Biographical note

Scope and contents

Box 1 American Consulate -- Appointment calendars

Box 2 Autobiographical and biographical materials -- Correspondence, 1915

Box 3 Correspondence, 1916 - March 1918

Box 4 Correspondence, March - August 1918

Box 5 Correspondence, September 1918 - 1919

Box 6 Correspondence, 1920 - 1929

Box 7 Correspondence, 1930 - 1970

Box 8 Correspondence, Undated -- Newspaper clippings

Box 9 Oil Industry Information Committee -- People-to-People, correspondence

Box 10 People-to-People, digest - miscellaneous, March 1961

Box 11 People-to-People, miscellaneous, April 1961 - miscellaneous publications

Box 12 People-to-People, news -- Photographs

Box 13 Photographs -- Speeches, 1949

Box 14 Speeches, 1950 -- Standard Oil Company, miscellaneous, 1951

Box 15 Standard Oil Company, miscellaneous, 1951 - undated

Box 16 Standard Oil Company, miscellaneous, undated -- United Services Organization

Box 17 University of Iowa -- World War I, intelligence section

Box 18 World War I, miscellaneous - newspaper clippings

Scrapbook

Born on a farm in Dallas County, Iowa, on March 23, 1891, Conger Reynolds grew up in the small town of Dexter, Iowa. At seventeen he received a scholarship to attend Drake University. After his freshman year, he transferred to the University of Iowa where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1912. His first job after graduation was with the Des Moines Register and Leader as a political reporter. In 1915, he returned the University of Iowa to serve as publicity director and to teach journalism as a assistant professor of English. When World War I began, Reynolds left the University and enlisted. He was assigned to military intelligence in France and later worked with the press section. After the war, Reynolds remained in France as the managing editor of the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune.

In 1922, he began another phase of his career. He was assigned vice-consul to Halifax, Nova Scotia where he served for two years. His next assignment was vice-consul and later consul in Stuttgart, Germany. While at the consulates he specialized in trade promotion. This led to another career change, in 1929, Reynolds became the director of public relations for the Standard Oil Company (Indiana). While there he participated in and helped found many professional organizations, including the Public Relations Society of America. Conger Reynolds remained with Standard Oil until his retirement in 1955. This, however, did not mark the end of his public career. Moving to Washington, DC, he joined the US Information Agency. He was the director of the Office of Private Cooperation. There he worked with the Eisenhower administration to launch the People-to-People program which was designed to promote international understanding. He worked in this capacity until 1961, when he finally did in fact retire. Conger Reynolds died in 1971.

The papers of Conger Reynolds consist of nine linear feet of manuscripts dating from 1899 to 1970. They are made up of subject files arranged chronologically within an alphabetical sequence. The papers document Reynolds’ personal life and career. Along with a folder of autobiographical and biographical sketches, there are diaries, photographs, and scrapbooks shedding light on his personal life.

His multifaceted career is well represented. His early work as a journalist and educator can be found in clippings and other material from the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune and files on the University of Iowa including information from a journalism course he taught from 1915 to 1916. There are subject files relating to his service in WWI and the intelligence section of which he was a member. Five folders of documents and clippings relate to his service in the American consulates in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Stuttgart, Germany. As public relations director of the Standard Oil Company (Indiana) his files consist of things such as advertising budgets, organizational charts, public opinion surveys, and clippings. After his retirement from Standard Oil, he worked for the Eisenhower administration’s People-to-People program. There are nearly three boxes of material relating to that project, including correspondence, publications, White House conference items, and notes from foreign trips. The papers also contain almost seven boxes of general correspondence, dating from 1899 to 1970 and including letters from Albert B. Cummins and Jay “Ding” Darling. Photographs, scrapbooks, appointment calendars, certificates, etc. make up the remainder of the collection.

American Consulate:

Halifax, Nova Scotia

1921-1925

Stuttgart, Germany

1924-1927

1928

1929

1930 + undated, newspaper clippings

Appointment Calendars:

1910-1911, 1930-1931

1949-1951

Autobiographical and Biographical Material

Certificates, Recognition’s, and Memberships, 1908-1959

Composition Book, 1899-1900

Correspondence:

1899-1910

1911-1913

1914-September 1915

October-December 1915

Correspondence (cont.):

January-April 1916. Including letters from Albert B. Cummins and C. C. Dowell.

May-December 1916. Including letters from G. W. Clarke, Albert B. Cummins, and C. C. Dowell.

1917

January 1918

February 1918

March 1-17, 1918

Correspondence (cont.):

March 18-31, 1918

April 1918

May 1918

June 1918

July 1918

August 1918

Correspondence (cont.):

September 1918

October 1918

November 1918

December 1918

January-March 1919. Including a letter from Jay N. Darling

April-December 1919. Including letters from Jay N. Darling

Correspondence (cont.)

1920

1921

1922. Including letters from Albert B. Cummins and Charles A. Rawson.

1923-1924

1925-1927

1928-1929. Including a letter from Jay N. Darling

Correspondence (cont.):

1930-1939

1940-1949. Including letters from John W. Gwynne and George A. Wilson

1950-1955

1956-1959

1960-1966

1967-1970

Correspondence (cont.):

Undated

Creative Writing Course, 1967-1969. Adult Education--Palomar College

Diaries:

1908-1911, 1962

1917-1918

1924-1928

Dr. Russell's Lectures, 1936

Editorial and Political Writings for the Republican Party, 1940-1952

European Trip, 1916. Memorabilia

Miscellaneous, 1906-1968

Newspaper Clippings, 1904-1968

Oil Industry Information Committee--Proceedings, April 25-26, 1952

Opinion Research Corporation Report to the American Petroleum Institute, 1946

Paris Edition of the Chicago Tribune Period, 1919-1920

Paris Edition of the Chicago Tribune Period. Newspaper clippings, 1919-1920

Passports. Conger and Daphne Reynolds, 1916-1968

People-to-People:

Correspondence:

1951-1960

1961-1962. Including a letter from Edward R. Murrow

1964-1968 and undated

People-to-People (cont.):

Digest, 1960-1961

"Launching the People-to-People Program" by John E. Juergensmeyer, October 1962

Miscellaneous:

1953-1956

1957

1958-1959

1960

January-March 1961

People-to-People (cont.):

Miscellaneous (cont.):

April-November 1961

1962-1966

Undated (4 folders)

Miscellaneous Publications, 1960-1968

People-to-People (cont.):

News, 1956-1960

Newspaper clippings

Trip to Europe, 1957

Trip to Japan, 1961-1962. Including letters from Edward R. Murrow

White House Conference, June 12, 1956

Photographs:

Community and Public Relations Salute to Conger Reynolds, January 5, 1956

Group Photographs

Photographs (cont.):

Group Photographs. Includes photographs of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Retirement from Standard Oil Company

Reynolds and Family

Studio Portraits

World War I

Public Relations Society of America, 1948-1971

Public Relations Society of America. Report of the National Research Committee, 1951

Publications, 1917-1965

Speeches:

1927-1949

Speeches (cont.):

1950-1953

1954-1968

Undated

Standard Oil Company:

Advertising Budget, 1934

Junior Achievement, 1955

Miscellaneous:

1929-1947

1948-1949

1950-1951

Standard Oil Company (cont.):

Miscellaneous (cont.):

1952

1953

1954

1955

1956-1963

Undated (2 folders)

Standard Oil Company (cont.):

Miscellaneous (cont.):

Undated

Newspaper Clippings, 1929-1956

Organization Charts, 1948-1953

Public Attitudes Survey, March 10, 1948

Public Relations Publications, 1945-1950

Reorganization and Consolidation Program, 1954

United States Organization (USO) Campaign -- Publicity, 1942

University of Iowa:

Foundation, 1957-1970

Journalism (taught by Conger Reynolds):

1915-1916

Newspaper clippings

Printed material

Miscellaneous, 1910-1964

World War I:

Intelligence Section, 1917-1919

World War I (cont.):

Miscellaneous, 1917-1918

Newspaper clippings

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