Title: Ronald McCrea papers
Inclusive Dates: 1965-1985

Creator:

• McCrea, Ronald

Unique Identifier: uac54

Quantity: black and white photographs, newsprint, handwritten notes

• 4.95 Linear Feet
• 3 letter document boxes, 1 folding flat box, 2 record storage cartons, 1 large flat folder

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. University Archives and Records Management

Abstract:

The Ronald McCrea papers document the professional work and activism of Ronald Alan McCrea, a journalist, gay rights advocate and historian. McCrea's papers concern his professional work for a variety of newspapers around the United States as well as his work for various gay rights advocacy groups in Madison, Wisconsin.

Language: English .

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-ua-uac54

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The materials in this collection are arranged as close as possible to their arrangement at the time of donation. Boxes 1-4 were initially donated in 2019 and are arranged largely by type of material. Boxes 5 and 6 were donated in 2021. Initially divided into three boxes, the 2021 donation was consolidated down to two, box 5 containing the materials originally in box 1 and 3 of that accession. These materials have been left in their original order as much as possible and original folder labels preserved where rehousing was necessary.

Ronald Alan McCrea was a journalist, activist, and aid to the Governor of Wisconsin from 1983 to 1987. A native of Saginaw Michigan, McCrea held a BA in political science from Albion College and an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He worked as a journalist for the The Capitol Times in Madison, Wisconsin from 1970 to 1977 where he lead a strike which resulted in the creation of "The Press Connection" a competing local paper. McCrea worked for the San Jose Mercury-News from 1977 to 1983 before his appointment to the staff of Wisconsin Governor Tony Earl, whom he served as Press Secretary until 1987. McCrea returned to Madison to work again for The Capitol Times in 1998, having been at Long Island Newsday in the interim. He retired from journalism in 2008. McCrae was active in the gay liberation movement in Madison in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He worked with organizations including the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality, Crossroads of Madison, and the Madison Gay Liberation Front. McCrea gave lectures and presentations on gay culture, particularly gay representation in the media and wrote extensively about the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.

This collection includes no known access restrictions.

Collection materials may be subject to laws governing rights. Researchers are solely responsible for determining the rights status of the materials they use. Permission may be required for some uses such as publication or reproduction.

Former Acession 2019/012 and Accession UA2021/024

Former accession 2019/012: Gift of Ronald McCrea, 2018-12-17. Former accession 2021/024: Gift of Elaine DeSmidt, 2020-02.

https://www.library.wisc.edu/archives/archives/use-the-archives/citing-archives-resources/

The Ronald McCrea papers include a variety of published materials concerning gay rights and gay culture in the 20th century, correspondence and organizational materials generated by the Madison Gay Liberation Front, Madison Gay Center/Rennaissance and the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality as well as other gay rights groups active in Madison, Wisconsin. It also includes McCrea's personal materials, published writing, correspondence and photographs. In addition, the papers include material documenting McCrea's appointment as Press Secretary to Wisconsin Governor Tony Earl between 1983 and 1987 and the subsequent press controversy over his appointment. The collection's large items include posters for local campaigns and events as well as large format photographs and some full newspapers.

Gay rights.LGBTQ Archive; Earl, Anthony S., 1936-