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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 January 2009
Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971) has been called “the most famous woman photographer” and “the finest woman photographer of our times.” Indeed, in a photographic career that spanned nearly five decades, Bourke-White demonstrated great professional versatility, registered many photographic firsts, and in a male-dominated field set standards by which others were measured. During the 1920s, Bourke-White carved out her first reputation in architectural and industrial photography. Her pictures of steel mills, shipyards, packing houses, logging camps, quarries, auto plants, skyscrapers, banks, and terminals captured the atmosphere of the industry and the dynamics of the capitalist system. Her industrial photography was of such outstanding quality that, as one critic observed, it “transformed the American factory into a Gothic cathedral.”
Henry Luce was so impressed by her early work that he hired her as the first photographer for his business magazine Fortune. Under a unique arrangement she was allowed six months out of the year to pursue her own private studio practice for advertising agencies and corporations. When Henry Luce added the pictorial magazine Life to his growing publishing empire in the 1930s, he selected Margaret Bourke-White to become one of the four original staff photographers. At Life she established the tradition of negatives printed full frame and proved by black borders, and pioneered the synchronized multiple flash picture. Bourke-White revealed the range of her photographic talents in photo essays, murals, and documentary travelogues. “As a result of her twelve- and fourteen-page essays,” Carl Mydans noted, “her monumental work became known throughout the world — beyond that of any other photographer.”
1 Canavor, Natalie, “Margaret Bourke-White: A Retrospective,” Popular Photography, 72 (05 1973), 84–90, 135–36Google Scholar; Deschin, Jacob, “She Held A Mirror To The World,” Popular Photography, 70 (01 1972), 104–07, 182Google Scholar; Mydans, Carl, “Unforgettable Margaret Bourke-White,” Readers Digest, 101 (08 1972), 69–74Google Scholar; Sprackling, Helen McLean, “Child of Adventure,” Pictorial Review, 36 (12 1934), 4, 62–63Google Scholar; Thornton, Gene, “Great Star Of a Great Era,” New York Times, 5 09 1971, 2, 16Google Scholar; Webster, Edna Robb, “Tells The Story of Our Times In Photographs,” Independent Woman, 34 (03 1955), 85–87, 115–16Google Scholar; Whitman, Alden, “Margaret Bourke-White, Photojournalist, Is Dead,” New York Times, 28 08 1971, 1, 1, 28Google Scholar.
2 The FBI maintained in Washington, D.C., a file on Margaret Bourke-White that would grow over her lifetime to 209 pages of documents. The author applied for this dossier under the Freedom of Information Act, and the Department of Justice declassified 199 pages in 1980. Hereafter the masterfile that the FBI maintained on Bourke-White will be referred to as Bufile 100–3518.
3 Callahan, Sean (ed.), The Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1972), pp. 25–26Google Scholar; Silverman, Jonathan, For the World To See: The Lift of Margaret Bourke-White (New York: Viking Press, 1983), pp. 29, 34, 56–57Google Scholar; Crotty, Elizabeth A., “Margaret Bourke-White As Seen From The Perspective Of Selected Photographs, Writings, And Associates,” Unpublished M. S. Thesis, Syracuse University, 1979Google Scholar, passim.
4 In her autobiography, Bourke-White does not mention any of the controversies involving her affiliation with so-called subversive organizations or the Federal government's surveillance of her personal and professional life. See, Bourke-White, Margaret, Portrait of Myself (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963)Google Scholar.
5 Bourke-White, Margaret, “Strategic Air Command,” Life, 31 (27 08, 1951), 87Google Scholar.
6 Life publicity flyer in Margaret Bourke-White Papers, Syracuse University, Box 72, Folder 51. Hereafter the Margaret Bourke-White Papers will be referred to as Bourke-White MS.
7 Edward C. Lapping to William Randolph Hearst, Jr., 23 August 1951, Westbrook Pegler Papers, Herbert H. Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Iowa. Hereafter the Westbrook Pegler Papers will be referred to as Pegler MS.
8 Carlson, Oliver and Bates, Ernest S., Hearst: Lord of San Simeon (New York: Viking Press, 1936)Google Scholar; Chaney, Lindsay, The Hearsts: Family and Empire (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981)Google Scholar; Lundberg, Furdinand, Imperial Hearst (New York: Equinox Cooperative Press, 1936)Google Scholar; Swanberg, W. A., Citizen Hearst (New York: Scribner, 1961)Google Scholar; Tebbel, John W., The Life and Good Times of William Randolph Hearst (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1952)Google Scholar.
9 William Randolph Hearst, Jr., to Westbrook Pegler, 26 August 1951, Hunter to Lapping, 23 August 1951, Pegler MS.
10 Farr, Finis, Fair Enough: The Life of Westbrook Pegler (New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House Publishers, 1975)Google Scholar; Pilat, Oliver, Pegler: Angry Man Of The Press (Boston: Beacon Press, 1963)Google Scholar.
11 Bourke-White, Margaret, “Strategic Air Command,” Life, 31 (27 08 1951), 86–100Google Scholar.
12 Pegler, Westbrook, “Margaret Bourke-White and Her Sponsorships,” New York Journal—American, 4 09 1951Google Scholar; “More On Background of Margaret Bourke-White,” New York Journal—American, 6 09 1951Google Scholar; “More On Bourke-White and Photo Assignments,” New York Journal—American, 9 09 1951Google Scholar; “Margaret Bourke-White Versus Angela Calomires,” New York Journal—American, 18 09 1951Google Scholar“Girl Spy for FBI Recounts Insult by a Picture Editor” New York Journal—American, 19 09 1951Google Scholar.
13 Wilson, Gill Robb, “Russian Spies Said to ‘Milk’ West of Key Aviation Data” New York Herald Tribune, 11 09 1951Google Scholar.
14 District Intelligence Officer, Third Naval District to Director of Naval Intelligence, September 6, 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
15 Joseph J. Genovese to Henry Luce, 7 September 1951, Genovese to Westbrook Pegler, 7 September 1951, G. C. Miller to Pegler, 3 October 1951, Walter E. Storey to Pegler, 12 October 1951, Pegler MS.
16 Joseph J. Genovese to J. Edgar Hoover, 5 September 1951, Hoover to Westbrook Pegler, 11 September 1951, Hoover to Pegler, 13 September 1951, Bufile 100–3518. Names deleted by Department of Justice.
17 Mabel H. Schubert to G. C. Miller, 28 September 1951, Schubert to Walter E. Storey, 28 September 1951, Pegler MS.
18 William E. Jenner to George C. Marshall, 5 September 1951, Pegler MS.
19 Newspaper clippings in Pegler MS; Westbrook Pegler to Senator Pat McCarran, 21 September 1951, Pegler MS.
20 William E. Jenner to Robert A. Lovett, 19 September 1951, Marshall S. Carter to Jenner, 25 September 1951, Robert E. L. Eaton to Jenner, 9 October 1951, Pegler MS.
21 William E. Jenner to Robert E. L. Eaton, 16 October 1951, Pegler MS
22 L. L. Laughlin to Mr. D., 11 September 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
23 Theoharis, Athan, Spying On Americans (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978), pp. 40–64Google Scholar; Donner, Frank J., The Age of Surveillance (New York: Vintage Books, 1981), 162–64Google Scholar.
24 J. Edgar Hoover to Special Agent in Charge, New York, 29 January 1942, Bufile 100–3518.
25 J. Edgar Hoover to L. M. C. Smith, 9 April 1941, Hoover to Special Agent in Charge, New York, 12 March 1943, R. H. Simons to Hoover, 24 April 1943, and E. E. Conroy to Hoover, 10 May 1943, Bufile 100–3518.
26 For further discussion of the FBI's target selection, investigative operations, and file dissemination, consult: Donner, Frank J., The Age of Surveillance, pp. 127–38, 169–75Google Scholar.
27 NH 65–508 FKB, 30 August 1943, Bufile 100–3518.
28 NYF 65–7393 MJG, 16 May 1944, Roger F. Gleason to J. Edgar Hoover, 24 November 1943, Bufile 100–3518.
29 NY 65–7393, 1 July 1941, Bufile 100–3518. Bourke-White's agent, W. Colson Leigh, Inc., also gave the FBI access to its personnel and clipping file.
30 NY 65–7393 VCD, 6 November 1943, Bufile 100–3518.
31 NH 6–508 FKB, 30 August 1943, NH-100–12814, 25 May 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
32 M. A. Jones to Louis Nichols, 4 June 195, Bufile 100–3518.
33 NH 100–12824, 25 May 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
34 Special Agent in Charge, New York, 20 April 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
35 NY 65–7393 DJG, 18 July 1946, Bufile 100–3518.
36 Francis Biddle to J. Edgar Hoover, 16 July 1943, Bufile 100–3518.
37 The Security Index was to be shared only with the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Military Intelligence Service. Donner, , The Age of Surveillance, pp. 162–63Google Scholar; Theoharis, , Spying on Americans, pp. 43–44Google Scholar.
38 Stalberg, Benjamin, “Muddled Millions,” Saturday Evening Post, 213 (15 02 1941), 9–10, 88–89, 90, 92Google Scholar; Clipping file, Bourke-White MS, Box 72, Folder: 1952.
39 Special Agent in Charge, New Haven to J. Edgar Hoover, 3 April 1947, and 28 May 1947, Bufile 100–3518.
40 Louis B. Nichols to Clyde Tolson, 7 January 1952, Nichols to Tolson, 11 January 1952, Bufile 100–3518.
41 Bourke-White, , Portrait of Myself, pp. 329–56Google Scholar; Bourke-White, , “The Savage War In Korea,” Life, 33 (1 12 1952), 25–35Google Scholar; Callahan, , The Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White, p. 177Google Scholar; Silverman, , For the World To See, p. 192Google Scholar.
42 Margaret Bourke-White Statement to the Office of Public Information, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 15 January 1951, Bufile 100–3518.
43 Silverman, , For the World To See, pp. 79–80Google Scholar.
44 Addendum to Margaret Bourke-White Statement to the Office of Public Information, Office of Secretary of Defense, 15 January 1952, Bufile 100–3518.
45 Silverman, , For the World To See, p. 192Google Scholar.
46 Silverman to Louis B. Nichols, 14 January 1952, Nichols to Tolson, 23 January 1952, Bufile 100–3518. Name deleted by Department of Justice.
47 Louis B. Nichols: M.P., 18 January 1952, George J.Gould to J. Edgar Hoover, 1 February 1952, Hoover to Gould, 8 February 1952, Bufile 100–3518.
48 Donner, , The Age of Surveillance, pp. 170–71Google Scholar.
49 Mildred Stegall to Cartha D. DeLoach, 5 June 1965, JWB to Marvin Weston, 11 June 1965, Bufile 100–3518; Silverman, , For the World to See, p. 192Google Scholar.
50 Bourke-White, , Portrait of Myself, pp. 358–80Google Scholar; Bourke-White, , “They Called Me Incurable,” Reader's Digest, 75 (10 1959), 91–95Google Scholar.
51 Cousins, Norman, “Peggy,” Saturday Review, 54 (11 09 1971), 29Google Scholar.
