Clare J. Crary (1879 - 1975)
Clare was born in Sheffield, Pennsylvania, one of four children of Jerry and Laura Dunham Crary. Following education at Worcester Academy, he graduated from Amherst College in 1901. In 1902 his parents moved from Sheffield to their new home at 511 Market Street (site of the Crary Art Gallery). Clare met and married Irene Horton of Brooklyn, New York in 1906, and they moved to 211 Fifth Avenue in Warren. In 1910 "CJ" (Clare's nickname) and Irene moved again to a newly-constructed residence at 508 Liberty Street, where they raised three sons. Irene died in 1941. In 1943, CJ married Gene Alden Walker who, with Marion Sanford Sleeman, had been maintaining an art studio in a remodeled chicken coop dubbed "Stepping Stones", on the Sleeman farm.
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An accomplished amateur photographer, Clare "CJ" Crary was experimental in the darkroom and often did such unconventional steps as re-photographing photographs in order to get a different look. His world travels seemed designed to explore and photograph the different "families" of mankind around the globe, in the inquisitive manner of an anthropologist or documentarian. He was undoubtedly inspired by the work of Edward S. Curtis, who famously photographed many western Native American tribes at the turn of the twentieth century. CJ collected a few of Curtis' indelible images, now included in the Crary Art Gallery Permanent Collection.
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CJ exhibited his work widely in salons in the United States and abroad, and entered juried photo shows near but also as far away as New Zealand. His work is cited in publications. He founded the Pictorial Society of America and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. His memberships included the Oval Table Society, the Pittsburgh Salon, the Pictorial Photographers of America and The Camera Club of New York.
At the time of his death in 1975, CJ was Chairman of the Board of Warren National Bank and Vice President of the Pennsylvania Furnace and Iron Company. The numerous civic organizations in which he was deeply involved (some of which he founded or co-founded, and in most of which he held office) included United Fund, Community Foundation of Warren County, Northern Allegheny Conservation Association, Warren Library Association, Warren County Chapter of The American Red Cross, YMCA, Warren State Hospital, Struthers Library Building, and Boy Scouts of America.
At the time of his death in 1975, CJ was Chairman of the Board of Warren National Bank and Vice President of the Pennsylvania Furnace and Iron Company. The numerous civic organizations in which he was deeply involved (some of which he founded or co-founded, and in most of which he held office) included United Fund, Community Foundation of Warren County, Northern Allegheny Conservation Association, Warren Library Association, Warren County Chapter of The American Red Cross, YMCA, Warren State Hospital, Struthers Library Building, and Boy Scouts of America.