TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Correspondence, 1906-1952
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Ralph W. Cram Papers, 1906-1952
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2004. ©2004. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
|
| Creator | Cram, Ralph W., 1869-1952 |
| Title | Ralph W. Cram Papers |
| Dates | 1906-1952 |
| Extent | 1.5 cubic ft. (1 box and 1 oversize box) |
| Abstract | Correspondence, mostly incoming, of Ralph W. Cram, editor and publisher of the Davenport (Iowa) Democrat and Leader; also, a complete run of his seventy-eight columns for that paper, 1937-1939, and his photograph. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Cram |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 38 9 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Ralph W. Cram Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift of Ralph W. Cram, 1951; Margaret Cram Siemen, 1952.
Processed by
Virginia H. Smith, 2003
Access
The Ralph W. Cram Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Ralph W. Cram Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Ralph W. Cram
American editor and publisher.
Ralph W. Cram was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1869. In 1883 he began his newspaper career as a printer's devil with the Davenport (Iowa) Daily Davenport Democrat (later the Democrat and Leader), a newspaper to which he dedicated his life. After being a reporter and city editor and managing editor, in 1930 he became editor and publisher, a position he held until his retirement in 1940.
Cram was an acknowledged political analyst and his editorials reflected life not only in Davenport but in the state and nation as well. An authority on aviation and an avid pilot, Cram began flying in 1919, and in 1934 he was appointed state director in charge of airport improvement in Iowa. He was a charter member of the National Aeronautic Association in 1922 and was also a sponsor of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association. Cram was a frequent contributor to aeronautic magazines and was the author of "Soloing at Sixty-two." He wrote the story of his life in seventy-eight chapters, published serially in the Democrat and Leader, 1937-1939.
Cram was married and the father of four children. He died in 1952.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
The collection is composed mainly of two types of material: correspondence and copies of the autobiographical seventy-eight columns Cram published in the Davenport, Iowa Democrat and Leader shortly before he retired as editor. The correspondence, much of which concerns the topic of aviation, includes letters from Floyd Dell, James Harold (Jimmie) Doolittle, Alice French, Hamlin Garland, Susan Glaspell, Robert E. Peary, Eddie Rickenbacker, Igor Sikorsky, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Orville Wright. There is also a report on the entertainment for a lecture by Admiral Robert E. Peary, and a photograph of the elderly Cram.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
Papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1906-1952. Box(es) 1
- Series 2: Miscellaneous, 1907-ca. 1945. Box(es) 1
- Series 3: Newspaper Columns, 1937-1939. Box(es) 2
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Cram, Ralph W., 1869-1952
- Davenport Democrat and Leader (Davenport, Iowa: Daily)
- Dell, Floyd, 1887-1969
- Doolittle, James Harold, 1896-
- French, Alice
- Garland, Hamlin, 1860-1940
- Glaspell, Susan, 1876-1948
- Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin), 1856-1920
- Rickenbacker, Eddie, 1890-1973
- Sikorsky, Igor Ivan, 1889-1972
- Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
- The Democrat and leader
- Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
- Wright, Orville, 1871-1948
Subjects
- Aeronautics - 20th century - History - Sources
- Air pilots - Correspondence
- Autobiographies - Iowa - Davenport
- Correspondence - United States - 1906-1952
- Manuscripts, American
- Newspaper editors - Iowa - Davenport - Correspondence
- Politicians - United States - Correspondence
- Writers - United States -- Correspondence
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Container List
Series 1: Correspondence, 1906-1952 |
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| A small collection of Ralph Cram letters, but mostly incoming correspondence responding to columns Cram wrote. Among the correspondents are: George Ade, Nicholas Murray Butler, Calvin Coolidge, Josephus Daniels, Floyd Dell, Porfirio Diaz, James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle, Ira C. Eaker, Alice French, Hamlin Garland, Susan Glaspell, James N. Hall, Harry Hansen, Cordell Hull, Fiorello LaGuardia, John T. McCutcheon, Patrick F. (Packy) McFarland, Robert E. Peary, Eddie Rickenbacker, Franklin Roosevelt, Charles Edward Russell, Igor Sikorsky, William H. Taft, Edward P. Warner, Woodrow Wilson and Orville Wright. A few of these letters have little content but might have a noted signature (noted in container list). Less important letters are grouped together and names do not appear individually on the container list. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | A | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Ade, George (Signature), June 6, 1912 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | B | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1920-1940 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | C | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Coolidge, Calvin (Signature), May 17, 1920 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Cram, Ralph W., 1923-1952 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | D | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Daniels, Josephus, 1913-1920 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Dell, Floyd, 1924-1952 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Diaz, Porfirio, Dec. 18, 1909 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Doolittle, James H. (Jimmy), July 20, 1942 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | E | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Eaker, Ira C., 1924-1931 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | F | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | French, Alice, Dec. 13, 1932 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Garland, Hamlin, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Glaspell, Susan, 1937, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | H | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Hall, James N., March 2, 1930 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Hansen, Harry, 1919-1949 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Hull, Cordell, 1937-1939 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | I-L | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | LaGuardia, Fiorello H., Feb. 3, 1925 | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | M | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | McCutcheon, John T. (Signature), Sept. 19, 1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | McFarland, Patrick F. (Packy), Feb. 10, 1936 | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | N-O | |||||||||
| 1 | 29 | P | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | Peary, Robert E., 1906-1909 | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | R | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | Rickenbacker, Eddie (Edward V.), 1943-1951 | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Signature), Sept. 12, 1932 | |||||||||
| 1 | 34 | Russell, Charles Edward, 1936-1940 | |||||||||
| 1 | 35 | S | |||||||||
| 1 | 36 | Sikorsky, Igor I., 1926-1939 | |||||||||
| 1 | 37 | T-U | |||||||||
| 1 | 38 | Taft, William H., 1907-1927 | |||||||||
| 1 | 39 | W | |||||||||
| 1 | 40 | Warner, Edward P., 1924-1945 | |||||||||
| 1 | 41 | Wilson, Woodrow, 1912 | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Wright, Orville, Oct. 27, 1928 | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Y-Z | |||||||||
Series 2: Miscellaneous, 1907-ca. 1945 |
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| Two items arranged by type of material | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 44 | Entertainment Committee Report on a Robert E. Peary Lecture in Davenport, Iowa, Jan., 1907 | |||||||||
| 1 | 45 | Photograph of Ralph W. Cram, ca. 1945 | |||||||||
Series 3: Newspaper Columns, 1937-1939 |
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| Copies of the seventy-eight autobiographical columns written by Ralph Cram, published In the Davenport Democrat and Leader, 1937-1939. | |||||||||||
| Arranged chronologically. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 2 | Cram, Ralph: Newspaper columns, 1937-1939 | ||||||||||