The collection documents the building, operation and daily life of coal mining communities in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio between 1911 and 1946. The collection is a valuable for the study of mining technology and the social conditions of the time period and regions.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists mostly of photographs depicting Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company mines and mining towns in Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Subjects include worker housing, schools for miners' children, gardens, churches, recreational facilities, health services, company stores, safety, mining machinery, construction of mines and related structures, and the interiors of mines.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: Background Materials, 1904-1933
Series 2: Photographs, 1885-1940s
Subseries 2.1: Photograph Albums, 1885-1932
Subseries 2.2: West Virginia Division, 19091-1917
Subseries 2.3: Glass Plate and Film Negatives, 1911-1940s
Subseries 2.4: Numbered Photographs, 1911-1930
Subseries 2.5: Miscellaneous, 1913, 1916
Historical Note:
The Consolidation Coal Company was started in 1864 to mine bituminous coal deposits in Maryland's Cumberland region. it expanded by acquiring other mine companies as well as rail and other transportation companies. It went into receivership in 1932. The Pittsburgh Coal Company, founded in 1900, took over the firm in 1945 and formed the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company.
The Consolidation Coal Company (Maryland)
The Consolidation Coal Company was incorporated in Maryland on March 8, 1860, for the purpose of effecting a merger of a number of coal operators mining the Georges Creek basin in Allegany County, Maryland. Because of the Civil War, during which Confederate armies frequently blocked the region's only outlet to market, the company was not actually organized until April 19, 1864. Starting life as the dominant operator in this small but significant coal field, "Consol" rose to become the nation's top producer of bituminous coal.
The Georges Creek or Cumberland Coal Field, occupying part of the triangle of western Maryland, contained a high-quality, low-volatile bituminous steam coal which was also, thanks to the Potomac River, the coal of this type most accessible to Eastern markets. Coal had been mined in the region beginning in the 1700s, and the first coal company, the Maryland Mining Company, had been incorporated in 1828. However, large-scale development could not occur until the mid-1840s, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland and provided reliable transportation. This also coincided with the development of ocean steam navigation and a rapid growth in the number of railroad locomotives and stationary steam engines. Cumberland coal was ideal for ship bunkering, and much of the output was shipped to New York Harbor. Naturally, New York capitalists and manufacturers played a leading role in developing the field. Lewis Howell's Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company rolled the first solid U.S. railroad rail at its Mount Savage mill in 1844. The Consolidation Coal merger was put together by New Yorkers such as William H. Aspinwall, Erastus Corning, the Delanos and Roosevelts, and the Boston financier John Murray Forbes, who already had substantial investments in the region.
Upon its formation, the Consolidation Coal Company acquired the properties of the Ocean Steam Coal Company, the Frostburg Coal Company, and the Mount Savage Iron Company totaling about 11,000 acres. The last named company brought with it control of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad, which connected the mines to the Baltimore & Ohio and later the Pennsylvania and Western Maryland railroads. In 1870, Consol absorbed the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company of 1840, the next largest operator in the field, and gained an additional 7,000 acres. Further purchases from the Delano interests gave it over 80 percent of the entire Cumberland Field.
Soon after its hated rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad, gained access to the Cumberland Coal Field, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began purchasing large blocks of Consolidation Coal stock to protect its traffic base in 1875, eventually gaining a 52 percent interest. A B&O slate of directors was elected in February 1877, with Charles F. Mayer of Baltimore as president, and the company offices were moved from New York to Baltimore.
Until the turn of the century, Consolidation Coal's mining operations were confined to the small soft coal region of western Maryland. The company purchased the 12,000 acre Millholland coal tract near Morgantown, W.Va. in 1902 and acquired controlling interests in the Fairmont Coal Company of West Virginia and the Somerset Coal Company of Pennsylvania the following year. These acquisitions boosted Consolidation's annual production more than six-fold in only three years. The company purchased the 25,000 acre Stony Creek tract in Somerset County, Pa., in 1904. The Fairmont Coal Company purchase included a joint interest in the North Western Fuel Company, which owned and operated docks and coal distribution facilities in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In 1906, the Interstate Commerce Commission held a formal investigation of rail ownership of coal companies, which resulted in the passage of the Hepburn Act and its "Commodities Clause," which prohibited railroads from dealing in the commodities they hauled. In anticipation of the new regulations, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad sold its entire holdings of Consolidation stock to a Baltimore syndicate headed by Consol president Clarence W. Watson, J. H. Wheelwright and H. Crawford on April 26, 1906. At the time of the B&O's divestiture, the aggregate annual output of Consolidation's mines totaled more than 10 million tons and the company controlled more than 200,000 acres. The John D. Rockefeller interests began purchasing Consol securities in 1915, eventually securing a controlling interest. The company's offices were returned to New York City in May 1921.
After the B&O divestiture, Consol began expanding into the Southern Appalachian coal fields, which were just being opened by railroads on a large scale. The mines in this region yielded a low volatile coal that provided an ideal fuel source for stationary steam engines, ships, and locomotives. Of equal importance, operators in the remote mountains had been able to resist unionization and thus achieve lower operating costs, while all of Consol's previous holdings had been in the so-called "Central Competitive Field" to the north, which had been unionized in the 1890s. Consolidation Coal purchased 30,000 acres in the Millers Creek Field of Eastern Kentucky in 1909 and 100,000 acres in the Elkhorn Field the next year. In February 1922, Consol secured a long term lease and option on the Carter Coal Company, whose 37,000 acres straddled the borders of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. In 1925, Consol became the nation's largest producer of bituminous coal, excluding the captive mines of the steel companies.
During the Great Depression, Consolidation Coal experienced serious financial difficulties and was forced into receivership on June 2, 1932. The Rockefellers liquidated their holdings at a loss, and the Carter Coal Company was returned to the Carter heirs in 1933. Consol was reorganized and reincorporated in Delaware as the Consolidation Coal Company, Inc. on November 1, 1935, and was able to retain its position as one of the nation's top coal producers. Eventually, stock control passed into the hands of the M.A. Hanna Company group of Cleveland, dealers in coal and iron ore. Although production reached record levels during the Second World War, management feared a recurrence of the collapse that had followed World War I. It also faced the prospect of increased competition from oil and natural gas and the loss of traditional markets such as home heating and locomotive fuel. As a result Consol opened negotiations with another large producer, the Pittsburgh Coal Company, which was the dominant operator in the Pittsburgh District.
The Pittsburgh Coal Company
The Pittsburgh Coal Company was a product of the great industrial merger movement of the late 1890s. In 1899, two large mergers were effected in the Pittsburgh District.
The Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania on October 1, 1899 to merge the properties of over 90 small firms operating mines along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh. Some of these operations dated to the early 1800s, and all of them shipped coal down the Ohio-Mississippi River system by barge from close to the mine mouth, or later by the railroads built along the river banks. The combination controlled 40,000 acres of coal land, 100 steam towboats, 4,000 barges, and facilities for handling coal at Cincinnati, Louisville, Vicksburg, Memphis, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The Pittsburgh Coal Company was incorporated in New Jersey as a holding company on September 1, 1899 and acquired the properties of over 80 operators located in the areas back from the river on both sides of the Monongahela south of Pittsburgh. The combination was engineered by some of the most prominent Pittsburgh industrialists, including Andrew W. Mellon, Henry W. Oliver, and Henry Clay Frick. It controlled over 80,000 acres and six collector railroads, the longest of which was the Montour Railroad. Most of its output was shipped by rail, with a large share being transferred to ships on the Great Lakes for distribution throughout the industrial Midwest. The company owned coal docks and yards at Chicago, Cleveland, Duluth, West Superior, Sault Ste. Marie, Ashtabula, Fairport and Thornburg. Subsequently, the company expanded in southwestern Pennsylvania and the Hocking Valley of Ohio through the lease of the Shaw Coal Company in 1901 and the purchase of the Midland Coal Company in 1903. Most of the properties were vested in a separate Pittsburgh Coal Company, an operating company incorporated in Pennsylvania.
Unlike the Consolidation Coal Company, which had grown by gradual accretion, the Pittsburgh Coal Company had been created in a single stroke. As with many mergers of the period, its capitalization probably contained a high percentage of "water" in anticipation of profits from future growth. Unfortunately, the years after the merger saw explosive growth in the coal fields of Southern Appalachia instead. Although farther from major consuming centers, they enjoyed several advantages. The coal itself was superior, low-volatile with higher BTU content and altogether cleaner than the high-volatile coals of Ohio and the Pittsburgh District. As already noted, the southern mines were also non-union. With the inroads of Southern Appalachian coal, the Pittsburgh Coal Company continuously lost ground in the crucial Lake and western markets from 1900 to 1915. The company's capitalization proved unwieldy in the unsettled economic conditions following the Panic of 1907. A reorganization plan was devised under which a new Pittsburgh Coal Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania on January 12, 1916 by merging the old Pittsburgh Coal Company of Pennsylvania and the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company. The old holding company was then liquidated and the stock of the new operating company distributed to its stockholders. Dissension between the common and preferred stockholders delayed consummation of the plan until July 16, 1917.
The Pittsburgh Coal Company, which had all its operations in the Central Competitive Field, had a much more difficult time than Consolidation in breaking the 1923 Jacksonville Agreement with the United Mine Workers in 1925-1927 and reverting to non-union status. The three-year struggle ended the company's ability to pay dividends. Pittsburgh Coal survived the Depression without receivership but with ever-increasing arrearages on its preferred stock. By the end of World War II, its managers were just as eager as those at Consol to attempt greater economies through merger. The Pittsburgh Coal Company and the Consolidation Coal Company merged on November 23, 1945, with exchange ratios of 65 to 35 percent. Pittsburgh Coal Company, the surviving partner, changed its name to the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company.
The Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company
After the merger, the M.A. Hanna Company interests of Cleveland became the dominant factor in Pitt-Consol's affairs. Hanna had transferred its pre-merger Consol stock to its subsidiary Bessemer Coal & Coke Corporation in 1943. This led to a restructuring whereby Pitt-Consol acquired Hanna's share of the North Western-Hanna Fuel Company in April 1946 and the Hanna coal properties in eastern Ohio on June 16, 1946 These included large reserves of strippable coal that accounted for about 20 percent of the state's production. Pitt-Consol later acquired Hanna's holdings of coal land in Harrison, Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, on December 30, 1949. It purchased the New York Central Railroad's 51 percent interest in the Jefferson Coal Company, giving it full control, in 1952 and merged it into the Hanna Coal Company Division.
Pitt-Consol sold its last major railroads, the Montour Railroad and the Youngstown & Southern Railway to the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad on December 31, 1946. The Northwestern Coal Railway had been sold to the Great Northern system, and the Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad had been sold to the Western Maryland Railway in May 1944.
In addition, a new Research and Development Division was created to fund projects aimed at developing more efficient production methods, new outlets for coal consumption, coal-based synthetic fuels and chemical byproducts. A new coal gasification plant opened at Library, Pa., in November 1948, and the company began the manufacture of a smokeless fuel briquette under the trademark "Disco" at Imperial, Pa., in 1949. An experimental coal slurry pipeline was built in Ohio in 1952.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, Pitt-Consol made many changes in its coal holdings, selling high-cost or less desirable properties, diversifying its reserves across many different coal fields, rationalizing property lines to permit large mechanized underground or strip mines and forming joint ventures with steel companies to secure guaranteed customers. Pitt-Consol acquired the Jamison Coal and Coke Company in 1954 and the Pocahontas Fuel Company, Incorporated, a large producer of low-volatile Southern Appalachian coal, in 1956. In the latter year, it sold its Elkhorn Field properties to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. As Pittsburgh District operations became less central, the corporate name was changed back to Consolidation Coal Company in April 1958.
The Consolidation Coal Company, CONOCO and CONSOL Energy, Inc.:
Consol continued to expand into the early 1960s. On April 30, 1962, it absorbed the Truax-Traer Coal Company of Illinois. Truax-Traer also mined lignite in North Dakota, a low-grade but low-sulfur coal that was taking a greater share of the power generation market as environmental laws placed greater restrictions on high-sulfur coal from the Central Competitive Field. The following year Consol acquired the Crozer Coal and Land Company and the Page Coal and Coke Company, owners of additional reserves of low-volatile, low-sulfur steam coal in southern West Virginia.
In 1966, just two years after the company marked its centennial, Consolidation Coal was acquired by the Continental Oil Company (Conoco). This was part of a general trend whereby U.S. oil companies extended their reach by acquiring coal reserves and large coal producers. In turn, Conoco was acquired by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in 1981. This purchase was motivated by DuPont's desire to obtain better control of chemical feedstocks in an era of high oil prices. Consolidation Coal was not a major factor in the Conoco acquisition and did not really fit into DuPont's strategy, especially after coal and oil prices declined. As a result, it was quickly sold off when DuPont was restructured a decade later. In 1991, a new holding company CONSOL Engery, Inc. was incorporated as a joint venture of DuPont Energy Company and the German energy conglomerate Rheinisch-Westfalisches Elektrizitatswerk A.G., through its wholly owned subsidiaries Rheinbraun A.G. and Rheinbraun U.S.A. GmbH. Consolidation Coal Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CONSOL Energy, Inc. DuPont eventually sold most of its half interest, so that by 1998, Rheinbraun affiliates owned 94% of CONSOL Energy stock, while DuPont Energy retained only 6%. CONSOL Energy purchased the entire stock of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company on September 22, 1998. CONSOL Energy stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CNX" in 1999, with an initial public offering of more than 20 million shares.
CONSOL Energy produced more than 74 million tons of coal in 1999, accounting for approximately 7% of domestic production. The company currently operates 22 mining complexes, primarily east of the Mississippi River.
Source
Historical note from the Consolidation Coal Company Records, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
The Archives Center holds a number of collections that document coal.
Coal and Gas Trust Investigation Collection (NMAH.AC.1049)
Hammond Coal Company Records (NMAH.AC.1003)
Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company Records (NMAH.AC.0071)
Lehigh Valley Coal Company Records (NMAH.AC.1106)
Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company Records (NMAH.AC.0282)
Materials in Other Organizations
Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
CONSOL Energy, Inc. Mine Maps and Records Collection, 1857-2002
AIS.1991.16
The CONSOL Energy Inc. collection contains coal mine maps, related documents and topographical information, as well as surface maps and detailed information on mine accidents. Additionally, there are technical drawings, outside notes on multiple mines, traverse and survey books, information on companies and railroads with which CONSOL conducted business, and a variety of non-print materials including photographs, negatives and aperture cards. Digital reproductions of selected material are available online.
CONSOL Energy Inc. West Virginia and Eastern Ohio Mine Maps and Records Collection, 1880-1994
AIS.2004.22
The CONSOL Energy Inc. West Virginia and Eastern Ohio Mine Maps and Records Collection contains coal mine maps as well as surface maps and detailed information on mine accidents in West Virginia and Eastern Ohio. Additionally, there are technical drawings, related documents, traverse and survey books, publications and photographs.
Consolidation Coal Company Records, 1854-1971, bulk 1864-1964
AIS.2011.03
The Consolidation Coal Company (Consol) was created by the merger of several small operators mining the Georges Creek coal basin in Allegany County, Maryland. The company expanded rapidly in the early twentieth century through the purchase of substantial tracts in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky as well as docks and distribution facilities in the Great Lakes region. By 1927, Consol was the nation's largest producer of bituminous coal. Following a merger with the Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1945, the company pursued a policy of acquiring companies which afforded opportunities for greater diversification while selling off unprofitable lines. In addition, a new research and development division was created to fund projects aimed at developing more efficient production methods and new outlets for coal consumption. The records of the Consolidation Coal Company and its affiliated companies are arranged in seven series. Minute books and contract files provide the most comprehensive documentation in this collection.
Provenance:
Donated to the National Museum of American History in 1987 by Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Search this
Extent:
3.5 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Maps
Family papers
Clippings
Diaries
Baby books
Photograph albums
Christmas cards
Photographs
Date:
1880-1965.
Summary:
Papers relating to the career and life of mining engineer Nelson Dickerman: letters, photographs, clippings and diaries kept during his mining career. Much of the material is personal, rather than professional, relating to Dickerman's family and children. Family photographs include baby books.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents Nelson Dickerman, a mining engineer and his immediate family members, Hallie Dickerman (wife) and three daughters, Delight, Rhoda and Doris. The majority of documentation pertains to the Dickerman Family and is best represented through the black and white and photographs.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1: Biographical Materiall
Series 2: Correspondence
Series 3: Diaries
Series 4: Photographs
Series 5: Maps
Series 6: Miscellaneous
Biographical/Historical note:
Nelson Dickerman was born in 1881 in Denver, CO to Charles O. and Louise Haage Dickerman. He began mining as an assistant surveyor at Tomboy gold mines in Colorado in 1900 and in 1903, worked underground at Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mine, Idaho. Dickerman would later take a position as a metallurgist at the Ladd Metal's Company's copper smelter in Idaho. He graduated from the University of California in 1905 earning a B.S. and later that year joined the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields in Hammonton, California. Dickerman worked for a number of mining companies throughout his career as a general manager, superintendent, and vice president—Natomas Consolidated (1910); Kirtley Creek Gold Dredging Company (1911-1913); Pato Mines (Columbia), Ltd. and Nechi (Columbia), Ltd (1913-1916); Guiana Development Company and Liberty Development Company in Dutch and French Guiana (1916-1921); Cornwall, Anglo-Oriental Mining Corporation (1928-1932); and Amiranian Oil Company (1937-1938). During his career Dickerman made examinations in Chile, Argentina, British Guiana, Columbia and the United States. He worked for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, War Production Board from 1939 to 1944 and in 1945, he joined the U.S. Bureau of Mines serving in the far east unit, foreign minerals division until 1948. He then went to work for the Central Intelligence Agency where he served until his death in February 1952.
Nelson Dickerman married Hallie Ferron on May 12, 1909; they had three daughters, Delight Dickerman, Doris Dickerman, and Rhoda Dickerman John.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the National Museum of American History, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources by Pauline Urbanski on April 28, 1993.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research and on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.
The collection consists of approximately 28,000 photographic negatives, slides, prints and other materials documenting Bethlehem Steel Corporation's iron ore mining operations. The photographs were taken by Richard "Jay" Angelo, a Bethlehem Steel Corporation photographer. The majority of the photographs depict Bethlehem's mining operations at its Cornwall and Morgantown, Pennsylvania mines. A smaller number of negatives document operations in western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan and Ontario. The negatives depict aerial views, blasting operations, tunneling, equipment and infrastructure, machinery, employees working, company personnel, and company-built community facilities. The collection documents the complete operations of a major, historic mining operation over four decades.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of approximately 28,000 photographic negatives, slides, prints and other materials documenting Bethlehem Steel Corporation's iron ore mining operations. The photographs were taken by Richard "Jay" Angelo, a Bethlehem Steel Corporation photographer. The majority of the photographs depict Bethlehem's mining operations at its Cornwall and Morgantown, Pennsylvania mines. A smaller number of negatives document operations in western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Michigan and Ontario. The negatives depict aerial views, blasting operations, tunneling, equipment and infrastructure, machinery, employees working, company personnel, and company-built community facilities. The collection documents the complete operations of a major, historic mining operation over four decades.
Series 1, Historical Background Materials, 1923-19933, consists of typescript general histories for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and specifically, the Cornwall Mine, Grace Mine, and the Marmoratan Mining Company. Included are some copies of maps, newspaper articles, photographs and one letter from Charlie Neil dated 1993 containing history of the Cornwall mining operations. Other miscellaneous items include articles about concrete, a retirement brochure for Sheldon J. Shale, and bound monthly progress reports of operations for the Cornwall Division, 1923-1929. These reports detail production, ore analysis, construction of mine shafts, repairs made, and physical plant conditions.
Series 2, Logbooks, 1949-1980, consists of personal, mileage, and photograph and negative logbooks maintained by Richard R. Angelo during the course of his career as a photographer for Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Cornwall Division. The series is divided into three subseries: Subseries 1, Personal Logbooks, 1949-1981, Subseries 2, Mileage Logbooks, 1957-1980, and Subseries 3, Photograph and Negative Logbooks, 1947-1968. The bound notebooks are arranged chronologically and are approximately 4 1/2" x 7 1/2" or smaller.
Subseries 1, Personal Logbooks, 1949-1980, consists of Angelo's personal logbooks which begin in 1949 and chronicle his daily activities and include the amount of time spent accomplishing each stated activity. For example, from April of 1949, Angelo writes, "making negatives and printing, eight hours." Later logbooks do not contain the number of hours, but many contain the number of vacation days Angelo took.
Subseries 2, Mileage Logbooks, 1957-1980 and undated, consists of logbooks with the date, number of miles, and location where Angelo drove. In some instances, toll expenses are noted as well as total mileage calculated for a month.
Subseries 3, Negative Logbooks, 1947-1980, consists of logbooks detailing the date, negative number and a brief description for black-and-white and color negatives. For example, the March 3, 1951, entry is listed as "#1840-0, waste rock tunnel, mine number 3." In some instances Angelo notes if a photograph or negative was rejected. Later logbooks follow an alpha-numeric identification system. These logbooks should be consulted when using Series 4, Black-and-White negatives. The subseries is arranged chronologically.
Series 3, Indices, 1943-1960, consists of typescript lists detailing the negative number, date, and a brief description for the Bethlehem Report (BR), the early Pilot Plant and raw materials (CN), microphotographs (MP), and Pilot Plant (PP,) and raw materials and office plant (RM). The person who assembled these lists or applied the alpha-numeric system is unknown. These indices should be consulted when using boxes 36 to 38 in Series 4, Black-and-White Negatives.
Series 4, Black-and-White Negatives, 1941-1963, is divided into six subseries: Subseries 1, #1-#4108, 1947-1961; Subseries 2, A1 to A400, 1941-1949; Subseries 3, B1 to B9995, 1953-1963; Subseries 4, C1 to C6999, 1963 [1969?]; Subseries 5, Chronological, 1950-1955; and Subseries 6, Topical, 1941-1961. The negatives are approximately 4" x 5" and are housed in glassine envelopes. In some instances, 4" x 5" prints are filed behind the corresponding negative.
The alpha-numeric subseries of negatives is not inclusive. There are indices (see Series 3) for the negatives in boxes 36 to 38 and the logbooks (see Series 2) maintained by Richard R. Angelo. The indices provide the alpha-numeric identification number, date, and brief description for the negative. For example, negative B-528 documents the #4 mine machine shop looking west, March 12, 1954. Researchers should use the logbooks in conjunction with the negatives.
There are some negatives that document diagrams, drawings, plans, sectional views, schematics for ore pockets, mine shafts, and flow sheets for the Lebanon Concentrator and the crushing plant at the Grace Mine. Some of the negatives were used in the creation of the Bethlehem Mines Corporation, Cornwall Division, photograph album which documents progress as of December 31, 1964.
Series 5, Color Negatives, 1964-1979, consists of approximately 940 color negatives, presumably documenting a wide variety of mining activities as well as employees. There is no index to these negatives. The negatives are arranged numerically.
Series 6, Photographic Prints, 1880s-1972 and undated, consists primarily of black-and-white prints of mining equipment, views of mine interiors (including the mine vein), aerial views, buildings, and employees. The bulk of photographs document Bethlehem mines in Pennsylvania, specifically Cornwall and Grace, but there is documentation for the Marmora Mine in Ontario, Canada. Some of the prints have captions and dates. Some oversize photographs (11" x 14") documenting the Matamora Mine in Ontario, Canada, 1958, were taken by H.R. Oakman of Peterboro, Ontario. The materials are arranged alphabetically.
Series 7, Photograph Albums, 1951-1971, consists of five bound albums and some loose materials documenting the Marmora Mine in Ontario, Canada. Many of the albums were photographed by H.R. Oakman of Peterboro, Ontario. The albums contain mounted black-and-white prints that are 4" x 5" or 11" x 17." The albums are arranged chronologically.
Series 8, Slides, 1950-1980, contains 35 mm slides in both black and white and color. The slides document a range of activities and are arranged alphabetically by mine location.
Series 9, Moving Images, 1961 and undated, consists of two color 16 mm films documenting the Grace Mine in Pennsylvania.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into nine series.
Series 1, Historical Background Materials, 1923-1993
Series 2, Logbooks, 1949-1980
Subseries 1, Personal Logbooks, 1949-1980
Subseries 2, Mileage Logbooks, 1957-1980 and undated
Subseries 3, Negative Logbooks, 1947-1980
Series 3, Indices, 1943-1960
Series 4, Black-and-White Negatives, 1941-1963
Subseries 1, #1-#4108, 1947-1961
Subseries 2, A1 to A400, 1941-1949
Subseries 3, B1 to B9995, 1953-1963
Subseries 4, C1 to C6999, 1963 [1969?]
Subseries 5, Chronological, 1950-1955
Subseries 6, Topical, 1941-1961
Series 5, Color Negatives, 1964-1979
Series 6, Photographic Prints, 1880s-1972 and undated
Series 7, Photograph Albums, 1951-1971
Series 8, Slides, 1950-1980
Series 9, Moving Image, 1961 and undated
Biographical / Historical:
Richard "Jay" Angelo (1922-1997) was the official photographer for Bethlehem Cornwall Corporation (a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation) mining operations in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. The Cornwall Division operated three underground mines with concentrating and agglomerating facilities. Using a Speed Graphic camera (a portable professional camera), which used 4" x 5" film, Angelo captured between 20,000 and 30,000 negatives, mostly black-and-white, from January 1947 to January 1980. The negatives depict aerial views; each new blast in the open pit; tunneling in the underground works; installation of infrastructure such as underground bracing, head frames, railway track and agglomeration machinery; employees at work, receiving awards, or retiring; tours for corporate executives, local school teachers, and other mining executives; road and land improvements; company-built community facilities; safety program activities; installation and operation of the concentrating and agglomeration plants.
Angelo graduated from high school in 1940 and immediately began working in the mines, following in the foot steps of his father, an Italian immigrant. He joined the United States Navy in 1942 working as a radio operator aboard a communications ship. Angelo served in both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II. Angelo returned home in 1946 and worked in the mines, first in a tool room, then in the enginneering department. In 1947, he began taking photographs for the company, specializing in mining. Other photographers processed color and black-and-white negatives in the company lab and photographed the company's many plants. Angelo retired in 1980.
For over sixty years (1916-1980), Bethlehem Steel Company obtained most of its iron ore from three mines it owned and operated in eastern Pennsylvania. Two mines were located in Cornwall, about fifteen miles east of Harrisburg, and one was located in Morgantown, about twenty-five miles south of Reading. Until its closure in 1980, the Cornwall mine was the longest continuously operated mine in North America. The Cornwall Mine began in 1732 when John, Thomas, and Richard Penn deeded over 9,000 acres to Joseph Turne, who assigned it to William Allen. In 1734, Peter Grubb, a prospector for iron, paid Allen for the acreage and in 1742 built the Cornwall Furnance near the ore deposit. Other parties gained access and partnership to the ore banks through purchase or inheritance, and in 1854, Grubb and the others combined to form the Cornwall Ore Banks Company. Bethlehem Steel Company acquired ownership of the Cornwall Mines in 1916 and had complete ownership by 1921. The only exception was the Robesonia Iron Company, a small indepednent section that remained free of Bethlehem ownership until 1926, when Bethlehem acquired it and thus gained sole control of the ore desposits. The Cornwall iron ore deposit became one of the most valuable in the United States.
There were two major ore bodies in Cornwall, Pennsylvania, south of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, called Cornwall mines number 3 and number 4. Extracting the ore was done through open pit mining when deposits of useful minerals or rock were found near the surface. Open pit mining was used at Cornwall until 1953 when the open pits became too deep and economically not viable. It is estimated that over fifty-six million tons of ore were removed from mine number 3 between 1734 and 1953. By 1953, all of the available exposed ore was removed, and it was necessary for the company to begin underground mining activities. Other forms of mining included extractive methods that required tunneling into the earth, such as long wall mining. The number 4 mine was begun in 1926 as an underground operation; by 1965, twenty-two million tons of ore had been mined. In 1948, new iron ore deposits were discovered using an airborne magnetometer (an instrument used to measure the magnetic field) during an aerial survey in southeastern Pennsylvania. Bethlehem Steel acquired the land. Construction for the mine began in 1951 and ore stripping began in 1958. The new mine was called Grace Mine after Bethlehem Chairman and CEO Eugene Grace. Mining at lasted until 1977.
The Marmoratan Mine located in Hastings County, Ontario (east of Toronto) also became part of the vast Bethlehem Steel Corporation holdings. Iron mining was an important industry in the area during the nineteenth century. The village of Marmora was originally named Marmora Iron Works. Magnetic iron ore was mined as early as 1820, but a series of failures resulted in the abandonment of the mine. In 1949, the Ontario Department of Mines, in conjunction with the Geological Survey of Canada, conducted an aerial survey of the region. Bethlehem Steel geologists became interested in the area and in May, 1950, the company obtained options to purchase a 290 acre tract of property. Bethlehem would eventually acquire 1900 acres of property at Marmora. Drilling began in 1951, and the mine closed in 1979.
The scale of operations at the three mines was prodigious. Together, these mines were second only to Minnesota's famous Mesabi Range in terms of volume and quality of iron ore extracted. In addition to ore extraction, the mines were equipped with large-scale concentrating and agglomeration facilities, where the raw ore was separated into disparate minerals through the use of magnetic separators. The iron was then further concentrated into high density pellets that were easier to ship and more economical in making steel. Bethlehem erected its first concentrating facilities at Cornwall in 1916. When Bethlehem Steel acquired the Cornwall mines its long-term plan was to expand and modernize its program by adding mill equipment and providing sintering plants. Bethlehem purchased the Pennsylvania Steel Company in 1916, which included a wet mill equipped with a Grondal magnetic separator. From 1934 to 1962, the mines produced over twenty-seven million tons of iron concentrate, 450,000 tons of copper concentrate, and 1,650 tons of pyrite concentrate. The agglomeration plant at the Grace Mine alone produced three million tons of iron concentrate between 1958 and 1965.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Alexander Van Valen Papers, 1849-1850 (AC0935)
International Salt Company Records, 1888-1964 (AC1158)
Industry on Parade Film Collection, 1950-1960 (AC0507)
Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs Collection, circa 1939-1984 (AC0314)
Frank Klepetko Michigan Mining Cyanotype Album, circa 1880 (AC1042)
Materials in Other Organizations
Hagley Museum and Library
Bethlehem Steel Corporation records, 1714-1982
Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Ship Corporation photograph collection, 1786-1966
Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Predecessor and subsidiary companies, 1860-1947
Pennsylvania State Archives
Cornwall Ore Bank Company Records, 1802-1935, 1954
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Richard Angelo, Jr., and Jeanette Angelo Laverty on July 9, 2011.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Southern Coal and Coke Company (Boothton, Alabama) Search this
Woodward Iron Company (Woodward, Alabama) Search this
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Extractive Industries Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives
Photographs
Date:
1920s
Summary:
Collection consists of photographs and negatives that depict aspects of social life mining company towns in Alabama during the 1920s.
Scope and Contents note:
Photographs depict social aspects of company town life by documenting primarily exterior views of buildings, such as miner's homes, company stores, dance halls, schools, churches and movie theaters. The interior views include doctor's offices, first aid stations, company stores, dairies and butcher shops. The typed descriptions define which structures intended for use by Black or White people. There are no photographs documenting mines or mining equipment.
Arrangement:
Collectio is arranged into three series.
Series 1: Volume 1, Alabama Mining Institute Photograph Album, 1920s
Series 2: Volume 2, Alabama Mining Institute Photograph Album, 1920s
Series 3: Negatives, 1984
Biographical/Historical note:
The Alabama Mining Institute is a consortium of underground and surface mining operators, dating back to the 1920s.
Provenance:
Originally collected for the Division of Extractive Industries. Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Mining Photographs, 1880-1993, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Michael Cuscuna.
This series is divided into six subseries: Subseries 4.1: #1-#4108, 1947-1961; Subseries 4.2: A1 to A400, 1941-1949; Subseries 4.3: B1 to B9995, 1953-1963; Subseries 4.4: C1 to C6999, 1963 [1969?]; Subseries 4.5: Chronological, 1950-1955; Subseries 4.6: Topical, 1941-1961. The negatives are approximately 4" x 5" and are housed in glassine envelopes. In some instances, 4" x 5" prints are filed behind the corresponding negative.
The alpha-numeric negatives are not complete. There are indices (see Series 3) for the negatives in boxes 36 to 38 and the logbooks (see Series 2) maintained by Richard R. Angelo. The indices provide the alpha-numeric identification number, date, and brief description for the negative. For example, negative B-528 documents the #4 mine machine shop looking west, March 12, 1954. Researchers should use the logbooks in conjunction with the negatives.
There are some negatives that document diagrams, drawings, plans, sectional views, schematics for ore pockets, mine shafts, and flow sheets for the Lebanon Concentrator and the crushing plant at the Grace Mine. Some of the negatives were used in the creation of the Bethlehem Mines Corporation, Cornwall Division, photograph album which documents progress as of December 31, 1964.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Mining Photographs, 1880-1993, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Michael Cuscuna.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Domestic Life Search this
Extent:
0.1 Cubic feet (1 box
, Paper prints, 8" x 10".,Silver albumen(?),mounted on cardboard.)
14 Photographic prints
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Photographs
Place:
Lithia Springs (Tallapoosa ,Ga.) -- 1870-1880
Georgia -- photographs -- 1870-1890
Tallapoosa (Ga.) -- 1870-1890
Date:
circa 1880
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains fourteen silver albumen photoprints, mounted on cardboard, 8" x 10", all by H. H. French. Each picture is stamped with the photographer's name. The photographs depict homes and businesses, including the Tallapoossa Land, Mining & Manufacturing Co., the Lithia Springs Hotel site, a railroad bridge and the Tallapoosa River, the Tallapoosa Glass Works, a meeting of the Ladies' Aid Society at the Episcopal Mission, residences, etc. Of special interest is a photograph of a burro and wagon with two men in front of H. H. French's studio.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Biographical / Historical:
No information about the photographer H. H. French available.
Provenance:
Gift of Mrs. Franklin Chace, accompanying accession no. 317832. Deed of Gift signed October 26, 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Photography -- Studios and dark rooms -- 19th century Search this
Mining corporation -- 1870-1890 -- Georgia Search this
Due to insect infestation, a large amount of the field notes were eaten through and stained with insect droppings. While most of these materials were photocopied and the originals discarded, there are still materials with minimal amounts of insect droppings present in this series. Those who are allergic to frass should be aware that folders containing papers stained with insect droppings have been marked "[insect damage]" at the end of the folder titles.
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1977-1991
Scope and Contents:
The first folder in this series relates to Gjording's evaluation of Fe y Alegria and the agency's development-related work with Panamanian Indians. The folder contains correspondence and the report he submitted to Fe y Alegria.
The rest of the series pertains to Gjording's research on the GuaymÃes and the Cerro Colorado copper mining project in ChiriquÃ, Panama from 1978 to 1981. The discovery of one of the world's largest copper reserves at Cerro Colorado developed into a large-scale project that involved the Panama government and multinational mining corporations on the tribal land of the GuaymÃes. Gjording was an anthropologist on an interdisciplinary team sponsored by the Jesuit-sponsored Centro de Estudios y Acción Social --Panamá (CEASPA) to study the mining project and its impacts on Panama on the local, regional, national, and transnational levels. The ultimate goal of the team was to provide information and analyses to those who would be affected by the mining project, which was eventually abandoned due to falling copper prices. The series contains Gjording's field notes, research notes, and research materials that he collected. Articles he published on the subject can also be found in this series, including those that he wrote under the
pseudonym, "Enrique Lobo." His dissertation, "The Cerro Colorado Copper Project: Panama, Multinational Corporations and the Guaymi Indians," can be found towards the end of this series along with a paper by his friend Michael Herzog on the strategies he used to help Gjording complete his dissertation. A revised version of the dissertation was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1991 as Conditions Not of Their Choosing: The Guaymà Indians and Mining Multinationals in Panama. A draft of the publication and correspondence with the Smithsonian are at the end of the series.
Please see Series 4. Panama and Series 6. Photographs for more materials relating to GuaymÃes and the Cerro Colorado mining project. More drafts of Conditions Not of Their Choosing can be found in Series 7. Computer Disks.
Collection Restrictions:
Computer disks in the collection are restricted due to preservation concerns.
Collection Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Chris Gjording papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Mining, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Mining, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
[Trade catalogs from Phoenix Actien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb]
Variant company name:
Established 1852 ; "German Cartels: Myths and realities by John M. Kleeburg http://www-plan.fb5.uni-siegen.de/schloesser/resources/Kleeberg_German_Cartels.pdf ; http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%C3%B6nix_AG_f%C3%BCr_Bergbau_und_H%C3%BCttenbetrieb Search this
Company Name:
Phoenix Actien-Gesellschaft für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb Search this
Trade lit, circa 1902, for a German steel mill, rail-rolling mill and coal mining corporation that became part of a steel cartel in the early 20th Century. The company also owned its own coal mines (called a Hüttenzeche). The Phoenix had developed the grooved rail (Rillenschiene), which kept trolley car wheels out of contact with the streets on which they ran (and which would otherwise destroy the street surfaces). The Phoenix sold these grooved rails throughout the world, particularly in the British empire. In 1898, shortly before the publication of this booklet, the Phoenix acquired the Westfälische Union, a major producer of wire, nuts, and bolts. The smaller booklet seems to mark the occasion of Phoenix's joining the steel cartel (against its will.) The larger booklet is the 1902 annual report for the corporation.
Includes:
Trade catalog, manual and histories
Black and white images
Physical description:
2 pieces; 1 box
Language:
German
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Düsseldorf, Germany
Date range:
1800s-1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Business services (advertising; marketing; organizational management; etc.) Search this
The spawn & the mother lode : the story of the placer, conglomerate and Precambrian mines of the Central City, Lead and Deadwood area / by Joel Waterland
