J. Walter Thompson Company. Norman H. Strouse papers, 1852-2003

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Summary

Creator:
J. Walter Thompson Company
Abstract:
The J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), founded in 1864, is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. Norman Hulbert Strouse served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JWT during the 1960s. He was also a noted bibliophile and private publisher. Collection includes correspondence, office files and memoranda, reports, writings and speeches, charts, client presentations, notes and notebooks, publications, clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks. The collection primarily documents Strouse's work in the JWT Detroit Office; other files touch on corporate administration for the entire company; company history; and public relations. Major clients include Ford, Kraft foods, and Scott paper products. The collection also partially documents Strouse's interests as a bibliophile: book collecting; the works of Robert Louis Stevenson; and his involvement with Silverado Press.
Extent:
19.0 Linear Feet
Language:
English.
Collection ID:
RL.00751

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes correspondence, office files and memoranda, reports, writings and speeches, charts, client presentations, notes and notebooks, publications, clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks. The collection primarily documents Strouse's work in the JWT Detroit Office; other files touch on corporate administration for the entire company; company history; and public relations. Major clients include Ford, Kraft foods, and Scott paper products. The collection also partially documents Strouse's interests as a bibliophile: book collecting; the works of Robert Louis Stevenson; and his involvement with Silverado Press.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1906 Nov. 4
Born Norman Hulbert Strouse, Olympia, Washington
1925-1928
Advertising Department, Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, Washington
1929-1936
Space buyer, J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) San Francisco Office
1936-1941
Account Representative, JWT San Francisco Office
1942
Account Supervisor and Assistant Pacific Coast Manager, JWT San Francisco Office
1942-1945
Army Air Force; Executive Officer of Information and Education, Special Staff Section in the Pacific
1946-1947
Account Supervisor, Ford Motor Company account, JWT Detroit Office
1946 Aug. 2
Married Charlotte A. Holt
1947
Elected Vice President, JWT
1948-1955
Manager, JWT Detroit Office
1952
Elected Director, JWT
1955
Elected President, JWT
1960-1967
Elected Chief Executive Officer, JWT
1964-1968
Elected Chairman of the Board, JWT
1968
Retired from the J. Walter Thompson Company
1993 Jan. 19
Died, St. Helena, Calif.

Norman H. Strouse was a member of the following advertising and marketing organizations: the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Chairman of the Board (1964-1965); the Marketing Science Institute, Trustee (1962-); and the National Outdoor Advertising Bureau, Director and Board Chairman (1964-1965).

Library or bibliographic-related organizations with which he was involved include: the Bibliographical Society; the Book Club of California, Board Member; the Friends of the Columbia Library, Advisory Council (1963-); the Grolier Club, Council Member (1961-); the Manuscript Society; the National Book Committee, Chairman (1962-1964); the National Library Week Steering Committee (1958-1963); and the New York Public Library, Trustee (1963-).

For further biographical information, see the Biographical Information series of the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives.

Acquisition information:
The Norman H. Strouse Papers were transferred to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library from the J. Walter Thompson Company in 1998 and received as gifts from the Strouse family 2005-2018.
Processing information:

Processed by: Donna Longo DiMichele, Jessica Wood, Richard Collier

Completed December 2, 1992; revised November 2008 and February 2024;

Processing of this collection was supported in part by gifts from the J. Walter Thompson Company Fund and the John and Kelly Hartman Foundation.

Accessions 1998-0154, 2003-0173, 2004-0078, 2005-0039, 2009-0289, 2018-0114 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: General JWT Office Files; Professional Associations; Business Writings and Speeches; Book Collecting, Library, and Printing Interests; Personal Materials; Oversize Materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], J. Walter Thompson Company. Norman H. Strouse Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1b06n