The University of Iowa Libraries

Access: This collection is open for research.

Use: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials.

Acquisition: These papers were given to the University of Iowa over a period of forty years by Mr. Childs, and a final manuscript was donated by his son, Prentiss Childs in 1996.

Preferred Citation: Marquis Childs Papers, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository:	University of Iowa Special Collections
Address:	Special Collections Department University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5921
Curator:	Greg Prickman
Email:	lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc

Marquis W. Childs (1903-1990) was born in Clinton, Iowa. He received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin in 1923. After graduation he briefly worked for United Press in New York, Chicago, and other cities. Returning to school, he attended the University of Iowa and completed his M.A. in 1925. Childs was with the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch after 1926. He started as a feature writer but also worked as a foreign correspondent, chief Washington correspondent, and a columnist. With the exception of a few leaves of absence, Childs spent his entire career with the Post-Dispatch. In 1970 he was awarded the Pulizer Prize for journalism. Childs also wrote many books on political and economic matters as well as novels.

The papers of Marquis Childs date from 1939-1978 and measure over five linear feet. They primarily document the writing of many of his books. There are early notes, correspondence, typescripts, proofs, layouts, and galleys for America's Economic Supremacy, I Write from Washington, and Walter Lippmann and His Times, among other titles. There are also general correspondence files spanning over thirty years, speeches, newspaper clippings, and an assortment of press cards and passes.

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Topics:
American literature
Authors, American

Occupations:
Journalists

Geographic Names:
United States -- Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Clippings (Information artifacts)
Drafts (Documents)
Speeches

Browse:
English & American Literature
Writers Archive at Iowa
Journalists and Journalism