Abstract:

American Car and Foundry Company is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock and railcar parts, founded in 1899. In 1901, the company began leasing the facilities of a railroad rolling stock and shipbuilding manufacturer the Jackson and Sharp Company. From the end of World War One to 1938, the plant built small pleasure boats. These photographs document different activities at the American Car and Foundry Company Jackson and Sharp Plant shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware, during World War II. There are several photos taken on the occasion of the presentation of the Army-Navy "E" award in 1942.

Scope and Contents: These images often include both photographs of the shipyards and the multitude of ships they produced. The regions are: Baltimore-area (includes Baltimore Dry Dock Co.), Fairfield and Sparrows Point, Maryland, yards which are noteworthy for their extensive holdings of Liberty and Victory ship negatives; Boston-area (includes photographs from repair yards, The Atlantic Works Inc. and Simpson Patent Dry Docks, which Bethlehem superseded), World War One shipyards at Fore River, Quincy, and Squantum, Massachusetts and a World War Two shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts; California shipyards include San Francisco (the Union Iron Works period and, many years later, a ventilation caisson built for BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), Alameda (originally a Union Iron Works yard), and Terminal Island at San Pedro where Liberty ships and destroyers were built; New York-area yards include Brooklyn 27th St. (originally built by Theodore Crane & Sons and James Shewan & Sons) and 56th St. (originally built by Morse Iron Works), Hoboken, New Jersey (originally W. & A. Fletcher Co.), and Staten Island; Beaumont, Tex., yard which was once Pennsylvania Shipbuilding; Wilmington, Delaware, where the former Harlan and Hollingsworth site changed to Bethlehem ownership in 1904.Several separate components also should be noted. These consist of photographs of American yachts, non-military, and military ships. Some of these images include nineteenth century vessels. Note that examples from the following shipyards are included: Atlantic Works (Boston), J. Abrahams (Baltimore), Beany Son & Archbold (Chester, Pennsylvania), Brown & Bell (New York), Columbian Iron Works (Baltimore), William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Co. (Philadelphia), A. & W. Denmoad & Sons (Baltimore), James B. Edes (St. Louis), John W. Griffith (Kittery, Me.), Harlan & Hollingsworth Corp. (Wilmington, Delaware), Herreshoff Mfg. Co. (Bristol, Connecticut), Howard & Ellis (White Hall, N.C.), Iowa Iron Works (Dubuque), Newport News Ship Building (Virginia), N.F. Palmer & Co. (Chester, Pennsylvania), Peak & Kirby (Cleveland, Ohio), Penine, Secor & Co. (Jersey City, New Jersey), Samuel Pook (Fairhaven, Connecticut), John Roach & Son (Chester, Pennsylvania), Union Iron Works Co. (San Francisco). Nineteenth century items include a drawing of a 50 HP Nagel & Weingaertner steam engine and a hand drawn illustration of a revenue cutter (circa...

Abstract:

The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was the number two steel producer in the United States between 1916 and 1984. For a time it was also the largest shipbuilding firm in the world. The records of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation (parent company) are a series of fragments, lacking the complete runs of corporate and executive documents that normally comprise a business archive, and largely consist of fragmentary corporate records and files from executive officers.

Abstract:

Hudson Maxim (1853-1927) was an inventor and chemist best known for his work in the development of smokeless gunpowder and military explosives. This collection includes a copy of an agreement between Maxim and E.I. du Pont de Nemours (October 17, 1897), whereby Maxim sold to the company his patents for smokeless powder. Also included is correspondence with du Pont family members and government agencies related to smokeless powder; the machine gun designed by Maxim; and Maxims's book, Defenseless America, an anti-pacifist polemic.

Abstract:

John Farrell Metten (1873-1968) was a marine engineer and shipbuilding industry executive. This collection contains photographic prints, postcards, documents, drawings, and an identification card pertaining to the career of John Farrell Metten and views of Naval ships built at the New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey.

Scope and Contents: Products series is divided into eleven subseries: Aeronautical Systems; Air armament; Aircraft sights and turrets; Army Fire Control (AFC), Bomber Navigation Systems (BNS); Marine systems; Microwave and electronic equipment; Navy Fire Control (NFC) and Navy systems; Radio and electronics; Surface armament; and Searchlights.Throughout the subseries many folders are titled with “AN/” followed by a series of letters and numbers. The United States military use letter combinations to designate electronic and communications equipment. This designation system is called the "Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System" or “AN” for short (Army-Navy). All designations have the “AN/” prefix followed by three letters, a number, and potentially followed by another single letter and a version. The letters in different positions signify the installation, equipment type, and purpose. See the Wikipedia entry for Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System for the full explanation of the letters in the system. Aeronautical systems subseries are images of parts and components for aircraft related to autopilots, gyros, and navigation. There are many folders containing images of products from various Sperry departments. Departments were assigned numbers, however, there is no key within the collection that explains what the numbers mean or what the name of the department was. The images date from 1912 to 1918 and from 1926 to 1964. The films in this subseries are primarily of flight tests, there are a few films not produced by Sperry that show old versus new methods of manufacturing or installing different parts, and there is a three part series about weighted guidelines.Air Armament subseries are images of components primarily related to radar. There are also images of parts, components and the production of aircraft bombers Hustler B-58 and Tempo I, and the air-to-air guided missile, the Sparrow. The images date from 1948 to 1962. There is one film showing various tests of targeting by air.Aircraft sights and turrets subseries contains images of bombsights, gunsights and turrets. The images date from 1916 to 1947. There are many films showing tests of gunsights, particularly the Airborne Gunlaying System (AGL). There are also films showing various turret experiments, specifically with the Central Station...

Abstract:

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. At the start of the Civil War du Pont was appointed a senior member of the Commission of Conference to establish naval operations for the North. du Pont was put in charge of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and broke his flag on the U.S.S. Wabash. This item is a hand-colored lithograph of the U.S.S. Wabash at sea.