Margaret R. Draper papers

Collection

Identifier: ACCN 2879

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Dates

1890-2010

Creator

Draper, Margaret, 1916- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Note

Margaret Draper was born to Delbert M. and Mary Rogers Draper on November 20, 1916 in Spanish Fork, Utah. She attended and graduated from East High School and the University of Utah.

Margaret's professional life started with her participation in theatre while she attended East High School and the University of Utah. Upon graduation from the University of Utah she moved to New York where she worked as an actress in theatre, radio, and television during 1940s-1950s. However, from 1943-1946 she served in the American Red Cross in the Middle East and Germany. When she returned to New York, some of her more prominent acting roles included playing Liz Dennis in The Brighter Day from 1949-1954 and Linda Pepper in Pepper's Young Family in 1954. She worked for several theatres and theatre companies including the Chekhov Players, Corning Theatre, and Barter Theatre. During the 1960s, she worked as an actor and model in commercials and advertisements. In 1966, she became a disc jockey for the all-women FM radio station, WNEW-FM. From 1969-1979, she worked for the United Seamen's Service until she moved to Washington where she worked for the National Alliance of Business PSIP Clearinghouse in the early 1980s. She retired in 1985 and was later married to Wesley Brown in 1997 and traveled before returning to live in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1949, Margaret married Joe DeSantis, with whom she had her son, Christopher Desantis in 1951. They later divorced in 1957. She then had a marriage (1959) with Niccol Bissel and then she married (1972) J. Norman Messer. In 1997, she was married to Wesley Brown until his death in 2001. She died October 14, 2011.

Extent

6 Linear Feet (14 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Margaret R. Draper papers (1890-2010) contain the personal and professional materials including yearbooks, correspondence, travel documents, family genealogy materials, playbills, play scripts, magazines articles and reviews, contracts, news clippings, appointment books, and address books pertaining to her personal and professional life. Margaret R. Draper (1916-2011) is known for her work as an actress for television and radio from the late 1930s through the 1960s and her work as a disk jockey on WNEW-FM in the 1960s. She did service for the American Red Cross in WWII from 1943-1946. She spent her later life working for and establishing the United Seamen's Service Club in Camh Ran Bay, Vietnam; Naples, Italy; Genoa, Italy; Germany; and Alexandria, Egypt.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into three series: I. Personal materials which contains Margaret's personal correspondence and documents and a subseries titled "Family Genealogy" which contains both the Draper family and Rogers family genealogical records. II. Professional materials which contain documents from Margaret's work in theatre, radio, television, the United Seamen's Service, and the National Alliance of Business PISP Clearinghouse. III. General materials.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Christopher C. DeSantis in 2015.

Related Materials

Forms part of the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women's Legacy Archives.

Separated Materials

See also the Margaret R. Draper photograph collection (P1953) and DVD of Somewhere the Door Blew Shut performance in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.