Guide to the Vera B. Craig Papers

This finding aid describes the Vera B. Craig Papers, part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Curator Vera Craig, 1969. (NPS History Collection, HFCA 1607)

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 1645 (Series XIV.B)
Accession Number: HFCA-01050
Creator: Craig, Vera B.
Title: Vera B. Craig Papers
Dates: 1889-1985 (bulk dates: 1956-1977)
Extent of Collection: 6.5 LF
Language of Materials: English

Digital Access: The collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Access: This collection is open to research use. See the NPS general copyright and restricted information here.
Provenance: Craig's materials found at Harpers Ferry Center and accessioned into the NPS History Collection in 1985.
Processing Note: This collection was processed and described by contractors in 2012. Updated by Nancy Russell in November 2024.

Rights Statement for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Vera B. Craig Papers, Assembled Historic Records of the NPS (HFCA 1645), NPS History Collection
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Material:

• Museum Management Records, Assembled Historic Records of the NPS (HFCA 1645)

Biographical Note

Vera Beatrice Craig was born June 16, 1921, in Morristown, New Jersey. She graduated from Morristown High School. After high school she worked as a stenographer. On October 21, 1943, Craig enlisted with the US Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (known as SPARS). In 1944 she was serving as a Storekeeper 3rd class in Norfolk, Virginia. She was discharged honorably on May 22, 1946. She is a rare example of a woman who served in WWII before joining the NPS and yet was able to build a career with the bureau.

Craig started her National Park Service (NPS) career as a museum aide at Morristown National Historical Park in September 1947. For the next decade, her responsibilities included caring for the park’s large, valuable collection and the park’s three museums. In 1949 she was selected as a trainee for the first four-week NPS museum methods training course. In an oral history interview in the NPS Oral History Collection, Craig reflected that while at Morristown she didn’t get the raises that a man in her position would have.

In 1956, she transferred to the NPS Museum Branch in Washington, DC to prepare the first historic house furnishings plan for President Andrew Johnson’s home at Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. This plan proved a turning point in the development of furnished structures as effective interpretive media in the parks. In May 1956 she became a staff curator in the Washington Office, where she went on to play a key role in establishing NPS records practices for museum collections and training staff in parks. Craig was instrumental in the effort to professionalize NPS museum records. She also prepared the museum records section of the NPS Museum Handbook, procured necessary forms and supplies, and collaborated closely with regional curators.

Craig remained on the staff of the Museum Branch and its successor units, the Branch of Museum Operations, Division of Museum Services, and Division of Reference Services, for two decades. During these productive years she continued to lead in the area of the NPS museum records system. She also set up specimen records for the Eastern Museum Laboratory and acted as registrar, providing model catalog records for the many park objects that passed through the laboratory. She provided expert help to catalog the White House furnishings. In the Museum Branch, Craig largely supervised the expanding program of furnishing plans for historic structures.

She became a historic furnishings specialist, a job which included researching, writing, and implementing a wide variety of furnishing plans for historic houses throughout the NPS. In 1963 Craig worked with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on the redecoration of the White House. She raised NPS standards in this area and assisted many parks in carrying out approved plans. She was an active member of the Ford’s Theatre refurnishing committee and prepared a succession of excellent plans including those for the Frederick Douglass home, The House Were Lincoln Died, Harper House at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and the Ford House and Washington’s Headquarters at Morristown. Craig also managed the contracting for conservation treatments for objects which required facilities or skills not available within the NPS Museum Laboratory. For example, she worked closely with conservators at the Textile Museum to clean and mount historic clothing and flags for the Lincoln Museum.

In 1965 when Craig was selected as one of 15 US museum professionals to take part in a traveling seminar with colleagues at museum in four Scandinavian countries. After her retirement in 1977, Craig donated her valuable collection of books, pamphlets, and pictures relating to American furnishing and decorative arts to the NPS Harpers Ferry Center Library. Craig died on December 25, 1982, age 61. She is buried in Morristown.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, furnishing plans, furnishing studies, photographs, clippings, and research files related to Craig's work in historic furnishings.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by park name.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: Allegheny Portage Railroad: Historic Furnishings Contract, 1978
-1980
Folder 02: Apostle Islands: Sand Light Invoice, 1977
Folder 03: Appomattox Courthouse: Correspondence, 1958-1969
Folder 04: Appomattox Courthouse: Furnishing Plan, 1968
Folder 05: Appomattox Courthouse: Research Material, 1968-1979
Folder 06: Arlington House: Appendices, undated
Folder 07: Arlington House: Daniel Parke Custis Inventory, undated
Folder 08: Arlington House: Drawings, undated
Folder 09: Arlington House: Furnishings, 1966-1972
Folder 10: Arlington House: Research Notes and Photocopied Material,
undated
Folder 11: Arlington House: Tentative Register of Robert E. Lee Books,
1978
Folder 12: Arlington House: University of Virginia Library Inventories,
1979
Folder 13: Bent’s Old Fort: Furnishings Study, 1973-1977
Folder 14: Big Bend: Furnishing Plans, 1976-1979
Folder 15: Blue Ridge Parkway: Preservation of Historic Structures Study,
1961-1976
Folder 16: Cabrillo: Point Loma Lighthouse Furnishing Plan, 1968-1969
Folder 17: Campobello: Furnishings Inventory, 1964-1969

BOX 02
Folder 01: Cape Cod: Furnishings Inventory, 1967
Folder 02: Cape Hatteras: Research Material, undated
Folder 03: Carl Sandburg: Correspondence, 1968-1972
Folder 04: Castillo de San Marcos: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 05: Castle Clinton: Correspondence, 1972-1977
Folder 06: Chalmette: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 07: Chickamauga-Chattanooga: Historic Furnishings Plan, 1969-
1974
Folder 08: Clara Barton: Research Material, circa 1889-circa 1970
Folder 09: Colonial: Moore House Furnishing, 1957-1959
Folder 10: Chesapeake-Ohio Canal: Old Stone House, 1967-1970
Folder 11: Coulee Dam: Historic Freight Wagon, 1977
Folder 12: Cumberland Island: Tabby House Historic Furnishing Plan,
1977-1979
Folder 13: Edison: Historic Furnishings, 1970-1974
Folder 14: Eisenhower: Historic Furnishings Plan, 1969-1980
Folder 15: Federal Hall: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 16: Fire Island: Historic Furnishings, 1970-1977
Folder 17: Ford’s Theater: Correspondence, 1964-1966

BOX 03
Folder 01: Ford’s Theater: Correspondence, 1967
Folder 02: Ford’s Theater: Correspondence, 1968-1972
Folder 03: Ford’s Theater: Furnishing Plans: Correspondence, 1966-1969
Folder 04: Ford’s Theater: Furnishing Plans: Drafts, 1966
Folder 05: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Catalog Records, 1936-
1937
Folder 06: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Dedication of Restored
Theater Poster, 1968
Folder 07: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Drawings, 1963-1966
Folder 08: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Floor Plans, undated
Folder 09: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Fabric, 1966-1968
Folder 10: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Flags, 1966-1979
Folder 11: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Furniture, 1965-1975
Folder 12: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Scenery, 1966-1967

BOX 04
Folder 01: Ford’s Theater: Historic Furnishings: Specifications, 1946-1968
Folder 02: Ford’s Theater: Photographs, 1967
Folder 03: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Articles and Clippings, 1956-
1972
Folder 04: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Copies of Original
Documentation, circa 1968
Folder 05: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Inventories, 1964-1968
Folder 06: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Notes, 1966-1974
Folder 07: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Petersen House, undated
Folder 08: Ford’s Theater: Research Material: Publications, 1957-1968
Folder 09: Fort Davis: Furnishings Plan, 1973-1976
Folder 10: Fort Hancock: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 11: Fort Laramie: Historic Furnishings, 1962-1970
Folder 12: Fort Larned: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 13: Fort McHenry: Historic Furnishings, 1963-1973
Folder 14: Fort Moultrie: Correspondence, 1974-1975
Folder 15: Fort Moultrie: Furnishing Plan: Draft, 1975-1977

BOX 05
Folder 01: Fort Moultrie: Furnishing Plan: Final, 1975
Folder 02: Fort Moultrie: Historic Furnishings, 1959-1975
Folder 03: Fort Moultrie: Military Equipment, 1974-1975
Folder 04: Fort Moultrie: Military Rosters, 1974
Folder 05: Fort Necessity: Washington Tavern, 1964-1968
Folder 06: Fort Point: Guard Room, undated
Folder 07: Fort Pulaski: Accession Record, 1968
Folder 08: Fort Pulaski: Correspondence, 1963-1972
Folder 09: Fort Pulaski: Furnishing Plan, 1966-1972

BOX 06
Folder 01: Fort Pulaski: Historic Structures Study, 1949-1952
Folder 02: Fort Pulaski: Research Notes, undated
Folder 03: Fort Scott: Officer’s Quarters, 1973-1977
Folder 04: Fort Smith: Historic Furnishings Study, 1966-1981
Folder 05: Fort Stanwix: Furnishing Plan, 1975
Folder 06: Fort Sumter: Correspondence, 1973
Folder 07: George Washington Birthplace: Correspondence, 1969
Folder 08: Gettysburg: Furnishing Plan, 1973-1974

BOX 08
Folder 01: Grand Teton: Furnishing Plan, 1967
Folder 02: Grant Kohrs: Correspondence, 1975
Folder 03: Great Smoky Mountains: John Walker House, 1969
Folder 04: Hampton: Coach House and Stables, 1962-1979
Folder 05: Harpers Ferry: Historic Furnishings, 1959-1981
Folder 06: Harpers Ferry: John Brown’s Fort, 1962-1978
Folder 07: Harpers Ferry: Lockwood House, 1974
Folder 08: Harpers Ferry: Master Armorer’s House, 1970
Folder 09: Herbert Hoover: Blacksmith Shop, 1969-1973
Folder 10: Herbert Hoover: Quaker Meetinghouse: Correspondence, 1972-
1973
Folder 11: Herbert Hoover: Quaker Meetinghouse: Furnishings Plans,
1972-1974

BOX 08
Folder 01: Herbert Hoover: Quaker Meetinghouse: Research Material, 1972
Folder 02: Herbert Hoover: West Branch School: Correspondence, 1974-
1977
Folder 03: Herbert Hoover: West Branch School: Furnishings Plan, 1973-
1977
Folder 04: Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Background Material, undated
Folder 05: Homestead: Furnishing Plan, 1973-1979
Folder 06: Homestead: Palmer Epard Cabin, 1967-1968
Folder 07: Hopewell Village: Big House, 1966-1979
Folder 08: Hopewell Village: Furnishing Plans, 1958-1963

BOX 09
Folder 01: Hot Springs: Inventory of Furnishings, 1979
Folder 02: Hubbell Trading Post: Blacksmith Shop, 1968-1979
Folder 03: Hubbell Trading Post: Historic Furnishings, 1970-1979
Folder 04: Independence: Bishop White’s House, 1969
Folder 05: Independence: Deshler-Morris House, 1974-1975
Folder 06: Independence: Government Council Chamber and Assembly
Committee Room, 1972-1977
Folder 07: Independence: Senate Chamber, 1964
Folder 08: John F. Kennedy: Interpretive Prospectus, 1969-1970
Folder 09: John Muir Home: Historic Furnishings, 1971
Folder 10: Kings Mountain: Historic Structures Report, 1974
Folder 11: Lyndon B. Johnson: Blacksmith Shop, 1973
Folder 12: Lyndon B. Johnson: Correspondence, 1969-1978
Folder 13: Lyndon B. Johnson: Historic Furnishings, 1969-1973

BOX 10
Folder 01: Lyndon B. Johnson: Junction Schoolhouse, 1973-1974
Folder 02: Lyndon B. Johnson: Wallpaper Samples, 1985
Folder 03: Martin Van Buren: Historic Furnishings, 1980-1984 [Folder 1 of
2]
Folder 04: Martin Van Buren: Historic Furnishings, 1980-1984 [Folder 2 of
2]
Folder 05: McLoughlin House: Historic Structures, 1961-1977
Folder 06: Minute Man: Historic Furnishings, 1967-1981
Folder 07: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Account of Furniture, undated
Folder 08: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Copy of Gabriel Ford’s Day Book,
undated
Folder 09: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Fabric, undated
Folder 10: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Ford Family Background, undated

BOX 11
Folder 01: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Furnishing Plan, 1971-1976 [Folder
1 of 2]
Folder 02: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Furnishing Plan, 1971-1976 [Folder
2 of 2]
Folder 03: Morristown: Ford Mansion: History Report (Draft), 1975
Folder 04: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Original Furniture, 1938-1975
Folder 05: Morristown: Ford Mansion: Research Material, undated
Folder 06: Morristown: Furniture, 1933-1975
Folder 07: Morristown: Historic Furnishings, 1956-1968
Folder 08: Morristown: Index of Wills, Inventories, Etc., undated
Folder 09: Morristown: Photographs, 1962-circa 1975
Folder 10: Morristown: Research Material, undated

BOX 12
Folder 01: Morristown: Robert Hanson Harrison, 1974
Folder 02: Morristown: Wick House Furnishing Plan, 1974
Folder 03: Nez Perce: Historic Furnishings, 1977-1978
Folder 04: Pea Ridge: Winton Springs House, 1965-1970
Folder 05: Petersen House: Historic Furnishings, 1970-1973
Folder 06: Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Mansion: Fabric Replacement, 1971
Folder 07: Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Mansion: Furnishing Plan, 1964-1980
Folder 08: Salem Maritime: Furnishing Plan, 1978
Folder 09: Saint Gaudens: Historic Furnishings, 1968-1980
Folder 10: San Juan: Furnishing Study, 1973
Folder 11: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Correspondence, 1958-1961
Folder 12: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Correspondence, 1962
Folder 13: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Correspondence, 1963

BOX 13
Folder 01: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Correspondence, 1964-1975
Folder 02: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Drawings, 1959-1960
Folder 03: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Furnishing Plan, 1960
Folder 04: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Historic Furnishings, 1953-1958
Folder 05: Saratoga: Schuyler House: Photographs, undated
Folder 06: Sleeping Bear Dunes: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 07: Springfield Armory: Correspondence, 1977
Folder 08: Theodore Roosevelt NM: Maltese Cross Cabin, 1969
Folder 09: Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural: Historic Furnishings, 1969-1971
Folder 10: Tuskegee Institute: Correspondence, 1976-1977
Folder 11: Tuskegee Institute: Historic Furnishings, 1977-1980
Folder 12: Tuskegee Institute: Inventories, 1978-1979
Folder 13: Tuskegee Institute: Oral Histories, 1978-1979
Folder 14: White House: Negatives, 1974
Folder 15: William Howard Taft: Furnishings, 1975-1977
Folder 16: Wright Brothers: Correspondence, 1963

BOX 14
Folder 01: Yellowstone: Norris Soldier Station, 1977
Folder 02: Yosemite: Anderson Cabin, 1962
Folder 03: Yosemite: Cavalry Cabin, 1962
Folder 04: Yosemite: Correspondence, 1959-1967
Folder 05: Yosemite: Homestead Cabin, 1962
Folder 06: Yosemite: Museum Laboratory, 1966
Folder 07: Yosemite: Old Jail, 1962
Folder 08: Yosemite: Ranger Patrol Cabin, 1962
Folder 09: Yosemite: Wells Fargo Building, 1962
Folder 10: Historic Structure Museums: Correspondence, 1958-1964
Folder 11: Historic Structure Museums: Correspondence, 1965-1968
Folder 12: Historic Structure Museums: Furnished Historic Structures,
1964-1968
Folder 13: Historic Structure Museums: Furnishing Planning Projects,
1959-1974
Folder 14: Historic Structure Museums: Inspections, 1964-1966
Folder 15: Historic Structure Museums: Inventories, 1945-1974

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