Crane, Jasper, 1881-1969

Jasper Crane (1881-1969) began his career in plastics in 1901 with the Arlington Company of New Jersey. When this company was acquired by E.I. du Pont de Nemours in 1915, Crane became head of the Cellulose & Solvents Division of the Chemical Department. During the First World War he was involved in research concerning poison gas defense, smokeless powder containers, and coatings for airplane wings. He was later assigned to the Du Pont Company's London office as European manager in charge of purchasing and development. In this capacity he was in charge of negotiating agreements with I.C.I. and I.G. Farben. In 1926, Crane returned to the United States to manage the new Du Pont subsidiary, Lazote, Inc. He later played an important role in establishing the Ammonia Department. In 1929 Crane was elected vice president and named to the executive committee. He served in these capacities until 1946.

James Madison was a noted statesman and the fourth President of the United States. Born in 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia, Madison studied history and government at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University). He is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of the United States and was active in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, the Continental Congress, and the Virginia Assembly. He collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay on the Federalist essays, which contributed to the eventual ratification of the United States Constitution, and helped to shape the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Madison served as President Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State and was elected President in 1808. Under his administration, the United States prohibited trade with Britain, leading to the War of 1812 and the eventual collapse of the Federalist party in the United States. Madison stepped down from the presidency in 1817 and died in 1836.

Jasper Crane (1881-1969) was an executive with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and a noted Presbyterian layman. Crane was a plastics expert, who after graduating from Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, went to work with the Arlington Company of Newark, N.J. Arlington was one of America's first plastics manufacturers and when it was acquired by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in 1915 Crane became head of the Cellulose Division of Du Pont's Chemical Department. From 1920 to 1926 he managed Du Pont's London office, in charge of purchasing, development, and financial activities. In 1926 he returned to the United States to head Lazote, Inc. (which became the Du Pont Ammonia Corp. in 1929). In 1927 he became a director and in 1929 a vice president and member of the Executive Committee of the Du Pont Co. and continued in these positions until retirement in 1946.

Crane was prominently identified as a trustee of both Princeton University and the Princeton Theological Seminary. As an extremely conservative Presbyterian he used his position in both business and the church to espouse strong opposition to government interference in business and any perceived leftward trends in American society, particularly in the classroom and pulpit. He was closely identified with another conservative Presbyterian layman, J. Howard Pew of the Sun Oil Company. Late in life he established the Curran Foundation to advance conservative principles in education. He was active in the anti-communist crusade of the 1950s, particularly in his support of THE FREEMAN, a magazine which he and Pew underwrote between 1950 and 1957.