Eugene L. Meyer Papers

Object Details

Summary: The papers of journalist Eugene L. Meyer measure 6.22 linear feet and date from circa 1969 to 2008. The papers include correspondence; clippings; research files; newsletters; handwritten notes; drafts of some of Meyer's articles; as well as editions of a Washington, DC neighborhood newsletter, which Meyer edited from 1989 to 1995. Also included in the collection are photographic slides of Washington, DC on Easter Sunday in April 1968, just days following the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the subsequent civil disturbances.
Scope and Contents: Compiled by journalist Eugene L. Meyer, this collection documents a range of Washington, DC neighborhoods—as well as citywide politics—from circa 1969 to 2008. Additionally, as a resident of the Crestwood/Rock Creek East neighborhood in northwest Washington, Meyer edited (and wrote for) the neighborhood newsletter, Rock Creek East News—from its inception in 1989 until it ceased publication in 1995—for which he profiled longtime African American residents, covered local news/politics, and wrote obituaries documenting the lives and work of neighbors.

Biographical / Historical: A native of Long Island, NY, and a 1964 graduate of Columbia University, Eugene L. Meyer began his career as a Washington Bureau Librarian for the New York Herald Tribune. After one year there, he was hired as a reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin where he stayed for four-and-a-half years, primarily covering politics, housing, and transportation. In 1970, he joined the Washington Post as a reporter, where he covered DC politics, urban renewal, and much else. He remained at the Post for more than three decades, writing for a year for the Weekend section, writing a column on "Maryland Life" for several years, and serving as a suburban bureau chief and a sometimes editor. Since 2004, he has been a fulltime freelancer, contributing to The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Maryland Life, Washingtonian, Bethesda Magazine (as contributing editor), CQ Researcher, and has served as editor of B'nai B'rith Magazine since 2009. Meyer has received more than a dozen awards for his work and is the author of three books: Chesapeake Country (1990), Maryland: Lost and Found…Again (2003), and Five For Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown's Army (2018).

Rights: The Eugene L. Meyer papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Citation: Eugene L. Meyer papers, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Mr. Eugene L. Meyer.

Type: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Photographic slides; Newspaper clippings; Correspondence

Topic: Urban Development; Journalists; African American lawyers -- 20th century; Washington (D.C.) -- Politics and government; Neighborhoods -- Washington, D.C. -- History

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