Ickes, Harold, 1936-10-21

The Daily Northwestern special editorial project entailed the solicitation and publication of a series of special articles written exclusively for the Daily by prominent Americans. The project was conceived during the summer of 1936 by the Daily's editorial board chairman Julian Behrstock. On July 8, 1936, Behrstock wrote a letter soliciting contributions to the series, "to one hundred prominent men and women all over America -- educators, writers, financiers, statesman -- asking each one for his opinion of American higher educations and the college student; or, better, the relation of the contributor's particular field to the student -- in what manner it touches upon his life , the possibilities it offers for his participation, and its importance to his generation."

Behrstock's letter resulted in 23 articles by such prominent Americans as Fannie Hurst, Dr. Charles Mayo, William Saroyan, Harold Ickes, Frank Lloyd Wright, Clifton Fadiman, and James T. Farrell, which appeared in the Daily on a weekly basis, beginning on September 23, 1936, and continuing through March 31, 1937.

The series is arranged in 26 folders comprising one half-size box. The first folder contains a copy of a letter from Julian Behrstock to Northwestern University Archivist Patrick M. Quinn, dated December 8, 1977, explaining the origins of of the project; and a copy of Behrstock's original letter soliciting contributions to the series. (This copy was originally sent to Graduate School Dean Franklyn Bliss Snyder, later President of the University; on its reverse is a caustic handwritten response from Snyder, criticizing the wording of Behrstock's solicitation letter and declining to contribute to the series.)

The following 23 folders contain photocopies of the articles as they were printed in the Daily Northwestern, and are arranged in chronological order according to the date that each article appeared in the Daily. Approximately half of these folders also contain correspondence with the authors, and/or the original manuscripts of articles; these letters are arranged alphabetically by surname.