Skip to main content
Notice: The Library is open for research by appointment only, please visit our research services page for more information.

Mechanical engineering

 Subject
Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings

Found in 19 Collections and/or Records:

A. A. Fesquet school notebooks

 Collection
Accession: 2515
Abstract:

Adolphe Amadee Fesquet (1833-1894) was a chemical engineer and the author of a number of textbooks and translated French technical works into English. The collection comprises four volumes of educational course notes from lectures on mechanics, metallurgical chemistry, architecture, and the Catholic faith.

Dates: 1848-1856

Clinton Blackburn work papers

 Collection
Accession: 2177
Abstract:

Clinton H. Blackburn (1916-1993) was a mechanical engineer with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Blackburn's papers are a sample of work-related materials he retained upon retirement.

Dates: 1945-1982

E. G. Bailey papers

 Collection
Accession: 2092
Abstract:

Ervin George "E. G." Bailey (1880-1974) was a combustion engineer, inventor, and businessman. His personal papers include correspondence and articles on subjects relating to combustion engineering, and information about awards and honors Bailey received and conferences he participated in. Bailey's papers include copies of numerous speeches and publications on combustion engineering and engineering education.

Dates: 1873-1991

Eugene Shallcross Ferguson papers

 Collection
Accession: 2249
Abstract:

Eugene S. Ferguson (1916-2004) was one of the founders of the discipline of the history of technology, both through teaching at Iowa State University and the University of Delaware and by working at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hagley Museum. This collection documents the first twenty years of the history of technology as an academic discipline, and networking among its practitioners.

Dates: 1937-2001; Majority of material found within 1960-1995

Fred C. Ielfield patents

 Collection
Accession: 1043
Abstract:

Fred C. Ielfield (1864-1948) was a mechanical engineer and inventor. This collection consists of twelve patents for mail canceling and postmarking machinery, corn-husking machinery, and a cereal cutter, all invented by Ielfield.

Dates: 1901-1946

Kaehni Brothers papers

 Collection
Accession: 2848
Abstract:

The Kaehni brothers, William "Bill" L. Kaehni (1895-1950) and Francis "Frank" J. Kaehni (1897-1986) were electronics engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The brothers invented radio transmitters, navigational devices for airplanes and ships, transistorized car ignitions, and heat control systems. They also built and installed public address systems. This small collection primarily consists of the Kaehni brothers' class notes from courses taken at the Case School of Applied Science (now folded into Case Western Reserve University). The notes are most likely Bill Kaehni's, but could also be Frank Kaehni's, as they are mostly undated. Of significance is a bound biography written in 1998 by David C. Barnett using documents from the Kaehni family and firsthand accounts from their sister, Marie Kaehni, who provides her own memories in the afterword.

Dates: 1915-1917; 1933; 1948; 1998

Michael Somerville Withers papers

 Collection
Accession: 2781
Abstract:

Michael Somerville Withers (1926-1985) was a mechanical engineer and an inventor. He worked at the DuPont Company from 1953 to 1983. Withers is the holder/co-holder of fourteen United States patents for plastic laminates and heat exchangers. Withers's papers document his career with the DuPont Company on plastic laminates, heat exchangers, and seal rings. The papers are organized into seven series: Sabine River Works; Experimental Station; Nafion Laminator; Heat exchangers/heaters; Vespel seal rings; Pneumatic tension device; and Trade catalogs, pamphlets, and articles.

Dates: circa 1950s-1970s

Oral history interview with Frederick Orthlieb

 Collection
Accession: 2018-228
Abstract:

Frederick Orthlieb (1945?-) is a mechanical engineer, professor, and tradesperson who has rehabilitated, upgraded, and modernized historical telescopes. While the telescopes are obsolete for current research work, after rehabilitation they are capable of productive and effective use for familiarization, secondary and higher education, and institutional and public outreach. In this interview, Orthlieb talks about his career and work refurbishing telescopes.

Dates: 2018 April 17

Penrose R. Hoopes papers

 Collection
Accession: 1344
Abstract:

Penrose Robinson Hoopes (1892-1976) was a mechanical engineer, inventor, author, and horologist. He specialized in the design of factory equipment, particularly high-production automatic machinery. This collection consists of documents pertaining to Penrose R. Hoopes' career as an engineer and inventor. Hoopes' work includes machine designs for the American Chicle Company, Campbell Soup Company, Johnson and Johnson, and the Ferracute Machine Company. The bulk of the collection material spans from 1923 to 1968, with some patent material and typescript excerpts from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The collection includes correspondence and blueprints related to Hoopes' work as a designer and inventor, as well as employee records, manuscript material, photographs, trade pamphlets, and bibliographic information.

Dates: 1909-1974

Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents

 Collection
Accession: 2421
Abstract:

The collection consists of materials documenting Watson's work for PRR, particularly mechanical engineering and rolling stock. Records largely focus on the development of PRR locomotives and passenger cars in the mid-twentieth century.

Dates: 1876-1968; bulk 1900-1957

Savery family papers

 Collection
Accession: 1822
Abstract:

The Savery family of Chester County, Pennsylvania, produced two generations of eminent mechanical engineers. Savery family papers consists of materials of the eldest son William H. Savery's (1865-1949) diaries, his father Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) correspondence and notebooks documenting his career as a mechanical engineer, and the documents relating to Savery/Webb family property near Longwood Gardens, Hamorton and Parkerville, Pennsylvania.

Dates: 1713-1949

Savery family papers

 Collection
Accession: 1534
Abstract:

The Savery family of Chester County, Pennsylvania, produced two generations of eminent mechanical engineers. The Savery family papers consist primarily of those of Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910), his son William H. Savery (1865-1949), and William H. Savery's daughter Sara L. Savery (1897-1979) conerning the family papermaking machinery businesses, financial investments, and real estate activities documented through both personal and professional correspondence, business records, blueprints, and reports.

Dates: 1835-1960

Thomas H. Savery diaries

 Collection
Accession: 0291
Scope and Contents:

Personal and business diaries of Thomas Savery documenting his career from 1864 to 1910 that include technical drawings and experimental data used in developing his patented papermaking machinery. Savery's career as machine shop foreman and general manager at Pusey & Jones is also described. The day to day activities of the shops in which he worked are detailed as well as his income, expenses, and investments. Among projects noted is the construction of Machinery Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. There are also discussions of his involvement in the Harper Ferry Electric Light & Power Company, York Haven Water & Power Company and York Haven Paper Company. There is a volume detailing his involvement in the Denver pulp and paper industry. Savery's involvement with the Wilmington Board of Trade and the Society of Friends are described in these volumes. There are also numerous notations on his personal and cultural life.

Dates: 1864-1910

Thomas H. Savery journals

 Collection
Accession: 1936
Abstract:

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a ship builder and manufacturer of papermaking machinery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thomas H. Savery, Jr. (1871-1930), the second son of Savery, followed in his father's footsteps in the pulp and paper industry. The records consist of two private journals from the youth of Thomas H. Savery and his son, Thomas H. Savery, Jr.

Dates: 1857-1890

Thomas H. Savery papers

 Collection
Accession: 1364
Abstract:

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a major ship builder and manufacturer of papermaking machinery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The papers are a fragmentary collection of Savery's diary, correspondence, and financial papers. The materials document his early career, papermaking machinery business ventures, some personal correspondence, and speeches.

Dates: 1855-1910

Trundle Engineering Company album

 Collection
Accession: 2020-212
Abstract:

The Trundle Engineering Company was an industrial engineering management consulting company based in Cleveland, Ohio. Clients would hire Trundle Engineering Company to perform studies on their organization or operating methods. One aspect of the business was the design and manufacture of custom machinery for increased efficiency. This album is a salesman sample photograph album providing an overview of inventions and technology developed by the Trundle Engineering Company. Machinery represented here includes spiral meat-cutting machine, matchbook cover book-cutting machine, traffic signal control boxes, spinning machine for making artificial silk, ice cream freezing machinery, remote control spotlight, and a golf ball center compression test machine.

Dates: 1930

William M. Henderson papers

 Collection
Accession: 2267
Abstract:

William M. Henderson (1831-1904) was a mechanical engineer and inventor who spent most of his career in Philadelphia. The papers consist of two items: a scrapbook, which pertains to Henderson's career and inventions, and an atlas of twenty-nine plates of Bessemer and rolling-mill machinery.

Dates: 1847-1893

William McKinley Keller papers

 Collection
Accession: 1580
Abstract:

William McKinley Keller (1901-1974) was a railroad engineer and executive who worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Association of American Railroads. The collection of papers relate to his engineering career working for the two companies as well as a consultant to the railroad industry and some personal correspondence throughout his career.

Dates: 1920-1974

William Sellers & Co. records

 Collection
Accession: 1466
Abstract:

William Sellers & Co. was an iron works that manufactured machine tools used for turning, planing, shaping, drilling, boring, or cutting metal or wood. The company was founded in 1848 as Bancroft & Sellers by mechanical engineers and inventors Edward Bancroft (1811-1855) and William Sellers (1824-1905). The records consist of five volumes, as well as correspondence from William Sellers and the Sellers firm.

Dates: 1827-1947