Jay Mark Gleason Papers, 1933-1942

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Cage 26
Jay Mark Gleason
Papers, 1933-1942

The papers of Jay Mark Gleason, Captain, Chaplain-Reserve United States Army and District Chaplain, Fort George Wright District Civilian Conservation Corps, were donated to the Washington State University Library in 1958 by Captain Gleason's children, Mrs. Jean Gleason Witt of Edmonds, Washington and Mr. Bob Gleason of Des Moines, Washington. They were processed by Lawrence R. Stark, September, 1972.

Number of Containers: 8
Linear Feet of Shelf Space: 4
Approximate Number of Items: 2000

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Illinois in 1881, Jay Mark Gleason had held a parish in Michigan and had been an Army Chaplain with the AEF in France before coming to Washington state as the pastor of the Ellensburg Presbyterian Church. He resigned his Ellensburg parish in 1921, and apparently tried ranching in the Yakima area for several years. A Yakima County district elected him to the State House of Representatives in 1932 and he served as a member of both the regular and special sessions of 1933. In early 1933, he became one of the thousands of Amy reserve officers who were called to active duty to superintend the Civilian Conservation Corps. When the CCC became a permanent formation in late 1933, Gleason elected to remain at his job as district Chaplain for the Fort George Wright District, Spokane. He remained at that post until the liquidation of the CCC in 1942. Gleason died in the early 1950s in Edmonds, Washington.

Some discussion of Captain Gleason's work with the CCC can be found in The Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington State by Robert Carroll (unpublished Master's thesis: Washington State University, 1972).

DESCRIPTION AND ARRANGEMENT

The papers of Captain Jay M. Gleason consist of his CCC correspondence, including orders and official memoranda, his diaries and notes, the yearbooks which he produced and the photographs he collected for the yearbooks, and various CCC ephemeral publications such as camp and district newspapers.

The arrangement of the papers is divided into three series: correspondence (with personal papers), published material and photographs.

CONTAINER LIST

Container	Folder	Description

Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Papers

1	1-7	Correspondence, 1933-1942. A chronologically arranged sequence of correspondence with CCC and Army officials, enrollees, personal friends and various political figures. The letters are concerned with all the phases of Gleason's work: clerical, social, administrative and publicity.
2-3	8-18	Orders and official memoranda, 1933-1942. A chronologically arranged sequence of Gleason's orders concerning his appointment, reappointments, assignments, and travel. Official memos were from both Army and CCC superiors and are usually explanations of CCC policy.
3	19	Diaries, 1933-1938. Gleason's diaries are dated June 2, 1933-Jan. 19, 1934, Sept. 1, 1935, Jan. 1, 1936-Dec. 31, 1936, March 25- July 30, [1937], July 31, 1937-Dec. 31, 1937, Jan. 1, 1938-June 18, 1938.
3	20-21	Notes, anecdotes and clippings collected by Gleason for use in speeches, sermons, and papers. Drafts of some of Gleason's compositions are included. Also included are material used for teaching a class in citizenship.

Series 2: Printed Materials

3	22	Yearbooks (1) 1937, (2) 1938-1939, (3) Pictorial Review, 1940.
		CCC Ephemera
4	23	Fort George Wright District Headquarters News materials: CCC news, 1933, Microphone 1935, news releases, radio scripts. 20 items.
	24	Camp Newspapers from camps at Priest River, Id., Avery, Id., Worley, Id., Lake Chatcolet, Id., Riggins, Id., Metaline Falls, Wa., and Republic, Wa. 1934-1938. 20 items.
	28	CCC pamphlets, enrollee's guide, Songbook, National Directory, Medical Manual, morale pamphlets, chaplaincy literature, greeting cards, banquet programs, etc. ca. 25 items.
	28	Maps showing the locations of various CCC camps. ca. 25 items.
	29	Manuscript of short story about CCC. "Love and Adventure" by Harvey Smith McCowan. ca. 30 p.

Series 3: Photographs

5-9		Photographs collected for use in Yearbook or Pictorial Review. Most are photos of groups of enrollees, supervisory personnel, camp scenes, and work scenes. Many are partially identified and fuller identification is to be found in the printed yearbooks. (folder 22).
8		Miscellaneous photographs, mostly of Command personnel and staff at Fort George Wright, many identified.