Overview
Correspondence, notebooks, articles by and about Tracy Wood, background material on the California legislature and Vietnam, and other materials documenting Wood's career as a reporter for United Press International (UPI), particularly her time as a correspondent during the Vietnam War.
Dates
- Creation: 1960-1975
Creator
- Wood, Tracy A., 1943-2020 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Tracy A. Wood as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
2.09 linear feet ((5 file boxes) plus 2 photograph folders, 1 audiotape)The papers of Tracy A. Wood include correspondence, notebooks, news cables, articles by and about Wood, photographs, background material on the California legislature and Vietnam, and other materials documenting Wood's career as a reporter for United Press International (UPI). Most materials document Wood's work covering the Vietnam War from Saigon and the release of American prisoners of war in Hanoi. Letters written by Wood and her colleagues provide insight into daily life for journalists in Saigon covering the war including housing conditions, goods available for purchase, and social activities. Letters also document events in the war and the political climate in Vietnam from 1972 to 1973, as do notebooks, news cables, and articles written by Wood. Letters to Wood contain news of family and friends, reports on national and California politics, and express concern for her safety. Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online. Folders are arranged alphabetically.
BIOGRAPHY
Tracy A. Wood was born August 21, 1943, in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey. She attended the University of Missouri before joining the Los Angeles City News Service in 1965. She joined United Press International (UPI) in 1966, working at the wire service's Sacramento and New York bureaus. From 1972 to 1975, she covered the Vietnam War from Saigon and documented the release of American prisoners of war in Hanoi. Her experiences as a war correspondent were among those chronicled in War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam (2002). Wood later worked in UPI's Hong Kong bureau before joining the Los Angeles Times. She was among the team of Times reporters awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for their coverage of the riots following the acquittal of four officers charged in the beating of Rodney King. From 1997 to 2001, she worked as an investigative journalist for the Orange County Register. In 2002, she briefly served as editor in chief of Ms. Magazine. In 2009, she helped launch the Voice of OC, a nonprofit digital news startup, and worked for them as a writer and editor until her death from cancer on March 12, 2020.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 2022-M29
The papers of Tracy Wood were acquired from Hindman Auctions in February 2022.
SEPARATION RECORD
Donor: Hindman Auctions
Accession number: 2022-M29
Processed by: Johanna Carll
The following item has been removed from the collection and transferred to the Schlesinger Library printed materials collection:
- War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam (2002)
Processing Information
Processed: February 2023
By: Johanna Carll, with assistance from Yolande E. Bennett.
The Schlesinger Library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit. Finding aids may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Creator
- Wood, Tracy A., 1943-2020 (Person)
- Title
- Wood, Tracy A., 1943-2020. Papers of Tracy A. Wood, 1960-1975: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- Processing of this collection was made possible by the Alice Jeannette Ward Fund.
- EAD ID
- sch02197
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.