2024 Samuel Lanham Award for Extraordinary Service to the UWPIAA

UWPIAA Awards
October 24, 2024
UWPIAA Honorees

Elaine Crepeau – ’68C

The narrative, the impact, and the influence of all who traveled in Up with People over its sixty years would be lost without an historical repository that records the story of the experiences of alumni throughout the world. A rich account of our history exists because of the determination and commitment of Elaine Crepeau (‘x68C) who shepherded the creation of this archival history.

Elaine’s past and continuing contributions are best summarized by UWP Founder and Chairman Emeritus J. Blanton Belk. Writing for himself and Betty he said, “We can’t think of a more worthy recipient of the Sam Lanham Award.” He continued, “[Elaine] is small in stature, but big and unstoppable in spirt. She is the “go-to” person when it comes to answering the many questions from alumni and the public.”

This archive, housed at the University of Arizona, is much more complex and inclusive of our history than the journal we may have kept during a year on-the-road or the photos we added to a scrapbook. Holding multiple degrees and honorary recognition in Library and Information Systems and Services from several institutions, Elaine has served as a research librarian and managed the cataloging of significant collections at Sophia University and at Meisei University in Tokyo, Japan, The Duke University Law Library, Durham, North Carolina, and Belvedere-Tiburon Library, Tiburon, California among numerous universities and libraries around the world. One of several noted accomplishments was her organizing and cataloging of the Meisei Shakespeare Collection, ranking second only to the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC .

For the past decade, Elaine served as the Research Archivist for the Up with People archives in Tucson, Arizona, creating a professionally run archival program. Dale Penny, alumnus and past president of UWP, commented, “As a qualified archivist, Elaine has, over the years, worked to ensure that the UWP/UWPIAA story is gathered, documented for accuracy, and saved for the future.” Dale continued, “She has provided thousands of hours in this endeavor, many of those hours without financial remuneration.”

Brenda Moran, an IAA past president, recounted that Elaine’s lifelong involvement with UWP began when her family hosted cast members in Sarasota, Florida. Only months later, Elaine was traveling as a tutor with Cast ’68C, visiting fourteen states and four countries. She continues to serve as a Cast Rep, today. Brenda noted that, Elaine’s journal, compared to one that we may have kept, “spans almost sixty years and thousands of alumni. She has used her impressive archivist and historian skills to collect, record, fact-check, correct, categorize, and restore thousands of documents, photos, administrative files, print publications, scores, sheet music, symphony arrangements, cast lists, yearbooks, city reports, as well as tour schedules, audio-visual items, artifacts, and more to accurately represent the story of alumni experiences and accomplishments in UWP and the UWPIAA.

As an amusing aside to her work in creating and managing the archive, Dale observed that in addition to sorting through reams of donated documents and photos, Elaine had the sometimes-difficult task of, as gently as possible, telling an enthused alum that despite its deep personal meaning, “their show costume from 1976 was not needed for the archives.”

Brenda sums up the importance of Elaine’s contributions to the IAA: “Understanding one’s history is important for many reasons, but none as important as being the lens to understand not only where the IAA has been, but also where it is going. By recording UWP’s history, Elaine has helped to create a touchstone for all alumni which captures the essence of the alumni experience.”

3 thoughts on “2024 Samuel Lanham Award for Extraordinary Service to the UWPIAA”

  1. Elaine’s dedication to the preservation of our history is so appreciated. Congratulations on this very well-deserved award.

    Reply

  2. Congrats Elaine. Love what you are doing. Without your work, a lot of UWP history would have been lost or forgotten for the future generations.

    Reply

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