Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is without restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Mary Victoria Wesson Craw Scrapbooks, 1910-1992, Accession #11326, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This multi-volume autobiographical memoir of Mary Victoria Wesson Craw was given to the Library by the author and compiler, Mrs. Demas Thurlow Craw, of Martha Jefferson House, Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 29, 1997.

Scope and Content Information

This is a 11-volume set of scrapbooks containing the autobiographical memoirs of Mary Victoria (Wesson) Craw (1908- ) of Charlottesville, Virginia, compiled during 1983-1992. Mrs. Craw was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and was educated at Bryn Mawr College. Victoria Wesson married Lieutenant Demas Thurlow "Nick" Craw (1900-1942) of the Army Air Corps on October 31, 1931. The two shared an interest in aviation and horses. The Craws were stationed at Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Field, Hawaii for three years, followed by Mitchel Field, Long Island, Montgomery, Alabama, and Langley Field, Virginia. During World War II, Major Craw was sent as an observer to the Royal Air Force in the desert stations of Egypt. His overseas assignment extended to duties in Greece and Turkey. Colonel Craw returned home for a few weeks prior to the North African invasion. Craw was killed while trying to reach the French commander in Port Lyautey, French Morocco on November 8, 1942. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

"Nick" and Victoria Craw had become acquainted with Charlottesville by a renewed acquaintance with Craw's West Point classmate Hardy Cross Dillard (1902-1982). He had introduced them to the University of Virginia's Institute of Public Affairs at which Major Craw gave the military point of view during the week that France fell. Following the death of Colonel Craw, Victoria felt so at home in Charlottesville that she decided to make her home there permanently. She went to work at the School of Military Government, housing the officers and making sure their medical needs were met. This was followed by a position as executive secretary for the McIntire Tumor Clinic. In the mid 1940s, Victoria and her son, Nicholas Wesson Craw, lived in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was exposed to and excellent education and foreign languages. She worked at the World's Alliance of the Y. M. C. A. doing odd jobs including the writing and recording of short wave broadcasts to English-speaking countries. Upon her return to Charlottesville, Victoria Craw became involved in civic affairs. She worked with the League of Women Voters, the first Blood Recruitment Program for the Red Cross, Planned Parenthood of Central Virginia, the Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle, the Board of Martha Jefferson Hospital, the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, and others.

This multi-volume autobiographical memoir consists throughout of a typewritten reminiscence by Mary Victoria Wesson Craw interspersed with correspondence, photographs, magazine and newspaper articles, invitations, essays, brochures, reports, certificates, and other memorabilia pertaining to the lives of Mary Victoria Wesson Craw, Demas Thurlow "Nick" Craw, Nicholas Wesson Craw and family and friends. Mrs. Craw's work shows a skillful mingling of personal and global history, often relating personal affairs against the background of historical events.

Volume 1, ca. 1910-1930, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings and records. There are numerous photographs of Victoria Wesson. Included are the birth and baptismal records and school records and programs from Bryn Mawr for Victoria Wesson.

Volume 2, ca. 1928-1931, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. Included are photographs of Victoria Craw and "Nick" Craw, including a wedding picture on October 31, 1931. Memorabilia includes a Cunard Line list of passengers, a Junior League program, their wedding invitation, steeplechase programs, and aeronautics memorabilia. Personal events covered include the Cunard Line cruise, European travel, and Victoria Craw's business career with Taylor's Little Shop in Cleveland, Ohio.

Volume 3, ca. 1931-1937, contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, "Nick" Craw, Nicholas Craw, the Nineteenth Pursuit Squad, Schofield Barracks, polo, [David] Stewart Iglehart (1863-1946), Secretary of War [Harry H. Woodring (1890-1967)], and Walter H. Frank. Memorabilia includes the "Official Insignia United States Army Units Stationed in Hawaiian Islands," Nineteenth Pursuit Squadron rosters, Ninth Bombardment Group certificate, and a hand-painted Valentine's Day greeting. There are recollections of living in Hawaii and on Long Island.

Volume 4, ca. 1937-1941, contains photographs, essays, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, Nicholas Craw, Victoria Wilson Craw, Frank Lee Wesson and Mathilde Overton Wesson, and Frank Herbert Wesson. A passport for "Nick" Craw is included. There is a discussion of Charlottesville boarding houses in the late 1930s and early 1940s. There are recollections of European travel Langley Field, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia.

Volume 5, ca. 1940-1942, contains correspondence, photographs, and writings. There is a letter, June 15, 1941, from Lincoln MacVeigh (1890-1972) of the United States Embassy. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, "Nick" Craw, Nicholas Craw, and their home, "Dunlora." There are also photographs of Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Ankara, Turkey; Palestine; Jerusalem, Israel; Damascus, Syria; and Iran during the time that "Nick" Craw was stationed in those areas. Items of interest are "Nick" Craw's impressions of Egypt and Victoria Craw's "Dunlora Diary 1941." There is data relating to "Nick" Craw while stationed in China, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey and his brief rest period in Washington, D. C. and at "Dunlora."

Volume 6, ca. 1942-1948, contains correspondence, magazine article, and photographs. There is a copy of a letter, November 23, 1942, from Major Peter M. Hamilton, French Morocco, including a narrative of his and "Nick" Craw's activities prior to the death of Colonel Craw at Port Lyautey, French Morocco. Related to the award of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Colonel Demas Thurlow Craw is a copy of the presidential citation, a magazine article, and a photograph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt presenting the Medal of Honor to Mary Victoria Wesson Craw and Nicholas Wesson Craw. There is correspondence and material relating to Victoria Craw's work in Charlottesville, particularly at the School of Military Government. There is an essay by Victoria Craw. There are reminiscences relating to Nicholas Craw's schooling in Geneva, Switzerland and travel from Switzerland to Holland and to Algeria and French Morocco, including Casablanca. There is a letter, April 28, 1948, from Edwin P. Lehman at the University of Virginia Hospital. Also included is a passport for Victoria Craw.

Volume 7, ca. (1948-1954)1989, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and brochures. There are letters and photographs relating to a ceremony at Port Lyautey, French Morocco to dedicate a monument to Demas Thurlow Craw. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, Nicholas Craw, and their Pekingese, "Tiger v. Sonnenland." Other photographs include Colorado, the Craw family, and Gerhart Zuhling and Mary Stamps White Zuhling. Other items include a journal "Europe 1948," papers relating to "Tiger," and material concerning the purchase of "Oakwood." There are pamphlets and brochures: "Chatsworth" and "Dedication of Memorial Plaques Honoring the Graduates of West Point Who Gave Their Lives in Battle During World War II." There is a letter, November 17, 1954, from Kathryn H. Stone, House of Delegates, concerning ACTION. Materials relating to the League of Women Voters include a pamphlet, "The League of Women Voters of Albemarle/Twenty Years of History 1946-1966"and a manuscript, "Recollections of the League of Women Voters: A Modified Transcript of an Interview with Mrs. Demas T. Craw, August 1988." There is a discourse, 1989, on the life of Cynthia M. Wesson along with photographs, Bryn Mawr memorabilia, and her last will and testament. Also included are annual reports, 1961-1964, of Smith and Wesson Incorporated. There are recollections on travel in London, England.

Volume 8, ca. 1951-1963, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, Nicholas Craw, Kristin Norstad, Isabel Norstad, Lydia C. duPont, and a trip on the S. S. Argentina to the British West Indies, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Memorabilia includes the Moore-McCormick Lines list of passengers, wedding photographs and related items for Nicholas Craw and Kristin Norstad, a passport for Victoria Craw, and memorabilia on Paris including a 1960 typescript. There is material on the death of Lydia C. duPont and Frank H. Wesson. There are recollections on activities at the University of Virginia and life in Charlottesville and at "Dunlora."

Volume 9, ca. 1964-1978, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Nicholas Wesson Craw II, Hot Springs, Barbados, and London. Other items include passports for Victoria Craw, an Arnold Air Society certificate, and a biographical sketch, November 1973, of Mary Victoria Wesson Craw. There is correspondence, 1976-1977, of the Embassy of the United States of America, Rabat, Morocco, concerning the bronze memorial plaque for Demas Thurlow Craw. Letters of May 1972 from William B. Spong, Jr., United States Senate; J. Harry Michael, Jr., Virginia Senate; and J. Kenneth Robinson, United States Congress relate to the Public Health Service Act and the proposed Hill-Burton regulations. There is discussion, correspondence, and newspaper clippings relating to James N. Fleming's proposed development near the Rivanna Reservoir (now the Ivy Creek Natural Area). There is also material relating to Mary Frazier Cash and the design of the park fronting the Albemarle County Office Building. There are recollections of Victoria Craw's work with civic organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the Board of Martha Jefferson Hospital, City Council, the County Board of Supervisors, and the Civic League of Charlottesville and Albemarle.

Volume 10, ca. 1972-1978, contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Victoria Craw and Nicholas Craw. Items include invitations, a passport for Victoria Craw, and wedding memorabilia of Nicholas Wesson Craw and Page Farland Ross. There are recollections on the National Trust trip to England as well as memorabilia and brochures, "Stonehenge and Avebury," Burghley House Stamford," and "Blenheim Palace." There is memorabilia including postcards, a travel journal, and a brochure, "Tour to France including the Chateaux of the Dordogne." Pamphlets include "Thomas Jefferson" by Dumas Malone and "Sculpture by Cathe Wallendahl 1977."

Volume 11, ca. 1979-1992, contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. There are photographs of Victoria Craw, Mayor Laurence A. Brunton, Dorothy C. "Sunny" Knickerbocker, and the Martha Jefferson House. Memorabilia for the Paul Goodloe McIntire Citizenship Award given to Mary Victoria Wesson Craw in 1979 includes photographs, correspondence and newspaper clippings. There is a group of greeting cards and photographs of godchild Joan McIntosh Jessiman, Andrew Jessiman, and family. There are materials relating to the deaths of Nancy Hale Bowers, Frank Hawes Wesson, Dorothy C. Knickerbocker, and Fredson Bowers. An article on Nicholas Craw as director of the Peace Corps is included in a 1991 issue of Leadership Perspective . Other articles relate to the truce mission to French Morocco of Demas T. Craw and Pete Hamilton (1988) and to these memoirs, "Craw's Memoirs Bring Older Era Back to Life." There are correspondence and papers and recollections relating to Victoria Craw's involvement with SAFE, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the White Burkett Miller Center of Public Affairs, the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Martha Jefferson House and Infirmary, and the Charlottesville- Albemarle Community Foundation.