PM FBI Files
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Abstract
PM (1940-48) was a progressive New York City daily newspaper that supported the extension of the New Deal and good relations with the Soviet Union, and opposed U.S. foreign policy and the rise of the Cold War and of domestic anti-communism. The collection contains FBI files on PM, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Historical Note
PM (1940-48) was a progressive New York City daily tabloid format newspaper that supported the extension of the New Deal and good relations with the Soviet Union, and opposed U.S. foreign policy and the rise of the Cold War and of domestic anti-communism. PM (the name stood for Picture Magazine), borrowed many elements from weekly newsmagazines, and it accepted no advertising in an attempt to be free of pressure from business interests. PM was published by Ralph Ingersoll and financed by the Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III. Circulation averaged at 165,000, less than the 225,000 it would need to break even. Notable contributors included Heywood Broun, McGeorge Bundy, Erskine Caldwell, Malcolm Cowley, Ben Hecht, Ernest Hemingway, Penn Kimball, Eugene Lyons, Tip O'Neill, Saul K. Padover, Dorothy Parker, Ben Stolberg, I.F. Stone, James Thurber, James Wechsler, and cartoonist Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss).
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Scope and Contents
The PM FBI Files consist of copies of files created and collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation between 1940 and 1950 on the activities of the newspaper and its employees. The collection consists of photocopies of correspondence, reports, and clippings on this topic and were made in 1985 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by an unidentified person. The files document surveillance of the newspaper between 1940 and 1948 by the FBI and include internal and external FBI correspondence, external correspondence into the early 1950s between the FBI and American citizens regarding the newspaper and its employees, newspaper clippings, and reports written by FBI agents on this work. Also includes a thesis written about PM in 1984.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created between 1940 and 1950, are expected to enter the public domain in 2060.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; PM: FBI Files; TAM 144; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials found in collection, provenance unknown. The accession number associated with this collection is 1950.001.
Separated Materials
In 2019, boxes 3 and 4 were removed from this collection and reincorporated into TAM 089 Camp Midvale/Nature Friends of America: FOIA Files.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2019 are unknown. In 2019 materials were placed in acid-free folders and collection description was updated for compliance with DACS and ACM Minimum Requirements for Archival Description.
