Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Sterling, Claire
- Abstract:
- The collection contains writings, notes, correspondence, reports, photocopies of trial transcripts and interrogations, clippings, other printed matter, sound recordings, and photographs related to the Mafia, organized crime in Italy and the United States, international organized crime, and international terrorism.
- Extent:
- 82 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize boxes (35.5 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- The collection is in English and Italian
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Claire Sterling papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The papers document the career of Claire Sterling, an American journalist who lived in Italy for much of her life. The collection contains writings, notes, correspondence, reports, photocopies of trial transcripts and interrogations, clippings, other printed matter, sound recordings, and photographs related to the Mafia, organized crime in Italy and the United States, international organized crime, and international terrorism.
After graduating from Columbia University, Sterling began her career in journalism, working for the Overseas News Service and writing for The Reporter. The Biographical file contains clippings on Sterling's life, as well as appointment books.
Thomas Sterling, the husband of Claire Sterling, was an author who wrote novels and travel books. The Thomas Sterling file includes drafts for several of his monographs, including The Amazon and A Pride of Ambassadors. This file contains many of Thomas Sterling's diaries and notebooks, several of which depict his travels in Africa and were perhaps used as material for some of his travel books.
The majority of Correspondence was sent and received by members of the Sterling family, including letters sent to Claire and Thomas by their children, Abigail and Luke. Also included are detailed letters sent to Pan Sterling, grandmother of Abigail and Luke, from a friend traveling abroad.
As a journalist, Sterling covered stories on political situations in Europe and the Middle East, writing about events that took place during the Cold War. Over her long career, Sterling wrote for publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Reporter, and The Washington Post. In 1969, Sterling published her first full-length book, The Masaryk Case, in which she argued that the Czechoslovak foreign minister Jan Masaryk had been assassinated. Her next book, The Terror Network, explored international terrorism, while Octopus focused on the Sicilian Mafia. In The Time of the Assassins, Sterling presented the "Bulgarian Connection" theory as the motivation behind the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. Her last published book, Thieves' World, described the connections between various mafia groups and other organized crime syndicates. The Writings series includes articles that Sterling wrote for various publications, and drafts, reviews, and correspondence related to her monographs.
Sterling kept Notes detailing her research and interviews for her writings. The collection contains a series of notebooks that Sterling labeled by location, as well as loose pages of notes and a series of index cards related to her research for The Terror Network.
The Subject file, which contains the bulk of the material in the collection, includes Sterling's notes and gathered clippings on crime, drug traffic, and mafia organizations in various counties, which she used as research and references for her books and articles.
In addition, the collection includes Sound recordings related to Sterling's work and Photographs of the Sterling family.
Source: Pace, Eric. "Claire Sterling, 76, Dies; Writer on Crime and Terror." New York Times 18 June 1995. Accessed on April 2013 through: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/obituaries/claire-sterling-76-dies-writer-on-crime-and-terror.html
- Biographical / historical:
-
Date Event 1919 Born, Queens, New YorkCirca 1940 Graduated from Brooklyn College1945 Master's degree, Columbia Graduate School of JournalismCirca 1945 Worked for Overseas News Service1946 Author, Our Goal Was Palestine1949-1968 Wrote for The Reporter until it ceased publication in 19681951 Married Thomas Sterling1969 Author, The Masaryk Case1981 Author, The Terror Network1984 Author, The Time of the Assassins1990 Author, Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia1994 Author, Thieves' World: The Threat of the New Global Network of Organized Crime1995 DiedCirca 1951 Became the Rome correspondent for an American news agencyMoved to Italy - Acquisition information:
- Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1996.
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Claire Sterling papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563