GEORGE E. CRANMER PAPERS
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
Correspondence, reports, memos and plans relating to the Department of Improvement and Parks comprise this collection. The papers range from 1922 to 1964.
The papers in this series reflect the activities of the Department of Improvement and Parks. Correspondence from the public describes concern with street paving and alley vacation. Contracts, reports and correspondence portray the construction of a new sewage disposal plant in 1939 using Public Works Administration funds. Cranmer's responses to the public are reflected in numerous petitions and correspondence. The papers document that he provided special snow removal services to schools. The series also contains records of Cranmer's persistent campaign against billboards and other roadside advertising.
This series includes newspaper clippings about Cranmer, an award that he received and papers from organizations to which he belonged.
The OVFolio contains a scrapbook with black-and-white photographs, programs and newspaper clippings relating to Stapleton Airport and other activities of the Department of Improvements and Parks.
The oversize drawings comprising this series consist of plans for street improvements, an organizational chart, and other Denver plans.
This series includes photographs of sewage disposal plants from around the world and a military display at Stapleton Airport during World War II. Additional photographs depict Cranmer at an unidentified art gallery event.
Dates
- 1922-1964
ACCESS:
The collection is open for research.
OWNERSHIP:
George Cranmer Papers are the physical property of the Denver Public Library.
PUBLICATION RIGHTS:
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
George Ernest Cranmer was born January 11, 1884 in Denver. His father, William H.H. Cranmer of Texas, was a cowboy and rancher. His mother, the former Martha Hitson, was the daughter of rancher John Hitson. Cranmer attended grade schools and East High School in Denver and graduated from Princeton University in 1907 where he studied under Woodrow Wilson. He married Jean Chappell in 1912. They had two sons, Forrest and Chappell, and a daughter, Sylvia.
After graduating from college, Cranmer worked in the family ranching business for a time. He then entered the brokerage business under James H. Causey. After approximately a year and a half, Cranmer organized a bond department for the International Trust Company. Afterwards, he opened his own stock brokerage with A.E. Wilson. By 1928, Cranmer had saved enough money to enable him to retire at the age of forty-four. In 1935, after he managed Benjamin Stapleton's mayoral campaign, he was named the Manager of the Improvements and Parks Department. The department oversaw all construction, street maintenance, sewers, airport and parks. Cranmer held this position until the election of Mayor Quigg Newton who was elected in 1947.
Cranmer freely used the services of the Civilian Conservation Corps, especially to improve the mountain parks. He directed construction of the Red Rocks Ampitheatre. An athlete interested in outdoor activities, he encouraged recreation activities in the Denver parks and helped develop Winter Park as a ski area. Through Cranmer's direction, water from the western slope was brought to Denver through the Moffat Tunnel. Cranmer also improved the Denver Municipal Airport, which was renamed Stapleton Airport in 1944.
Cranmer died of a heart attack in 1975. He is buried in Fairmount Cemetery.
Extent
3 Boxes
1 oversize folio
1 photo box
1 oversize folder
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
PROVENANCE:
City and County of Denver donated the papers in 2007 with the exception of the scrapbook for which provenance is unknown. Funding for processing provided by an Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant.
SIZE:
Number of Boxes: 3 (2.5 lf)
Oversize: 1 OVFolio, 1 OVFF
Number of PhotoBoxes: 1
LOCATION:
WH479
PROCESSED AND ENCODED BY:
Ann Brown
May 2008
Dennis Hagen
Revised November 2008
PROJECT MANAGER:
Ellen Zazzarino
- Architectural drawings (visual works). Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Correspondence. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Cranmer, George E., 1884-1975 -- Archives.
- Denver(Colo.). -- Dept. of Improvements and Parks -- Archives.
- Memorandums. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Parks -- Colorado -- Denver. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Red Rocks Park (Colo.) Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Reports. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Stapleton International Airport.
- Stapleton, Benjamin Frankiln, 1873-1950 -- Archives.
- Valley Highway (Denver, Colo.) Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Winter Park (Colo.) Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Title
- GEORGE E. CRANMER PAPERS
- Date
- Revised November 2008
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository
