EDWIN PALMER HOYT PAPERS
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Edwin Palmer Hoyt collection (1919 - 1979) contains material pertaining to both his professional and personal life. His professional papers include material from throughout his career at the Oregonian and The Denver Post. Speeches given by Hoyt and his records from The Denver Post comprise the majority of the professional material. These records include correspondence, newspaper clippings and research information on specific popular topics and people from the 1940s to the 1970s. Examples of these people and topics include: Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, atomic bomb, Vietnam, Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism. Hoyt's personal papers include financial documents as well as correspondence and sample newsletters from the organizations to which he belonged.
Manuscripts of Hoyt's short stories comprise the first portion of his professional papers. The professional records contained in this series include some of Hoyt's records from the Oregonian and all of his records from The Denver Post. Records include Hoyt's research data on specific topics, current events and people. Examples of records are Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Vietnam and the population explosion.
Information on Hoyt's speeches includes the date and location of each speech. These transcripts date from 1936 to 1969. His day planners document his activities as an editor and publisher.
The collection contains numerous awards presented to Hoyt throughout his career including honorary diplomas. The series contains various pamphlets, and reprints of articles and essays written by Hoyt. Other publications included in this collection are those of interest to Hoyt.
Hoyt belonged to a veterans' organization, A Company, and to a journalism society, Sigma Delta Chi, as well as other clubs. These papers are included. Also, financial documents such as tax returns, banking information, mortgages and stock transactions constitute a portion of his personal papers. Biographical material, Christmas cards, correspondence with family and friends and passports comprise another portion of the series. Helen May Hoyt's correspondence, notes and day planners are also included.
Mementoes and badges comprise the series.
This series includes 78 rpm records and audiocassettes of Hoyt's speeches and interviews.
Scrapbooks, autographed letters, awards and a bowie knife comprise the oversize series. The majority of the scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings of various topics from specific years.
The photographs in this series include photographs of Hoyt and his family. Numerous photographs illustrate Hoyt in his work environment. These include photographs of the Post Train to Cheyenne Frontier Days and the World's Fair. Photographs taken of Hoyt while on the Office of War Information Board and the U.S. Advisory Commission and Hoyt with presidents Richard Nixon, L.B. Johnson, and vice president Hubert Humphrey are also included, some of which are autographed.
The personal photographs include: family Christmas portraits, trips to Europe, trip to the Olympics, Monty and his brothers ice skating, and Helen May. Many photographs are not identified.
Dates
- TBD
ACCESS:
The collection is open for research.
OWNERSHIP:
Literary and copyrights have been assigned to the Denver Public Library.
PUBLICATION RIGHTS:
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
In 1897, Edwin Palmer Hoyt was born to Reverend and Mrs. Edwin Palmer Hoyt in Roseville, Illinois. In 1917, Hoyt enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served 18 months in France, and was discharged as sergeant major. In 1923, after he graduated from the University of Oregon, Hoyt joined the Portland Oregonian as a copyreader. He began to move up the ranks, becoming executive news editor in 1931, managing editor in 1933, general manager in 1938 and editor and publisher in 1939. He also supplemented his income by publishing short stories.
In 1921, Hoyt married Cecile Devore. They divorced in 1949. They had two children, Edwin P. Hoyt and Charles R. Hoyt. He married Helen May Taber in 1950. They had one son, Lincoln Porter Hoyt. Hoyt adopted Helen May's three sons from a previous marriage, Gregory, Montgomery, and Wesley.
In 1941, Hoyt became the national president of Sigma Delta Chi, a professional journalistic society, and served as regional chairmen of the War Board Committee. In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed him director of the Domestic Branch, Office of War Information, a position for which he took a six-month leave of absence from the Oregonian.
In 1946, Hoyt became editor and publisher of The Denver Post. He was appointed to the Air Policy Commission by President Harry Truman in 1947. Awarded John Peter Zenger Freedom of the Press Award by the University of Arizona in 1954, Hoyt was reappointed to the United States Advisory Commission on Information by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. In 1970, he retired as editor and publisher of The Denver Post.
Extent
45 Boxes
1 AVBox
4 OVBoxes, 8 OVFolios
1 PhotoBoxes
2 OVPhotoBoxes
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
PROVENANCE:
The Palmer Hoyt Papers were given to the Denver Public Library by his son, Monty Hoyt, in 1996. Christine Sheff donated papers in 2012.
SIZE:
Number of Boxes: 45
1 AVBox
Oversize: 4 OVBoxes, 8 OVFolios
Number of PhotoBoxes: 1
Number of OVPhotoBoxes: 2
LOCATION:
WH1226
PROCESSED BY:
Tammi E. Haddad
1998
REVISED AND ENCODED BY:
Ann Brown
July 2007, 2009
July 2012
PROJECT MANAGER:
Ellen Zazzarino
- Journalists -- Colorado -- Denver -- 20th century. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Newspaper editors -- Colorado -- Denver -- 20th century. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Personal papers. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Professional papers. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- EDWIN PALMER HOYT PAPERS
- Date
- REVISED 2012
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository
