California Republican Assembly records, 1955-1969, bulk 1955-1957

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Summary

Creators:

Abstract:

The collection comprises records from the California Republican Assembly (CRA), a grassroots political organization that promotes conservative values, policies, and candidates related to the Republican Party. Over the years CRA has supported several winning candidates in the national political arena and has helped shape politics in California.

Extent:

0.4 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

California Republican Assembly Records. MS-R128. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.

For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection comprises records of the California Republican Assembly, a grassroots political organization that promotes conservative Republican platforms. Some of the collection materials once belonged to founder and president Dr. Robert Craig. Materials include bylaws, meeting minutes, convention materials, and reports.

Biographical / historical:

The California Republican Assembly (CRA) is a grassroots, political organization that promotes conservative values, policies, and candidates within the Republican Party. Dr. Robert Craig and Edward Shattuck began the CRA in 1932 with the intention of it being free and open to all Republicans, but for the first ten years, CRA sought the membership solely of men under the age of forty. Shortly after its incorporation in 1935, the CRA had over 8,000 members in 47 of the 48 counties in California. The CRA had 12,000 members by 1940, over 11,000 by 1956, and over 14,000 by 1963. Although membership in CRA was free initially, a bylaw requiring paid memberships was eventually adopted. CRA's founding fathers maintained an open and liberal philosophy; Dr. Robert Craig felt that paid membership betrayed the original concept and goals of CRA. By 1955, there were many members whose philosophy was opposed to that of CRA's founders. The liberals lost control of CRA with the election of moderate president Fred Hall in 1962, and CRA has been dominated by a conservative philosophy since 1972.

Over the years CRA has supported several winning candidates in the national political arena and has helped shape politics in California. Although the CRA supports Republican values and candidates, it does not officially represent the Republican Party.

The following chronology lists CRA presidents through 1969, the most recent date of the materials in the collection.

Chronology
Date	Event
1932-1938	Robert Craig, executive secretary
1934 February 11	CRA holds its first statewide organizational meeting in San Jose, California.
1934 March 12-1936	Sherrill Halbert, president.
1935 July 12	CRA is incorporated.
1936-1937	Edward S. Shattuck, president.
1937-1938	Robert S. Barkell, president.
1938-	George Newell serves as president and dies while in office.
1938-1939	McIntyre Faries, president.
1939-1940	Worth Brown, president.
1940-1941	William D. Campbell, president.
1941-1942	William F. Reichel, president.
1942-1943	Carlyle Lynton, president.
1943-1944	William C. Troyer, president.
1944-1945	Murray Chotiner, president.
1945-1946	Arthur C. Carmichael, president.
1946-1947	G. Revelle Harrison, president.
1947-1948	Arthur F. Strehlow, president.
1948-1949	Gordon X. Richmond, president.
1949-1950	Ernest L. West, president.
1950-1951	Harrison H. McCall, president.
1951-1952	Markell C. Baer, president.
1952-1953	A. Ronald Button, president.
1953-1954	Albert R. Bower, president.
1954-1955	Harold C. Ramser, president.
1955-1956	Robert H. Power, president.
1956-1957	Robert Fenton Craig, president.
1957-1958	George W. Milias, president.
1958-1959	John J. Philips, president.
1959-1960	Gardiner Johnson, president.
1960-1961	Harvey Mydland, president.
1961-1962	Robert Lindsey, president.
1962-1963	Fred Hall, president.
1963-1964	William Nelligan, president.
1964-1965	Nolan Frizzelle, the first of the "conservative" presidents of CRA.
1965-1966	Cyril Stevenson, Jr., president.
1966-1967	Dick Darling, president.
1967-1968	Frank P. Adams, president.
1968-1969	Tirso del Junco, president.
1969-1970	James S. Kraemer, president.

Acquisition information:

Unknown.

Processing information:

Processed by Cyndi Shein, 2008.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Conservatives -- California -- Societies, etc.
Conservatives -- Political activity -- California
Activists.
Names:: California Republican Assembly -- Archives

Access and use

Restrictions:: The collection is open for research.
Terms of access:: Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.