GEORGE GRIM:

George Grim was born in New Jersey in 1912 and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts and Columbia University Postgraduate School of Journalism in New York City. He then began his career as a police reporter in New Jersey while also working on radio programs for NBC, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, and King Feature Syndicate before moving to Minneapolis in 1937 to become the radio promotion director for the Minneapolis Star newspaper.

Grim served in World War II as an officer in the United States Army 90th Infantry Division. He traveled to Chungking, China in 1943 to work as a State Department advisor in foreign broadcast communications. While working as a war correspondent for the Minneapolis Star beginning in 1944, he covered such events as the last weeks of the War in Italy, the division of Berlin, and postwar European crises.

Grim became a world reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune from 1947 to 1968 where he published the daily columns I Like It Here, Santa Anonymous, and George Grim's World. He traveled to more than seventy-five countries and covered the Korean War, the fall of Mussolini, the Berlin Airlift, everyday life in the Soviet Union and South America, and the birth of Israel and several new African nations. During this time Grim was also a Twin Cities radio and television newscaster who variously worked for WCCO, KSTP, KTCA, and KMSP.

Grim officially retired and moved to Key Biscayne, Florida in 1973, but he remained a creative consultant for the Minneapolis Tribune and worked in South Florida public television as a community affairs director. He also had a large collection of 35mm silent film prints and would screen them for friends as he played live music scores on his organ. Grim died in Key Biscayne on January 8, 2012.

Return to top

Materials consist primarly of black-and-white photographs of city scenes, war-damaged buildings and piles of rubble, ordinary people at work and at the market, children and families, soldiers, Communist youth parades, Soviet-constructed apartment houses, and the graves of Soviet officials outside the Kremlin walls. Some of the photographs indicate that they were taken with a secret camera carried by Grim. Some of the photographs are accompanied by Grim's stories clipped from the newspaper. Included as well is some biographical information and military papers, some correspondence, and some of Grim's articles and writings.

Return to top

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. George Grim Photographs and Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 17,075; 17,508; 17,617

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990085114460104294

Return to top

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

War correspondents -- Minnesota.

Reporters and reporting -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

United States. Army. Division, 90th.

Document Types:

Photographs.

Return to top