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Time Inc. Corporate Administration Records

Call Number

MS 3009-RG 5

Date

1853-2002 (bulk, 1929-1995), inclusive

Creator

Time, inc.

Extent

192.7 Linear feet in 195 record cartons and 3 flat boxes

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The Corporate Administration Records contain files from the corporate-level offices and executives of Time Inc. Executives and offices represented include the president, chief executive officer, chairman of the board, and chairman of the executive committee; corporate secretary; the finance division including files from the treasurer and investor relations; executive vice presidents; vice presidents overseeing administration, international, communications, and newspaper acquisitions; and a director of international business. Staff represented include Roy E. Larsen, James A. Linen, Andrew Heiskell, Ralph P. Davidson, Reginald K. Brack, Jr., and Don Logan. Records document corporate strategic planning for Time Inc., corporate filings, investments in terms of Time Inc. shareholders or in regards to employee retirement accounts, and major acquisitions, sales, or mergers including the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications creating Time Warner. Records also include executive committee minutes, five-year plans, notary seals, patents owned by Time Inc., early printing agreements, and corporate books or other organizational records from affiliates and subsidiaries of Time Inc.

Historical Note

Corporate Administration at Time Inc. includes the president, chief executive officer, chairman of the board, and chairman of the executive committee; vice presidents whose function only seems to exist at the corporate level (Peter Costiglio); executives overseeing multiple areas of the company (Charles Bear); and staff on special assignment at the corporate level (Otto Fuerbringer and William Rukeyser). Corporate Administration also includes corporate finance, the corporate secretary, and corporate strategy staff.

Executives at Time Inc. often held multiple positions over time, or concurrently, and kept their files all together without separation by position or office. Executives sometimes held staff positions along with board positions. The corporate finance department included the treasurer and assistant treasurers. The corporate secretary often was also the comptroller.

Arrangement Note

Organized into 13 series with additional subseries. Series II is listed out more fully as files from the top executives of the company range through several positions.

Series I. General Files
Series II.A. President, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and Vice-chairman of the Board: Roy E. Larsen Files
Series II.B. President, Chairman of the Board, and Chairman of the Executive Committee: James A. Linen Files
Series II.C. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Heiskell Files Series II.D. Office of the President and Chairman of the Board: Ralph P. Davidson Files
Series II.E. Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, President and Chief Operating Officer: N. J. Nicholas, Jr. Files
Series II.F. President, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer: Reginald K. Brack, Jr. Files
Series II.G. President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer: Don Logan Files
Series II.H. Office of the President: Corporate Special Projects Staff: Edgar P. Smith Files
Series III. Corporate Secretary Files
Series IV. Finance Division Files
Series V. Corporate Strategy Files
Series VI. Executive Vice President Kelso Sutton Files
Series VII. Executive Vice President Donald J. Barr TIME Newstour '95 Planning Files
Series VIII. Office of the Vice President of Administration and International Files
Series IX. Vice President of Communications Peter Costiglio Files
Series X. Vice President of Corporate Planning Henry Luce III Files
Series XI. Vice President Otto Fuerbringer files on newspaper acquisition and development of a news wire service
Series XII. Vice President of Administrative Services Rosemarie Di Sapio Files
Series XIII. Director of International Business Development William S. Rukeyser Files

Scope and Contents Note

The Corporate Administration Records contain files from the corporate-level offices and executives of Time Inc. Executives and offices represented include the president, chief executive officer, chairman of the board, and chairman of the executive committee; corporate secretary; the finance division including files from the treasurer and investor relations; executive vice presidents; vice presidents overseeing administration, international, communications, and newspaper acquisitions; and a director of international business.

Staff represented include Roy E. Larsen, one of the first employees of Time Inc., the first employee of Time magazine, and credited as the third most important person, after the cofounders, in building Time Inc. as a company; James A. Linen; Andrew Heiskell; Ralph P. Davidson; Reginald K. Brack, Jr.; and Don Logan. Executive staff files sometimes document their philanthropic or volunteer work outside of Time Inc., including with the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand, the American Corporate Aid for Lebanon Inc., the National Urban League, and St. Bernard's School. Corporate management primarily handled corporate strategic planning for Time Inc., required corporate filings, Time Inc. stock and other stock investments, and major acquisitions, sales, or mergers including the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications creating Time Warner. Of interest are internal memoranda distributed to the "War List" during World War II in Treasurer Charles Stillman's files.

The General Files include corporate-level records where the exact office of origination is not known, or the files are from several people or offices at the corporate executive level, but were grouped together by Time Inc. at some point. Records include stock certificates, five-year plans, notary seals, patents owned by Time Inc., printing agreements, and corporate books or other organizational records from affiliates and subsidiaries of Time Inc.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers with the exception of restricted materials. Restricted materials may include contracts and agreements between Time Inc., its subsidiaries, and third parties; records with personally identifiable information; and personnel records regarding performance reviews or terminations. Materials created within the past 35 years also may be subject to restriction on a case-by-case basis. Aside from the full series or subseries of restricted records, restricted materials separated from their series are located in Boxes R9, R15, R16, R17, R65, R66, R67.

Unreformatted audiovisual and digital material in the collection is not accessible. Audiovisual is restricted because of its fragility and because N-YHS has no equipment on which to play them. Please contact the curator of manuscripts at manuscripts@nyhistory.org for further information. Digital material is currently restricted from access in order to ensure that the digital files are not accidentally corrupted.

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions.

Preferred Citation

This record group should be cited as Time Inc. Corporate Administration Records, MS 3009-RG 5, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Time Inc. in 2015.

Related Archival Materials Note

This finding aid relates to just one record group of the Time Inc. Records. For information about the other record groups and for overall information about the archives, please see the Guide to the Time Inc. Records (MS 3009). The Henry Luce Papers (MS 3014) were acquired with the Time Inc. Records. The collection of books acquired with the records are cataloged as the Time Inc. Reference Library.

Due to the small number of Roy Larsen files, it is probable that the majority of his records ended up in one of the Time Inc. assembled collections, such as the Time Inc. Subject Files (MS 3009-RG 1) and the Time Inc. Bio Files (MS 3009-RG 2), or in his donation to Harvard.

Files from J. Richard Munro while he was president of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Time Inc. are located in his subject files in the Time Inc. Video Group Records (MS 3009-RG 41). His subject files spanned from his time as Video Group Vice President through CEO, but the majority related to his GVP role.

Additional records on all departments, offices, or staff can be found in the Time Inc. Subject Files (MS 3009-RG 1), the Time Inc. Bio Files (MS 3009-RG 2), the Time Inc. Reference Files (MS 3009-RG 3), and the Time Inc. Annex Files (MS 3009-RG 39).

Accruals

Further additions to this finding aid are expected.

Collection processed by

Holly Deakyne, Samantha Brown, Nora Soto

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-28 15:07:07 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

The majority of General Files were processed by Holly Deakyne and Samantha Brown from 2016 to 2018. Brown processed Stock, and Deakyne processed Contract, Corporate, and Corporate Secretary Legal Files; Dead Companies; Five-Year Plans; Notary Seals; Patents; Printing Agreements; Subsidiary Corporate Books; and Time Warner Corporate Structure Books. Deakyne processed Bound Books of Sales or Acquisitions, Executive Committees Files, and Stock Option Agreements in 2021. The original folders were retained when present although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or transferred from hanging files. The Executive Committees Files were rehoused from manila envelopes. Order was imposed on all series except Dead Companies, Executive Committees Files, and Notary Seals. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Roy E. Larsen Files were processed by Deakyne in 2017. The Larsen files aside from the Post Office presentation slides were found interspersed among unfiled Editor-in-Chief Hedley Donovan files and were separated by the archivist. The files were originally in a drawer in the Time Inc. Archives with no label. The slides were with other loose unfiled materials. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or if no housing existed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series. Prior to N-YHS receiving the Time Inc Archive, these files appear to have had initial processing by the Time Inc. Archives in the form of marking, cross reference sheets, and some relabeling in preparation for inclusion in one of the assembled collections. Deakyne added the item in Box 4273 in 2021.

The James A. Linen Files were processed by Deakyne in 2016. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series in 2021

The Andrew Heiskell Files were processed by Deakyne in 2016. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Correspondence was rehoused from hanging files and the existance of empty files was maintained. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series in 2021.

The Ralph P. Davidson Files were processed by Deakyne in 2016 and 2018. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and arrangement was imposed on the ACAL Files. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Reginald K. Brack Files were processed by Deakyne in 2017. The original folders were retained although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding and order was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Don Logan Files were processed by Deakyne in 2017. The records were rehoused from hanging files. Arrangement was based on the original groupings of the records. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Edgar P. Smith Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present or when the original folders were in bad condition. Generic binders were disassembled and not retained, and their contents rehoused. Arrangement was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

All Corporate Secretary files were processed by Deakyne in 2020 and 2021. The Securities and Exchange Commission Filings were originally processed in as part of the Time Inc. Subject Files (MS 3009-RG 1) in 2016 although it was determined this was not the record group intended by the Time Inc. archivists, and the files were removed in 2020. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Thayer Bigelow Files were processed by Brown in 2017. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, if the original folder was in poor condition or undersized, or if no original folder was present. Generic binders were disassembled and not retained, and their contents rehoused. Brown created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

Charles Stillman Correspondence and Memoranda was processed by Deakyne in 2021. The materials were rehoused due to folders in bad condition although the folder title tabs were retained, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Arrangement was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Investor Relations Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. Allen Barr and Manager of Corporate Analysis and Manager of Shareholder Relations Files were housed in the archives together and were separated during processing. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The J. Winston Fowlkes files on Computer Television, Inc. were originally processed by Brown in 2017 with reprocessing by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Elizabeth Burns Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Corporate Strategy Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding or when the original folder was in bad condition. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Executive Vice President Kelso Sutton Files were processed by Nora Soto in 2020. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Branded binders were retained and housed with their contents; generic binders were disassembled and their contents rehoused in folders. Files retained their original titles, but folders with unclear titles had information added to them to clarify the contents. Arrangement was imposed based on the original order. Soto created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series. Deakyne processed additional materials located in box 4272 in 2021.

The Donald J. Barr files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Generic binders were disassembled and not retained, and their contents rehoused. Arrangement was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Office of the Vice President of Administration and International Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Peter Costiglio Files were processed by Soto in 2019 and 2020. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding. Files retained their original titles, but folders with unclear titles had information added to them to clarify the contents. Arrangement was imposed based on the original order. Soto created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Henry Luce III Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Otto Fuerbringer files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The Rosemarie Di Sapio Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Generic binders were disassembled and not retained, and their contents rehoused. Series were created based on the original groupings of the records. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

The William S. Rukeyser Files were processed by Deakyne in 2021. The original folders were retained when possible, although some documents were transferred to archival containers in instances of overcrowding, and materials rehoused if no original folder was present. Arrangement was imposed. Deakyne created the inventory and other descriptive notes for this series.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024