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Kroc Foundation archives
Mss 61
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Title: Kroc Foundation archives
Identifier/Call Number: Mss 61
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
150 linear feet
(143 records containers, 6 film reels, 2 DVDs)
Creator:
Kroc Foundation
Date (inclusive): 1945-1988
Date (bulk): 1970s-1980s
Abstract: Administrative files, 1967-1985, of the Kroc Foundation of Santa Ynez, California, relating to conferences it sponsored and
grants it awarded in the area of medical research.
Physical Location: Boxes 1-139 located at the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF). Inquire at Special Research Collections for access.
Boxes 140-143 at Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.
In accordance with the terms of the donation, researchers must agree to preserve the anonymity of reviewers with respect to
comments pertaining to specific proposals. Boxes 1-139 STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given
on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Kroc Foundation archives, Mss 61. Department of Special Research Collections, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Donated by Robert Kroc, 1985; Lisa Napoli, 2018.
The following information is drawn primarily from the obituary for Robert Louis Kroc in the
Santa Barbara News Press, May 9, 2002, B8.
Robert Louis Kroc was born in Chicago on June 19, 1907. He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, received his BA and
MA from Oberlin College, and his PhD in Zoology and Physiology from the University of Wisconsin in 1933. From 1933 to 1944
he taught at Indiana University. He then embarked upon a career in research, much of it with Warner Lambert Pharmaceutical
Company and its Research Institute, from 1944 to 1969.
In 1969, after retiring, Kroc moved to Santa Ynez, California, where he became President of the Kroc Foundation, dedicated
to research in the fields of diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and arthritis. The Kroc Foundation was started by Ray A. Kroc,
Robert's brother and founder of McDonald's Corporation. The Foundation sponsored conferences at the J & R Ranch, which resulted
in a number of publications. It also awarded more than 1600 research grants to institutions in the U.S. and eight foreign
countries.
In 1984 Ray Kroc died. The Foundation disbanded the next year, but its influence continues through endowed lectureships and
professorships at Harvard Medical School, Washington University St. Louis, and the University of California, San Francisco.
Robert Louis Kroc died in Santa Barbara, California, on April 19, 2002.
Further information about the Kroc Foundation may be found in
The Kroc Foundation: 1965-1985, the final report which includes its grant and conference activities since 1982, a history of the Foundation from 1965, and
a brief biography of Ray A. Kroc, its sole benefactor.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTES
The collection contains the following series:
SERIES I: CHRONOLOGICAL FILES. Boxes 1-12. Mostly outgoing correspondence, from the President's office, and also relating
to conference and grants programs, including grant inquiries.
SERIES II: CONFERENCE FILES. Boxes 13-32. Mainly chronological, with correspondence, expenditure files, background reports
and articles, reviewers comments, programs, photographs, papers written by participants, news releases and some publications.
SERIES III: GRANT FILES. Boxes 33-84. Arranged alphabetically by institution, then by principal investigator, with application
paperwork, progress and grant expenditure reports, correspondence and other summary information tracking the course of the
grant.
SERIES IV: GRANT PROPOSAL REJECTS AND INQUIRIES. Boxes 85-98. Morgue, arranged chronologically, then by surname of principal
investigator.
SERIES V: GRANTS ADMINISTRATION. Boxes 99-103. Includes expenditure reports, final gift awards, grant facts, and inquiry log.
SERIES VI: OFFICE FILES. Boxes 104-118. Alphabetical and chronological files, including correspondence.
SERIES VII: PHOTOGRAPHS. Box 119. Mainly of principal investigators for grants.
SERIES VIII: PUBLICATIONS. Boxes 120-126. Includes printed material relating to conferences and conference proceedings, medical
research programs, and related news.
SERIES IX: MISCELLANY. Box 127. Includes guestbook, postcards of foundation facilities, and alphabetical card file
SERIES X: ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION. Boxes 128- . Material received or located after processing the collection, including
additional chronological files relating to the grants program, grant proposal rejects and inquiries files, grants administration
files relating to multiple sclerosis, and office files.
Additions include materials (Series 10., Subseries 5. Lisa Napoli Files) collected by author Lisa Napoli in the course of
writing her book
Ray & and Joan: The Man who Made the McDonald's Fortune and the Woman who Gave it All Away (Dutton, 2016). Files contain correspondence, clippings, transcripts, McDonald's manuals for franchisees, court documents,
personal items and documents of Ray and Joan Kroc, DVDs of interviews with Ray and Joan Kroc, and a series of public service
film reels produced by Joan Kroc in the late 1970s and early 1980s on alcoholism for "Operation Cork."
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Medicine -- Research
Alcoholism -- Study and teaching
Administrative records
Clippings (information artifacts)
Conference proceedings
Correspondence
DVDs
Film reels
Grants
Interviews
Photographs
Publications (documents)
Transcripts
Kroc Foundation -- Archives
Kroc, Robert Louis
Kroc, Ray, 1902-1984
Kroc, Joan B.
Operation Cork Productions