CRAMER, CLARENCE HENLEY (23 June 1905-15 Mar. 1982), author, dean, and professor of history, was born in Eureka, Kans., to Rev. David and Erma Henley Cramer. The family settled in Mt. Gilead, Ohio and Cramer received his B.A. (1927), M.A. (1928), and Ph.D (1931) in history from Ohio State University. From 1931-42 he was associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. During and after WORLD WAR II, he served in various governmental posts.
Cramer came to Cleveland in 1949 as associate professor of history and business at WRU. After serving as acting dean of the School of Business from 1952-54, he became dean of Adelbert College from 1954-69, afterwards returning to teaching. "Red" Cramer was always accessible to the students, and was known for his wise counsel and ability to uncover financial resources for promising students. He specialized in economic and diplomatic history, and wrote biographies of Robt. G. Ingersoll and NEWTON D. BAKER, American Enterprise—Free and Not So Free (1972), and Open Shelves and Open Minds: A History of the Cleveland Public Library (1972). After his retirement in 1973, he published Case Western Reserve University: A History of the University, 1826-1976 (1976), and Case Institute of Technology: A Centennial History, 1880-1980 (1980). He also wrote histories of the law school, the school of library science, and the school of dentistry at CWRU. He married Elizabeth Garman in Dec. 1949. He died in Cleveland.