Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

RS 13/13/55
John D. "Jack" Shelley (1912-2010)
Papers, 1944-2011, undated

Descriptive summary

creator:	Shelley, John D. "Jack" (1912-2010)
title:	Papers
dates:	1944-2011, undated
extent:	13.72 linear feet (13 boxes)
collection number:	RS 13/13/55
repository:	University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

Administrative information

access:	Open for research
publication rights:	Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:	John D. "Jack" Shelley Papers, RS 13/13/55, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

John D. "Jack" Shelley was born in Boone, Iowa, on March 8, 1912. He graduated from Boone High School (1929), and earned a Bachelor of Journalism Degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia (1935).

After a short stay with the Iowa Herald in Clinton, Iowa, Shelley went to work for WHO radio (1935) in Des Moines, Iowa. He was assistant news director for five years, then became news director for both radio and television until he left in 1965. Shelley was a war correspondent (1944-1945) in Europe and the Pacific covering World War II. He interviewed hundreds of combat soldiers in both theaters. Shelley recorded one of the first broadcast interviews with crew members of the airplanes that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. He was aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay to cover the Allies' acceptance of the unconditional Japanese surrender, and was one of twenty reporters chosen to cover the atomic bomb tests at Yucca Flats, Nevada (1953). The tape recorder Shelley took along to record the event was one of the few to withstand the shock of the blast.

Mr. Shelley joined Iowa State University as an Associate Professor of Journalism (1965), then served as Professor (1969) until his retirement (1982). Iowa State University honored him for his academic contributions with an Outstanding Teacher Award and a Faculty Citation from the Iowa State University Alumni Association (1982).

Jack Shelley helped found the Iowa Broadcast News Association, an organization that honored him by establishing the Jack Shelley Award (1971). He is a past president of the International Radio-Television News Directors Association, which he helped found, and of the Associated Press Radio and Television Association. He was president of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council (1981) and a member of a committee appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court to advise it on the use of cameras and tape recorders in court trials. He received the Broadcaster of the Year Award (1980) from the Iowa Broadcasters Association.

Shelley died September 14, 2010.

Collection description

The materials from Shelley's time as a war correspondent in World War II comprise the majority of this collection. It includes biographical information and personal memorabilia from his travels as a war correspondent, radio broadcast scripts, war documents, cablegrams, news releases and clippings, personal accounts and reports of events witnessed, family correspondence, photographs, and audio recordings on reel to reel, cassette tape, and VHS video tape.

Audio reel to reel tapes have been digitally transferred to compact disc for listening, Disc 004 336, #s 1-12. Use of boxes 9-13 has been restricted due to the brittleness of the original paper. These files have been photocopied and provided for viewing in folders 1-5.

Container list

Box	Folder	Title	Dates
1	1	Biographical information	1962-2011
1	2	Radio broadcast scripts from Europe	1944
1	3	Radio broadcast scripts from Europe	1945
1	4	Radio broadcast scripts from the Pacific area	1945
1	5	Radio broadcast schedules	1944-1945
1	6	WHO Radio publicity poster	1935 circa
2	1	Personal notebook	1944-1945
2	2	Business and travel receipts	1944-1945
2	3	Personal programs, information	1944-1945
2	4	Tickets, business cards, expense books	1944-1945
2	5	Personal notes	1944-1945
2	6	Maps	1943-1945
2	7	Stage bills	1944-1945
2	8	Magazines and newspapers	1944-1945
2	9	Japanese money	n.d.
2	10	War correspondent patches and buttons	n.d.
2	11	War correspondent arm band	n.d.
2	12	Official war documents	1944-1945
2	13	News clippings	1944-1996
3	1	Cables from Europe, October	1944
3	2	Cables from Europe, November	1944
3	3	Cables from Europe, December	1944
3	4	Cables from Europe, January	1945
3	5	Cables from Europe, January	1945
3	6	Cables from Europe, February	1945
3	7	Cables from Pacific area, July	1945
3	8	Cables from Pacific area, August	1945
3	9	Cables from Pacific area, September	1945
4	1	News releases	1944-1945
4	2	Report on the Fourth Cavalry Group	1945
4	3	European war correspondent talk	1945
4	4	Commencement address programs	1945
4	5	Des Moines Chamber of Commerce address	1945 ca.
4	6	Atomic bomb testing summary	1993
4	7	Talk material for October 23, 1993 proceedings	1993
4	8	Acceptance remarks for James W. Schwartz Award	1993
4	9	Correspondence with wife, photos of son	1944-1945
4	10	Business correspondence	1944-1945
4	11	WHO correspondence	1941-1945
5	1	Listener correspondence	1945
5	2	Listener correspondence	1945
5	3	Listener correspondence	1945
5	4	Passport, Enola Gay and Bocks Car Crew	1944-1945
5	5	Photographs of Shelley and his family	1983-2010
5	6	Photographs of Shelley at work, including one with Herb Plambeck and Ronald Reagan	undated
6	1	Group Photo of Annual Dinner, National Association of Radio News Directors, Hotel Commodore, New York, New York	1949
7	Reel 1	Last Part Roosevelt – Congress Lone Journey Laura Laughton Jack Shelley on signing of Japanese surrender	1939-1946
7	Reel 2	Broadcast from London (North American Guest Night) Daily Broadcast from Paris Daily Broadcast from London Daily Broadcast from London	1944-1955
7	Reel 3	Jack Shelley with the First Army in the German frontier	1944
7	Reel 4	Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Holland	1944-1945
7	Reel 5	Broadcast from Holland (POW) Broadcast from Holland (Censors) Broadcast from Holland (Stage Show) Broadcast from Holland (Marshall Montgomery)	1944-1945
7	Reel 6	Daily Broadcast from Holland	1945
7	Reel 7	Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Holland Fourth Cavalry Group	1945
7	Reel 8	Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Holland Daily Broadcast from Guam	1945
7	Reel 9	Broadcast from Guam (Russia declares war on Japan)	1945 ca.
7	Reel 10	Daily Broadcast from Guam Daily Broadcast from Tokyo Bay	1945
7	Reel 11	Daily Broadcast from Guam Broadcast from Guam (Atomic blast report) Peace rumor report Broadcast from Guam (Guam to San Francisco)	1945
7	Reel 12	Interviews with the atomic bomb crews	1945
7	Reel 21	Japanese surrender on the Battleship Missouri	1945
7	Reel 20	Telephone reports from Las Vegas prior to atomic bomb test	1953
7	Reel 13	Reports from Las Vegas (pre-atomic bomb test)	1953
7	Reel 19	Las Vegas report prior to atomic bomb test	1953
7	Reel 25	Atomic bomb test during the blast	1953
7	Reel 14	Atomic bomb test report	1953
7	Reel 23	Atomic bomb blast minutes before and after the blast	1953
7	Reel 24	Colonel Tibbits interview concerning atomic blast Atomic bomb test from the trench MacArthur on Missouri McGee – McNeil Kennedy Assn.	1953, n.d.
7	Reel 15	15 Minutes after atomic blast; interview with Lt. Colonel Frazier of Colfax, Iowa	1953
7	Reel 22	Interview with Iowa Legislators witnessing bomb blast Interview with Bill Binford of radio station KORK, Las Vegas	1953
7	Reel 16	Jack Shelley at the Garst Farm during Khrushchev visit Jack Shelley at Yucca Flats before, during and after atomic blast	1953-1959
7	Reel 17	Command Post briefing	1954-1958
7	Reel 18	Khrushchev Dinner at Hotel Fort Des Moines	1959
7	Reel 26	Tribute to Herbert Hoover	1964
8	Reel 27	Broadcast 18 second excerpt of atomic blast on 6:15 p.m. news	1953
8	Reel 28	Phone recorded interview with Congressman Ben Jensen of Iowa after he was shot by Puerto Rican Nationalists in the halls of the U.S. Congress	1954
8	Reel 29	Khrushchev Dinner at Hotel Fort Des Moines (part 1)	1959
8	Reel 30	Khrushchev Dinner at Hotel Fort Des Moines (part 2)	1959
8	Reel 31	Interviews with the atomic bomb crews	1945
8	Cass. Tape	Tape 1 – Japanese Surrender	1945 ca.
8	Cass. Tape	Tape 2 – Interview with Colonels Tibbets and Sweeney	1953 ca.
8	VHS Tape	Tape of the Rails	1989
8	CDs	Copies of reel-to-reel recordings (also in vault as "Disc 004 336")	1939-1946
9	1	Radio broadcast scripts from Europe – Original restricted due to brittle paper condition, usable copies in boxes 1-5	1944
9	2	Radio broadcast scripts from Europe – Restricted	1945
9	3	Radio broadcast scripts from the Pacific area – Restricted	1945
9	4	Radio broadcast schedules – Restricted	1944-1945
10	1	Receipts – business and travel – Restricted	1944-1945
10	2	Personal programs, information – Restricted	1944-1945
10	3	Tickets, Business Cards, Expense Books – Restricted	1944-1945
10	4	Personal Notes – Restricted	1944-1945
10	5	Maps – Restricted	1943-1945
10	6	Stage bills – Restricted	1944-1945
10	7	Official war documents – Restricted	1944-1945
10	8	News clippings – Restricted	1944-1946
10	9	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1944
10	10	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1944
10	11	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1944
11	1	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1945
11	2	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1945
11	3	Cablegrams from Europe – Restricted	1945
11	4	Cablegrams from Pacific area – Restricted	1945
11	5	Cablegrams from Pacific area – Restricted	1945
11	6	Cablegrams from Pacific area – Restricted	1945
11	7	News releases – Restricted	1944-1945
11	8	Report on the Fourth Cavalry Group – Restricted	1945
12	1	European war correspondent talk – Restricted	1945
12	2	Commencement address programs – Restricted	1945
12	3	Des Moines Chamber of Commerce address – Restricted	1945 ca.
12	4	Atomic bomb testing summary – Restricted	1993
12	5	Talk material for October 23 proceedings – Restricted	1993
12	6	Acceptance remarks for James W. Schwartz Award – Restricted	1993
12	7	Correspondence with wife, photos of son – Restricted	1944-1945
12	8	Business correspondence – Restricted	1944-1945
12	9	WHO correspondence – Restricted	1941-1945
12	10	Listener correspondence – Restricted	1945
13	1	Listener correspondence – Restricted	1945
13	2	Listener correspondence – Restricted	1945