Finding Aids

The Alan Wood Steel Company was a small, family-controlled integrated steel company, producing primarily steel sheets. This small collection consists primarily of interiors and exteriors of the companys' facilities, equipment, and workers. There are also some images from various events related to the company.

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.

At the turn of the century, under the direction of Charles M. Schwab (1862-1939) and Eugene Grace (1876-1960), Bethlehem Steel Corporation became the second largest American steel company; combined with its other venture, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., it became a leading twentieth century American business. The collection includes a wide range of photography which documents the company’s long history and the breadth of its enterprises from east to west coasts and overseas. It contains eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century industrial and non-industrial images and of management and workers. As a research tool, its use will be as varied and extensive as the corporation itself was during its years as an American industrial giant.

Coatesville is a city along the Brandywine River in Chester County, Pennsylvania. This item is a booklet containing 16 postcards with images of sites in and around Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

The Hendrick Manufacturing Company was the nation's largest manufacturer of perforated screens. This small collection consists of photographs which primarily show exterior views of the plant, and some interior views as well as photographs of the company's products and personnel.

James Henry Yeager (1911-1986) was the industrial photographer for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation for thirty years, between 1946 and 1976. The first half of this collection contains photographs taken by James H. Yeager during his tenure at Bethlehem Steel as industrial photographer. The second half the this collection consists of photos and slides taken by Yeager while traveling in Pennsylvania, New York, and New England, and to a lesser degree Washington, DC and the southern United States.

Lobdell Car Wheel Company was a producer of cast railroad car wheels in Wilmington, Delaware. This collection contains one photographic reproduction depicting employee Michael Munroe (1879-1969) pouring steel.

The Midvale Steel Company manufactured steel parts and was known for casting, forging, and machining high-quality steels, including alloy steels, and precision steel products for a wide array of industries. Their primary business came from work related to railroad and ordnance manufacturing. This small collection consists of five reels of film that document operations at the Midvale Steel Plant in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia. While the reels are not dated, they are believed to be from 1919. The films document the various stages of production at the plant with a focus on the precision steel making processes for which Midvale was known.

The Midvale Steel Company manufactured steel parts for the railroad industry and the armaments industry. The company was known for casting, forging, and machining high-quality steels, including alloy steels. This album contains photographs showing exteriors and interiors of Midvale Steel facilities in the Nicetown area of Germantown.

The Pittsburgh Steel Company manufactured steel products. Early products included wire, barbed wire, nails, wire fence, and pipe. This item is an album containing photographs of birds-eye-views of the Monessen plant, an exterior of the office building, views in boiler houses, open hearth furnaces, soaking pits, power plants, engines, and an electric power plant.

The Taylor-Wharton Iron & Steel Company produced frogs, switches and other railroad fittings including couplings, axles and wheels, as well as war material during both World Wars. The company was incorporated in 1912 as successor to the Taylor Iron & Steel Company. The collection contains photographs primarily of products such as dredging equipment, railroad tracks, rollers, crushers, and buckets. The films document dredge buckets in operation and were shot in the United States and at international locations. The collection has been organized into four series: Company history, Plant views, Products, and Films. Each series is arranged alphabetically.

Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. was a major manufacturer of saws and other woodworking tools and one of the largest industrial firms in Philadelphia. Henry Disston (1819-1878) founded the company in 1855. The firm remained in family control until 1955. This collection consists of a two-volume typescript "The Disston History," a genealogy of the Disston family, and a company history of Henry Disston and Sons, Inc., compiled by family members and genealogist Elizabeth B. Satterthwaite (1856-1948) in 1920. The copy images in the collection include portraits of Disston family members, board members, and employees and interior and exterior images of the Disston Saw Works in Tacony, a suburb of Philadelphia.