Finding Aids

The C.A. Edgarton Manufacturing Co. was a textile manufacturing company based in Shirley, Massachusetts, founded in 1881 by Charles A. Edgarton (1826-1891). It distributed Shirley President Suspenders, also known as Perry suspenders. This small collection consists of a single display card advertising Shirley President Suspenders, meant to be placed in store windows. It is number four in a set of six, titled "Bowling Girl." (The other pictures in the set are "Golfing Girl," "Ball Playing Girl," "Tennis Girl," "Fishing Girl," and "Billiard Girl.")

The United Shoe Machinery Company was founded upon the 1899 merger of the Goodyear Machinery Company, Consolidated and McKay Lasting Machine Company, and McKay Shoe Machinery Company. The company grew quickly from its inception. In its heyday, the company employed 9,000 people and manufactured eighty-five percent of shoe making machinery in the United States. Of these two prints, one shows an assembly line using United Shoe Machinery Corporation equipment, while the other shows a worker demonstrating a United Shoe Machinery Company machine.

The Crofton and Shubrick families were descendants of a prominent French American diplomat and businessman, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), and represent middle-class American families in the mid-to-late nineteenth century. The collection includes a small amount of material from the Shubrick and Crofton family from the nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century.

The Crofton and Shubrick families were descendants of a prominent French American diplomat and businessman, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), and represent middle-class American women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This collection primarily consists of the papers of Gabrielle Josephine Crofton (1873-1952) and Mary Ethel Crofton Hunt (1875-1962), daughters of Gabrielle Shubrick Crofton (1835-1894) and Robert E.A. Crofton (1834-1898). It includes diaries, autograph book, notebook, and letters.

Simon Bolivar Camacho (1859-1906) was a traveling sales representative for the American Bank Note Company, a dominant American producer of bank notes, stock and bond certificates and similar commercial paper. The collection includes his diaries between 1892 and 1904, mostly relating to business travels in Latin America, but also containing information on daily events in the New York City area, news of the day, and domestic, personal and religious reflections.

Simon E. Gluck was an engineer educated at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering, who worked on most of its computer projects during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The collection consists of research reports, progress reports, engineering drawings, published articles, and lecture notes which describe the development of the ENIAC, EDVAC, MSAC, and SEAC computers.

Computer pioneers John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert and their associates at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering built six of the world's first electronic digital computers between 1943 and 1951. This collection consists of undated black and white photographs and slides; twelve of the eighteen slides are duplicates of the photographs. Two of the images are engineering drawings (EDVAC's block diagram and control panel) and the rest are images of the EDVAC and MSAC computers.

Simon Saretzky (1908-2007) spent his career as an engineer, and was co-founder of IMC Magnetics Corporation, serving as president from 1951 to 1978. He became known as "the father of small motors." This small collection documents Saretzky's career at IMC Magnetics, as well as previous jobs, including his work as an engineer with Holtzer-Cabot Electric Company during World War II. There is a small amount of material related to Cyclohm Corp. in the late 1940s. This collection would be of interest to those researching electrical engineering, the development of small motors, or immigrant entreprenuers.

The Singer Company was once the world's leading producer of sewing machines that achieved peak domestic and foreign influence by the late nineteenth century. In 1902 the Singer Company began plans to enlarge its headquarters in downtown Manhattan. Ernest Flagg was selected as the architect, and his initial design was for a thirty-five story tower; however, the company decided to almost double its height. The Beaux-Arts style skyscraper, made of red brick and bluestone, was completed in 1908 and stretched to 612 feet. This two sided souvenir shows three photographs of the Singer Building from 1907 to 1908; the reverse side is a longitudinal cross sectional drawing of the tower with engineering and architectural data.

The Singer Company was once the world's leading producer of sewing machines that achieved peak domestic and foreign influence by the late nineteenth century. The collection consists of photographs, trade cards and other ephemera related to the Singer Company. Most of the photographs feature Singer sewing machines and many of these are identified by date and model number.

The Singer Company, once the world's leading producer of sewing machines, was the successor to I.M. Singer & Co., established in 1851. The records of The Singer Company comprise a group of materials from its Trademark Department that were collected by a former employee.

The Singer Manufacturing Company, once the world's leading producer of sewing machines, was incorporated in 1863 as the successor to I.M. Singer & Co., established in 1851. This item is an illustrated 8-page brochure for Singer Sewing Machines, advertising the Singer No. 27 and the Singer Cabinet Table.

The Singer Manufacturing Company was the world's leading producer of sewing machines. It was established in 1851 as the Singer Company, the successor to I.M. Singer & Co. Isaac M. Singer (1811-1875) patented improvements to initial inventions that resulted in the first commercially viable sewing machine. This is a small collection of letters written to the company, primarily from agents, regarding how work has been impacted by the American Civil War (1861-1865).

The Singer Manufacturing Company, once the world's leading producer of sewing machines, was incorporated in 1863 as the successor to I.M. Singer & Co., established in 1851. This collection contains five items regarding the lease of a sewing machine and an instruction manual for the model no. 115 sewing machine.

This collection helps to document the history of Singer Manufacturing Company during the period 1860 through 1880. After success in forming one of the first U.S. patent pools the Singer Company was ready to capitalize and built several new factories. Since the demand for family sewing machines had increased substantially, Singer made it economically possible to buy the new and improved machines by offering installment payment plans.

The Singer Manufacturing Company, once the world's leading producer of sewing machines, was incorporated in 1863 as the successor to I.M. Singer & Co., established in 1851. The records are mostly different drafts of internal reports created for the use of company officers explaining the progress of various patent and trademark suits brought against the company in both the United States and Europe.

The Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, which was founded in 1893 and became part of the American Society for Engineering Education in 1946, was a professional society of engineering school deans, professors, practicing engineers, and industry executives. During the 1930s and 1940s, Dugald C. Jackson (1865-1951), Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT, served as executive director. MIT president Karl Compton (1887-1954) and Gerard Swope (1872-1957) from the General Electric Company were active members. This collection of correspondence consists largely of letters between Jackson, Swope, and Compton, which document their efforts to shape the curriculum at major engineering schools.

The Soo Hardware Company was a full-service hardware wholesale and retail store located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It carried a complete line of building materials, plumbing and electrical supplies, stoves and furnaces, major and minor domestic appliances, housewares, sporting goods, and bicycle and auto parts. The records consist of inbound correspondence received between the years 1911 and 1918. The bulk of the correspondence consists of sales letters and invoices from manufacturers and wholesalers, covering the wide range of semi-finished and manufactured goods sold by the Soo Hardware Company. A large number appear to be unsolicited mailings from salesmen, while others document a long working relationship.

Sophie du Pont Ford (1871-1957) was the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904) and the wife of Bruce Ford (1873-1931). The letter indicates Ford is giving a lacquered Chinese-work box to her niece, Greta du Pont Barksdale Brown (1924-2014).

Sophie du Pont Ford (1871-1957) was the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904) and the wife of Bruce Ford (1873-1931). Her papers consist primarily of her diaries but also include a scrapbook with news clippings relating to the DuPont Company, an address book with family birth dates, and a book with watercolor and text entitled "Life of Branch H. Giles."

Irene "Sophie" Sophie du Pont May (1900-2001) was a churchwoman, a philanthropist, and a descendant of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) in 1802. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The collection consists of Sophie du Pont May's family correspondence and financial correspondence as well as correspondence between her father Irénée du Pont (1876-1963) and his older sister Louisa d'Andelot du Pont Copeland (1868-1926).

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection contains twelve letters and documents regarding the du Pont family, discussing family and church news, as well as a letter from Samuel B. Brown regarding the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter to Eliza Gardner (Henderson) Jones (1826-1877) concerns family matters and the Civil War.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter from du Pont to Lammot du Pont (1831-1884) concerns the disposal of a book of her husband's on marine artillery.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). In the letter to Mary Ann (Hogg) Brunot (1822-1899), du Pont thanks her for a sermon Brunot sent and reflects du Pont's concern with religious and domestic matters.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter from du Pont to Theophilus Parsons Chandler (1807-1887) concerns her trip to White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, with her husband Eliza J. Schlatter (1809-1892).

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The two letters to Henry Ferris (1855-1941), a printer in Wilmington, Delaware, concern a religious tract and a subscription to the Wilmington Weekly.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection contains notes from du Pont on the Ten Commandments prepared for her niece, Victorine Elizabeth du Pont (1849-1934), with a scripture lesson.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The miscellaneous personal papers include her drawings and poems, a list of the trousseau, an essay that gives a detailed description of items in the parlor at Eleutherian Mills, letters she wrote to her niece Sophie du Pont Chandler (1851-1931), and her obituary.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection consists of a photocopy of du Pont's will, dated October 21, 1882, and codicil of June 22, 1883.

The Speakman Company manufactures plumbing supplies and has been in business in Wilmington, Delaware since 1869. This small collection consists primarily of manufacturing operations in 1951 and one image of Speakman Company delivery trucks, dating around 1920.

The Special Court was created under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (signed January 2, 1974) for the purpose of adjudicating conflicting claims arising out of the act-mandated transfer of viable properties of six bankrupt railroad systems to a new government-funded entity to be called the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). The Special Court Reporter constitutes a step-by-step account of its proceedings and the playing out of the final stages of railroad reorganization in the Northeast, but it is heavily weighted towards procedural matters concerning what constitutes a fair valuation. It does not contain actual testimony or exhibits.

The Sperry Corporation's Aerospace Division traces its origins to Engineering Research Associates (ERA), a St. Paul, Minnesota firm founded by William Norris (1911-2006) and Howard Engstrom (1902-1962). In 1952 ERA merged with Remington Rand, Inc., where it became part of its Eckert-Mauchly Division. In 1960, five years after the Sperry-Remington Rand merger, it was renamed the Military Division, and in 1975 it became Sperry Rand's Aerospace Division. These photographs show details of identified laboratory testing of computer components.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980). In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly sold their firm to Remington Rand, Inc, a major manufacturer of business machines, who continued development of the UNIVAC system. The collection documents predecessor organizations to the Sperry Corporation, including the Remington Typewriter Company, the Rand Kardex Company, and the Sperry Gyroscope Company; the formation of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation; the development of the UNIVAC brand under Remington Rand, Inc.; Philadelphia and St. Paul branches of the UNIVAC division; the UNIVAC manufacturing plant in Bristol, Tennessee; and Sperry divisions outside of UNIVAC, including Sperry Gyroscope Flight and Defense Systems, and Remington Rand office equipment.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860-1930) for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. Their card file documents over sixty years of the company's history.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company researched, developed, and manufactured navigation equipment; three of the premiere products were the marine gyrostabilizer, the gyrocompass, and the high-intensity searchlight. The company was founded by Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) in 1910. After Elmer Sperry's death in 1930, the engineers at Sperry Gyroscope continued to develop increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft devices, fire control, and automatic pilot systems. Directors were developed to operate anti-aircraft weapons systems and utilized observational data to calculate firing solutions. The collection comprises a drawing for an anti-aircraft fire director and a graduation certificate issued to James A. Wittie (1918-2010) for completing a four-week training course in the principles and use of the M-4 and M-7 directors.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company researched, developed, and manufactured navigation equipment; three of the premiere products were the marine gyrostabilizer, the gyrocompass, and the high-intensity searchlight. The company was founded by Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) in 1910. Sperry Gyroscope Company photographs and films consists primarily of images of products and inventions developed between 1912 and 1965, a bulk of materials date from 1940 through 1960. The collection has been organized into five series: Personnel; Plants, Sperry School, and Museum; Products; Public Information Department; and Visitors, exhibits, models, and patents.

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. The records describe the development and marketing of the marine and airplane stabilizer, the high-intensity searchlight, fire control systems, the gyrocompass, airplane automatic pilot, bombsights, and the aerial torpedo. They trace the evolving relationship between Sperry and the military and the impact of World Wars I and II.

Engineering Research Associates (ERA) origins can be traced to the classified World War II-era Navy project to break the German secret codes by using electronic data processing. After the war, ERA became a private sector company that did pioneering work in computer development. In 1952, it was purchased by Remington Rand. The records include the correspondence of ERA's founding engineers including William Norris and Arnold Cohen. Also included is business and technical correspondence, legal records, patents, and oral histories.

Remington Rand, Inc. was a business machines manufacturer, most well-known for its typewriters and operated between 1927 and 1955. In 1955, Remington Rand merged with a major electronics company, the Sperry Corporation to form the Sperry Rand Corporation. The collection contains a large quantity of advertising literature, trade catalogs, and public relations material which the company used to promote its major products, including typewriters, typewriter supplies, record control and storage systems, fire-proof safes, duplicator supplies, punch-card tabulating machines, adding and bookkeping machines.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980). In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly sold their firm to Remington Rand, Inc, a major manufacturer of business machines, who continued development of the UNIVAC system. The collection documents most of Sperry-Univac's major company functions and includes a large body of materials generated by the Sperry-Honeywell lawsuit that revolved around the question about who invented the first electronic-digital computer.

Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, Inc. provided drilling services and equipment to the petroleum industry, first in Texas and the Gulf Coast and then world wide. This collection of historical miscellany was collected for a 65th anniversary celebration in 1995 and other materials from the company's public relations office. The principal series is the Historical file. It contains material assembled for the 1995 company history booklet. Many of the documents dealing with the Sun Oil Company, members of the Pew family, Elmer Sperry and the Sperry Gyroscope Company are photocopies purchased from other Hagley accessions.

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980), the developers of ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer. This collection consists of the administrative, financial, marketing, personnel, and legal records of Sperry UNIVAC and its predecessor companies. Also included are manuals, reports, and publications on hardware and software developed by Sperry UNIVAC; task force reports and studies for developing new products; printed materials from the Systems Programming Library Service; and biographical and historical data.

'Sponsored film' defines a variety of motion picture productions funded by businesses, organizations, or governments that dictate the film's point of view, audience, and intent. Industrial or business films are a subgenre of sponsored films with content that markets products and ideas, touts a particular company or industry, trains employees, and explains manufacturing or transactional processes around creating and selling products and ideas. The Sponsored and Industrial Motion Picture Film Collection at Hagley is an artificial collection compiled by curators that includes single motion picture films or small sets of films acquired via purchase or donation.

The Spreckels Sugar Refining Company was the Philadelphia branch of the Spreckels family sugar refining combine. The records are primarily accounts for the construction and operation of the Philadelphia refinery under Claus Spreckels Jr. (1858-1946) between 1888 and 1895.

Springs Cotton Mills was a cotton textile manufacturer in Lancaster, South Carolina. It was founded in 1887 by Samuel Elliott White (1837-1911) and became a leader in the textile industry in South Carolina. Springs introduced a distinctive “Springmaid” advertising campaign during the 1940s and 1950s that used sex appeal to advertise the line. The ads feature sexually suggestive illustrations in the pin-up style and make liberal use of double entendres. Sexist attitudes and racial stereotypes are present. This small collection consists of a set of color advertising tearsheets for Springmaid Fabrics.

William Corbit Spruance (1873-1935) was an electrical engineer and Vice President in Charge of Production at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. His wife, Alice Moore Lea Spruance (1876-1967), was a member of a Wilmington, Delaware, flour-milling dynasty. Spruance family miscellany contains threes letters, two regarding a forestry bill and one a thank you letter. Additionally, there are two copies of a newspaper article titled "This was the Civil War".

The Spruance family was a well-known family in Delaware. The family includes Senator Presley Spruance (1785-1863), Judge William C. Spruance (1831-1913), William Spruance (1873-1935), among many others. The collection includes material related to the genealogy of the Spruance family of Delaware, particularly correspondence from and to members of the Spruance family regarding their genealogy and the book compiled by William Spruance, The Spruance family in Delaware, 1733-1933.

The St. Clair Coal Company was a medium-sized independent anthracite producer located near Saint Clair, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Photographs from St. Clair Coal Company show miners at work, collieries, storage banks, an aerial view of the operation, strip mining, a yard locomotive (probably built by Vulcan Locomotive), and the office.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition or the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 as it was popularly called, was put on to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. A novelty souvenir viewbook, with forty-two small halftone views of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition accordion folded into an actual walnut shell, fastened with a ribbon.