J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Margaret R. Draper photograph collection
Draper, Margaret, 1916-
P1953
10 box
1910-2005
Margaret R. Draper (1916-2011) was an actress known for her performances on television and radio from the late 1930s through the 1960s and her work as a disk jockey on WNEW-FM in the 1960s. During World War II, Draper served for the American Red Cross 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. This collection contains black-and-white and color photographs and negatives related to Margaret Draper's personal life, family, acting career, travels, and military activity and postcards collected during her travels and work around the world.
English
Margaret Ruth Draper (1916-2011) was born on November 20, 1916, in Spanish Fork, Utah to Mary Rogers and Delbert M. Draper. She attended and graduated from East High School and the University of Utah. The family moved to Salt Lake City when Draper was a child. She attended East High School, where she began acting; she continued her participation in theater at the University of Utah. After her graduation from college, Draper moved to New York where she worked as an actress in theatre, radio, and television during 1940s-1950s. Between 1943-1946, Draper served in the American Red Cross in the Middle East and Germany. In 1949, Margaret married Joe DeSantis, with whom she had her son, Christopher Desantis in 1951. They later divorced in 1957. In 1959, Draper married Niccol Bissel; they divorced in 1960. In 1972, Draper married J. Norman Messer; they divorced in 1973. In 1997, she was married to Wesley Brown until his death in 2001.
When Draper 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. Draper 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, Draper 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 Private Sector Initiative Program (PSIP) Clearinghouse in the early 1980s. Draper retired in 1985. Following her marriage to Wesley Brown in 1997, Draper traveled before returning to live in Salt Lake City, Utah. Margaret R. Draper died October 14, 2011.
The Margaret R. Draper photograph collection consists of 10 boxes containing 4,006 black-and-white and color photographs and negatives, postcards, and photograph albums. The collection spans Margaret Draper's life, dating from approximately 1910 to 2005. Box 1 contains photographs of Draper's family, friends, and personal life. Boxe 2 contains snapshots depicting Draper's work for the American Red Cross during World War II and postcards collected by Draper during her travels. Boxes 3-4 contain photographs depicting Draper's work for hte United Seaman's Service in Italy and Vietnam and her global travels, primarily dating from the 1960s-1970s. Box 5 contains photographs and albums depicting Draper's travels in the 1980s and 1990s. Box 6 contains photographs depicting Draper's involvement in theatre and acting in Utah, New York, and other states dating from the 1940s to 1960s. Boxes 7-9 contain photograph albums. Box 10 contains overszied photographs of Draper.
Arranged by subject
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.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Margaret R. Draper photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Christopher C. DeSantis in 2015.
Processed by Special Collections staff.
Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.
See also the Margaret R. Draper papers (ACCN 2879) in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.
Forms part of the Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women's Legacy Archives.
Draper, Margaret, 1916---Photographs
Draper, Margaret, 1916---Marriage--Photographs
Draper, Margaret, 1916---Family--Photographs
American Red Cross--Employees--Photographs
United Seamen's Service--Employees--Photographs
University of Utah--Alumni and alumnae--Photographs
WNEW (Radio station : New York, N.Y.)--Employees--Photographs
Mediterranean Region--Photographs
World War, 1939-1945--War work--Photographs
World War, 1939-1945--Women--Photographs
World War, 1939-1945--Germany--Photographs
Women in nonprofit organizations--Photographs
International travel--Photographs
Actresses--United States--Photographs
Women radio broadcasters--New York (State)--New York--Photographs
Disc jockeys--New York (State)--New York--Photographs
Photographs
black-and-white negatives
black-and-white photographs
color photographs
Color negatives
Photograph albums
Postcards
Frances Mary Rogers Draper
1
1
Delbert Morley Draper Senior
1
2
William Alma Rogers
1
3
Mary Jane Collins and Alma Denton Rogers
1
4
Alma Hernando Rogers
1
5
Victor Rogers
1
6
Carol Ann Rogers and Louis Rogers
1
7
Margie and Bill Rogers
1
8
Bill and Victor Rogers
1
9
Louis Rogers
1
10
Margaret Draper
1
11
Personal and Family Photographs, black-and-white
1
12
Personal and Family Photographs, Color
1
13
Personal and Family Photographs, Negatives
1
14
Joe De Santis and Margaret Draper Wedding, 1951
1
15
Wesley Brown and Margaret Draper Wedding, 1997
1
16
Wesley Brown and Margaret Draper
1
17
1970s
1
18
1980s
1
19
1990s
1
20
2000s
1
21
Black-and-white, People, Unidentified and General
2
1
Color, People, Unidentified and General
2
2
Snapshots, Unidentified and General
2
3
Snapshots, Unidentified and General (2)
2
4
Postcards, United States
2
5
Postcards, Egypt
2
6
Postcards, Greece
2
7
Postcards, Italy, Spain, Portugarl, more
2
8
Postcards, England, Wales, Scotland, more
2
9
Postcards, Switzerland, Holland, Norway, more
2
10
General Postcards
2
11
Red Cross, World War II
3
1
Germany
3
2
United Seaman's Service
3
3
1944-45 Germany Album
3
4
American Red Cross, Rodeo, 1946, Germany
3
5
American Red Cross, 1946, Germany
3
6
American Red Cross, 1946, Germany: Post Cards
3
7
United Seaman's Service in Italy
3
8
Vietnam
3
9
Travel, 1974-75
3
10
Travel, Alexandria
3
11
Travel, Corsica
4
1
Travel, Egypt
4
2
Travel, Florence
4
3
Travel, Greece
4
4
Travel, Hudson River Valley
4
5
Travel, London
4
6
Travel, Morocco
4
7
Travel, Kernville
4
8
Travel, Pompeii
4
9
Travel, Rome
4
10
Travel, Sante Fe
4
11
Travel, Santorini
4
12
Travel, Spain
4
13
Travel, Suez Canal
4
14
Queen Elizabeth, July 1976
4
15
Travel, United Kingdom and Ireland
4
16
General Travel
4
17
1976-1979, Morocco, Switzerland, Rome
4
18
1979-1980s, Home
4
19
1943-44, Album
5
1
South Vietnam, June 1969 Album
5
2
1990, Sante Fe and Salt Lake Album
5
3
1997 Travel to Egypt, Album (1)
5
4
1998 Travel to Egypt, Album (2)
5
5
1999 Travel to Egypt, Album (Negatives)
5
6
Theater
6
1
University of Utah
6
2
Green Lake Players, Buffalo 1938
6
3
Cheklov, 1939-40
6
4
Barter Theater, 1947
6
5
Barter Theater Blue Company, Summer 1947
6
6
The Gamber, 1952, Lyseum Theater
6
7
The Time of the Cuckoo, 1958 March 26-30 Lenox Hill Playhouse
6
8
Time of the Cuckoo, Summer 1958, Barn Theater, Augusta, Michigan
6
9
The Cherry Orchard, 1960
6
10
Corning, New York, July 1961, Stocks, 6 weeks 5 plays
6
11
Life With Father, 1962 Corning, New York Theater
6
12
Life With Father, Once More With Feeling, Five Finger Exercise, The Marriage Go Round, Corning, New York Theater
6
13
The Docudrama Group
6
14
J'aiglon
6
15
The Farmer's Wife
6
16
The Brighter Day, October, 1999
6
17
Provincetown
6
18
Ads
6
19
Photograph Album
7
1
Photograph Album
8
1
Photograph Album, Egypt
9
1
Margaret Draper, Oversize Photos
10
1