C. Gregory Crampton photograph collection
Collection
Identifier: P0197
Scope and Contents
The C. Gregory Crampton photograph collection illustrates the beauty and diversity of the American West. The collection includes approximately 9,150 photographs taken by Crampton and his professional colleagues, as well as copies of photographs taken by other photographers of the West, such as George Grant, Ben Wittick, and John Hillers. Those photos taken by Crampron are primarily proof or contact prints and are accompanied by negatives. Most of the photographs by other photographers are enlargements and do not inc1ude negatives. Where the negative is available, the print is marked with the designation Neg. Avail. When necessary, identification systems have been imposed to keep the photographs and their negatives coordinated as well as to a11ow for an index. However, the original titles or designations of the photographs have been maintained and form the organizational basis of the collection. With the exception of six glass slides and several color photos, an the photographs in the collection are black and white silver gelatin photographs.
Dates
- 1850-1990
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical Note
Charles Gregory Crampton was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on March 22, 1911. Both his father and mother were osteopathic physicians, but an interest in botany and agriculture lured the family to Delhi, California, in 1922. The trip across the country to California had a lasting effect on Crampton, who cites this journey as a major influence on his initial interest in the American West.
The soil on the Crampton ranch was not particularly arable, and during the Depression, they opened a roadside stand on Highway 99, selling produce as well as Indian and Mexican handicrafts. Souvenir sales slowly overtook the sale of produce, and soon the business was called the Crampton Trading Post. Buying trips for the Trading Post took Crampton and his father throughout the West. These trips and the purchasing of handicrafts and artifacts significantly influenced Crampton's interest in Western American history.
From 1929 to 1931, Crampton attended Modesto Junior College, then spent two years doing odd-jobs before attending the University of California, Berkeley. He studied at Berkeley from 1933 to 1941, under such renowned historians as Herbert Bolton. Bolton was a firm believer in field work, which is reflected in his seminal works on the Spanish Borderlands and the Dominguez-Escalante Trail. This dedication to working not only in the library but also in the field influenced Crampton's own methods of historical research and writing.
After graduating with a Ph.D. in history from Berkeley in 1941, Crampton traveled and studied Latin America on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. He returned late in 1942 and went to work for the FBI, which needed his experience in history and Latin languages for surveillance operations during World War II. In 1944, Crampton left the FBI to work for the Army Quartermaster Corps in Oakland, California, as the historian for the Corps' new salvaging and recycling operation.
When the war ended in 1945, Crampton took a position as an assistant professor at the University of Utah. He taught United States and Latin American history at the university while also teaching courses for the Army Specialized Training Program. Within five years, Crampton rose to full professor. In 1955, he taught at the University of Panama as a Smith-Mundt International Exchange Professor, and in 1956, he taught for a University of Maryland project in England, Paris, and Frankfurt.
Crampton made major contributions to the building of the University of Utah's strong American West program. Playing an instrumental role in the founding of the Western History Association in the early 1960s, Crampton helped establish the Western History Center at the University of Utah as an arm of support for the Association's journal, The American West. He served as director of the Center and associate editor of The American West until 1968, when the magazine moved to a commercial publisher in California.
The Western History Center later gained national prominence as the American West Center, and Crampton contributed to its growing reputation when the Doris Duke Indian Oral History Project began in 1966. Crampton initially directed the work done by the University of Utah, but was soon heading the entire project, which involved the cooperation of several universities throughout the West. He directed the project until 1973, building one of the most exhaustive collections of Indian oral histories, with over 1500 interviews conducted by Crampton and his associates.
Among Crampton's many accomplishments, perhaps the greatest was his historical survey of Glen Canyon before and during the building of Glen Canyon Dam. Crampton first ran the Colorado River in 1949, and found that Glen Canyon held a rich history of human activity in its many side canyons and along the banks and bars of the Colorado. In 1956, when he heard of the proposition to construct the dam, he realized a great deal of history would forever be lost under the waters of Lake Powell. Crampton advised the National Park Service that a survey should be undertaken to preserve the canyon's history, and the Park Service appointed him director of an historical survey which lasted until 1963. Working in conjunction with University of Utah archaeologist Jesse D. Jennings and the Museum of Northern Arizona, Crampton approached his survey using a method which at that time was in its infancy. Historical archaeology was just beginning to be seen as a valuable method of research. Importance was placed not only on the resources provided by libraries but a1so on field work at the historical site itself. Crampton made thirteen survey trips into G1en Canyon during the project, working northeastward from the damsite as the rising water chased his crews. By completion of the project, Crampton published a six-volume work that was presented as a series of University of Utah Anthropological Papers. He subsequently wrote The Standing Up Country and The Land of Living Rock from these studies.
As well as being the principal historian for Glen Canyon, Crampton is a1so well known for his work in American Indian history. As part of the Doris Duke Indian Oral History Project, Crampton contributed to They Spoke Navajo, an account of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. Crampton also published The Zunis of Cibola and has conducted research into many fields of Indian history. In 1978, Crampton retired from the University of Utah. He moved to St. George, Utah, in the heart of the country he spent his professional life studying.
C. Gregory Crampton's importance as an historian of the American West is inestimable. His historical portraits of the Colorado Plateau region resulted from exhaustive studies and of ten are considered prime sources. His efforts in establishing the importance of the American West in history have helped to preserve for posterity that which might otherwise have been 1ost.
The soil on the Crampton ranch was not particularly arable, and during the Depression, they opened a roadside stand on Highway 99, selling produce as well as Indian and Mexican handicrafts. Souvenir sales slowly overtook the sale of produce, and soon the business was called the Crampton Trading Post. Buying trips for the Trading Post took Crampton and his father throughout the West. These trips and the purchasing of handicrafts and artifacts significantly influenced Crampton's interest in Western American history.
From 1929 to 1931, Crampton attended Modesto Junior College, then spent two years doing odd-jobs before attending the University of California, Berkeley. He studied at Berkeley from 1933 to 1941, under such renowned historians as Herbert Bolton. Bolton was a firm believer in field work, which is reflected in his seminal works on the Spanish Borderlands and the Dominguez-Escalante Trail. This dedication to working not only in the library but also in the field influenced Crampton's own methods of historical research and writing.
After graduating with a Ph.D. in history from Berkeley in 1941, Crampton traveled and studied Latin America on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. He returned late in 1942 and went to work for the FBI, which needed his experience in history and Latin languages for surveillance operations during World War II. In 1944, Crampton left the FBI to work for the Army Quartermaster Corps in Oakland, California, as the historian for the Corps' new salvaging and recycling operation.
When the war ended in 1945, Crampton took a position as an assistant professor at the University of Utah. He taught United States and Latin American history at the university while also teaching courses for the Army Specialized Training Program. Within five years, Crampton rose to full professor. In 1955, he taught at the University of Panama as a Smith-Mundt International Exchange Professor, and in 1956, he taught for a University of Maryland project in England, Paris, and Frankfurt.
Crampton made major contributions to the building of the University of Utah's strong American West program. Playing an instrumental role in the founding of the Western History Association in the early 1960s, Crampton helped establish the Western History Center at the University of Utah as an arm of support for the Association's journal, The American West. He served as director of the Center and associate editor of The American West until 1968, when the magazine moved to a commercial publisher in California.
The Western History Center later gained national prominence as the American West Center, and Crampton contributed to its growing reputation when the Doris Duke Indian Oral History Project began in 1966. Crampton initially directed the work done by the University of Utah, but was soon heading the entire project, which involved the cooperation of several universities throughout the West. He directed the project until 1973, building one of the most exhaustive collections of Indian oral histories, with over 1500 interviews conducted by Crampton and his associates.
Among Crampton's many accomplishments, perhaps the greatest was his historical survey of Glen Canyon before and during the building of Glen Canyon Dam. Crampton first ran the Colorado River in 1949, and found that Glen Canyon held a rich history of human activity in its many side canyons and along the banks and bars of the Colorado. In 1956, when he heard of the proposition to construct the dam, he realized a great deal of history would forever be lost under the waters of Lake Powell. Crampton advised the National Park Service that a survey should be undertaken to preserve the canyon's history, and the Park Service appointed him director of an historical survey which lasted until 1963. Working in conjunction with University of Utah archaeologist Jesse D. Jennings and the Museum of Northern Arizona, Crampton approached his survey using a method which at that time was in its infancy. Historical archaeology was just beginning to be seen as a valuable method of research. Importance was placed not only on the resources provided by libraries but a1so on field work at the historical site itself. Crampton made thirteen survey trips into G1en Canyon during the project, working northeastward from the damsite as the rising water chased his crews. By completion of the project, Crampton published a six-volume work that was presented as a series of University of Utah Anthropological Papers. He subsequently wrote The Standing Up Country and The Land of Living Rock from these studies.
As well as being the principal historian for Glen Canyon, Crampton is a1so well known for his work in American Indian history. As part of the Doris Duke Indian Oral History Project, Crampton contributed to They Spoke Navajo, an account of the Navajo Code Talkers during World War II. Crampton also published The Zunis of Cibola and has conducted research into many fields of Indian history. In 1978, Crampton retired from the University of Utah. He moved to St. George, Utah, in the heart of the country he spent his professional life studying.
C. Gregory Crampton's importance as an historian of the American West is inestimable. His historical portraits of the Colorado Plateau region resulted from exhaustive studies and of ten are considered prime sources. His efforts in establishing the importance of the American West in history have helped to preserve for posterity that which might otherwise have been 1ost.
Extent
78 Boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The C. Gregory Crampton collection was donated to the University of Utah in 1990. The collection extensively covers the Southwest United States and Southern Utah, in relatively recent expeditions and in governement surveys around the turn of the century. The Colorado River system, its environment, and the before and after effects of the subsequent water management activities such as the Glen Canyon Dam are a large part of the collection.
Arrangement
By folder and subject.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated in 1990.
Processing Information
Processed by Photo Archives staff.
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the C. Gregory Crampton photograph collection
- Author
- Finding aid created by Sara Davis.
- Date
- 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu