Collections

The Harrison "Buzz" Price collection, 1952-2006 is comprised of reports, proposals, research, photographs, and company files related to Price's work career as an economics consultant for theme parks and tourist attractions. The collection primarily documents the business activities of the Harrison Price Company (HPC), but some materials from earlier projects with Economic Research Associates (ERA) are also included. This collection offers insight into the theme park and tourism industry in the U.S. and internationally. It features background research involved in planning attractions, feasibility analysis reports for attraction locations, and notes from collaborative sessions on project ideas. Price was involved in projects for Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Six Flags, Universal Studios, MGM, Cedars Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, and several other entertainment organizations and resorts. The papers are divided into eight series: Reports, Proposals, Speeches, World's Fairs, Images, Subject Research Materials, Project Research Materials, and Price Company Files. Harrison "Buzz" Price was born in Oregon City, Oregon on May 17, 1921. In 1930, his family moved to San Diego, California. In 1942, Price earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. After serving in the Army during World War II, he also earned an M.B.A. from Stanford in 1951. That same year, Price joined the Stanford Research Institute, where he assisted in locating the site for Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He managed the Stanford Research Institute's LA office for several years before founding Economic Research Associates (ERA), a consulting company in economics, in 1958. While at ERA, Price helped to locate the site for Walt Disney World in Central Florida in 1963, wrote a Universal Studios tour feasibility analysis in 1964, and carried out 6,000 consulting studies. In 1969, Price sold ERA to Planning Research Corporation, the world's largest conglomerate of professional service consulting. He became Planning Research Corporation's Chairman of the Board after serving seven years in corporate management. Price went on to start an independent consulting company in 1978, founding the Harrison Price Company. In 1994, Price was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and was elected to the International Association of Amusement Parks Hall of Fame in 1995. For 37 years and up until his death, Price served, alongside Edie Wasserman, as a trustee of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Price also published a book in 2004 about his work in the themed entertainment and attractions business titled Walt's Revolution! By the Numbers. Harrison "Buzz" Price passed away in Pomona, California on August 15, 2010, at the age of 89.

This collection contains numerous road maps of Florida from a variety of oil companies, including Texaco, Sunoco, Standard Oil, the Atlantic Richfield Company, and others.

Materials about circuses, circus performers, and circus industry from all over the world, mainly North and South America and Europe. Includes photographs, books, posters, flyers, pamphlets, circus programs, and related materials dating primarily from the 1940s-1990s..

Collection includes documents and photographs related to real estate developer Harrison W. Fox's business and activities during Post-World War II St. Petersburg.

The Harry A. Cronk collection, 1957-1990 primarily documents Cronk's career with Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am, and NASA, supporting national defense and manned spaceflight during the height of the space race between 1950 and 1970. Materials consist of certificates, ephemera, photographs, publications, reports, and a hard hat. This collection is useful to historical research into Harry Cronk, Pan Am, and NASA projects. Harry Alden Cronk was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1922 and died in Merritt Island, Florida in 2004. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, earned a mechanical engineering degree from Georgia Tech, and served in the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1950, Cronk married Mary Jane Brewer and worked for Bendix in a defense contractor position. In 1957, he began to work for Armco steel before moving to Merritt Island, Florida, accepting a job with Pan American World Airways in 1960. Cronk became Chief Staff Engineer in 1962. Pan Am, and Cronk, directly supported the Apollo 11 mission that achieved the moon landing on July 20th, 1969. He also contributed to the Skylab missions and the first international manned space mission in 1975. He retired from Johnson Controls in 1990. He later passed away in 2004.

Harry Anson Finney was a well-known American accountant, teacher, and an author. He joined the Haskins & Sells Accounting firm in 1923 and later on he resigned and founded the firm, Baumann, Finney & Company. He taught at the Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois as a Professor of Accounting until his retirement in 1944. Finney published serious of textbooks known as "Principles of Accounting" and also served as an editor for the Journal of Accountancy from 1920 to 1928. Harry A. Finney collection is comprised of his certificates, correspondence, photographs, publication advertisements, books, and a wooden plaque given to Finney from one of his former students.