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: 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:

Thomas William Harvey (1795-1854) and his son, Hayward Augustus Harvey (1824-1893), were two important inventors in the arts of metalworking and metallurgy. The Harvey Steel Company constructed a furnace for making file and tool steel in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1887. In 1889, the company erected a much larger plant near Brills Station in Newark, and expanded it into the treating of armor plate. Thomas W. Harvey is represented in this collection by a selection of documents covering his business career. These include deeds to family property. There are small amounts of correspondence regarding his inventions and the patent laws, including an "Essay upon Iron," affidavits regarding his screw machine, and sketches for several inventions. The papers of Hayward Augustus Harvey include copies of patents and drawings of his various inventions and documents arising from patent litigation. However, the bulk of papers concern the Harvey Steel companies and the Harvey process.

Abstract:

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.