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Paul Kenyon was a reporter, columnist and editor of the Gloucester Daily Times from 1933 to his death in 1983. Joe Garland, in writing about Kenyon, said “In his half century of reporting, commenting, philosophizing, praising, occasionally chastising and editing for the Gloucester Times, there was nothing worth mentioning concerning Cape Ann that escaped his inquiring notice, no good cause that lacked his support, no matter immune from his gentle but pungent surveillance.”

Kenyon was born in Boston in 1907. When he was 18 months old, Paul was struck down with infantile paralysis affecting his left leg and the left side of his face. In the long and aduous process of overcoming his disability, Kenyon found varied interests in swimming, rowing, sailing and working with tools. He had a lifelong interest in antique cars and boats.

In 1930, Kenyon married Louise V. Tomlinson and in 1933 the couple moved to Cape Ann. His efforts at writing the Great American Novel not bearing fruit, Kenyon took a job as a reporter at the Gloucester Daily Times. In 1941, Paul and Louise and their two children bought a house in Annisquam at the head of Lobster Cove.

In February 1947, the Ladies’ Home Journal in its “How America Lives” article featured the Kenyon family and their way of life. The article was entitled “Braces Away”.

Beyond his work at the Times and as editor of North Shore Magazine, Kenyon wrote a novel, “Driftwood Captain”, in collaboration with his wife, who did the illustrations. In 1973, he edited “Fast and Able: Life Stories of Gloucester Fishing Vessels.” In 1979, “A Celebration at Annisquam” recalled the 250th anniversary of the Annisquam Village Church. In 1980 appeared “People and Books: The Story of the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library.” In 1982 he produced “Roger W. Babson: A Reminiscence.”

Actively involved with the Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester school system, Kenyon also had a natural concern for the handicapped. His long tenure at the Gloucester Times enabled him to have a profound influence on generations of young reporters.

The Kenyon papers were donated to the Cape Ann Historical Association by his wife, Louise. They consist primarily of research material, notes, and correspondence pertaining to articles written for the Gloucester Daily Times. He was a reporter, columnist, and editor of the Times from 1933 to 1983.

I. Research for articles in the Gloucester Times

II. Correspondence for Ladies’ Home Journal article on the Kenyon family

III. Correspondence concerning publication of Driftwood Captain

Box #1, Series I

Folder 1: Newspaper resources

Folder 2: Research material:

Emma Abbot

American Field Service

Addison Gilbert Hospital

Folder 3: Research material:

William Babson

George Demetrios

John Burke

Folder 4: Research material:

Dory – Centennial

Alfred Johnson

Box #2, Series I

Folder 1: Business notes :

Gloucester Times.

Folder 2: Business notes:

Gloucester Times

Folder 3: Miscellaneous:

Dorothy Burnham

Rodney Eaton

Folder 4: Miscellaneous:

Elmer Fehlhaber

Folder 5: Notes/letters – Building Center

Folder 6: Articles – Trip to Ireland

Box #3, Series I

Folder 1: Heartworm

Folder 2: Greenbelt

Folder 3: Greenbelt

Folder 4: Miscellaneous notes

Folder 5: Miscellaneous notes

Folder 6: Correspondence – Florence Cunningham

Folder 7: Notes/correspondence – Cape Ann Historical Association

Folder 8: Miscellaneous notes

Folder 9: Notes – Roger Babson

Box #4, Series I

Folder 1: Notes – Sawyer Free Library

Folder 2: Notes – Sawyer Free Library

Folder 3: Correspondence – Smithsonian on schooners

Folder 4: Articles – Phil Weld/sailing

Folder 5: Notes – Fishermen’s Museum

Folder 6: Gloucester Miscellaneous – antique cars

Folder 7: Correspondence – Gardner Foley Notes – Granite Industry, Annisquam Church

Folder 8: Model boats, George’s Bank

Box #5 Series I

Folder 1: Disabilities; Hammond Castle; Hayden House; Universalist Church

Folder 2: Miscellaneous

Folder 3: Maps of Gloucester; Unification Church

Folder 4: Schooner fishing; Ten Pound Island

Folder 5: Schooner Lettie Howard; Sawyer Free Library

Box #6, Series I

Folder 1: Fishing industry

Folder 2: Fishing industry; Vincent Ferrini; Simon Geller

Folder 3: Fishing industry; Gloucester Experiment

Folder 4: Gloucester history; Walker Hancock

Folder 5: Glocuester history

Folder 6: Miscellaneous

Folder 7: Miscellaneous letters

Box #7, Series I

Folder 1: Thomas Babson; Kim Bartlett; Clarence Birdseye; Burnham family

Folder 2: Miscellaneous

Folder 3: Boston Symphony

Folder 4: Isadore Smith

Folder 5: Anchors

Folder 6: Artists

Box #8, Series I

Folder 1: Artists - Leonard Craske (Fisherman’s statue)

Folder 2: Articles – “Lookout”

Folder 3: Articles – “Lookout”

Folder 4: Miscellaneous; Frank Hatch

Folder 5: Paul McClure case

Folder 6: Miscellaneous

Folder 7: Play groups

Box #9, Series I

Folders 1-3: Photos

Folder 4: Miscellaneous

Folders 5-7: Sawyer Free Library

Box #10, Series I

Folder 1: Miscellaneous letters – incoming

Folders 2-4: Charles Olson

Folder 5: Miscellaneous

Box #11, Series I

Folder 1: Trolly cars

Folder 2: New England Antiquities

Folder 3: Sargent House

Series II

Folder 4: Correspondence for article in Ladies’ Home Journal

Series III

Folder 5: Notes/correspondence re: Driftwood Captain