Manuscripts

Libel Cases

Description: Approx. 15 items. Subjects include: the "death" of Wyndham Mooring; quoting testimony in depositions; reference to Whitcomb Motor Hotel as "dreary, run-down"; demand for correction from attorney for O.H. English (bookmaking raid); material defining and discussing libel; correspondence from Mae Murray; etc. Mae Murray correspondence removed from Autograph File and returned to Williams Subject files.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1960, 1962, 1969
Call number: mssLAT
Creator: Los Angeles Times (Firm)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: The Los Angeles Times,
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Libel Cases - Pearson, Drew

Manuscripts

Approx. 20 items. Material relates to a demand for retraction by Frank "One Eye" Dragna through his San Diego attorney, Rock Zaitzow. Certain pieces of information were provided, including "mug shots" of Dragna and some of his associates. Interoffice memos and notes from columnist Drew Pearson are in the file. In the end, the Times did print a correction stating that some claims in the article were found to be unsubstantiated. There was also a small number of items related to another complaint involving Abundavita Corp., actor Bob Cummings and right-winger Rev. Billy J. Hargis.

mssLAT

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Libel Cases - Coates, Paul

Manuscripts

6 items. Material in file deals with demand by an attorney for Wesley A. Swift of Lancaster, that LAT retract statements made about Swift by columnist Paul Coates (5/13/1962). The Times investigated Swift further and obtained a Sheriff's Dept. memo linking "Rev. Smith" to "anti-Jew, anti-Commie, anti-Negro propaganda," and past involvement with the KKK. The last dated item in the file is a memo from 6/4/1962. It is to Frank McCulloch from Richard G. Adams (presumably of LAT Legal Dept.) and states that "since Swift is a hatemonger, The Times will not retract. The demand is to be ignored."

mssLAT

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Los Angeles Times Libel Suit - Galli-Curci, Amelita

Manuscripts

Correspondence regarding the lawsuit brought against Hedda Hopper and the Los Angeles Times by Amelita Galli-Curci, claiming libel. Photocopies of correspondence from Amelita Galli-Curci. Original Galli-Curci letters dated October 15 and 21, 1955 removed from Autograph File and returned to Hotchkiss files. File of L. D. Hotchkiss.

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Los Angeles Times Libel Suit - Fleming, Rhonda

Manuscripts

Correspondence regarding the lawsuit brought against the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press by Rhonda Fleming, actress, claiming libel. File of L. D. Hotchkiss.

mssLAT

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Alphabetical File - Wakefield, O.H

Manuscripts

Approx. 65 items: memos from H.E. Downing to O.H. Wakefield of the Job Office during the years 1930 - 1937.

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Libel Cases - The Detroit Free Press

Manuscripts

Approx. 12 items. The material deals with a line in a LAT story that "the venerable Detroit Free Press is due for closing one day soon." Following a letter from Lee Hills, VP and Executive Editor of The Free Press, Nick Williams responded, "Herewith the apology and retraction which we ran last Sunday. I want to repeat that I am personally embarrassed that the rumor ever appeared in The Times."

mssLAT

Libel Cases

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Libel Cases - Pearson, Drew

Libel Cases - Coates, Paul

Los Angeles Times Libel Suit - Galli-Curci, Amelita

Los Angeles Times Libel Suit - Fleming, Rhonda

Alphabetical File - Wakefield, O.H

Libel Cases - The Detroit Free Press