Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: Field, Marshall, 1834-1906
| title | Marshall Field family papers [manuscript], 1875-1985. | repository | Chicago History Museum |
| description | Papers of the Field family of Chicago relating to business (merchandising and publishing), family, and civic and social improvement activities. Marshall Field, I, materials include: account book 1887-1890, copies of his will; photocopies of outgoing correspondence, 1875-1906 and microfilm; and materials about his estate. Marshall Field, III, materials include: honorary degrees; correspondence, including his correspondence on race relations with various activist organizations and with members of Chicago's business elite, 1916-1951; obituaries; estate appraisals; and transcripts of interviews conducted after his death with close associates. Marshall Field, IV, materials include: speeches; law school notebooks; correspondence, 1950-1958; and publicity on Sun-Times Building dedication, 1958. Marshall Field, V, materials include: Chicago Sun-Times 25th anniversary items, 1966; clippings and documents about the Field Building (including its sale in 1969); and newsclippings on Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times, 1983-84. Other materials include abstracts and examinations of title for various Loop locations, and materials on the Chicago Daily News, including annual statements, 1947-1958. Related: Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the photographs and publications cataloged separately and the Alexander Hehmeyer papers. |
| extent | 44 linear ft. (64 boxes and 15 v.) 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (M. Field, I, letters). |
| formats | Business Papers Personal Papers Financial Records Correspondence Photographs |
| access | Advance appointment with special permission required to examine selected originals. |
| record source | http://chsmedia.org |
| finding aid | Descriptive inventory available at the repository. |
| acquisition information | Gift of members of the Field family (1993.0217; 1995.0220). |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:30:04 |
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| title | [Scrapbook of clippings relating to the Field family]. | repository | Chicago History Museum |
| description | Scrapbooks, apparently compiled by the firm, on Marshall Field & Company activities and executives, the Field family, and the Field Museum, from Nov. 11 1920 to July 19, 1928. |
| extent | 4 volumes |
| formats | Scrapbooks |
| access | Contact repository (owning institution) for further details. |
| record source | http://chsmedia.org |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:16 |
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| title | Marshall Field family photographs [graphic]. | repository | Chicago History Museum |
| description | Includes visual materials relating to the Marshall Field family of Chicago (Ill.) whose several generations have been prominent in retail merchandising, real estate, and publishing. Primarily includes portrait photographs of Marshall Fields I-V. Some photographs show the siblings, wives, and children. Also includes three albums and some additional photographs of properties in the Chicago area owned by Field Enterprises (ca. 1920-1939). A few photographs relate to the Art Institute of Chicago or the Field Museum of Natural History. A few photographs show various social functions attended by the Fields, such as a banquet in honor of the 10th aniversary of the Chicago Sun and a reception for Queen Elizabeth of England. Transparencies include portraits of Marshall Field, IV, by Karsh. Note: Color negatives match the color prints. Phys. desc: ca. 260 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 566 photographic prints (including 3 albums) : b&w ; 20 x 24 in. or smaller. 15 photographic prints : col. ; 11 x 14 in. or smaller. 1 photographic print : b&w, tintype ; 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. 112 negatives : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 7 negatives : col. ; 4 x 8 in. or smaller. 35 transparencies : col. ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 1 folder of non-graphic material. |
| extent | ca. 260 photographic prints |
| formats | Photographs |
| access | Advance appointment required to view color material in cold storage. |
| record source | http://chsmedia.org |
| finding aid | Container list available. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:16 |
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| title | Marshall Field obituary notices, a scrapbook. | repository | Chicago History Museum |
| description | Scrapbook of obituaries for Marshall Field, 1906. |
| extent | 2 vols. |
| formats | Scrapbooks |
| access | Contact repository (owning institution) for further details. |
| record source | http://chsmedia.org |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:16 |
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| title | Field Enterprises records, bulk 1950-1975. | repository | The Newberry Library |
| description | The collection is primarily the work of longtime Field employee Herman Kogan, who in the capacity of Field Enterprises Corporate Historian salvaged much of the material. The collection is not a complete record of the companies and newspapers that were owned by Field Enterprises, but rather a patchwork of materials that Kogan found relevant and interesting. The collection includes administrative, promotional, and legal materials, correspondence, photographs, and artifacts from the Chicago Daily News, the Sun and Times Company, the Chicago Sun-Times, Field Communications, and other miscellaneous holdings owned by Field Enterprises. The collection contains correspondence from the Field Enterprises executive branch, including Marshall Field III, Marshall Field IV, and Marshall Field V, as well as Milburn (Pete) Akers, Emmett Dedmon, Larry Fanning, Larry Sizer, and Walter Strong. Correspondence from various Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun Times employees is also present, including Keyes Beech, Jacob Burck, Milt Caniff, John Drury, Georgie Anne Geyer, Smith Hempstone, James Hoge, Herman Kogan, Irv Kupcinet, Ann Landers, Baker Marsh, Paul Scott Mowrer, Richard Scott Mowrer, Lou Pryor, Sterling Quinlan, Mike Royko, Nick Shuman, George Weller, and Lois Wille. Due to preservation concerns, audio materials are not available for patron use at this time. Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid. History of Field Enterprises (including the Chicago Daily News, the Sun & Times Company, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Field Communications) Chicago media conglomorate founded by Marshall Field III. The company was dissolved in 1984. Field Enterprises, Inc. was incorporated on August 9, 1944, and initially consisted of the Chicago Sun newspaper, founded by Marshall Field III in 1942. In December 1945 the company acquired the Quarrie Corporation, publisher of World Book Encyclopedia and Childcraft. In 1948 Quarrie was merged into Field Enterprises and operated as Educational Corporation. In 1947 Field Enterprises bought the Daily Times, a popular evening tabloid. Both papers published daily out of the Times' building at 211 W. Wacker Dr., the Sun in the morning and the Times in the afternoon, but less than a year later combined to form the morning newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times. Daily Times sportswriter Irv Kupcinet debuted "Kup's Column" in 1948 for the new Sun-Times. The popular column, which chronicled Chicago nightlife and gossip, would remain a fixture in the Sun-Times until Kupcinet's death in 2003. During the next 10 years, Field Enterprises expanded into a major media company with the acquision of radio stations in Chicago, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Portland, publishing companies Simon & Schuster, Pocket Books, and Parade Publications, and the background music businesses Air Music and Functional Music. Marshall Field III died in 1956, and Field Enterprises experienced a period of considerable expansion under Marshall Field IV. Educational Corporation's World Book instituted a science service which provided newspapers with information on NASA and American astronauts. Field's Newspaper Publisher's Syndicate offered services to newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, including advice columnist Ann Landers, Milt Caniff's comic Steve Canyon, and political cartoonist Bill Mauldin. The Sun-Times had begun construction on a new, modern building at 401 N. Wabash St. on the Chicago River, and the newspaper moved operations there with much fanfare in 1957. In 1959 Field Enterprises acquired the Chicago Daily News, an evening paper with a long and celebrated history in Chicago. Founded by Melville Stone in 1875, then bought by Victor Lawson in 1876, the Chicago Daily News maintained a consistently influential position in the Chicago newspaper market. The Daily News' Foreign Service was founded in 1898 to cover the Spanish-American war, and was the forerunner of the modern worldwide wire services. The paper won numerous Pulitzer Prizes over the years, and foreign correspondents including Edward Price Bell, Paul Scott Mowrer, George Weller, and Keyes Beech elevated its reputation with their dispatches from around the world. In 1961 the Daily News moved from its building at 400 W. Madison St. into the Sun-Times building at 401 N. Wabash, and the two papers shared equipment and resources but continued to publish separately. During the Field years, the Daily News carried on under the leadership of executive Larry Fanning, who worked with editor Herman Kogan to develop the sophisticated arts and politics supplement Panorama. In the late 1950s Field Enterprises also bought Paper Flotation, Inc., and the Manistique Paper Company to supply the growing newspaper empire. By 1966 Field Enterprises had expanded into television with the acquision of WFLD-TV, followed by other stations in Boston, San Francisco, Detroit and Philadelphia. The company had also acquired several radio stations including KOIN, WJJD, and WFMF, and these along with WFLD-TV made up much of the Field Communications branch of Field Enterprises. Marshall Field IV died in 1965, and Field Enterprises assets were split between his sons Marshall Field V and Frederick Woodruff (Ted) Field. Having no prior newspaper experience, Marshall Field V apprenticed in every department of the newspaper division and in 1969 ascended to publisher of the Sun-Times and Daily News. The 1970s saw an increase in popularity for the Sun-Times under editor James Hoge, who recruited film critic Roger Ebert, emphasized lifestyle stories and established a tradition of tough investigative reporting. Concurrently, the Chicago Daily News was experiencing a decline. Though the paper featured popular columnist Mike Royko and pioneering female foreign correspondent Georgie Anne Geyer, circulation for the afternoon paper dropped steadily due to the rise of television and a loss of readership from relocated suburban residents. In 1977 the paper unveiled a new design in an attempt to attract younger readers, but the Daily News finally folded after ninety-one years in 1978. In 1982, Field Enterprises co-owner Ted Field, who did not reside in Chicago and felt disconnected from the company, decided to concentrate his resources on business interests in the entertainment industry. Under the terms of Marshall IV's will, the brothers could either buy each other out or force a liquidation of the company. Marshall Field V declined to buy his brother out, and the dismantling of Field Enterprises began with the sale of WFLD-TV, followed by the other television stations. In an unpopular decision, the Chicago Sun-Times was sold to Australian businessman Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in 1984. The paper's style changed abruptly, and its tone became more sensational and its politics more Republican. Many longtime employees, among them columnist Mike Royko and editorial writer Lois Wille, both former Daily News employees who stayed on at the Sun-Times, defected to the rival Chicago Tribune. Murdoch later sold the Sun-Times to Hollinger International, which was renamed the Sun-Times Media Company in 2006, after a scandal involving Hollinger board member Conrad Black. Cite As Field Enterprises Records, The Newberry Library, Chicago. Ownership and Literary Rights The Field Enterprises Records are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections. |
| extent | 163 linear feet |
| formats | Business Papers Administrative Records Financial Records Correspondence Photographs |
| access | The Field Enterprises Records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III). |
| record source | http://www.newberry.org/collections/FindingAids/fieldenterprises/FieldEnterprises.html |
| finding aid | Online and in repository |
| acquisition information | Gift of Field Enterprises via Herman Kogan, 1984 |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:30:16 |
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