Abstract:

Incorporated in 1912, Atlas Powder Company functioned as an independent explosives and chemicals company until 1971, when it was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (U.K.) and became its American affiliate under the name ICI Americas, Inc. The collection consists of minutes, reports, and correspondence from Atlas in addition to both predecessor and subsidiary companies.

Scope and Contents: The records of the subsidiary and predecessor companies of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation consist of a series of fragments from forty-three of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's more than 400 subsidiary and predecessor companies. The bulk of the records are design and construction drawings for vessels built by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd., and its predecessors. The best coverage is available from the Wilmington, Del., yard. The ship drawings are only partially processed.The records of the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation consist of a series of contracts with the United States Navy, most of which were made during the First World War. They include numerous contracts for torpedo boat destroyers, scout cruisers, and the submarine torpedo boat USS AA-1 (originally named the USS Schley, and then renamed the USS AA-1 in 1917), the first of three experimental submarines built for the US Navy toward the end of the war. Select contracts authorized during August 1917 include signatures from Franklin D. Roosevelt, who for a brief period served as the Active Secretary of the Navy.The records also include the contracts for the USS Lexington, USS Quincy, USS Rhode Island, and the aircraft carrier USS Wasp. The contract for the battle cruiser USS Lexington (CC-1) also contains correspondence related to the supplementary contract for its conversion into an aircraft carrier, as well as agreements made with the General Electric Company. Correspondence included with the USS Quincy contract covers claims filed by Bethlehem Steel regarding the extra construction and labor costs incurred following the enactment of the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933. Correspondence in connection with other contracts in the records discuss typical topics such as financial issues, contract clause amendments, and construction delays.There are small quantities of executive documents for a few of the companies. Minutes are available for the Bethlehem Iron Company, Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County, Pennsylvania Steel Company of New Jersey, Midvale Steel & Ordnance Company, and the Harlan & Hollingsworth Corporation. A few important managerial and technical reports can be found in the records of the Bethlehem Iron Company, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd., and the Pennsylvania Steel Company. The acquisiton of Cuban ore lands is described in the records of the Juragua Iron Company, Ltd., the...

Abstract:

The Technical Department at DuPont's Carney's Point Works was established to collaborate with scientists at the DuPont Experimental Station and Eastern Laboratory of the Repauno Works to develop new products, maintain quality control, and improve products and processes. The collection focuses on the department's start-up period (1906-1910) and the two World Wars.

Abstract:

In the years leading up to the Second World War, the United States government initiated a massive effort to ensure that adequate supplies of essential materials would be readily available should the country's armed forces become actively engaged in military conflict. At the request of the Army Ordnance Department, the DuPont Company participated in these procurement programs by undertaking the design, construction, and operation of plants for the manufacture of military explosives and other chemical products essential to the successful prosecution of the war. The records of the Explosives Department consist of special reports to the Executive Committee, the files of general manager Edward B. Yancey, and the files of powder superintendent Charles E. Seymour.

Scope and Contents:

The Government projects series consists of images related to electronic equipment produced for government agencies. The series is divided into twenty-two subseries either by military branch or by type of equipment. The subseries are: Air Force, Armament systems: Army, Aviation laser warning receivers, Aviation radio transceiver, Aviation situation displays, Aviation transmitters, Computer systems, Government sound, HF receiver/transceiver, Integrated Radio Room (IR2), Japanese Data Link, Marine Corps, Navy, Radar, Radio sets, Tactical Communications satellite (TACSAT), Telecommunications security (TSEC), and United States Postal Service (USPS). The images date from 1933 to 1977. There are related materials in the Aviation equipment, Computers, and Scientific equipment series. Though NASA is a government agency, NASA and other space related projects are in the series: Space.

Abstract:

The Lukens Steel Company was a medium-sized, non-integrated steel company and one of the top three producers of steel plates in the United States. Lukens operated continuously at its Coatesville, Pennsylvania, site since 1810 and was one of the few successful survivors of the many nineteenth-century iron works that once dotted southeastern Pennsylvania. This collection of Lukens Steel Company records consists of corporate records, mostly from the Secretary's Office. The records are comprised of seven series: Shareholders' meeting agendas; Stockholder lists; Proxies for annual meetings; Board and committee meeting agendas; Financial statements; Secretary's correspondence; and Counsel's correspondence.

Abstract:

The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Corporation of America was founded in 1899 as the American branch of Guglielmo Marconi’s (1874-1937) Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company of London. Because of its emphasis on providing radio transmitter receivers for ships and fostering oceanic communications, the U.S. Navy commandeered the company during World War I. After the war, both government and industry colluded to buy out the British company; they created the Radio Corporation of America in its stead in 1919. This collection includes around 1,300 engineering and technical drawings from the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America . Subjects depicted range from circuit diagrams, wiring layouts, and switchboard schematics to architectural plans for aerial towers and carrying case designs.

Abstract:

The Missile and Surface Radar Division (MSRD) of the Radio Corporation of America operated as a primary government and military defense contractor from 1953 to 1986, developing and implementing advanced radar systems. The photographs in the collection depict instrumentation, radar equipment, control equipment, and research facilities at both the MSRD and the Navy AEGIS Combat System Engineering Deveopment Site in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Scope and Content:

The records in Series IV of the Elmer Sperry papers were, for the most part, generated by the Sperry Gyroscope Company. They include Elmer Sperry's business and technical correspondence that describes the development and marketing of the company's aeronautical and marine instruments. Sperry's research files trace the history of the gyroscope beginning with its invention by Leon Foucault in 1854. His correspondence describes the state of gyroscopic technology and the patent situation as it existed in 1910.

Also contained in Series IV are some fragmentary administrative records. There is a copy of the minutes of the first Board of Directors meeting (June 2, 1910), reports to the stockholders (1917-1918), tax, and financial records.

After the war, the Sperry Gyroscope Company began a systematic effort to market its products abroad. The records documenting these sales initiatives contain correspondence with representatives of the English, French, Russian, and Japanese navies. Sperry's correspondence with Admiral Hideo Takedo, who represented the Japanese Navy as well as Mitsubishi Zōsen Kaisha Ltd., is of particular interest. These letters trace the process by which Mitsubishi became a licensee for Sperry products and Sperry Gyroscope gained access to the Japanese Navy. The Sperry-Takedo letters have both personal and business dimensions. The two men shared common interests and value systems based on a faith in technological progress and an appreciation of hard work. These correspondence files show that this friendship led Sperry to appreciate Japanese culture. He made several trips to Japan at the end of his life and in 1929 organized the World Engineering Conference in Tokyo.