2017-05-11 Preliminary Inventory of the Sam Oliver Shapiro Papers, circa 1930-1990 SPEC.RARE.CMS.0070 Finding aid prepared by Zoe MacLeod; Beth Crowner Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections

1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210

2017 April; 2019 May

Originally migrated from Ackerman inventory. Boxes pulled to make notes were correct. Inventory dates do not match collection dates.

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2019-05-16T10:58-0400 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard Sam Oliver Shapiro Papers SPEC.RARE.CMS.0070 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 51.25 Cubic feet circa 1930-1990 Sam Oliver Shapiro (born 1902) was an American businessman who worked in the publishing industry from circa 1937-1987. From 1937-1945, he worked at Look magazine under Cowles Communications as the magazine’s circulation director, eventually retiring from the magazine in 1969. He then became a magazine consultant, working with Tampra Consulting, Inc. until his retirement in 1987. The Sam Oliver Shapiro Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, business proposals, news clippings, book digests, artwork, photographs, and other ephemera. The collection also includes a collection of Shapiro’s newspaper column, “Shappenings”. Because of Shapiro’s work in publishing and consulting, this collection contains extensive files on notable clients and peers in journalism such as Hearst Magazines, GEO, Dear Abby, Ann Landers, and others. The collection materials date from circa 1930-1990. (86) archival containers; (15) oversize archival containers English Shapiro, Sam Oliver, 1902- Arrangement of Materials

This collection is unprocessed. Materials are arranged in the order received.

Acquisitions Information

Donated by Toni Mendez Shapiro, 1996 February, November, 1997 March

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], Sam Oliver Shapiro Papers, SPEC.RARE.CMS.0070, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

Access to Materials

Some materials in this collection may need curatorial review before access is granted. Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only. Audio/visual materials and computer media may need a use copy produced before access is allowed.

Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

Processing Information

This collection is unprocessed. Finding aid written by: Beth Crowner, 2019 April

Biographical Note

Sam Oliver Shapiro (born 1902) was an American businessman who worked in the publishing industry from circa 1937-1987. From 1937-1945, he worked at Look magazine under Cowles Communications as the magazine’s circulation director, eventually retiring from the magazine in 1969. He then became a magazine consultant, working with Tampra Consulting, Inc. until his retirement in 1987. During his time as a publishing consultant, he maintained frequent correspondence with other industry notables such as Theodore Peterson, Helen Gurley Brown, and the columnists for Ann Landers and Dear Abby. He also served as a consultant to publications like Avon, Hearst, Scientific American, and Life Magazine.

Shapiro, who went by “Shap” in much of his correspondence and professional communications, also was a philanthropist and activist who spoke out against drug problems and illiteracy. He served as a director on multiple boards, was a fellow of Brandeis University, and received the first “Heart of Gold” award from Family Circle in 1986. He also established the Mr. S. O. Shapiro Endowment for Perpetual Student Aid at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His fourth marriage was to Toni Mendez, a literary agent. Shapiro and Mendez both served on the Board of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Scope and Contents

The materials in this collection include personal and professional correspondence, business proposals, news clippings, book digests, artwork, photographs, and other ephemera. The collection also includes a collection of Shapiro’s newspaper column, “Shappenings”. Because of Shapiro’s work in publishing and consulting, this collection contains extensive files on notable clients and peers in journalism such as Hearst Magazines, Helen Gurley Brown, Dear Abby, Ann Landers, Elle, Farm Journal, Popular Mechanics, Science Digest, Scientific American, ABC, Gannet, GEO, and Look magazine. The collection materials date from circa 1930-1990.

Clippings (information artifacts) Journalism--United States--20th century Journalists--United States--20th century Magazines (periodicals) Periodicals--Publishing--United States--20th century Publishers and publishing--United States--20th century Client Correspondence, Anti-Defamation League, Espense Reports 1 1-15 undated Correspondence, magazine covers 2 16-32 undated Correspondence, Ego files 3 33-42 4 43-44 undated Access to Materials

Folder 44 contains financial information that needs to be reviewed prior to access.

Correspondence, Elle 4 43-53 undated Correspondence, Farm Journal 5 54-66 undated Correspondence, donations 6 67-75 undated Correspondence, Hearst magazines 7 76-85 undated Magazine correspondence, bibliography 8 86-108 undated Magazine correspondence and photocopies 9 109-118 undated Correspondence, bestsellers 10 119-126 undated Copies of magazines (Motorboats) 11 127-136 undated Publishing files, clippings 12 137-152 undated Correspondence, interview Popular Mechanics 13 153-164 undated Photocopies, Science Digest 14 165-178 undated Speeches/travel info 15 179-199 undated Publishing correspondence 16 200-212 undated Correspondence, photocopies, yacht Rracing 17 213-228 undated Abbey Press Publishing correspondence 18 229-234 undated Client correspondence, magazines/publishing 19 235-248 undated Correspondence, book digest, catalogs 20 249-261 undated Business correspondence, Crawdaddy 21 262-269 undated Business correspondence, Crawdaddy cont. 22 270-277 undated Clippings/Business correspondence 23 278-286 undated Magazine correspondence, financial reports 24 287-296 undated Financial transactions/correspondence 25 297-299 undated Magazine business correspondence/spreadsheets 26 300-310 undated Publishing correspondence, New Dawn, Parents 27 311-322 undated Hearst files, correspondence 28 323-329 undated Correspondence, photocopies, articles 29 330-342 undated Sphere/ Scientific American correspondence/photocopies 30 343-364 undated Tampra/Tennis financial records, tax returns 31 365-374 undated Access to Materials

Box 31 contains financial information that needs to be reviewed prior to access.

Business trip spreadsheet, correspondence 32 375-379 undated Travel receipts, Twin Cities Woman correspondence 33 380-385 undated World Magazine Copies/Correspondence 34 386-399 undated Zoo World photocopies, correspondence 35 400-408 undated Zoo World correspondence, Anti-Defamation clippings 36 409-417 undated Anti-Defamation clippings, photos/business meeting photos 37 418-423 undated Personal calendars 38 424-427 undated Daily planners 39 428 undated Personal calendars 40 429 undated CCI clippings, Communal Activity pictures 41 430-439 undated Cue financial reports, correspondence 42 440-448 undated Magazine distributors 43 449-461 undated Divorce correspondence, expense receipts 44 462-469 undated ABC periodicals 45 470 undated Fifteen Minutes Magazine files, etc./greeting cards 46 471-475 undated Gannet column notes, GEO 47 476-481 undated GEO Vol 1, 2 48 482 undated GEO Vol 2, 3, 4 49 483 undated GEO correspondence, photocopies 50 484-487 undated GEO correspondence, financial records 51 487A-493 undated Inner Circle financial reports, clippings 52 494-498 undated Kids/ Look Magazine 53 499-504 undated Lookout correspondence, manuscripts 54 505-511 undated Manuscript IV-VIII, magazine files 55 512-521 undated Motor Boating and Sailing Magazine 56 522-527 undated Parents correspondence, photocopies 57 528-537 undated Popular Mechanics magazine, files 58 528-537 undated Promotional photographs, Science Digest files 59 542-551 undated Shap's Personal Business 1-5 60 552-560 undated Shap's Personal Business 6-9, retirement 61 561-565 undated Newsletters, publishing files, Talk correspondence 62 566-575 undated Look, awards & dinners 1-6 63 576-581 undated Shappenings columns, clippings 64 582-589 undated Shappenings clippings 65 590-599 undated Shappenings clippings cont 66 600-607 undated Shappenings clippings cont 67 608-615 undated Shappenings clippings 68 616-619 1982 Shappenings clippings cont 69 620-625 1982 Shappenings clippings 70 626-632 1982-1983 Shappenings clippings 71 633-638 1983 Shappenings clippings 72 639-643 undated Shappenings clippings 73 644-649 1984-1985 Shappenings clippings 74 650-654 1985 Shappenings clippings 75 655-657 1985, July, September Shapiro manuscript, correspondence, receipts 76 658-663 undated Book Digests 77 664 undated Book Digests 78 665 undated GEO Vol 1, 2 79 666 undated GEO Vol 2, 3 80 667 undated GEO Vol 3, 4, 5 81 668 undated Venture books 82 771 undated Venture magazines 83 672 undated Venture magazines 84 673 Undated Venture magazines 85 674 undated Shapiro's awards 86 675-680 undated Fortune, Look magazines Oversize 1 422,435,471,474,492 undated Jock, Life magazines Oversize 2 499,501 undated Look magazines Oversize 3 504 undated Lookout, Post magazines Oversize 4 506,507,544,548,568 undated Metropolitan Seminar in Art Portfolio A-J Oversize 5 699 undated Metropolitan Seminar in Art Portfolio K, L, 1-12 Oversize 6 670 undated Shapiro's awards Oversize 7 681-689 undated Shapiro's awards, photograph Oversize 8 690-693 undated Shapiro's awards Oversize 9 694-698 undated Shapiro's plaque Oversize 10 699-700 undated Shapiro plaque, newspaper Oversize 11 701-704 undated Group pictures Oversize 12a undated Plaques, awards, posters Oversize 12b undated Shapiro's letters, tapes Oversize 13 undated Shapiro pictures, contact info Oversize 14 undated