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Wrather Papers. CSLA-23. Collection/Series Descriptions
Wrather Papers. CSLA-23. Collection/Series Descriptions
THE THOMAS AND DOROTHY LEAVEY CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LOS ANGELES RESEARCH COLLECTION
JACK AND BONITA GRANVILLE WRATHER PAPERS (CSLA-23):
Collection and Series Descriptions
To view the contents of each series and their arrangement in boxes and folders, select the links to the box and folder lists in the series descriptions below.
Collection Description | Series Descriptions
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
The Wrather Papers consist of textual and non-textual materials dating from the period 1890 to 1990. The bulk dates of the materials are 1950-1988. Textual holdings includes business and personal correspondence, scripts, business memoranda, organizational and administrative records such as budgets, magazine and newspaper articles, scrolls, scrapbooks, and certificates. The language of all materials is English. The non-textual materials are sizable and consist of ephemera, especially movie memorabilia; photographs; personal effects; videocassettes; plaques; and books. The children of Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather--Molly Dolle, Chris Wrather, and Linda Finocchiaro--donated these materials to LMU in 2003.
The collection has a strong run of materials related to the Wrathers' entertainment interests, highlighted by Bonita Granville Wrather's files on the production of the Lassie television series (Series 2) and the Wrathers' production of a Lassie movie in 1977 (Series 2, Subseries D). Also valuable are the production files and scripts from Jack Wrather's movie projects in the late 1940s (Series 1, Subseries D) and the files on the revival of the Lone Ranger as a feature movie in 1981 (Series 1, Subseries C). Jack Wrather's subject files (Series 1, Subseries B) contain information, though limited, on such business ventures as Muzak and on his role in Ronald Reagan's Kitchen Cabinet. This subseries also provides some evidence on the development of Jack Wrather's various businesses into the Wrather Corporation. Further information on the Wrather Corporation and its business interests can be found in Series 5.
Some material has been removed because it contains medical information or social security numbers. Other materials, because of fragility, have been replaced with photocopies for research use. This is especially true of the correspondence of J. D. Wrather, Sr., related to his oil business, found in Series 8, Subseries A.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
The Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers have been organized into the twelve series described below. Subject matter may cross over series' lines. For example, materials related to the production of "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" are found both in Series 1: Jack Wrather and Series 2: Bonita Granville Wrather, because both Wrathers kept records related to the production of this movie. Series 3: Photographs and Series 4: Ephemera contain information on the Wrathers' entertainment properties, complementing that found in other series. To read the series descriptions, select the following links.
Series 1: Jack Wrather | Series 2: Bonita Granville Wrather | Series 3: Photographs | Series 4: Ephemera | Series 5: Wrather Business and Entertainment Interests | Series 6: Correspondence | Series 7: Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Funeral Materials | Series 8: Granville/Wrather Family History | Series 9: Reagan Presidential Inaugurations | Series 10: Yacht Records | Series 11: Videocassettes | Series 12: Day Planners
To view the box and folder lists (indices of series' or subseries' arrangements and content), select the appropriate series or subseries title.
SERIES 1: JACK WRATHER 
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This series contains materials clearly originating with Jack Wrather or constituting part of his business or personal record keeping. There are four subseries. To view the box and folder lists (indices of series or subseries arrangements and content) select the following subseries titles.
Subseries A, Jack Wrather Speeches: Speeches (copies) and resource materials for speeches given to professional organizations. Dates: 1958-1977. Subseries size: 1 archival document box
Susberies B, Jack Wrather Subject Files: Found in this series are Jack Wrather's private business and personal subject files covering his finances; business ventures such as Lassie television, Muzak, and acquisition of television stations; service on boards such as that of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and those of the University of Texas; and personal, political, and business correspondence. Correspondents of note include Richard Nixon, Gregory Peck, Ronald Reagan, and Walter Annenberg; subject matter includes the Kitchen Cabinet (Box 4, Folder 5). Dates: 1945-1984. Subseries Size: 10 archival document boxes, 2 oversize folders. Also consult this related CSLA collection: Wrather Investment Incorporation Documents. CSLA-28.
Subseries C, The Legend of the Lone Ranger Film Production: Production records, articles, memoranda, correspondence, scripts related to the Jack Wrather production of the 1981 release "The Legend of the Lone Ranger." For photographs of the production, consult Series 3, Subseries D. Dates: 1975-1983. Subseries size: 5 archival document boxes, 1 oversize box and six oversize folders
Subseries D: Jack Wrather Productions, Inc.: Scripts and production records for movies produced by Jack Wrather Productions, Inc., or by Jack Wrather between 1947 and 1960. Notable here is the literary agreement by which director and screenwriter Anthony Mann sold the story rights to "Follow Me Quietly" to Jack Wrather (Box 2, Folder 5). Subseries size: 2 archival document boxes
SERIES 2: BONITA GRANVILLE WRATHER back to top
Eight subseries make up this series comprised of materials that clearly originated with Bonita Granville Wrather or else constituted part of her business or personal recordkeeping. To view the box and folder lists select the subseries titles.
Subseries A, Bonita Granville Wrather Subject Files: This subseries contains materials kept by Bonita Granville Wrather pertaining to her professional career, participation in civic and social functions and programs, and religious activities from 1961-1988. Personal correspondence is found here; correspondents of note include Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Betsy Bloomingdale, Robert Schuller, Lloyd Bentsen, and Richard and Patricia Nixon. Series size: 7 archival document boxes, 7 oversize files, 1 flat file
Subseries B, Bonita Granville Wrather Movie Career: Newspaper and magazine articles, either loose or in scrapbooks, publicity photographs, and lobby cards collected by Bonita Granville Wrather from her movie career in the 1930s and 1940s. Series size: 1 oversize box
Subseries C, Wrather Corporation Television/Wrather Entertainment International: This subseries is comprised of memoranda, correspondence, listings of the Wrather Television library, and marketing reports related to Wrather Corporation television projects, including documents concerning the proposed sale of Wrather Entertainment International to Southbrook Entertainment Corporation. Materials are from 1978 through 1986 and either originated with Bonita Granville Wrather or else were cc'd to her. Series size: 2 archival document boxes, 1 oversize folder
Subseries D, The Magic of Lassie Movie Production: Found in this subseries are scripts and musical scores, and Bonita Granville Wrather's production records for the movie "The Magic of Lassie" (1978), which she oversaw as the producer. Dates: 1976-1978. Series size: 5 archival document boxes, 3 oversize folders
Subseries E, Lassie Television Productions: The production records from the tenure of Bonita Granville Wrather as producer of this long-running television series and from correlative Lassie television developments (1959-1988): memoranda, correspondence (including fan mail), photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, royalties and revenue records, and ratings reports. Cf. Subseries C for other Lassie materials. Subseries size: 7 archival document boxes, 4 oversize folders
Subseries F, American Film Institute: This subseries is comprised of meeting agendas, annual reports, correspondence, a radio interview on audio cassette, and memoranda related to Bonita Granville Wrather's tenure as chair of the board of the American Film Institute (1986-1988). Subseries size: 3 archival document boxes
Subseries G, Bonita Granville Wrather Speeches: Copies of speeches and resource materials for speeches delivered before professional organizations and politicians, including Ronald Reagan. Dates: 1967-1987. Subseries size: 1 archival document box
Subseries H, The Legend of the Lone Ranger Film Production: Records from 1977 to 1981 from Bonita Granville Wrather's files related to the production of this movie. Subseries size: 1 archival document box, 1 oversize folder
SERIES 3: PHOTOGRAPHS back to top
This series is comprised of photographs, negatives, slides and 16mm film, which chronicle the lives and activities of Jack and Bonita Wrather and their families. Several of the photographs in this series contain autographs and/or personal inscriptions to Jack and Bonita Wrather by notable persons, including Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. To view the box and folder lists select the subseries titles.
Subseries A, Photographs With Captions: Select the following box numbers to consult the box and folder lists for Subseries A:
Boxes 1-3 | Boxes 4-6 | Boxes 7-9, 1ov-3ov
Subseries A contains photographs that were accompanied by a descriptive caption provided by Bonita Granville Wrather, or a family member and fall within the period from 1920 to 1988. Photographic subjects include Jack and Bonita Wrather, their children Linda and Christopher Wrather, Jack Wrather's children Molly and Jack Wrather III, the parents of Jack and Bonita Wrather and members of their extended family. Other subjects include Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Richard and Pat Nixon, Lady Bird Johnson, Prince Charles, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Helen Hayes, Barbara Walters, Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Lassie and the Spruce Goose. Please note: the descriptive captions provided for the photographs often use abbreviated terms, such as JW for Jack Wrather and BGW for Bonita Granville Wrather. The captions have be reproduced here exactly as they were originally written. Subseries size: 9 archival document boxes, 3 oversize boxes.
Subseries B, Photographs Without Captions: Select the following box numbers to consult the box and folder lists for Subseries A:
Boxes 10-11 | Boxes 12-16
Subseries B contains photographs that were not accompanied by any sort of descriptive caption. A description has been added when possible, indicated by square brackets. Photographic subjects include Jack and Bonita Wrather, their children Linda and Christopher Wrather, Jack Wrather's children Molly and Jack Wrather III, the parents of Jack and Bonita Wrather and members of their extended family. Other subjects include the Disneyland Hotel, Spruce Goose, Lassie, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Jimmy Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Richard Nixon, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Dates: 1927-1988. Subseries size: 7 archival document boxes
Subseries C, Negatives: This subseries contains the negatives of many of the photographs found in both Subseries A and B of this series. When a descriptive caption was provided for the negative, it has been reproduced here. For those negatives that were without a description, one has been added when possible, indicated by square brackets. Dates: 1948-1974. Subseries size: 2 archival document boxes
Subseries D, The Legend of the Lone Ranger Film Production: This subseries contains photographs taken during the film production of "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" and at the party for the film's premier. Dates: 1980-1983. Subseries size: 1 archival document box
Subseries E, Slides and Film: This subseries contains slides of many of the photographs found in both Subseries A and B of this Series, and 2 reels of 16mm film. Subjects include Jack and Bonita Wrather, their children Linda and Chris Wrather, Jack Wrather's children Molly and Jack Wrather III, and members of their extended family. Dates: 1958-1982. Subseries size: 4 archival document boxes
SERIES 4: EPHEMERA back to top
Dating from the period 1934-1987, this series is comprised of a miscellany of Wrather ephemera, including publicity materials from the Disneyland Hotel, Spruce Goose, and the films "The Legend of the Lone Ranger" and "Perilous Waters". Also included in this Series are awards for the television programs "Lassie" and "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon", awards from the University of Texas presented to Bonita Granville Wrather and Jack Wrather, Kennedy Center Honors calendars, high school and college annuals, 3 small family bibles and other Wrather family memorabilia. Series size: 1 archival document box, 4 records storage boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 2 flat files
SERIES 5: WRATHER BUSINESS and ENTERTAINMENT INTERESTS back to top
This series contains scrapbooks, articles, annual reports, correspondence, and promotional literature related to the Wrather Corporation and its predecessors, and to Wrather Corporation entertainment and leisure properties such as the Lone Ranger and the Disneyland Hotel (for the latter, see especially Box 8, Folder 3). These materials were placed in this series because they could not clearly be identified as coming from the Wrathers' personal or business subject files. Dates: 1949-1988. Series size: 8 archival document boxes, 6 oversize folders
SERIES 6: CORRESPONDENCE back to top
Wrather family correspondence, invitations to governmental functions, articles, and miscellany such as family passports and address books comprise this series. Dates: 1929-1971. Series size: 3 archival document boxes.
SERIES 7: JACK and BONITA GRANVILLE WRATHER FUNERAL MATERIALS back to top
The core materials of this series are sympathy cards and obituaries regarding the deaths of Jack Wrather (d. 1984) and Bonita Granville Wrather (d. 1988). Also included in the holdings are biographies and personal papers regarding their professional activities apparently gathered on their death and placed with the sympathy cards and obituaries. Dates: 1960-1990. Series size: 11 archival document boxes, 1 oversize box
SERIES 8: GRANVILLE/WRATHER FAMILY HISTORY back to top
Scrapbooks, correspondence, certificates, family histories, and financial records are included in this series documenting Wrather and Granville family members. Mazie Wrather is responsible for collecting most of the materials on the Wrather family in this series, including those on her son Jack Wrather. Of importance are the materials in Subseries A (J. D. Wrather, Sr., Oil and Business Interests) related to the senior Wrather and his development of Texas oil fields in the early 1920s. Dates: 1890-1972. Series size: 7 archival document boxes, 1 oversize box
SERIES 9: REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS back to top
This series holds memorabilia and invitations from the Wrathers' attendance at the two inaugurations of Ronald Reagan (1981, 1985). Series size: 1 archival document box, 1 oversize box
SERIES 10: YACHT RECORDS back to top
In this series are financial records, guest logs, and repair bills for the Wrathers' personal yachts (1961-1985). Series size: 3 archival document boxes
SERIES 11: VIDEOCASSETTES back to top
Videocassettes of Wrather entertainment and business activities; some tapes include interviews with Bonita Granville Wrather. Some tapes were professionally produced, others are not. Dates: 1976-1987. Series size: 3 archival document boxes
SERIES 12: DAY PLANNERS back to top
The personal day planners of Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather. Dates: 1951-1988. Series size: 1 archival document box, 2 records storage boxes
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