New Deal Smear Campaign Against the Tribune , 1939-1946

This collection consists of case files selected by the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis as being of possible historical interest. They date principally from 1920 to 1955, with a few from as early as 1907. The papers pertain to the Chicago Tribune, the Tribune Company, the Ontario Paper Company, and Robert R. McCormick. Also included is a small collection of Patterson family papers, evidently from the estate of Eleanor Medill Patterson.

The largest part of the McCormick material in the collection relates to real estate matters, chiefly his buying and selling of properties in Du Page and Kendall Counties. Other personal McCormick material includes legal papers concerning his various gifts, files on his birthday celebrations, his military record and other biographical material. Also included is the correspondence of Colonel McCormick and Maryland Hooper McCormick during the last few months of his final illness, as well as Mrs. McCormick's correspondence from 1950 to 1954 and following the death of Colonel McCormick on April 1, 1955. Various medical records from January through March 1955 are with these letters in box 49.

Early papers of the Tribune Company can be found in the collection, including its proposed reorganization (1922-1927); early contracts with employees (1912-1925); the incorporation of the Tribune Company of France (1919) and its eventual sale (1934); and the bonus-extra compensation contract between the Tribune Company and R.R. McCormick and Joseph M. Patterson (1922). Legal cases from this period include the Tribune Company versus the Associated Press (1924-1926); the Tribune Company versus Oak Leaves Broadcasting Company (1924-1927); and the City of Chicago versus the Chicago Tribune (1921-1927). Early Ontario Paper Company records consist of a corporation memo, minutes of meetings, resolutions, correspondence, etc. (1911-1923).

Legal files of later well-known Tribune law cases include the Tribune-Stanley Johnston Midway Case (1941-1942); the so-called New Deal Smear Campaign against the Chicago Tribune (1939-1946); the Jake Lingle investigation and The People versus Leo V. Brothers (1931-1937); and various freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and censorship matters (1929-1966).

Similar files include such items as The People vs. Marian Claire (1941, involving a traffic violation); a number of Drew Pearson-Tribune imbroglios in the 1940s and 1950s; various news piracy, libel and copyright cases; and the purchase and sale by the Tribune Company of the Washington Times-Herald (1949-1956).

The Patterson family material contains two valuable genealogical collections: a group of papers, letters and documents relating to the family's eligibility for membership in Colonial Dames; and a scrapbook of clippings on the deaths of seven members of the family, from that of the Reverend Robert Wilson Patterson in 1874 to his son Robert W. Patterson in 1910. Other family legal documents include the 1908 contract of Count Josepeh Gizycki, and Eleanor Medill Patterson (Countess Eleanor Gizycka) which is involved in the Gizycki divorce settlement.