Elizabeth Smith Brownstein, also known in the early part of her professional life as Betty Smith, is a graduate of Wellesley College and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Brownstein began her career in television in the 1950s, serving for four years as chief television researcher for CBS where she worked on such programs as See it Now and Person to Person. The Elizabeth Smith Brownstein papers cover the years 1953 to 2005 with the bulk of the collection from 1957 to 1999. The collection documents Brownstein's work for CBS, Meet the Press, WETA's Evening Edition with Martin Agronsky, and the Smithsonian video and television division including the program Smithsonian World. The collection contains scripts, drafts, promotional materials (including a station affiliate kit for The Big News of 1957), correspondence, and copies of photos. It also contains 78 cassette tapes of Smithsonian World programs.
Dates
1953-2005
Majority of material found within 1957-1999
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the Maryland room. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
Duplication and Copyright Information
Photocopies or digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with Special Collections and University Archives duplication policy.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is proected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.
Collection acquired from Elizabeth Smith Brownstein as a gift in September, 2011. Additional material was donated by Ms. Brownstein in 2017.
Separated Material
The following books were removed from the Elizabeth Smith Brownstein Papers and entered into the University of Maryland Libraries Catalog:
Murrow, Edward R. and Fred W. Friendly, eds. See It Now, 1955.
King, Marian Adventures in Art, 1978.
Processing Information
This collection has been minimally processed, meaning materials are generally in the order they were received. Some materials were slightly re-ordered so that folders from the same place of employment would be together. Materials were placed in acid-free folders.
