Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
- Overview of the Collection
-
Historical Note
- Content Description
- Administrative Information
-
Detailed Description of the Collection
- Correspondence
- Correspondence Subject Files: A-W
- Europe and Japan Documents and Correspondence
- Personal Documents and Correspondence
- Family and Business Correspondence
- Storrs Family Documents
- Family Documents
- LDS Church-Related Documents
- College Class Work
- Journalism Class Materials
- Clubs and Organizations, A-U
- LDS Talks and Original Speech Notes
- Talks, Essays, Subject, and Quotes
- "Sam's Place" Correspondence and Scripts
- Original Titles: C-U
- Original Poetry and Notes
- Original Writing Subject Files: A-S, Miscellaneous
- Printed Material
- Reviews, Book Club Notes, and Voiceovers
- General Materials
- Miscellaneous Family Documents
- General Materials
- Names and Subjects
R. Paul Cracroft papers, 1942-2007
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Cracroft, R. Paul
- Title
- R. Paul Cracroft papers
- Dates
- 1942-2007 (inclusive)19422007
- Quantity
- 44 linear feet
- Collection Number
- ACCN 2040
- Summary
- The R. Paul Cracroft papers (1942-2007) contain correspondence, original manuscripts, famiy and personal documents. He worked for the Salt Lake tribune and became the Assistant Director of Public Relations at the University of Utah from 1948-1951. From 1951-1956, he was Press Secretary for Senator Wallace Bennett and spent most of the rest of his career at the University of Utah in various capacities.
- Repository
-
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860
Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu - Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
R. Paul Cracroft (1922-2008) was born in Salt Lake City to Ralph Cracroft and Grace Darling White Cracroft. He attended East High School, and graduated from the University of Utah, where he received his B.A. in English Literature in 1939, and then his M.A. in 1954. In the interim, he served a mission for the LDS church in the North Central States from 1942-1944, and after that, enlisted in the Army from 1944-1946, where he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant. During this period of time, he also married Kathryn (Kay) Storrs in 1944, and with her had six children.
R. Paul Cracroft worked for the Salt Lake Tribune from 1947-1948 as a campus and general reporter, and left to became the Assistant Director of Public Relations at the U from 1948-1951. From 1951-1956, he was Sen. Wallace Bennett's Press Secretary until he returned again to the U as Assistant Director, from 1955-1956.
R. Paul Cracroft spent much of the rest of his career at the University of Utah. He was the Promotion Director for the Summer Festival productions, 1948-1951, was the U's first unofficial Sports Information Director and Statistician in the same years. From 1956-1967, he was the Executive Director of the University of Utah Alumni Association, and also served as an editor to "The Utah Alumnus." He was the Director of Lectures and Concerts from 1967-1980, and concurently the Manager of Kingsbury Hall from 1977-1990, when he retired. R. Paul Cracroft also taught Journalism at the U from 1964-1975, and as a fill-in until 1980. After that, he taught again in 1985.
In his own words, R. Paul Cracroft's life:
Ironic, huh? First time my pic's run in the paper in years, and I'm not around to clip the obit. Tough! I was called up by heart trouble, cancer, diabetes, etc. – elderly man stuff. But few have had a more delightful time on Earth than I – and you can bet your last buck I'd have hung around, given a choice.
I was born at home at 821 Markea Ave. in Salt Lake City on Oct. 7, 1922, to Ralph and Grace Darling White Cracroft. I was educated at Wasatch, Bryant Jr. and East High schools where I made many lifelong friends.
I decided at age 13 that I wanted to write. At 16 I was elected editor of East High's Red & Black for 1939 and won the first All-American rating for a high school paper in Utah's history. After working for a year to save the exorbitant tuition costs at the University of Utah (30 dollars per quarter during the Depression!), I enrolled there, majoring in English and writing for all of the student publications, winning campus and regional honors and editing the literary magazine, Pen, in 1948.
My friend Heber Hart arranged a fateful blind date for me on Aug. 23, 1941, with Kathryn Storrs. She and I celebrated our 63rd wedding anniversary in 2007. From June 1942 to July 1944, I served in the North Central States mission, headquartered in Minneapolis. If the field was white and ready to harvest, I must have served out-of-season, but I enjoyed my 25 months away from my lady-in-waiting, making few converts besides myself.
When I returned home in late July 1944, the draft board all but met my bus. Kay and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple by Elder (later President) Harold B. Lee on Aug. 16, 1944. Then I donned the uniform of a buck private at Ft. Douglas to train at Camp Roberts, CA. Kay went with me. When the Battle of the Bulge hit at Christmastime 1944, I was sent to Ft. Benning, GA, where I was commissioned a shavetail lieutenant. I shipped out on Aug. 12, 1945, on the USS George Clymer for what I later learned was the planned invasion of Japan. Messrs. Tojo and Hirohito had learned I was coming, so in wise terror, they surrendered when I was just two days at sea.
Re-entering college in January 1947 (BA ’48, MA ’54), I worked as a reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune and then for Parry Sorensen as assistant director of public relations at the "U.” From 1951 to 1955, I served in Washington, D.C., as first press secretary to the late Senator Wallace F. Bennett. Returning to the “U” in 1955, I worked for more than 35 years in public relations as executive director of the Alumni Association, director of Lectures and Concerts, instructor in Journalism and, until my retirement in 1990, as manager of Kingsbury Hall. In this last position I initiated the first serious considerations that led to renovation of that great hall.
From 1959-1973, I hosted “Retrospect,” a news analysis show on KUED, Channel 7, which, in those early years, made it the longest-running sustained weekly program on the educational channel. Walter Cronkite I was not, but then he was no Paul Cracroft! For 36 years I also served as statistician for the U’s home football games, typing play-by-plays and spotting for Paul James at “away” games during many of those years.
As an active member of the LDS Church, I have been blessed to serve twice as a member of the High Council of the University of Utah Stake, twice as a bishopric counselor, Bishop of the Parleys Fourth Ward (1977-1982), and Parleys Stake high councilman. I helped write the History of Parleys Stake from its official founding in 1958 to 2000. I have been an officer or teacher in all Church auxiliaries since I was 16.
For four years, I was primary caregiver to my sweet Kay during her onset of Alzheimer’s Disease until September 2004, when I underwent surprise surgery for a malignant thymus coupled with six-bypass heart surgery. There followed five weeks of radiation and months of rehab to learn how to walk and regain balance and how to talk and swallow again, thanks to a paralyzed vocal chord. My scratchy voice led me to rename myself “Golden Throat.”
Wherever life has taken me, I’ve kept writing. In 1979 I published A Certain Testimony, a 479-page epic poem based on the Book of Mormon. I have written several plays. Sam’s Place dealt with the history of Sam Weller’s Zion Book Store and was staged by both City Rep and the Babcock Performing Readers at the “U.” Later the BPR staged Letter Perfect, a mixture of fact and fiction told through a long exchange of letters. Officer’s Mess dealt with a personal experience during the occupation of Japan. Another play, Escape to Freedom, tells the true story of feisty Liuda Avizonis, who led her family out of Lithuania when she was just six years old, past Russian and German soldiers. In the days just before my death, I was putting the finishing touches on yet another play, Shadows on the Moon, based on the scriptural account of Coriantumr.
I fully expect that I am now reunited with my sweetheart Kay, who passed away in September 2007, and with grandsons Thomas Paul and Bryant Jeffrey Parker, who left us early to gather bricks for our mansion in heaven. Immediate family who also did not “go gentle into that good night” are my parents and older brother Laurance White Cracroft. I hope to see the rest of you – later!
I leave behind my sister Helen Grace Cracroft White and my brother Richard H. (Janice) Cracroft; my children, Kathy (Don) Wilhelmsen, Shauni (Kent) Young, Patricia (Kent) Parker, David (Terese) Cracroft, Paul Jeffry (Kathryn) Cracroft, and Randy (Gwen) Cracroft; 19 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Since I can no longer write letters to the editor, this obituary will be my last hurrah!
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The R. Paul Cracroft papers contain his prodigious correspondence, original writing including plays, essays, short stories, a novel, and reviews. It also contains family papers and newsletters, University-related documents, and LDS church essays.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
CorrespondenceReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box | ||
2 | Correspondence |
1942-1943 |
3 | Correspondence |
1943 |
4 | Correspondence |
1943-1944 |
5 | Correspondence |
1944 |
6 | Correspondence |
1944-1945 |
7 | Correspondence |
1945 |
8 | Correspondence |
1945 |
9 | Correspondence |
1946 |
10 | Correspondence |
1946 |
11 | Correspondence |
1942-2004 |
12 | Correspondence |
1951-1955 |
13 | Correspondence |
1966-1976 |
14 | Correspondence |
1971-1996 |
15 | Correspondence |
1991-1999 |
16 | Correspondence |
1996-1998 |
17 | Correspondence |
1999-2003 |
Correspondence Subject Files: A-WReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
18 | 1 | The Battle over Brigham Young's Monument |
1977-1989 |
18 | 2 | Wallace Bennett |
1970 |
18 | 3 | Harold Bloom |
1990 |
18 | 4 | Louis DuPree |
1984 |
18 | 5 | Friends |
1986-1995 |
18 | 6 | Letters to the Editor and Responses |
1997-1998 |
18 | 7-8 | Harry James |
1976-1991 |
18 | 9 | H. C. Kimball
The correspondence in this folder are photocopies.
|
|
18 | 10 | Robert Lindblad |
1960 |
18 | 11 | Ray Olpin |
1967 |
18 | 12 | Eleanore K. Silk |
1990 |
18 | 13 | Shipley Associates |
1978 |
18 | 14 | Richard Thurman |
|
18 | 15 | Florence Ware |
|
18 | 16 | J. D. Williams |
Europe and Japan Documents and CorrespondenceReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
19 | 1 | Europe |
1972 |
19 | 2-3 | Zurich Documents |
1986-1989 |
19 | 4 | Japanese-American Experience |
|
19 | 5-6 | Japan |
1981; 1992 |
19 | 7 | "An Unforgettable Japanese Adventure" |
1981 |
Personal Documents and CorrespondenceReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
20 | 1 | Military Service Documents |
1945-1948 |
20 | 2 | Certificates and Personal Documents |
|
20 | 3 | Morgage Matters |
1956-1981 |
20 | 4 | Kichen Remodel |
1991 |
20 | 5 | Retirement Documents |
1990 |
20 | 6 | Richard Cracroft |
|
20 | 7 | Fiftieth Anniversary |
1994 |
Family and Business CorrespondenceReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
21 | 1-2 | Business Correspondence |
1979-1991 |
21 | 2-3 | Family Correspondence |
1974-1993 |
21 | 4-5 | Family Correspondence |
1953-2007 |
21 | 6-9 | Miscellaneous Correspondence |
1991-2000 |
Storrs Family DocumentsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
22 | 1 | Luella White Storrs Documents |
|
22 | 2-4 | Kay Storr Cracroft Correspondence and Materials |
1942-1983 |
Family DocumentsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
23 | 1-4 | Family Accomplishments |
1987-1992 |
23 | 3 | Family Accomplishments |
1997-2007 |
23 | 4 | Family Correspondence |
1989-1992 |
24 | 1 | Family Correspondence |
1989-1992 |
24 | 2-3 | Family Organizational Correspondence |
1975-1982 |
24 | 4 | Family Documents |
1973-1994 |
24 | 5 | Family News |
|
24 | 6 | Newsletters |
1992 |
24 | 7 | Notes |
|
25 | Family Organization Documents |
1950-1979 |
LDS Church-Related DocumentsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
26 | 1 | Rosslyn Heights Ward |
1951-1999 |
26 | 2 | Church Publicity |
1954-1976 |
26 | 3 | "Winners and Sinners" |
1965-1969 |
26 | 4 | University of Utah Stake |
1966-1967 |
26 | 5 | Church Issues |
1970 |
26 | 7 | Church Music Committee and new Hymnal |
1974 |
26 | 8 | Plan of Salvation Documents |
1979 |
26 | 9 | "The Purpose of Life" Drafts |
1979 |
26 | 10 | Church-Member Related Correspondence |
1979-1981 |
27 | 1 | Priesthood Issues |
1980-1981 |
27 | 2-3 | Gospel Doctrine Class |
1982-1984 |
27 | 4-5 | New Testament Class |
1982-1987 |
27 | 6 | Parley's Fourth News Express Newsletters |
1984-1986 |
27 | 7 | Doctrine and Covenants |
1986 |
27 | 8 | Book of Mormon Correspondence |
1985-1986 |
27 | 9 | Old Testament Class |
1986 |
28 | 1 | Parley Four Ward Newsletter |
1989-1991 |
28 | 2 | University Stake Reunion |
1990 |
28 | 3 | Ensign Magazine Articles |
1990-1993 |
28 | 4 | Sunstone Panel: Prayer in Schools |
1991 |
28 | 5 | High Priest Outlines |
1991 |
29 | 1 | Public Prayer |
1992 |
29 | 2 | Teaching Development |
1992 |
29 | 3-4 | Lesson Outlines |
1992-2994 |
29 | 5 | Parley's Plaza Dedication |
1998 |
29 | 6 | Bishop Council Notes |
|
29 | 7 | LDS Church Articles |
|
29 | 8 | LDS Controversies |
|
29 | 9 | Primary |
College Class WorkReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box | ||
30 | Class Work |
1947-1949 |
31 | Class Work |
1949 |
32 | Thesis Draft |
Journalism Class MaterialsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
34 | 1 | Journalism Class 70 Materials |
|
34 | 2-3 | Journalism Class 301 Editing Materials |
|
34 | 4 | Journalism Class 307 Materials |
|
34 | 5-7 | Journalism Class 372 Materials |
|
34 | 8 | Journalism Class 373 Materials |
|
35 | 1 | Journalism Class 379 materials |
|
35 | 2 | Journalism Class 415 Materials |
|
36 | Journalism Class 509 Materials |
||
37 | Journalism Class 509 Materials |
||
Folder | |||
38 | 1 | Journalism |
1985 |
38 | 2 | Policy and Procedures Handbook Project |
|
38 | 3 | Layout Transparencies |
|
38 | 4 | Class Projects |
|
38 | 5 | Teacher Development Course |
Clubs and Organizations, A-UReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
39 | 1 | Ad Hoc Scheduling Committee |
1970 |
39 | 2 | Alumni Association |
1967-1971 |
39 | 3 | Arts Business and Promotions |
1968-1975 |
39 | 4-5 | Cultural Arts Committee Documents |
1975-1979 |
39 | 6 | Faculty Music Programs |
|
39 | 7 | Historical Arts and Castings |
|
39 | 8 | National Federation of Music Clubs |
|
39 | 9-10 | Sigma Delta Chi |
1967-1970 |
40 | 1-3 | Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letter |
1983-1991 |
40 | 4 | Utah Rebpublican Party Documents |
1998 |
LDS Talks and Original Speech NotesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
41 | 1 | Church Talks |
|
41 | 2 | Seasonal Talks, Easter |
1976-1991 |
41 | 3 | Seasonal Talks, Thanksgiving |
|
41 | 4-5 | Fireside Chats: Literature in Churches |
1989-1993 |
41 | 6-9 | Original Speech Notes |
1960s-1980s |
Talks, Essays, Subject, and QuotesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | |||
42 | Talks and Articles |
||
Folder | |||
43 | 1-4 | Talks and Essays |
|
43 | 5 | Subjects and Quotes |
|
44 | 1-3 | Talks and Speeches with Notes |
|
44 | 4 | Commencement Speech |
|
44 | 5 | National Secretaries Day Speech |
1975 |
44 | 6 | Public Relations Speech with Notes |
1976 |
44 | 7 | "Star Bright" Speech for Margaret Sorensen |
1992 |
"Sam's Place" Correspondence and ScriptsReturn to Top
"Sam's Place" is an original play written by Paul Cracroft.
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
45 | 1-2 | "Sam's Place" Reading |
1991 |
45 | 3 | Correspondence |
1993 |
45 | 4-6 | Script Drafts
These include the working and final drafts.
|
1991-1997 |
Original Titles: C-UReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
46 | 1 | "Christmas Story," A Play for the Family |
|
46 | 2 | "Coriantumr" |
|
46 | 3-5 | "Elect Lady" |
1981 |
46 | 6 | "Letter Perfect" |
|
46 | 7 | Lithuanian Play |
2006 |
47 | 1 | "Mormons, Jews, and Genitals," A Play |
|
47 | 2-4 | "Officers Mess" Draft with Notes and Final Draft |
|
47 | 5 | "The Patriots" |
|
47 | 6-7 | "Retrospect" Scripts |
1968-1970 |
48 | 1-6 | "Shadows on the Moon" |
1988-1998 |
48 | 7 | "Speak of the Devil" |
|
48 | 8 | Untitled Play with Notes |
|
48 | 9 | "Cowboy and Cossack" and "King of the Castle" |
1973-1990 |
49 | "Victory Playground" |
1976 |
Original Poetry and NotesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box | ||
50 | "A Certain Testimony" Documents
"A Certain Testimony" is Paul Cracroft's epic Mormon poem.
|
1979-1991 |
51 | Original Poetry and Notes |
|
52 | Manuscript Notes |
Original Writing Subject Files: A-S, MiscellaneousReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
53 | 1 | Apologia Pro Poetica Mea |
1980 |
53 | 2 | Chiasmus and Psalms |
1981-1993 |
53 | 3 | "A Clear, Poetic Voice" |
1984 |
53 | 4 | "Continuum" |
1993-2002 |
53 | 5 | Geology and Religion Article |
1967 |
53 | 6 | Ideas for a Gulf War Novel |
1991 |
53 | 7 | Ideas for a Jewish-Mormon Novel |
1991 |
53 | 8 | "The Defense of Cain" |
|
53 | 9-10 | Inspirational Writings |
|
54 | 1 | "Jocie and the Dinosaurs" |
1991 |
54 | 2 | "Jake Garn," A Novel |
|
54 | 3 | LDS Lecture Series |
1996 |
54 | 4 | "Man of Many Faces: Profile of a Painter" Article and Correspondence |
1995 |
54 | 5 | Manuscript Drafts |
|
54 | 6 | Mormon Short Stories for Sunstone |
1980 |
54 | 7-8 | "Never Forsake" |
|
54 | 9 | "Nice Guys do Kill" |
1969 |
54 | 10 | "Night Talk" |
|
54 | 11 | "On Opposing Authority" |
1993-1994 |
54 | 12 | "On The Threshold" |
1971 |
55 | 1 | Playwriting in General |
|
55 | 2 | Prose, Poetry, and Humor |
|
55 | 3 | The Second Coming-Mormon Doctrine Novel |
|
55 | 4 | "Shall We Dance?" |
|
55 | 5 | Short Story Manuscripts |
|
55 | 6 | The Soncino Edition of the Five Books of Moses |
|
55 | 7 | "Susan Young Gates, Her Life and Literary Work" Manuscript |
|
55 | 8-9 | Miscellaneous Stories and Correspondence |
1971-1974 |
Printed MaterialReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | |||
56 | "If Not A Trophy" Autobiography |
2004 | |
Folder | |||
57 | 1 | Biographies Handbook |
|
57 | 2 | "American Film Institute" Magazine Articles |
|
57 | 3-4 | Articles, Essays, and Correspondence |
1972 |
57 | 5 | Other Authors |
|
57 | 6-10 | Printed Material |
Reviews, Book Club Notes, and VoiceoversReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | |||
58 | Theatre Reviews Subject Files: A-Z |
||
Folder | |||
59 | 1 | City Rep Show Reviews |
1989 |
59 | 2-3 | "The Shubert Singers" |
1986-1998 |
59 | 4 | Reviews and Submissions |
|
59 | 5 | Book Club Notes |
1982-1993 |
59 | 6 | Voiceovers |
1991 |
General MaterialsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box | ||
60 | Eulogies |
1980s-1990s |
61 | East High 50th Reunion Documents |
1983-1989 |
62 | East High 50th Reunion Documents |
1999-2000 |
63 | Diaries |
1942-1945 |
64 | Journals |
1976-1979 |
65 | Journals |
1979-1983 |
66 | Day Planner |
1988-1994 |
67 | Day Planner |
1996-1999 |
Miscellaneous Family DocumentsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
68 | 1 | Lectures and Concerts |
1968-1971 |
68 | 2 | Finances |
1979 |
68 | 3 | Emeritus Documents |
1986-1994 |
68 | 4 | Self-Improvement Files |
|
68 | 5 | Jennifer Cracroft Lewis |
|
68 | 6 | Mac Problems |
1992 |
68 | 7 | Christmas |
1996 |
68 | 8 | Copyrights |
2000 |
General MaterialsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description |
---|---|
Box | |
69-73 | Cards |
74 | Wedding Cards |
75 | Speech Notes |
76-77 | Certificates |
78 | Awards |
79-81 | Clippings |
82-87 | Play Drafts |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Corporate Names
- University of Utah
Form or Genre Terms
- Correspondence
- Newsletters