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1
[[underline]] 1924-1927
INTRODUCTION [[/underline]]

My project to write my recollections and otherwise from birth in 1902 to mid-1924 when I graduated from college and started with GE, proved to be a rewarding task, giving me a great deal of satisfaction in the writing and pleasure in the reading afterwards, and, I hope, will be of some interest and pleasure to my descendants. This new project is aimed at continuing this account and this section will cover mid-1924 to early 1927, or the period from my start with GE to my marriage and almost coincidentally, my start in GE's engineering group in Erie.

The status of material for this follows: I kept a diary solidly through 1924 and one on-and-off in 1925. From 1925 to 1938, my diary was just a spot here and there for the most part. However, I corresponded with both Mother and Willie at great length, with Mother until 1930, and with Willie until we were married, and both of them kept all these letters, providing a fine reservoir of material. In fact, the letters provide more details than the diary. So, for 1924, I'm going to sketch in a resume of the diary for the last six months and then finish with a number of quotes from these letters for the period. For 1925, I shall do the same thing. From January 1, 1926 to January 22, 1927, our wedding day, I have a brief diary and a lot of letters and, of course, in all periods, I have my memories but this far back, they sometimes are rather vague if not non-existent. So, I'll do the best I can and use photographs and other material where it's available.

When I look beyond 1930 and up to 1938, I see a vast void of material but that makes it more of a challenge and I'm planning to see what I can do with that too after finishing this job.

Forman H. Craton

Erie, Pa.,
November 11, 1972.

Transcription Notes:
Correcting two minor typos. -@siobhanleachman