| Abstract: | Frederick C. Crawford (1891-1994) was a Cleveland, Ohio, industrialist and philanthropist. Crawford headed Thompson Products, Inc. (later TRW Inc.) as it moved from an automotive and aircraft parts manufacturer into the aviation and aerospace industries. A leader of Cleveland's philanthropic community, Crawford served on the boards of many cultural institutions. He was appointed to the Western Reserve Historical Society Board of Trustees in 1944 and later served as it's president. He was instrumental in the transfer of the Thompson Auto Album and Aviation Museum collection to WRHS in the 1960s, which became the nucleus of the Frederick C. Crawford Auto-Aviation Collection of WRHS. Crawford was married twice; to Audrey Cecelia Bowles in 1932, and to Kathleen M. Saxon in 1975. The collection consists of genealogies, biographical sketches, correspondence, appointment diaries and calendars, ledgers, annual financial summaries, bank statements, trust deeds, tax assessments, returns and other financial documents, stock certificates, wills, real estate inventories, diplomas, award certificates, military discharge papers, corporate annual reports, speeches and broadcast transcripts, newspaper and magazine clippings, articles of incorporation, minutes, and scrapbooks. | |