The Papers of Helen J. Sioussat

Correspondence processed by: Gregory Pike

February - May 1997
24.5 lin. ft

Returning east to Washington, D. C. in 1935, she became Assistant to the Treasurer of the Planning & Coordinating Committee for the Petroleum Industry, during the last year of the National Recovery Act (NRA). In Washington she met Phillips H. Lord, actor and producer of many popular radio programs such as Gang Busters, Seth Parker and Mr. District Attorney. She became Washington D. C. manager for his radio program G-Men , which was the forerunner of the well-known Gang Busters . To help facilitate getting official information from closed files upon which the radio series was based, Miss Sioussat was given an office next to J. Edgar Hoover in the Department of Justice. Her friendship with Mr. Hoover lasted for many years and she kept up a correspondence with Mr. Hoover until his death in 1972. Later, she transferred to New York City and became manager of all Lord productions.

In 1936 she decided to try employment at one of the radio networks, and on her way to NBC for an interview, stopped off at the CBS offices to see if any jobs were available. She was told the new director of Public Affairs, Edward R. Murrow, was looking for an assistant. She was hired two days later and became Assistant Director of the Talks and Public Affairs Department. The following year when Murrow went overseas to become chief of CBS's foreign correspondents (and subsequently to cover world War II), Miss Sioussat took over his job as Director.

As Director, Miss Sioussat was responsible for arranging the network's public affairs programming. In this capacity she scheduled broadcasts (often numbering more than 300 per year) by an incredible array of speakers on topics of current interest. Spokespersons for these programs came not only from politics and government, but from education, labor, industry, religion, civil rights, international affairs and other related areas. She also took part in formulating policy for all CBS public service programs.

In 1941 she created, produced and hosted one of the first round-table discussion programs on television, Table Talk with Helen Sioussat . She was CBS liaison with the White House and Congress and attended political conventions of both parties. In 1945 she led the CBS delegation to the San Francisco Conference that heralded the formation of the United Nations.

Miss Sioussat was promoted to the Executives Offices of CBS in Washington in 1958, where she served primarily as a liaison between the network, Congress and federal agencies. She continued in this capacity until her retirement in 1962.

An acknowledged expert on speech techniques, Miss Sioussat was in great demand as a lecturer and author. In addition to numerous articles and pamphlets, she wrote Mikes Don't Bite (L. B. Fischer, 1943) a collection of amusing anecdotes from her radio career.

Miss Sioussat received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Foundation Award in the category of the Best Educational Program of 1954. This was for the CBS series "Man's Right to Knowledge". Miss Sioussat was also the composer of four songs: "Unathletic Me" (recorded by Julie Wilson as one of her ten favorites), "My Beloved", "Meet Me at the Waldorf", and "Beautiful Cat Cay".

Miss Sioussat passed away in her Washington home on December 2, 1995 and left no immediate survivors.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTES

The Papers of Helen J. Sioussat contain a variety of material from every aspect of her career. Included are scripts, memoranda, press releases, scrapbooks, a complete run of Talks Magazine, photographs, and volumes of correspondence from a host of renowned individuals, particularly Richard Nixon, whose letters to Miss Sioussat date from 1951 to 1992. Also included is a card file (approx. 3,700 cards) which contain names, addresses, biographical and career information of most of her business and social friends. An interview of Helen Sioussat by Fay Gillis Wells, recorded on October 3, 1979 , is housed with other LAB audio materials.

The Papers of Helen Sioussat span the years from 1928 until 1995, the year of her death. The bulk of the collection dates from 1937 until 1958. The Collection has been divided into six series.

They include:

Series I - Correspondence;
Series II - Professional;
Series III - Personal;
Series IV - Photographs;
Series V - Scrapbooks;
Series VI - Phonograph Discs

This series documents the vast amount of correspondence generated while Helen Sioussat was working at CBS. This series is largely indicative of the vast galaxy of people that Helen Sioussat knew, worked with, and/or socialized with.

The series has largely been arranged in four sections. The first section consists of correspondence with notable well known people and those who generated a large amount of correspondence with Helen. The second section consists of familial correspondence including Miss Sioussat's father, Maurice, her step-mother, Hattie, her sister, Dot, and her Aunt Bertha. The third section consists of lesser notable people and the final section consists mostly of unidentifiable correspondence.

Much effort was made, when possible, to identify all correspondents. Many writers were identified through Helen's extremely detailed card files.

Series II. Professional (1937-1962) 3.0 lin. ft.

Subseries I - CBS (1937-1962

This subseries includes materials from Miss Sioussat's tenure at CBS, including correspondence, memos, press releases and CBS publications. It also includes speeches and articles written by Miss Sioussat, articles about her work at CBS, interviews she gave to various magazines and publications, and other miscellaneous material from her work with the United Nations, AWRT and National Association of Broadcasters. Certificates of Merit and other awards Miss Sioussat received in honor of her work are also contained in this series.

Subseries II - "Mikes Don't Bite" (1943)

This subseries includes the manuscript to Miss Sioussat's book and correspondence pertaining to its publicity and promotion.

Subseries III - Phillips H. Lord Productions (1935-1936)

This subseries contain materials pertaining to Miss Sioussat's tenure with Phillips H. Lord and the radio program "G-Men". Included are lists of artists, correspondence, scripts, and a Seth Parker scrapbook.

Series III - Personal (1938-1974), 8 lin. ft.

This series contains material pertaining to Miss Sioussat's personal life. It includes some financial records, her resume, her Christmas card lists, Christmas cards, invitations, files on her international travels, postcards, and other miscellaneous items such as passports, address books, wedding books and guest books. Books of Miss Sioussat's which are relevant to the Library of American Broadcasting have been shelved with the general collection.

Series IV - Photographs (1937-1974) 3.5 lin. ft.

This series includes both professional and personal photographs, which span the years 1920s to 1995. Over 600 personal photographs (3x5, color) can be found in this collection as well as over 200 (8x10, black and white) photographs of Miss Sioussat at working and social occasions.

Series V - Scrapbooks 2 lin. ft.

This series contains 4 scrapbooks compiled by Miss Sioussat highlighting her career in public broadcasting. One scrapbook (13" x 14", white, leather bound) was compiled and submitted by CBS as an entry into the 1955 McCall's Awards to Women in Radio and Television contest.

Series VI - Phonograph Discs

This series contains 40 phonograph discs in two categories. The first category consists of recordings of interviews of Miss Sioussat, a recording of Table Talk Television Program and the 1955 Peabody Awards luncheon. The second category holds recordings of Miss Sioussat's own compositions, sung by her and other vocalists.

For further information, contact the Library of American Broadcasting.