Abstract:

Archibald Johnston (1864-1948) was a mechanical engineer, who joined the Bethlehem Iron Company in 1889 where he was responsible for the erection of the gun forging and armor plate plant. In 1901 he was elected to the company's Board of Directors, and between 1906 and 1908 was president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The bulk of this collection is concerned with Johnston's work at Bethlehem Steel; a smaller portion consists of strictly personal papers.

Scope and Contents:

These are photographs having a geographic relationship to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the company's headquarters, includes industrial views, office buildings, and city and community views. This consists of photographs of Bethlehem Iron Company, a predecessor company which merged with Bethlehem Steel Company in 1901, the South Bethlehem steel plant, and the forge specialty department there. There are views of the company’s offices which were photographed frequently, especially during periods of renovation. There are aerials of the city dated from 1958 to 1959. A noteworthy inclusion is "Bethlehem Plant Inspection, June 1927," a booklet commemorating Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis flight; the aircraft's forgings were made by Bethlehem.

Lou Sterner (dates unknown) was a Bethlehem Steel Corporation employee – presumably a company photographer. Hagley does not own his original glass plates, but there are copies of contact prints of various subjects. The majority of the work is company related; there are also some unidentified nature photographs and views of Lehigh University. One set of prints (which was mounted on cards by the company) has identification on the back.

Abstract:

At the turn of the century, under the direction of Charles Schwab and Eugene Grace, Bethlehem Steel Corporation became the second largest American steel company; combined with its other venture, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., it became a leading 20th century American business. This item is a viewbook which contains exterior views of the Bethlehem Steel Works. These include numerous images of both the plant and office, most of which were taken at street level.

Scope and Contents: The records of the Bethlehem Steel Company (operating company of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation) are arranged into eleven separate series by department or division. Much of the records remaining from these Departments and Divisions are fragmentary, and do not make up a complete corporate archive.The corporate records of the Bethlehem Steel Company consist of fragments from the office of Robert McMath, Vice President and Secretary, and from the Comptroller's office. The former include organization charts; printed copies of agreements and mortgages, and collected documents for the Pennsylvania Steel merger of 1916 and the absorption of Bethlehem Steel products Company, Beth-Mary Steel Corporation, and Bethlehem Iron Mines Company in 1936. The Comptroller's records consist of two auditor's reports. Board of Directors' minutes dating back to the incorporation of Bethlehem Steel in 1899 document the early inception of the company and Charles Schwab's initial involvement. There is also a small file from the President’s Office consisting of correspondence and other material related to a fraud case involving French Senator Charles Humbert and German agent and convicted French traitor Bolo Pasha during the First World War.Bethlehem Steel Company’s claims filed before the Mixed Claims Commission against Germany following the end of the World War I are documented through correspondence between the company and various law firms and financial organizations. The primary claims filed by Bethlehem Steel Co. include war risk insurance, loss of Scandinavian boat contracts, and loss of Swedish ore contracts. There is also a claim filed on account of the Black Tom Explosion that occurred on July 30, 1916, when German agents destroyed a shipment of American-made munitions destined for the Allies at Black Tom Island in Jersey City, New Jersey. Also of significance are letters of reimbursement sent to Charles Schwab for his financial role in the reorganization of the United States Shipbuilding Company into the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1904.Of particular interest are agreements and correspondence regarding the rights for the manufacture of Harvey armor and for the license to the Krupp process, both traditionally utilized in the production of armor plates for Navy warships throughout the 1890s. Correspondence between the then Carnegie Steel Company, Ltd. president Charles M. Schwab, Bethlehem Iron Company, and the Harvey Steel Company...

Abstract:

The records consist of photocopies of miscellaneous documents of the Empire Steel and Iron Company, the originals of which are in the possession of the National Canal Museum at Easton, Pa. Most of them seem to have come from the Mount Hope site. There is another small collection of miscellaneous materials from the field office of the Mount Hope Mine at the New Jersey Historical Society.

Abstract:

Lukens Steel Company was a medium-sized producer of specialty steel products and one of the top three U.S. producers of steel plate. The Lukens Steel Company records documents all aspects of the business from the early nineteenth century through the 1970s.