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Show Professor donates Indian art collection ST. GEORGE - An Indian art and artifacts collection, valued at nearly $20,000, has been donated to Dixie College by Dr. C. Gregory Crampton, a retired University of Utah professor of history. Now residents of Bloomington, Dr. and Mrs. Crampton moved to the Southwest part of the state about three years ago. "One of the reasons we m moved to the St. George area," Mrs. Crampton said recently, "was the location of Dixie College." "We are just delighted at being near the college and now to have the opportunity to donate the collection to the college." The collection actually bagan over 40 years ago alter Dr. Crampton had completed study in a class on the history of the southwest. As college personnel recently removed the Indian art, artifacts and books from the Crampton home in Bloomington, 22 boxes and a large table were involved. College President Dr. Alton Wade who recently inspected the collection before it was moved, thanked the Cramptons for their generosity and said, "We are presently pursuing the establishment establish-ment of a museum of natural history on campus. This collection will be a welcome addition ad-dition and will help bring the museum one step closer to reality." In addition to being a teacher and collector, Dr. Crampton has been a rather prolific writer. Two of his books, perhaps the most well known, are "Standing Up Country," about Utah and Arizona Canyonlands, and "Land of Living Rock," about Grand Canyon and Utah's Dixie. In describing these two works, Dr. Crampton said, "I call them biographies of a geographical region." , Dr. Crampton began his teaching career at the University of Utah in 1945 and remained there for 34 years until his retirement in 1979. The entire collection was appraised recently by Walter J. Crawford, of Americana Galleries of Ancient and Primative Art of Scottsdale, Arizona. Just hours prior to the removal of the artifacts from their home, Mrs. Crampton said, "We are encouraging others of our friends, with different kinds of collections, to consider donating them to the college." |