UAlbany Libraries Acquire Joseph E. Persico Papers
The University at Albany has acquired the papers of author Joseph E. Persico, the best-selling writer of Roosevelt’s Secret War, Edward R. Murrow: An American Original, The Imperial Rockefeller, and co-author of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's autobiography My American Journey, as well as other acclaimed works of history and biography.
Persico's personal and professional papers, documents, memorabilia, and speeches, many written during his 11 years as a speechwriter for Governor and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, will be stored in the University at Albany Libraries' M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives. The collection will serve as a resource for scholarly research on Persico's literary career, and on the subjects of his many works. Persico is a 1952 graduate of the University.
In recognition of Persico's career accomplishments, service, and donations to UAlbany, the University has established an annual Joseph E. Persico '52 Scholarship for undergrads and the Joseph E. Persico '52 Fellowship Fund for graduate students of American history.
The collection, totaling some 40 cubic feet, includes original long-hand manuscripts and revised versions of the author’s books; correspondence with editors and publishers at Random House, Simon Schuster, Viking and McGraw Hill and with fellow authors; interviews conducted for The Imperial Rockefeller, a biography of the New York governor and U.S. vice president; correspondence and memos between the governor and Persico; interviews with prosecutors, defense lawyers, victims and relatives for his book Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial; correspondence relating to his book on President Franklin D. Roosevelt; interviews with American secret agents who penetrated Germany during World War II for the writing of Piercing the Reich; and original drafts of numerous articles and book reviews written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, and Military History Quarterly.
The collection also includes videos and tapes of Persico's media appearances, as well as tapes of interviews with dozens of subjects, among them Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Bob Woodward, Arthur Goldberg, William Safire, Richard Helms, William J. Casey, William F. Buckley, and John Huston.
The University's Web site features a press release about this acquisition and a video clip of Joseph Persico.