Chrystal was a member of the Garst family and his career was closely associated with that of Roswell Garst and other family members. His mother, Dorothy Garst, was Roswell Garst's sister and his father, I. G. Chrystal, had served in the Iowa State Senate. After the death of Dorothy Garst, Chrystal was raised by the Roswell Garst family. Roswell Garst owned a seed corn company and invited Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev to tour his farming operation in the late 1950s.  John Chrystal served as a managing partner of the Garst and Thomas Hybrid Seed Corn Company and as a partner in the Chrystal Brothers Farming Partnership in Coon Rapids, Iowa.

After leaving the Navy in 1946 and obtaining his degree from the University of Iowa, Chrystal raised grain and cattle in the Coon Rapids, Iowa, area from 1949-1959. In 1959 he left farming and began a career in banking and public service.

Chrystal's career in Iowa banking was extensive. Positions held include president, chair, and director of the Iowa Savings Bank in Coon Rapids, Iowa, and managing director of such Iowa banks as the Audubon State Bank, Audubon; the Home State Bank, Jefferson; the Perry State Bank, Perry; and the Raccoon Valley State Bank in Adel. In 1970 Chrystal became director of Bankers Trust Company in Des Moines, and eventually served as its chairman, president and CEO.

Chrystal's public service record is also long. Positions held include service as Superintendent of Banking for the state of Iowa, 1963-1969; member, Iowa Commission on Interstate Cooperation, 1963; member, Iowa Board of Regents, 1963-1965; chair of the State Banking Board, 1966; president, Iowa Transfer System, 1973; president, Iowa Bankers Association, 1973; member, Iowa State University President's Advisory Board and Iowa College Foundation; member, Iowa Farmer /Creditor Mediation Service Board, 1986-1988.

Throughout his career, Chrystal was active in Iowa and national Democratic politics and supported liberal causes. In 1990, Chrystal ran on the Democratic ticket for governor in the Iowa primary election. He chaired campaigns for Harold Hughes, Tom Harkin, and John Culver. He served as president of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union in 1973 and was a member of National Advisory Council of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1973-1978. He actively supported organizations including Planned Parenthood, Farm Aid, Business People for Peace, and the Iowa Peace Institute.

Chrystal's ties to the Soviet Union began in 1958 when he met Nikita Khrushchev during the Soviet premier's visit to Iowa and the Garst family farm. In 1960 and 1963, Chrystal and Roswell Garst traveled to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe as citizen ambassadors and agricultural advisors. In 1972, Garst and Chrystal hosted another Russian delegation to Iowa, this time to Coon Rapids. Between 1960 and 1989, Chrystal was invited repeatedly to visit the Soviet Union to offer advice about agriculture. He visited approximately sixteen times, and led efforts to help modernize farming and agriculture infrastructure systems in Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine and to improve trade relations between those countries and the United States. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Chrystal to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a federal agency with economic development projects in the former Soviet Union. Chrystal was an active member, serving as a board member and director of OPIC. In 1995, Chrystal accompanied United States President Bill Clinton to Moscow, Russia, Kiev, and the Ukraine.

Chrystal was a frequent participant in national and regional governmental and professional seminars and conferences on international agriculture and business. He was also interviewed often and frequently contributed editorials to Iowa and national newspapers on those subjects.

Chrystal died on 19 January 2000.  He was posthumously awarded the Global Citizen Award in April 2000.

Collection description

Biographical files include information on the Chrystal and Garst families including a booklet titled "Recollections of a Half Century: the Garst Store" (1919), a Chrystal family genealogy, and documents pertaining to Chrystal's high school and college education and reunions, his naval service, and honorary degrees.

Although the correspondence series contains notable personal material, including letters of condolence sent to Chrystal on the death of Roswell Garst in 1977, the bulk of the correspondence documents Chrystal's professional activities in banking and agriculture and his involvement in political campaigns and social causes. Of special note are materials relating to his interest in and trips to the Soviet Union in the 1980s and to Russia and Ukraine in 1995, and his candidacy for governor of Iowa in 1990.

Chrystal’s talks include presentations to political, agricultural, business, and citizens groups.  His talks during trips to the Soviet Union are included, as are numerous commencement addresses at American colleges and universities.   Texts of Chrystal’s talks are, for the most part, undated and untitled. Events include President Clinton’s inauguration and trip to Russia in 1995, and an Agri-business seminar.

Clippings files include Chrystal’s own writings: editorials, political commentary, and published letters to the editors.  Also included are clippings and other writings about Chrystal, and published editorials and letters responding to his writings.  Much of this material relates to Chrystal’s 1990 gubernatorial campaign.

Photographs include Garst and Chrystal family photos, including a scrapbook; portraits of Chrystal; photographs of Chrystal with business and political colleagues; and pictures documenting his trips within the U.S. and Europe. Photographs from his trips to the Soviet Union and Russia and of Chrystal with United States President Bill Clinton in 1995 are highlights.

Artifacts include political paraphernalia such as buttons and bumper stickers, and gifts from business associates.

Organization