Adam Clymer (#52)

An Inventory of His Personal Papers
At the John F. Kennedy Library
National Archives and Records Administration

Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Collection Overview
List of Series
Series Description
 

Administrative Information

Abstract
Personal Papers, 1958-1999
Adam Clymer (1937- ), New York Times journalist and author of Edward M. Kennedy: a biography (Morrow, 1999). Research and background materials consisting of interview texts, including extensive interviews with Edward M. Kennedy, notes from newspaper files, press releases, videotapes, newspaper and magazine clippings, diplomatic cables, computer disks, and photographs.

Access
Open.

Usage Restrictions
According to the deed of gift signed June 2002, copyright of these materials has been assigned to the United States.

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  The copyright law extends its protection to unpublished works from the moment of creation in a tangible form.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 Adam Clymer of Washington, DC, in February 2000 (Acc. 2000-015); and June 2001 (Acc. 2002-301).

Extent
About 8,800 items (14feet)

Withdrawn Items
Selected folders contain withdrawal sheets where documents, in accordance with the donor's deed of gift, were removed from the collection. These include documents which may be used to injure or harass any living person.  All withdrawn documents have been placed under seal and upon request the Kennedy Library will review any material which has been closed for a period of not less than 2 years for the purpose of opening items which no longer require restrictions. Researchers should consult the reference staff to obtain the appropriate form(s).

Date Opened
September 2002

Processed by
G. Willow Wilson and Jennifer Miller

Encoded by
James M. Roth

Related Collections
Edward M. Kennedy Personal Papers

Biographical Note
Born in New York City on April 27, 1937, Adam Clymer is the chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times and author of Edward M. Kennedy: a biography (Morrow, 1999). After graduating from Walden School in 1954, Clymer earned his B.A. from Harvard University in 1958 and did post-graduate work at the University of Cape Town, South Africa on a Frank Knox Fellowship in 1959. Clymer began his journalistic career in 1960, working as a reporter for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. After time at the Baltimore Sun and The New York Daily News , Clymer joined the staff of the New York Times as a reporter and editor in 1977. He later became the Washington editor and in 1999, began serving as the chief Washington correspondent. In 1981, Clymer co-authored Reagan: The Man, the President (MacMillan, 1981) with fellow Times journalists Hedrick Smith, Leonard Silk, Robert Lindsey, and Richard Burt, contributing chapters on Reagan's entry into politics in 1964 and his successful presidential bid in 1980. In 1993, Clymer was the recipient of the Everett Dirksen Award, presented by the Dirksen Congressional Research Center for distinguished reporting on Congress. Clymer, who had covered Edward M. Kennedy since the early days of his newspaper career, interviewed Kennedy extensively for his second political work, Edward M. Kennedy: a biography , published by Morrow in 1999.

Biographical information adapted from the Biography Resource Center (http:// infotrac.galegroup.com).

Collection Overview
Material related to Edward M. Kennedy: A biography . The collection is arranged into five series: Writings; Interviews; Correspondence; Research Materials; and Audiovisual Materials. The first series, Writings, consists of drafts and revisions of the original manuscript. The second series, Interviews, contains research interviews conducted by Clymer with a variety of figures including President and Hillary Clinton, Joan Kennedy, John Kenneth Galbraith, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr, and Edward M. Kennedy. The third series, Correspondence, contains drafts of research requests to various people and institutions, including several presidential libraries. Some replies are also included. The fourth series, research materials, consists of media items used for research purposes, including press releases from the office of Senator Kennedy, photocopied newspaper and magazine articles, court and legislative transcripts and limited correspondence.  The fifth series, Audiovisual Materials, contains videotape copies of various media events documenting Senator Kennedy's personal and public life.

List of Series  
Series 1. Writings
Series 2. Interviews
Series 3. Correspondence
Series 4. Research Materials
Series 5. Audiovisual Materials

Series Description

Series 1. Writings, 1985-1999.
About 50 items.
Arrangement: by chapter.

Drafts of the original manuscript of Edward M. Kennedy: a biography . Includes some markup and revisions.

Series 2. Interviews, 1990-1999.
About 150 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by interviewee.

Research interviews, largely conducted Clymer via phone and in person. Interviews conducted by others are also included; the interviewers' names are present in the text. Included are interviews with President and Hillary Clinton, Joan Kennedy, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. along with Clymer's interviews of Edward M. Kennedy, completed over a period of 7 years.

Series 3. Correspondence Drafts, 1990-1999.
About 75 items.
Arrangement: alphabetical by correspondent.

Drafts of letters to various people and institutions for informational and research purposes. A limited number of replies is also included.

Series 4. Research Materials, 1955-1999.
About 8,500 items.
Arrangement: by subject.

Various media items used for research purposes including Lexis Nexis articles, press releases from the office of Senator Kennedy, photocopied newspaper and magazine articles, court and legislative transcripts, and some correspondence.  Material in boxes 7-9 consist of print-outs from disks.

Series 5.  Audiovisual Materials, 1974-1994.
31 items.

Videotape copies of various media events used for research purposes.