Auction Details
The Americana, letters, and ephemera listed in this auction come directly from the estate of the nephew of the late Paul C. Smith (1908-1976). They have never before been offered to the public.
Paul C. Smith was born in Seattle on Nov. 24, 1908. After finishing high school he traveled across the country working as a prospector and lumberjack before becoming resident manager in New York of the Anglo-California National Bank in 1930. He was then 22.
After three years in investment banking, he entered the newspaper business as a cub reporter. He freelanced as a foreign correspondent throughout Europe until 1933, when he joined The Chronicle as financial editor. He became editor-in-chief a year later and editor and general manager in 1937. During a tour of Europe with former President Herbert C. Hoover in 1938, Smith commented on the tense political situation and suggested that another large-scale war was imminent.
During World War II, he served in the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Office of War Information. Smith was one of the first Marines to land on Guam and was awarded the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit for service in the Pacific.
By this time, Paul C. Smith was firmly rooted in the upper echelons of American political and military society, and exchanged dozens of letters with the likes of John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Herbert Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, Adlai Stevenson, Chester Nimitz, and many more.
Mr. Smith left The San Francisco Chronicle in 1953 and took on the job of saving the collapsing Crowell-Collier magazines. He closed the magazines in December 1956 and left the company two months later. Mr. Smith chronicled the decline of the magazines and his own health in his autobiography, “Personal File,” published in 1964.
Steptoe Online Auctions Inc. is proud to offer this distinguished collection of Americana and Autographs for sale.
The Americana, letters, and ephemera listed in this auction come directly from the estate of the nephew of the late Paul C. Smith (1908-1976). They have never before been offered to the public.
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