David Crumley Bevan (1906-1996) was the Chief Financial Officer of the Penn Central Transportation Company during its financial collapse in the early 1970s, the result of a poorly planned merger between the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the New York Central Railroad Company in 1968. The papers document the initial bankruptcy of Penn Central in 1970 and the proceeding court cases against both the company and David Bevan personally, who was accused and later acquitted of financial mismanagement.

Chartered in 1871, Reading Company was the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The collection consists of the corporate records of the Reading Company (1871-1976), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (1833-1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company (1896-1923), and 159 predecessors and subsidiaries.