Cramer Family papers

The Cramer Family papers contain materials relating to the Cramer family. Frederick H. Cramer (1906-1954) was a professor in the Mount Holyoke College history department; his daughter, Lilian Cramer Randall, is an alumna of the Mount Holyoke Class of 1950 and the donor of the bulk of the collection. Previously, the MHC Archives & Special Collections held a small amount of documentation on Professor Cramer, which has been absorbed into this collection. These materials cover over a century of family history, starting primarily around 1872. The majority of the collection is divided into the following sections: one each for Hans S. Cramer (1872-1963) and Gertrud Bruck Cramer (1874-1946), their children Frederick H. Cramer and Charlotte Cramer Sachs (1907-2004), and Charlotte's daughter Eleanor Cramer (1926-1972). Included in these files are official documentation, correspondence, writings, ancestry, biographical information, diaries/financial logs, and photographs. Additionally, there is a small collection of Cramer family books, written by acquaintances and/or containing evidence of ownership by these individuals.

The Frederick H. Cramer Papers consist of writings, biographical information, and photographs dating from 1938-1954. The collection is primarily made up of the reprints of articles written by Cramer. They concern contemporary European history including "The Rivalries Between the Great European Powers," "The Growth of Revolutionary Movements," "The Decline of European Economy, "World War II," "The Collapse of Western and Eastern Europe," "America At the Cross Roads," and "American Foreign Policy." The collection includes of a series of four articles written for the "Current History" magazine entitled "Between East and West," "Benes of Czechoslovakia," "Renner of Austria," "Cripps of England," and "Jouhaux of France." Numerous articles written during the same period on subjects ranging from the circumstances of tourist travel in Europe to the economic and political situations in Italy, Switzerland, and France are also included. Personal accounts of his travel in Europe between 1947-1948 were published in the Holyoke, Massachusetts "Transcript-Telegram." The collection also includes two books by Cramer: The Caesar and the Stars (1951), dealing with the influence of astrology on Roman life, and Classica et Mediaevalia (1951), describing the political, cultural and legal aspect of the early Roman period. The biographical information includes newspaper clippings concerning his interest in automobile racing. The photographs are primarily portraits of Cramer and his wife Elizabeth Ziegler Cramer.