J. Walter Thompson Company. Ted Wilson papers, 1966-1977

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Collection is restricted. Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employment are closed to non-JWT users for 75 years from the date of the file creation. Researchers must register...
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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. Ted Wilson was an executive at JWT from 1947 to 1977. The Ted Wilson Papers span the years 1966-1977, and comprise correspondence, office files, client files, reports, and speeches that document Wilson's career as an administrator coping with JWT's financial difficulties resulting from the world-wide economic hardship of the mid-1970s. In addition, the papers illustrate Wilson's involvement in the reorganization of the company, as well as his management of several advertising account teams, including the New Holland Machine Company and the Phillips Petroleum Company. The papers mention a variety of JWT company operations, including company programs such as Communispond (communications consulting), while touching on a variety of social issues including the employment of minorities and the Watergate affair.
Extent:
2.4 Linear Feet
1800 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00759

Background

Scope and content:

The Ted Wilson Papers span the years 1966-1977, and document Wilson's career as an executive for the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT). The papers comprise correspondence, office files, client files, reports, and speeches that depict Wilson as a skillful administrator coping with JWT's financial difficulties resulting from the world-wide economic hardship of the mid-1970s. In addition, the papers illustrate Wilson's involvement in the reorganization of the company, as well as his management of several advertising account teams, including the New Holland Machine Company and the Phillips Petroleum Company. The papers mention a variety of JWT company operations, including company programs such as Communispond, while touching on a variety of social issues including the employment of minorities and the Watergate affair. There is no material in this collection documenting the early years of Wilson's career or life after his retirement in 1977. The collection also lacks materials dating from 1971 through mid-1973, the period during which Wilson worked in JWT's Chicago Office.

The collection is arranged in three series: Client Files; Correspondence, and Subject Files.

The Client Files Series documents JWT's relationship with numerous clients such as Inter-Continental Hotels, Miles Laboratories, the New Holland Machine Company, Pan American Airlines, Phillips Petroleum, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), Scott Paper Company and Squibb Beech-Nut.

The Correspondence Series chiefly consists of outgoing letters and memos written by Wilson and his secretaries, originating from Wilson's office in New York. The materials concern a broad range of issues, including the reorganization of JWT, one of the most important administrative tasks Wilson undertook during his presidency.

The Subject Files Series pertains mainly to various company operations, and consists of office files, primarily reports and speeches, originating during the period when Wilson was Associate Manager in JWT's New York Office. The papers illustrate Wilson's career as an administrator as well as an advertising executive. Included are uncollated Review Board records, dating from 1966, for various clients.

Restrictions on access: Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employee matters are closed to non-JWT users until 2045. In addition, Review Board records may be read, but cannot be photocopied.

Related materials within the JWT Archives include the Accounts Files Collection, the Review Board Records, the Dan Seymour Papers, and the Don Johnston Papers. The Biographical Information Files contain a folder for Wilson consisting of news clippings and other materials.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1920 Aug. 15
Born Edward Bohde Wilson II, New York, N.Y.
1942
Graduated from Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
1942-1945
Spent three years in the Army Air Corps, being discharged as a First Lieutenant following service in the European theater with the 9th Air Force
1945-1947
Worked for Fibre Conduit Company (Orangeburg, N.Y.)
1947
Joined J. Walter Thompson Company
1956
Elected Vice-President
1964
Promoted to Senior Vice-President
1967
Made Associate Manager of the New York Office and elected to the Board of Directors
1971
Moved to the Chicago Office as Managing Director
Elected Executive Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee
1972
Responsibilities expanded to include the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Hawaii Offices
1973
Returned to the New York Office as Chairman of the Executive Committee and Director of All Advertising Operations
1974
Became President and Chief Operating Officer
1975
Elected Chairman of the Board
1977
Retired from J. Walter Thompson Company
Acquisition information:
The J. Walter Thompson Company Ted Wilson Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a transfer in 1987.
Processing information:

Processed by Richard Collier, Akira Ishii, Brooke Stanley, March 2006

Encoded by Richard Collier

Completed March 2006

Accession is described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is restricted.

Sensitive personnel materials pertaining to individual employment are closed to non-JWT users for 75 years from the date of the file creation.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. There may be a 48-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of 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. Ted Wilson Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.