Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4524
AMEEL JOSEPH FISHER PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Ameel Joseph Fisher was born around 1909 and
was graduated from the University of North
Carolina in 1931. In the 1930s and 1940s, he
lived and worked in New York City, writing and
adapting stories for radio dramatization. During
the 1950s and 1960s, he moved on to television,
serving as a reporter and a news director of
United Press Movietonenews. By 1961, United
Press Movietonenews was the world's largest news
film gathering and distributing organization,
providing basic film coverage to networks and
stations.
Correspondence, notes, scripts, films, and
other items relating to Ameel Joseph Fisher's
career in radio and in television news
broadcasting. In the 1930s and 1940s, Fisher was
involved in writing and adapting stories for
radio dramas. In the 1950s and 1960s, Fisher was
chief correspondent for United Press
Movietonenews. Included are materials
documenting his coverage of the space program,
civil rights events, and the August 1963 march on
Washington, D.C.
Online Catalog Terms:
Broadcast journalism--United States--History--20th
century.
Civil rights demostrations--United States--History--20th
century.
Civil rights--United States--History--20th century.
Fisher, Ameel Joseph, ca. 1909-1985.
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington,
D.C., 1963.
Movietonenews (Firm).
Popular culture--United States--History--20th century.
Radio plays.
Space flight--History.
Television broadcasting of news.
Size: About 6,800 items (about 16.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Ann M. Fisher of New York, New
York, in November 1988 (Acc. 88110), March
1990 (Acc. 90031), October 1990 (Acc. 90126),
May 1991 (Acc. 91063), July 1992 (Acc.
92096), and July 1995 (Acc. 95091).
Access: No restrictions to Boxes 1-3. Additions are
unprocessed, but may be used with staff
assistance. The donor has provided lists of
materials in these additions. These lists,
while not necessarily complete, may be
useful. They are filed in the collection
control file and may be requested from staff.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Series Descriptions
Series 1. General Correspondence
Series 2. Project Files
Series 3. Scripts
Series 4. Film
Additions after 1989
Shelf List
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. General Correspondence
1952-1962 and undated. About 200 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Mostly professional correspondence relating to television
news and film. Included are requests for permission to use
film clips and discussions of plans to film stories. There
are also a few items of correspondence between Fisher and
his wife Ann when he was out of town on assignment. One
letter from Oral Roberts, 16 April 1958, and Fisher's reply,
22 April 1958, are also included.
Correspondence may also be found in Series 2. Project
Files. Correspondence relating to Fisher's efforts,
1933-1942, to find work and/or place scripts with companies
involved in radio programming can be found in Series 3.2.
Folder 1 June-December 1952
2 1953
3 1954
4 February-March 1955
5 April 1955
6 May-July 1955
7 August-November 1955
8 January-June 1956
9 July-December 1956
10 January-June 1957
11 August-December 1957
12 January-March 1958
13 April-May 1958
14 June-November 1958
15 January-April 1959
16 May-December 1959, 1960-61, and undated
Series 2. Project Files
1955-1965 and undated. About 350 items
Arrangement: chronological.
Notes about projects with which Fisher was involved.
Included are lists of expenses, numbers of hours worked,
meetings attended, and schedules. Also included are items
of correspondence, memos, newswire reports, scripts, and
cameraman's dope sheets. Coverage is especially strong for
the space program and civil rights events, including the
August 1963 March on Washington.
Folder 27 contains a press pass for Fisher, the only
photograph of him in this collection.
Note that original file folders names have, for the most
part, been retained.
Folder 17 1955, December: First AFL-CIO Convention
18 1956, 9-12 March: New Hampshire Primary
19 1956, 12-21 October: Queen Elizabeth's visit
to Canada and the United States
20 1957: French television
21 1957: Story notes
22 1958, ca. March: Downhold Everybody
23 1958, September: Hire the Handicapped
24 1958, November: New York Stock Exchange
25 1958, December: Twenty-fifth anniversary
of Prohibition Repeal
26A 1959, October: Khruschev's visit to
Pittsburgh
26B 1960: Boston, Hyannis Port (Kennedy
election)
27 1960-1961: United Nations, 15th Session
of the General Assembly
28 1961, March: Werner Baecker
29 1961, 1-11 June: Dominican Republic,
Trujillo Assassination
30 1961, 21-22 December: Bermuda
31 1962: January: Quiet Panic
32 1962, 3 October: Canaveral
33 1962, December: Project Mercury, Lt. Col.
John Glenn
34 1962, 24-30 December and 1963, 12-20
January: Florida (Cubans)
35 1963, 26 January-1 February: Clemson;
Mississippi; Tennessee
36 1963, 12-15 March: Kentucky Floods
37 1963, 6 April: Greenwood, South Carolina
38 1963, 10-12 April: Thresher-New London
39 1963, 7-23 May: Miami, Philadelphia,
Cooper, Cape, Greensboro, N. C.;
Birmingham
40 1963, 8-23 May: Student Demonstrations,
Greensboro, N. C.
41 1963, 7-27 June: Greensboro, Lexington,
N. C.; Jackson, Miss.; Huntsville,
Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Gadsden, Birmingham;
Atlanta
42A 1963, 20-26 August: Trapped Miners,
Hazelton, Pennsylvania
42B 1963, 28 August: Washington March
43 1963, 15-26 September: Birmingham
44 1963, 10-22 December: Washington, D. C.
45 1965, March: Gemini III
46 1965, 27 May-June: Gemini 4-Cape
Kennedy-Houston
47-48 Undated: Notes, miscellaneous
Series 3. Scripts
1933-1963 and undated. About 700 items.
Subseries 3.1. Television Scripts
1953-1963 and undated. About 450 items.
Arrangement: chronological.
Chiefly mimeographed versions of typed scripts for news
stories.
Folder 49 Guidelines
50 December 1953-1955
51 January-November 1956
52 1957
53 Cavalcade of 1957
54 January-May 1958
55 June-December 1958
56 News Cavalcade of 1958
57 Sports Review of 1958
58 January-March 1959
59 April-August 1959
60 September-December 1959
61 January-April 1960
62 May-December 1960
63 January-May 1961
64 June-December 1961
65 January-April 1962
66 May-December 1962
67 "News Yearender 1962" and "Kennedy--The
First Year"
68 January-August 1963
69 September-December 1963, and undated
70 "Stethoscope" (undated)
Subseries 3.2. Radio Scripts
1933-1942 and undated. About 450 items.
Arrangement: By type, then alphabetical.
Correspondence and mimeographed versions of typed scripts
of radio dramas. Most of the dramas were written by Fisher,
but there are also a few that were written by others and
adapted for radio by Fisher. Correspondence, 1933-1942,
chiefly relates to Fisher's attempts to secure work with or
place scripts with companies involved in producing radio
dramas (folders 71-75). Included are both incoming letters
and copies of outgoing letters. Correspondence relating to
specific radio scripts is filed with the script.
Correspondence
Folder 71 1933-1938
72 1939
73 1940
74 1941
75 1942
76 "Big Happy Family," 1940
77 "Broadway Cinderella," 1942
78 "The Canine Witness," 1941
79 "Counterspy," 1942
80-86 "The Eyes of the Eagle," 1939 (series)
87 " Famous Jury Trials," 1942
88-89 "Gang Busters," 1940 and undated (two scripts
for the series)
90 "Gangster's Girl," undated
91-95 "Great Men in History," 1937 (series)
96 "Lincoln Highway," 1941
97 "Magic and Fun," 1941
98 "The Magic Wire," 1940
99 "My Father Was a Beggar," 1941
100 "Naval Heroes," undated
101 "One of the Finest," undated
102-161 "Police Honor Men," 1937-1939 (series)
162 "Problem Child," 1940
163 "Quote Twisters," 1938
164 Reader's Digest Program, 1942
165 "The Shadow," 1939 (one script for the
series)
166 "Spy Stories," 1937
167 "Thumbs Up Parade," 1941
168 "Up From the Grave," 1940
169 "USO Girl," ca. 1941
Series 4. Films
1954-1963 and undated. 47 items.
Arrangement: chronological, followed by undated.
Film of various news events covered by Fisher. Scripts
for many of these films may be found in Series 3 under the
corresponding date.
F-4524 /1 1954, 24 March: Rubi
/2 1955, 4 July: Trabert
/3 1955, 31 January: Penn Station Master's
Office
/4 1956, 1 February: Truman-Skate Broda
(Also see script)
/5 1956, 12 April: Donkey (Also see script)
/6 1956, 1 October: New York Yankees (Also
see script)
/7 1957, 3 April: Erskine-Spooner (Also see
script)
/8-9 1957, 17 and 20 May: Boy in Well (Also
see script)
/10 1957, 20 May: Peron arrival at Idlewild
/11 1957, 25 June: Donald Campbell, Bluebird,
U.S.
/12 1957, 28 August: Driving Test (Also see
script)
/13 1957, 8 November: Vema (ship) (Also see
script)
/14 1957, 11 November: Bevan, Aneurin (Also
see script)
/15 1957, 19 November: Bagpiper (Also see
script)
/16 1957, 26 December: Truman Walk (Also see
script)
/17 1958, 5 March: Garment Strike (Also see
script)
/18 1958, 9 July: Truman Constitution (Also
see script)
/19 1958, September: Handicapped (Also see
Project File, Folder 23)
/20 1958, 7 November: Snowman (horse) (Also
see script)
/21 1958, 14 November: Third League (Also see
script)
/22 1958, 5 December: Twenty-fifth
Anniversary Prohibition Repeal (Also
see Series 1. Correspondence, December
1958-January 1959)
/23 1958 December-1959 January: Twenty-fifth
Anniversary Prohibition Repeal (Also
see Series 1. Correspondence,
December 1958-January 1959)
/24 1959, 4 February: Crash II
/25 1959, 21 April: Egg Protest (Also see
script)
/26 1960, 22 April: Powell, Adam Clayton
(Also see script)
/27 1961, 1 November: Mothers (Also see
script)
/28 1962, 14 March: Fleet in Yard (Also see
script)
/29-30 1962, 17 May: Miss Gefilte Fish (Also see
script)
/31 1963, 1 February: Kheel, Theodore (Also
see script)
/32 1963, 20 March: Testing Tuna (Also see
script)
/33-34 ALCOA Lombardo
/35 Bartley Crum
/36 Child Killer
/37 Circus Crashers
/38 Clowns
/39 Ebbet's Field
/40 J. Roosevelt, La Guardia
/41 K. Hassle
/42 Leading Light
/43 Lynch, Lt. Gordon
/44 Mystery House
/45-46 Untitled
/47 Villalba
Addition of October 1990 (Acc. 90126)
Size: About 1000 items (1.5 linear feet).
Dates: 1950s-1970s.
Provenance: Received from Ameel Joseph Fisher of New
York, New York, in October 1990.
Access: No restrictions, but unprocessed and awaiting
additions.
Description: Writings, correspondence, printed materials,
and other items.
Filed in Box 4.
Addition of May 1991 (Acc. 91063)
Size: About 2,500 items (6.0 linear feet).
Dates: 1940s-1980s.
Provenance: Received from Ann M. Fisher of New York, New
York, in May 1991.
Access: No restrictions, but unprocessed and awaiting
additions.
Description: Writings, correspondence, printed materials,
and other items, including two hardhats
belonging to film producers.
Addition of July 1992 (Acc. 92096)
Size: About 300 items (1.5 linear feet).
Dates: 1950s-1970s.
Provenance: Received from Ann M. Fisher of New York,
N.Y., in June 1992.
Access: No restrictions, but unprocessed and awaiting
additions.
Description: Writings, correspondence, printed materials,
and other items, especially photographs from
United Press International.
Filed in Box 9.
Addition of July 1995 (Acc. 95091)
Size: About 500 items (3.0 linear feet).
Dates: 1950s-1970s.
Provenance: Received from Ann M. Fisher of New York,
N.Y., in July 1995.
Access: No restrictions, but unprocessed and awaiting
additions.
Description: Writings, correspondence, printed materials,
and other items.
Filed in Boxes 10-11.
SHELF LIST
Box 1 Series 1-3.2 (folders 1-75)
Box 2 Series 3.2 (folders 76-121)
Box 3 Series 3.2 (folders 122-169)
Box 4 Addition of October 1990
Boxes 5-8 Addition of May 1991
Box 9 Addition of July 1992
Boxes 10-11 Addition of July 1995 (Acc. 95091)
Items separated:
F-4524/1-47