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San Marino, CA 91108
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Norman Chandler (1899-1973) was the oldest son of Harry Chandler and Publisher from 1944-1960. Norman attended Stanford, but returned home before graduating to assist his father at the Los Angeles Times. Norman and his wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler, were also major supporters of the arts in Los Angeles. Series includes correspondence, invitations, speeches and other material, arranged alphabetically by author/subject. Facsimiles may not be copied or published. Date range is 1921-1973.
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1 item: 25-pp. typed and annotated transcript of interview with Norman Chandler and Dorothy Buffum Chandler, 12/13/1972 and photocopy of the annotated transcript. Subjects include: on Harry Chandler, Norman Chandler says, "he liked (people) and he had a soft heart," Dorothy Buffum Chandler said of him, "He was not a generous man to his family, nor to people close to him" (pp. 1 - 2) ; Dorothy Buffum Chandler says that Harry Chandler upheld rigid discipline for Norman Chandler but that Harrison Chandler and Philip "were not in any way disciplined" (pp. 3) ; Harry Chandler's personality quirks (pp.-4) ; more on Harry Chandler personality (pp.-5) ; Harry Chandler's political views (pp.-7) ; DC offers that Harry Chandler would talk of business and politics but never anything philosophical (pp. 7) ; on how Norman Chandler and Dorothy Buffum Chandler lived "very economically...scratch(ing) to make ends meet" (pp. 10) ; William Randolph Hearst (pp. 11 - 12) ; Harry Chandler's travel across USA in 1880s (pp. 17 - 18) ; Los Angeles Times was "the first newspaper in the country to set up a personnel department" (pp. 22) ; Harry Chandler and Norman Chandler on running for public office (pp. 24 - 25).
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2 items: 19-pp. typed and annotated transcript of "Tape # 1 - James Bassett/Norman Chandler, Transcribed 12/4/1972" and photocopy of the annotated transcript. Subjects include: Nick Williams becomes Editor (pp. 2) ; Norman Chandler's memories of Harrison Gray Otis (pp.4 - 6) ; Norman Chandler meets Dorothy Buffum at Stanford, they married in 1922, Norman Chandler did not graduate - "I wasn't enthusiastic about college" ; Dorothy Buffum Chandler comments that in the 1920s, Los Angeles Times did not mean as much to her and Norman Chandler as it did later, it was just a job (pp. 12) ; In the early 1940s, Norman Chandler began to be motivated to run the paper (Harry Chandler died in 1944, pp. 14) ; the recall of Mayor Frank Shaw, "he was a bad egg and we went overboard in supporting him...which I think was a mistake" (14 - 15) ; politics - Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan (pp. 16) ; Otis Chandler named publisher (pp. 17) ; Bassett asks Dorothy Buffum Chandler if, in the late 1950s, she felt Los Angeles Times needed to "shift more to the middle of the road? - she answered "Very much so."
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Typed and annotated transcript of James Bassett's interview with Dorothy Buffum Chandler on July 19, 1973. Photocopy of the same transcript with some of the same handwritten notation. Typed and annotated transcript of James Bassett's interview with Dorothy Buffum Chandler on January 30, 1974.
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3 items: typed copy of 15-pp. transcript of interview (by Bassett) with Norman Chandler and Dorothy Buffum Chandler, 4/18/1973, ditto copy, and photocopy of the annotated transcript. Both copies have some edits and notations. Subjects include: "the very bitter mayorality contest of 1953" in which Rep. Norris Poulson defeated Mayor Fletcher Bowron (pp. 1 - 2) ; on supporting 1952 Republican candidates for President - Dorothy Buffum Chandler wanted Norman Chandler to switch to Eisenhower, she told him "we can't have any (sex) until you change your mind" (pp. 2) ; evolution of editorial policies under Hotchkiss, then Nick Williams (pp. 7) ; Otis Chandler takes over as publisher (pp. 7 - 8) ; keeping Los Angeles Times employees satisfied in view of labor agitation to unionize (pp. 12) ; Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year Awards (pp. 13).
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1 item: 28-pp. transcript of interview Norman Chandler and Dorothy Buffum Chandler, 12/19/1972 and photocopy of the annotated transcript. Subjects include: Harry Chandler's interest in "monkey gland treatments" (pp. 1 - 3) ; Harry Chandler's diet (pp. 3 - 5) ; Norman Chandler and Dorothy Buffum Chandler agree they were served the same meal every Thursday night, when they ate at Harry Chandler's home - it was "(fried) chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas, and ice cream" (pp. 5) ; Norman Chandler clarifies aspects of the legend that Harrison Gray Otis had a cannon mounted on the hood of his car -- "it was...just a decoration" (pp. 5) ; liquor ads and Los Angeles Times ; Harry Chandler was a "teetotaler" (pp. 7) ; attitudes of both Harry Chandler and Norman Chandler toward alcohol consumption (pp. 7 - 8) ; Harry Chandler rarely attended social and public events (pp. 9) ; in the years right after WW II "smog" became an issue in L.A. (pp. 10 - 12) ; Los Angeles Times dabbles in radio - KHJ (pp. 13) ; Los Angeles Times dabbles in television - KTTV (pp. 15) ; The Mirror (pp. 16 - 20) ; Norman Chandler - "on the whole I was pleased with the progress of (Los Angeles Times) while I was publisher," (pp. 21) - he wanted Los Angeles Times to be FAIR, RESPECTED, AND TO RENDER PUBLIC SERVICE, (pp. 22) - agrees that prior to late 1950s, Los Angeles Times was politically biased, biased on labor reporting ; L.D. Hotchkiss (1940s+ editor) and his personality (pp. 25 - 27).
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