Stuart W. Cramer

He was born in Thomasville, North Carolina to Mary Jane Thomas Cramer and John Thomas, a furniture manufacturer. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1888 after studying naval engineering. Cramer chose to resign from the Navy to study in the School of Mines at Columbia University in 1888–1889.{{cite web|url=http://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000275 |title=North Carolina Architects & Builders: Stuart W. Cramer (1868-1940)|author=Catherine Westergaard and Catherine W. Bishir |date=2012}} He found employment with the U.S. Mint in Charlotte, where he worked for four years. After that he worked for Daniel A. Tompkins, an engineer and industrialist, for two years, and then went into business for himself designing and equipping cotton mills in the South.[https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/cramer-stuart-warren Cramer, Stuart Warren, by Thomas S. Morgan]. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press

In a May 1906 speech in Asheville, North Carolina, before the American Cotton Manufacturers Association, Cramer coined the term air conditioning.Cramer, Stuart W. (1906) [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433066400650&view=1up&seq=220 "Recent development in air conditioning"] in: Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Convention of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association Held at Asheville, North Carolina May 16–17, 1906. Charlotte, North Carolina, USA: Queen City Publishing Co. pp. 182-211.

• See also Cramer's patent of 1907: Cramer, Stuart W. [https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/0852823 "Humidifying and air conditioning apparatus"] U.S. Patent no. 852,823 (filed: April 18, 1906 ; issued: May 7, 1907). Cramer's connection to air conditioning originated from his work in the textile industry. Over the course of his career he acquired more than 60 patents for the humidity control and ventilating equipment he developed for cotton mills across the South.{{cite web|url=https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2017/01/20/textile-executive-stuart-cramer-and-air-conditioning |title=This Day in North Carolina History: Textile Executive Stuart Cramer and Air Conditioning|author=N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources|date=17 May 2016 }}

In the 1920a Cramer conceived of a new textile weave for U.S. military uniforms after consultation with his former Naval Academy classmate, U. S. Secretary of the Navy Curtis Wilbur, and his sons. As a result, "Cramerton Army Cloth" was patented and first produced in 1929.{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Brad |date=29 October 2024 |title=An Honorable Khaki |url=https://www.ourstate.com/cramerton-khaki/ |access-date=25 January 2025 |newspaper=Our State}}

Cramer was a founding member of the American Cotton Manufacturers Association and the National Council of American Cotton Textile Manufacturers. He died in Charlotte, North Carolina on 4 July 1940, at the age of 72, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.

His great-grandson is actor Grant Cramer.{{cite web | last=Hinshaw | first=Davie | title=Cramer descendants spin histories of their own | website=Charlotte Observer | date=10 October 2015 | url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article38695437.html | access-date=26 July 2023}}

Stuart W. Cramer High School in Cramerton, North Carolina which includes Cramerton in its attendance district, was named for him.{{cite web |url=http://www.gaston.k12.nc.us/domain/3116|title=History|publisher=Gaston County Schools|accessdate=February 13, 2016}}

Several of his textile works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

Works include:

• Highland Park Manufacturing Company Mill No. 3, 2901 N. Davidson St., Charlotte, North Carolina (Cramer, Stuart Warren), NRHP-listed
• Mayworth School, 236 Eighth Ave., Cramerton, North Carolina (Cramer, Stuart), NRHP-listed
• One or more works in North Charlotte Historic District, roughly bounded by the Southern Railroad, Herrin St., Spencer St., and Charles Ave., Charlotte, North Carolina (Cramer, Stuart), NRHP-listed

{{Reflist}}

• [https://archive.org/details/usefulinformatio00cram/page/n5/mode/2up Useful information for cotton manufacturers], by Cramer, Stuart Warren. Charlotte, N.C. : Queen City Printing and Paper Co., 1904.

• [http://textilehistory.org/StuartWCramer.html Stuart W. Cramer], Textile History
• [https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/people/P000275 Cramer, Stuart W. (1868-1940)], The North Carolina State University Libraries

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Category:1868 births

Category:1940 deaths

Category:American engineers

Category:Architects from North Carolina

Category:People from Gaston County, North Carolina