The Meredith Harless Papers house correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs, and memorabilia documenting Harless' family life, social and charitable work, and professional broadcasting career.
Identification:
MSS-167
Language:
Material in English
Repository:
Arizona State University Library. Greater Arizona Collection
P.O. Box 871006
Tempe, AZ 85287-1006
Phone: (480) 965-4932
E-Mail: archives@asu.edu Questions? Ask An Archivist!
Biographical Note
Florence Meredith Howard was born to Samuel J. and Florence Howard in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on September 6, 1909. She was one of four children, including her twin, Virginia (Howard) Hayes (1909-1990); William (1911-); and Mary (Howard) de Liagre (1914-2009). In 1927, she and her twin sister tied for first place in the Miss Tulsa beauty pageant. A winning coin flip earned Meredith Howard a trip to the 1928 Miss America Pageant, where she finished as a runner-up. Howard went on to perform with the Ziegfeld Follies, where she worked with such stars as Eddie Cantor, Fred Astaire, and Ed Wynn, for five years.
Howard married Albert Russell Erskine, Jr. in January of 1934. She soon became disenchanted with her marriage and moved to Hollywood to work directly with Louis B. Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios on public relations, advertising, and fashion in 1935. While at MGM, she continued to model with her sisters Virginia and Mary, who starred in several MGM films. Howard divorced her husband in November of 1937 and moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked in Crowell-Collier's advertising department and wrote two syndicated columns, "At Random" (under her own name) and "Selective Tuning" (under the name Jean Abbey). On November 28, 1948 Howard married Arizona Congressman Richard F. Harless.
With the outbreak of World War II, Harless concentrated on her writing and radio career with the Hecht Broadcasting Company. In 1940, she became the first woman to broadcast a presidential inauguration and the first woman to have her own radio commentary show, News and Personalities in the News. In addition to her broadcasting work, Harless volunteered with the Treasury Department to raise a total of $250 million dollars worth of war bonds and worked with the Civilian Defense Home Hospitality Committee, the Stage-Door Canteen, and the Russian War Relief Committee. She also helped to found the United Nations Club in December of 1941. With the participation of ambassadors from 58 countries, the United Nations Club became one of the major social organizations promoting the allied war effort and the United States' post-war charitable initiatives.
In 1948, Harless returned to Arizona support her husband's gubernatorial campaign. After working briefly for KTAR radio, she became the producer of CBS's "A Look Behind the News" and worked as a regular commentator. During the next several years, Harless wrote, produced, and starred in several radio and television programs for stations in the valley, including "Arizona Close-Ups" for NBC and "Arizona Caravan" for ABC, where she also worked as Public Relations Director. In 1951, Harless was honored with Arizona's Outstanding Woman award.
Harless continued to work in local Arizona broadcasting and participated in local charities like the Salvation Army (where she served as Vice President for the national organization) and Washington D.C. organizations including the Washington Fashion Group, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Business and Professional Women's Club. Although Harless was married and widowed twice after Richard Harless' death in 1970, she continued to use the Harless name professionally because she believed that it was the name that she was best known by. Meredith (Howard) Harless died on June 19, 1996 at the age of 87.
Scope and Content Note
The Meredith Harless Papers consist of 21 boxes of correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs, and memorabilia documenting Harless' family life, social and charitable work, and professional broadcasting career. The collection has been arranged in four series.
Series I: Personal (5 boxes) houses photographs, Meridith Howard's personal correspondence, personal papers, documents, and memorabilia showing the Howard family and social and family events.
Series II: Social Clubs & Volunteer Work (8 boxes) includes photographs, newsclippings, scrapbooks, correspondence, and memorabilia documenting Meredith Harless' social and charitable activities. The bulk of this series documents the United Nations Club, which Harless founded in 1941. Also included are photographs, correspondence, and memorabilia regarding dozens of social organizations and volunteer events in Washington D.C. and Arizona, including the Washington Fashion Group, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the Stage-Door Canteen, and the Women's National Democratic Club.
Series III: Professional (7 boxes) is comprised of photographs, correspondence, documents, and memorabilia regarding Meredith Harless' career in show business, public relations, advertising, radio and television broadcasting, and real estate. The bulk of this series shows Harless' broadcasting career and includes scripts, interview questions and answers, publicity photographs, and correspondence with the several broadcasting organizations she worked with in Washington, D.C. and Arizona. Also included are photographs and memorabilia documenting her show business career, including autographed photographs from fellow members of the Ziegfeld Follies, newsclippings, and telegrams. Harless also collected materials showing her sisters, Virginia and Mary.
Series IV: Artifacts (1 box) houses books, a sash from the Miss Tulsa Beauty Pageant, invitations, and a jewelry box.
Arrangement
This collection consists of twenty-one boxes divided into four series:
To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.
Copyright
The Arizona Board of Regents retains copyright to this collection for and on behalf of the Arizona State University Library. Requests to publish, display, or redistribute information from this collection must be submitted via our online application.
Some materials were removed from the Meredith Harless Papers and placed in the Richard Harless Papers while others (photographs, correspondence, etc.) were kept with the Meredith Harless Papers in order to preserve their original context and physical state.
Inaugural Committee: Photographs, Correspondence, and Documents, 1949
5
2
March of Dimes: Correspondence and Ephemera, 1949
5
3
Air Force Association: Report and Correspondence, 1945-1947
5
4
American Red Cross: Awards, Newsclippings, Memorabilia, and Correspondence, 1943-1948
5
5
American Red Cross, Arizona Fund Campaign Committee: Correspondence and Telegrams, 1948-1957
5
6
American Red Cross: Typed Note, 1957
5
7
American Red Cross, State Campaign Headquarters: Correspondence, 1957
5
8
American Red Cross: Event Photograph, Undated
5
9
American Red Cross and Democratic National Committee: Office of Women's Activities: Correspondence and Event Memorabilia, Undated
5
10
Arizona Press Club, League of Business and Professional Women, United Nations Club: Correspondence, Newsclippings and Memorabilia, and JFK Campaign Volunteer Photographs, 1949-1959
5
11
Aviation Club: Event Photographs, 1956
5
12
Beta Sigma Pi, Honorary Membership: Correspondence, Newsclippings and Memorabilia, 1946-1947
5
13
D.C. War Fund Drive and Hollywood Victory Committee: Newsclippings, 1942
5
13A
FDR Birthday Dinner Committee: Correspondence, Ephemera, Radio Script, and Newsclippings, 1942-1943
5
14
The Last Man Club: Correspondence, 1942-1948
5
15
Miscellaneous Social Functions: Newsclippings, 1941-1942
5
16
Miscellaneous Music Scores, Undated
5
17
National Society of Music: Correspondence and Ephemera, 1946
5
18
National Symphony Orchestra Women's Committee, 1946-1948
5
19
Norfolk Chamber of Commerce: Volunteer Work, 1954
5
20
Phoenix Fine Arts Association: 5th Annual Gallery Ball Programs, 1955
5
21
Salvation Army Women's Emergency Aid Committee: Army-Navy Ball Program, 1930
Box
Folder
6
1
Senator Estes Kefauver Election Volunteer: Correspondence and Newsclippings, 1952
6
2
Seven-Eleven Club: Invitations, Receipts, and Correspondence, 1942
6
3
Stage Door Canteen: Correspondence, Ephemera, Notes, and Receipts, 1942-1943
6
4
Unidentified Photograph, Undated
6
5
United Nations Club: Anniversary Programs, Photographs, and Newsclippings, 1947
6
5A
United Nations Club and American Red Cross: Speeches, Correspondence, and
Newsclipping, 1941-1943
6
6
United Nations Club: Correspondence, Memorabilia, and Newsclippings, 1942-1947
6
7
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1942-1945
6
8
United Nations Club: Correspondence to Marshall Adams, 1943-1945
6
9
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1942-1947
6
10
United Nations Club: Correspondence and Memorabilia, 1943-1944
6
11
United Nations Club and Advertising Club: Correspondence and Memorabilia, 1942-1948
6
12
United Nations Club: Correspondence and Memorabilia, 1948
6
13
United Nations Club: Correspondence and Ephemera, 1941-1948
6
14
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1945-1947
6
15
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1942-1946
6
16
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1946-1947
Box
Folder
7
1
United Nations Club: Correspondence, 1947
7
2
United Nations Club: Correspondence, Photographs, and Memorabilia, 1948-1949
7
3
United Nations Club: Correspondence and Ephemera, 1946-1947
7
4
United Nations Club and Fashion Thrift Shop Annual Benefit: Correspondence, Reports, and Newsclippings, 1939-1949
7
5
United Nations Club Monthly Calendar, 1948-1950
7
6
United Nations Club Monthly Calendar and Correspondence, 1950-1951
7
7
United Nations Club: New Year's Eve Celebration Memorabilia, 1947
7
8
United Nations Club: Society Pages Newsclippings, 1949 (Photocopies)
7
9
Volunteer Work: Bruno Beran Art Exhibit Newsclippings, Correspondence, and Photographs, 1950
7
10
Women's Division, Washington, D.C. War Finance Committee Volunteer: Correspondence and Memorabilia, 1945-1946
7
11
Washington Fashion Group: Correspondence, Publications, Essays, and Memorabilia, 1943
Box
Folder
8
1
Women's National Democratic Club: Correspondence, Newsclippings, Publications,
and Memorabilia, 1942-1947
8
2
Women's National Democratic Club: War Bond Booth Committee: Correspondence and Receipts, 1942-1948
8
3
Washington Party: Administrative Itinerary, Scrapbook with Photographs, and Newsclippings, 1951
8
4
Washington Party Scrapbook Photographs, Undated
8
5
Washington Party Scrapbook Photographs, Undated
8
6
Washington Party Scrapbook Photographs, Undated
8
7
Washington Party Scrapbook Photographs, Undated
8
8
War Powers Board: Paper Conservation Volunteer, 1942-1949
8
9
Washington World Affairs Center Volunteer Work: Correspondence, 1948-1949
8
10
Ziegfeld Club: Correspondence, 1941
Box
9/OV1
United Nations Club Scrapbook: Memorabilia and Newsclippings, 1942-1943
Box
10/OV1
United Nations Club Scrapbook: Memorabilia and Newsclippings, 1946
Box
11/OV1
United Nations Club Scrapbook: Memorabilia and Newsclippings, 1947
Box
12/OV1
United Nations Club Scrapbook: Memorabilia and Newsclippings, 1949
00:00:44: US Congressmen Harold "Porque"Patten (D-AZ), Walter S. Baring Jr. (D-NV), Wesley A. D'Ewart (R-MT), and Charley Willis, Executive Secretary of the Small Miners Association of Arizona.
00:06:45: Congressmen D'Ewart and Patton discussing the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project.
Harless interviews actress Susan Peters regarding various theatre and film productions, her life and her hunting accident, and treatment of polio victims.
20/OV2
Jane Winton Interview, 1951 May 12 (16" Phonograph Record)