Hoover Acquires New Stanley Karnow Materials

For more than three decades Mr. Karnow was a correspondent in Southeast Asia, working for Time, Life, The Saturday Evening Post, The Washington Post, NBC News, The New Republic, King Features Syndicate, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Throughout his career he produced acclaimed books and television documentaries about Vietnam and the Philippines in the throes of war and upheaval. In 1983 he published his 750-page book Vietnam: A History, which was also adapted into a 13-hour PBS documentary, "Vietnam: A Television History."

Unlike many books and films on Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s that focused primarily on the role of the Unites States in the Vietnam War and its consequences, Mr. Karnow addressed all sides of the conflict and documented Vietnam's culture and history. This collection therefore offers an alternative yet equally important perspective on the war, and one that brings the human element to the forefront. This lens was applied throughout his career and travels in Southeast Asia, where he conducted hundreds of interviews with citizens suffering through the upheavals of war and political instability.

The new materials added to the Stanley Karnow collection are the gift of his daughter, the photographer Catherine Karnow.

Above image: Catherine Karnow with the deed of gift and collection increment, Courtesy of Catherine Karnow, 2024

The finding aid to the collection can be found here. The new increment of materials is currently being processed; an inventory will soon be added to the existing finding aid.

Below image: Talia Olshefsky (Description), Colin Stinson (Preservation), and Jean Cannon (Research Fellow and Curator, North America) retrieving the Karnow collection increment, Courtesy of Catherine Karnow, 2024