Columbia University (#54)

An Inventory of Records
1963-1969
In the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Historical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Series Description


Administrative Information

Abstract
Records 1963-1969
Research materials consisting of transcripts of interviews with network news personnel used in preparation of Ruth Leeds Love's dissertation Television and the Death of a President (1969).

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the letter of intent, July 14, 1970, interviewees are guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality. Researchers wishing to use this collection must observe the restrictions and use general terms such as “top executive,” “middle executive,” and “correspondent.” Researchers intending to publish from this collection should cite the Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University and the Morse Communication Research Center, Brandeis University. Users of these materials are advised to determine the copyright status of any document from which they wish to publish.

Copyright
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excesses of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form. Direct your questions concerning copyright to the reference staff.

Provenance
Received from Columbia University of New York, NY, in December of 1969 (Acc. 1971-012); and in March of 1999 (Acc. 1999-019).

Extent
About 250 items (1 linear feet, 9 linear inches ; 2 cubic feet)

Date Opened
ca. 1980

Revisions
Finding Aid revised in March 2004 by Jennifer Blake

Encoded by
Jennifer Blake

The Records of Columbia University Bureau of Applied Social Research 

Historical Note
The Bureau for Applied Social Research (BASR) was established in 1944 at Columbia University by sociologist Paul F. Lazarsfeld. The organization helped secure Columbia’s place as a pioneering institution in the social sciences and eventually became one of the 20th century’s main social research organizations. The studies conducted by BASR were often interdisciplinary, combining fields such as sociology, psychology and political science. The organization also released a prominent study on the impact of the media on the American public and as a result helped build the field of mass communication research. In addition, the organization introduced research methods such as the focused interview and panel interviewing, which are still commonly used today. The Bureau was replaced by the Center for the Social Sciences, which itself was later absorbed by the current Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy.

Collection Overview
The collection consists of interview transcripts conducted with news staff from NBC, ABC and some independent Dallas stations. The interviews focus on the media coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Several folders of background information on the study are also included in the collection. This information includes network information, clippings, interviewing guides used by the project and studies on the Kennedy assassination.

List of Series
Series 1. Interviews
Series 2. Background Information

Series Description

Series 1. Interviews.
About 190 items
Arrangement: alphabetical by name of interviewee.

Transcripts of interviews conducted with members of the media involved with the coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Two copies of each transcript are included in each folder. Some interviews were held in two parts and as a result have two transcripts. In these cases, a separate folder is provided for each part. In addition, some interviews were conducted by two people and as a result have two different transcripts. In these cases, a separate folder is provided for each set of transcripts and the name of the interviewer is indicated in the folder title.

Series 2. Background Information.
About 70 items
Arrangement: alphabetical by type.

This series contains information used and accumulated by the Bureau of Applied Social Research during its study on the media coverage of the assassination of President Kennedy. Most of the information pertains directly to Kennedy and the assassination, but some material deal with death and public reaction on a general note. When appropriate, material within the folder is arranged chronologically.