Skip to main content

Merle Miller Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MsC0660

  • Staff Only
  • Please navigate to collection organization to place requests.

Scope and Contents

The papers of Merle Miller date from 1948 to 1961 and are comprised of two boxes of manuscripts for four of his works. There are drafts, printers copies, correspondence, and book reviews. The manuscript record is most complete for The Sure Thing, which was published in 1953.

The bulk of Miller's papers is at Boston University.

Dates

  • Creation: 1948 - 1961
  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1953

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Biographical / Historical

Merle Miller (1919 -- 1986) was born in Montour, Iowa. He grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa, and attended the University of Iowa. There he worked as the city editor on the Daily Iowan. He did not graduate, as he refused to take the swimming and R.O.T.C. courses required at that time. He was a correspondent for the Philadelphia Record before joining the Army in 1941. Seeing action in both the European and Pacific theatres, he became an editor of the miliatry magazine, Yank After the war, Miller was for a short while a contributing editor to Time and an editor at Harpers. He also worked as a television script writer before being blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Miller is best known as a novelist and a biographer. He wrote biographies of three presidents, Truman, Eisenhower and Johnson. His other books include Island 49, That Winter, Reunion, and A Day in Late September.

Extent

2.00 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Editor at Yank, Time and Harper's, biographer of presidents, script writer, and novelist. Drafts, correspondence, printer's copies, and reviews for four of his books; the materials for The Sure Thing (1953) are extensive.

Method of Acquisition

Mr. Miller donated these papers to the University of Iowa Libraries over a period of years.

Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the University of Iowa Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5921
319-335-5900 (Fax)