Title: Berenice Maloney Crawford Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1896-1974

Creator:

• Crawford, Berenice Maloney, 1896-

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 12; PH Milwaukee Mss 12

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (3 archives boxes and 1 flat box) and 56 photographs

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers documenting the long career of Crawford, a Wisconsin educator who taught classes from elementary through university level. Particular emphasis is given to her early teaching activities (1930-1939), and to her husband Frederick's life and inventions. Included is material pertaining to the elementary report card and kindergarten activity programs she developed; and files, scrapbooks, and diaries documenting her travels and activities as a founder of the Wisconsin chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00012

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The educator, Berenice Maloney Crawford, was born on August 24, 1896 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, to Edmund P. and Paulina (Coffey) Maloney. Upon graduating with honors from high school, Miss Maloney decided to become a teacher and continued her education for two years at Stevens Point Normal School. In 1917, she accepted her first teaching position in Merrill, Wisconsin. Subsequently, Miss Maloney held several teaching and teacher-supervisory positions until her return to school to receive her Bachelor of Science degree in teacher training from the University of Minnesota in 1930. Four years later she completed her Master of Arts degree with a major in supervision and administration from the same university. Miss Maloney became the first degree trained elementary teacher-supervisor in Wisconsin, initially serving as the first elementary supervisor of graded schools in Beaver Dam. She also gave to the field the planned activity program at the kindergarten level.

In 1936, while teaching at the State Teachers College in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Miss Maloney met Frederick G. Crawford (1907-1949), an inventor and sound engineer. They were married in 1940. Following his untimely death in 1949, Mrs. Crawford entered the Doctoral program at Loyola University, Chicago, but never completed her degree. In 1950, she returned to Wisconsin to become Director of Elementary Student Teaching at Marquette University, Milwaukee, remaining there until her retirement in 1965. Mrs. Crawford was selected to be included in Who's Who in American Education in 1952.

An active and religiously-devout woman, Mrs. Crawford was involved in educational, civic and religious organizations. She was one of the founders of the Wisconsin chapter of the educational sorority Delta Kappa Gamma. She spoke to numerous church, school and civic groups. Always an eager traveler, retirement afforded Mrs. Crawford more time to pursue this interest. Among numerous excursions, she made two trips to the Orient, being particularly interested in Sogang University, Seoul, Korea, founded by the American Jesuit Fathers of the Wisconsin Province. Mrs. Crawford resided at her home on Lake Michigan, “Innesfree,” near Grafton, Wisconsin.

The collection documents the long and active life of Berenice Maloney Crawford. It consists of a variety of materials which include correspondence, newspaper clippings, memorabilia and scrapbooks dating from Mrs. Crawford's childhood through her activities after retirement. Particular emphasis is given to her early teaching activities (1930-1939) and to her husband's life and inventions. The eight scrapbooks, many of which are annotated with Mrs. Crawford's reminiscences and comments, are comprised of photographs, cards, and mementos documenting her teaching career, travels, and marriage. Designated with volume numbers, the scrapbooks are located in the contents list below according to their contents. Some material from the scrapbooks has been removed and placed in appropriate folders throughout the three series into which the collection is organized: Personal File, Teaching Career and Activities. Correspondence is scattered throughout the collection filed under appropriate subject headings.

The PERSONAL FILE is subdivided into five sections. Biographical Materials contains a biography published for Delta Kappa Gamma as well as a copy of Mrs. Crawford's entry in Who's Who in American Education. Correspondence ranges from letters from old beaux, family and friends, to recent communications regarding travel arrangements. The section labeled Educational Records includes report cards and transcripts spanning from her grade school years to her doctoral work. A major portion of the Personal File is devoted to Frederick Crawford. The Crawfords' relationship with each other is well documented by their correspondence and by scrapbooks. A sizeable amount of material that deals with Crawford's various inventions is also contained in this section.

The TEACHING CAREER series focuses on Mrs. Crawford's early teaching activities. General correspondence is composed primarily of letters of recommendation and letters demonstrating interest in her new jobs. Also included in this section is material pertaining to the elementary report card she developed, the Beaver Dam School Board controversy of which she was a major participant, and the two Bob and Judy elementary reading books she wrote. Scrapbook 5 documents the planned activity program for kindergarten developed by Mrs. Crawford, as well as other early teaching activities. There is a lack of material concerning her activities as Director of Elementary Student Teaching at Marquette University. In general, documentation regarding daily, routine activities is not found in the collection.

The ACTIVITIES series, organized by type, depicts Mrs. Crawford's many involvements. Her most active and sustained concern was with the Delta Kappa Gamma educational sorority. This segment consists primarily of programs, memorabilia and clippings. The Civic Activities segment includes her charter membership to the Ozaukee Historical Society and the Seven Arts Society. This section consists primarily of clippings. Traveling extensively in the United States and the Orient, a number of Mrs. Crawford's trips are documented by the diaries she kept as well as the scrapbooks she created. These materials are filed in the Travel section. A feature article as well as other clippings are found in the Miscellany folder. Many clippings attest to the fact that Mrs. Crawford often spoke publicly to various organizations, though only one speech, which is also included with Miscellany, is contained in the collection.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Berenice Maloney Crawford, Grafton, Wisconsin, June 16, 1975. Accession Number: M75-287

Processing Information

Processed by Lisa Pinkham and Joanne Hohler, December 1980.

Milwaukee Mss 12	Series: Personal File
Box   1 Folder   1	Biological and Genealogical Material
Box   3 Volume   1	“Mother”
Box   1 Folder   3	Duplicate Photos
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Personal, General Correspondence, 1917, 1933-1935, 1937, 1940, 1947-1954, 1958-1973, undated
	Educational Records
Box   1 Folder   6	General records, 1909-1911, 1917, 1929-1934, 1949-1950
Box   1 Folder   7	Physics notebook, 1912
Box   1 Folder   8	Masters of Arts Thesis, 1934: “A Survey of Practices and Opinions in Representative Courses in Supervision”
	Frederick G. Crawford
Box   1 Folder   9	Biographical Material
Box   1 Folder   10	Personal Correspondence, 1936-1937
Box   3 Volume   2	“Courting Days,” 1936
PH Milwaukee Mss 12 PH Box   1 Volume   3	“Bea and Fred,” 1937-194?
PH Box   1 Volume   4	“Wedding and Honeymoon Album,” 1940
Milwaukee Mss 12	Inventions
Box   1 Folder   11	General Correspondence, 1930, 1938-1956
Box   2 Folder   1	Descriptions of inventions, 1940, 1944, 1947, 1949, undated
Box   2 Folder   2	Notes, sketches, and diagrams of inventions, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	Frederick and Berenice Crawford's Tax Returns, 1924-1948
	Series: Teaching Career	⇧
Box   2 Folder   4	General Correspondence, 1920, 1930-1938, 1944-1961, 1965, undated
Box   2 Folder   5	Teaching Mementos, 1922-1965 (scattered), undated
Box   2 Folder   6	Development of elementary report card, 1930-1932
Box   2 Folder   7	School Board Controversy, 1930-1936
Box   2 Folder   8	Bob and Judy books, 1939
Box   2 Folder   9	Removable contents from Scrapbook Vol. 5, 1934-1939, undated
Box   3 Volume   5	“Teaching Career,” 1934-1939
	Series: Activities	⇧
Box   2 Folder   10	Delta Kappa Gamma, 1947-1971 (scattered)
Box   2 Folder   11	Civic Activities
	Travel
Box   2 Folder   12	Diaries of trips, 1924, 1974, undated
Box   2 Folder   13	Miscellany
Box   3 Volume   6	“Sea and Bea,” Aug 1938
PH Milwaukee Mss 12 PH Box   1 Volume   7	“San Francisco via Panama and Cuba,” Aug 1939
PH Box   1 Volume   8	New Orleans scrapbook, undated
PH Box   1	Photographs, 1896-1970