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Leeds & Northrup records

Creation: 1911-1939
 Collection
Accession: 1110

Abstract

The Leeds & Northrup Company traces its origins to Morris E. Leeds & Company, established by Morris E. Leeds (1869-1952) in 1899 to develop and manufacture precision instruments. Their records consists of minutes from the Development and Executive Committes and the Cooperative Association.

Dates

  • Creation: 1911-1939

Creator

Extent

13 item(s)

Physical Description

13 microfilm reels.

Historical Note

The Leeds & Northrup Company traces its origins to Morris E. Leeds & Company, established by Morris E. Leeds (1869-1952) in 1899 to develop and manufacture precision instruments. On June 1, 1903 the firm was renamed when Morris Leeds took a partner, Dr. Edwin F. Northrup (1866-1940), a theoretical physicist.

The company's single most important early invention was the 1910 continuous recorder. During the First World War the company profited from the suspension of imports of German machine tools. While it remained small, the company had by 1920 become one of the nation's most important producers of precision measuring instruments. Before Morris Leeds' retirement in 1939 the firm had become known as one of the country's most innovative science-based companies as, it continually made substantial investments in research and development.

Morris Leeds was president of the Metal Manufacturers Association of Philadelphia, an avowedly open shop organization. Leeds was a believer in employee representation plans or company unions. In 1918 the company established a Cooperative Association to assume direction over social and recreational facilities and handle employee grievances.

Arrangement

Series I. Executive committee minutes; Series II. Development (experimental) committee minutes; Series III. Cooperative Association (council) minutes.

Scope and Content

Executive committee minutes describe the company's strategic planning and the role that research and development played in defining Leeds and Northrup's long-term goals. These records also describe marketing and sales initiatives as well as industrial relations policies.

Development committee minutes and reports document the company's research program, placing the Leeds and Northrup Company in the context of the precision tool industry. There is information on the research budget and the relationship between long-term research goals and product development.

Cooperative Association minutes describe the company's employee representation plan. These records document employee grievances and also contain references to discussions about wages and hours.

Existence and Location of Originals

Originals are located at Leeds & Northrup Company, Sunneytown Pike, North Wales, PA 19454.

Use Restrictions

Literary rights retained by the Leeds & Northrup Company.

Language of Materials

English

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Leeds & Northrup records
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400