester's changing approach to the work.

For published versions of Manchester's works, see Series II: Printed matter.

Series II. Printed matter

This series contains materials which have been formally published, such as magazines, pamphlets, and the like. Published works written by Manchester are found in the subseries, Writings by Manchester. Otherwise, materials will be found in the three subseries, Serials, Newspapers, and Other publications. Here may be found such items as a 1963 Dallas Yellow Pages phone book, articles written by Manchester's friends, magazine accounts of the Death of a President controversy, and reviews of Manchester's books. The materials are arranged alphabetically by the title of the publication or serial.

For additional published materials, see Series VI: Scrapbooks.

Series III: Writings of others

This series contains, for the most part, the unpublished writings of others, such as manuscript, drafts, and proofs. Of note is a script of The Arrangement by Elia Kazan annotated by Manchester. It is arranged alphabetically by writer's name, or if it is not known, the title of the work.

Series IV: Correspondence

Although there is a specific series called Correspondence, it should be noted that correspondence is found throughout the collection. Correspondence in Series IV consists of correspondence files maintained separately from projects and other categories, such as awards, financial papers, legal papers, and so on. There is much parallel and overlapping correspondence as well; the thorough researcher will need to consult a variety of subseries to be sure that all potential sources have been tapped. Correspondence maintained by topic or correspondent, such as Little Brown, has been arranged by topic in the subseries, Aphabetical. All loose correspondence has been placed in the subseries, Chronological. The subseries, Correspondence, bulk 1966-1969, contains much Death of a President fan mail, but also business and personal correspondence. Manchester employed three different administrative assistants who maintained runs of correspondence, and that order has been preserved. He also was given correspondence which had been maintained at the office of his agent, Don Congdon of the Harold Matson Co., that is found in the subseries, Harold Matson Co. Manchester also had several separate, overlapping files of correspondence relating to the Kennedy family, and that has been consolidated in its own subseries. The last subseries in Series IV: Correspondence contains two letters from noted spy Kim Philby.

As mentioned, to see all correspondence related to a topic, one should consider all subseries in Series IV: Correpsondence for possible sources. For example, to research the Kennedy controversy, one should inspect the alphabetical subseries, the years 1966-67 in the chronological subseries, the Correspondence bulk 1966-69 subseries, the Harold Marson Co. subseries, and the Kennedy family subseries. Additional correspondence will be found in Series I: Writings in the Death of a President files.

Series V: Personal papers

Series V: Personal papers fall into several large subseries and a variety of small ones. The subseries, Early records, contains papers related to Manchester's childhood, education, and United States Marine Corps service. The subseries, Awards and honors, contains materials related to his honorary degrees and other awards. The subseries, Baltimore Sunpapers, relates to Manchester's employment from 1947-54 and includes documentation of his foreign correspondent experience. Manchester's innocuous FBI file is found in the subseries, Federal Bureau of Investigation. The subseries, Financial, includes royalty statements, correspondence, business matters, and records related to banking, investments, and taxes. The folders labeled General contain a wide variety of notes and emphemeral material. The subseries, Legal, has papers related to lawsuits (except for the Jacqueline Kennedy lawsuit, which is found in Series I: Writings The Death of a President), contracts, and other topics. The subseries, Office files, contains the files that were found in file cabinets in Manchester's office at the time of his death, and have been preserved in their original order. The subseries, Speeches, contains copies of talks, speeches, and other occasions at which Manchester delivered remarks. (In the cases of remarks delivered in conjunction with honorary degrees, the remarks will be found in the subseries, Awards and honors.) The subseries, 316 Pine St. files, contains files kept at Manchester's home, and their integrity has been maintained. The subseries, Wesleyan University, contains a variety of documents, memoranda, and other records related to Manchester's long association with the university.