Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2002.0020: Frederick E. Crory, 2002 October
[identification of item], Frederick E. Crory Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0122, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2023 November; Finding aid written by: Tricia McEldowney, 2024 January
Frederick E. “Fred” Crory (1928-2003) enlisted in the United States Marine Corps upon graduating from high school in 1945. He later attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and graduated in 1955 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Crory applied to and was hired by the Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory (ACFEL) in Boston, Massachusetts. Crory initially studied the effects of adfreezing (the process by which two objects adhere to each other via ice) on the pilings that would support the facilities and towers for the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line). The DEW Line was a radar system constructed in the Arctic region of Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Iceland. He also conducted a study on frost heaving (the upwards swelling of soil during freezing conditions) and its effects on structures built on permafrost.
In 1956, Crory volunteered for a position in Fairbanks, Alaska, conducting pile load tests in the field at various sites in Alaska. Crory relocated to Massachusetts in 1960 to oversee the pile testing program at ACFEL. ACFEL merged with the Snow, Ice, Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE) to form the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) the following year. He supported the United States Geological Survey’s work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System to determine how the pipeline structures (primarily oil-rigs and roads) were to be built and supported on the permafrost. Crory was also involved in exploring for oil in other areas of Alaska.
Beginning in the 1970s, Crory worked on the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Thule, Greenland. BMEWS was a United States Air Force early-warning radar, computer, and communications system. In the 1980s and 1990s, he participated in the site-planning for the North Warning System (NWS), another early-warning radar system for air defense of North America. Crory retired from CRREL in 1990; however, he continued working in a consulting capacity for several more years.
The Frederick E. Crory Oral History, dated 1991-2009, contains audio recordings and transcripts of the interview between Crory and Brian Shoemaker conducted on October 23, 2002. Also included are administrative notes that were created both before and after the interview and are dated 1991-2009. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include studying the effects of adfreezing (the process by which two objects adhere to each other via ice) on pilings that would support structures built on permafrost; the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and exploring for oil in partnership with the United States Geological Survey; and early-warning radar systems such as the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), Ballistic Missile Early Detection System (BMEWS), and North Warning System (NWS).