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Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers

Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Extent:
8 Cubic feet (22 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1950s-2010s
Summary:
This collection consists of 8 cubic feet of archival material documenting the life of Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen from 1950s to the 2010s. She had a successful career as a flight instructor, Beech Aircraft sales demonstration pilot, Beech Aircraft dealership owner, flight school chief pilot, commercial pilot, Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) Safety Counselor, aviation insurance agent/broker, advisor to the FAA, president of the Ninety-Nines, Inc. (1988-1990), and published aviation author. Jessen also participated in the Women in Space Program, evaluating women's potential as possible astronauts at the Lovelace Medical Center in 1961.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 8 cubic feet of archival material documenting the aviation career of Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen, including her involvement with the Ninety-Nines, her career with Beechcraft Aviation, and her writings on aviation; there is also a small amount of material related to her week-long testing with the Women in Space Program. The following types of materials are included: correspondence, photographs, pilot logs, scrapbooks, photo albums, programs, brochures, maps, magazine articles, manuals, handbooks, VHS tapes, and audiotapes.
Arrangement:
When the National Air and Space Museums Archives received the Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Collection, it was arranged alphabetically by folder name. All original folder titles have been retained. PII has been manually redacted. Any additional contextual information that was added by the processing archivist appears in brackets.
Biographical / Historical:
Gene Nora (pronounced Janora) Stumbough Jessen was born on January 10, 1937, in Springfield, Illinois. While growing up, Jessen became interested in aviation after learning about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who served their country during World War II. She began flying while in her junior year of high school in the Civil Air Patrol and earned her private pilot license in 1956. She then attended the University of Oklahoma (OU), where she was a member of their flight team and entered her first National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) competition. While taking classes in 1959, Jessen became the first woman to work as a flight instructor for the school, which allowed her to also pay for college. During her time at OU, she earned seven collegiate-level flying trophies and remained on staff for six years after completing her English degree.

In 1961 Jessen quit her job as a flight instructor when she was selected as one of the women to participate in the Women in Space Program (1960-1962), also known as the Mercury 13 or Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), at the Lovelace Medical Center in New Mexico. She was twenty-four years old. Dr. William Randall "Randy" Lovelace, who designed and carried out the rigorous testing for the thirty-two male Project Mercury candidates, and US Air Force Brigadier General Donald Flickinger, were curious to see how women would fare against their all-male peers. Unable to interest the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the undertaking, they conducted the experiment in secret independently. For Phase 1, this group of women underwent the same rigorous physical testing regimen used for NASA's Mercury astronauts. All participants passed. Armed with these results, Lovelace and Flickinger lobbied both Congress and the White House to consider including women in the Astronaut Corps, neither of which were keen on the idea; On a draft response letter, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote "Let's stop this now!" Before the other parts of the test could begin, the Lovelace Program was cancelled.

Jessen moved to Wichita, Kansas, and accepted a job at Beech Aircraft in 1962. There, Jessen piloted planes for demonstration purposes for the company. On July 20, 1962, she embarked on a 90-day, 40,000 mile cross-country flight with fellow pilots Joyce Case and Mike Gordon. They were known as "The Three Musketeers", named after the Beech Musketeers the trio flew in formation across the United States. She and Case were the only female pilots flying for any aircraft manufacturer at that time. Soon, Jessen became rated to fly the entire line of Beech aircraft. In her spare time, she volunteered with the Wichita Wing Scouts from 1963-1967.

In Kansas, she also met and married Leland Robert "Bob" Jessen (1925-2020), a B-29 pilot during World War II, on June 12, 1964, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1967, they moved to Boise, Idaho, where they established their own Beech dealership and, later, an aviation insurance business and Boise Air Service, a full-service, fixed base operation on the Boise Airport.

Jessen was also an avid writer. She was the aviation columnist for The Northwest Flyer, and The Idaho Statesman. Jessen also wrote several books on the history of women in aviation, including Sky Girls, a chronicle of the 1929 Powder Puff Derby.

Additionally, Jessen was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve on the Federal Aviation Agency's (FAA) Women in Aviation Advisory Board for five years. Between 1988 and 1990, Jessen was President of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots. She was also a Wing Scout Leader, treasurer of the Idaho Pilot's Association, an Accident Prevention Counselor for the FAA, and the Boise Airport Commissioner. She was recently inducted into the International Women in Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. Jessen holds over 4,000 hours of flying experience and earned ratings as a commercial pilot, single and multi-engine land, single-engine sea, instrument rating and a Gold Seal flight instructor.

HONORS:

Honorary PhD, University of Wisconsin

Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame

Pathfinder Award Wall of Fame, Seattle Museum of Flight

Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award

Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Award

Achievement Award, International Northwest Aviation Council

Evanston Township High School Distinguished Alumni Award

Adler Planetarium Women in Space Service Award

Mercury 13 NASA Award, International Human Space Flight Day

Women with Wings Award, International Air and Space Museum

Next Generation Indie Book Award, 2010

YMCA Pioneers of the Future Award

FAA Women's Advisory Committee on Aviation

Boise Airport Commissioner
Provenance:
Gene Nora Jessen, Gift, 2023, NASM.2023.0052
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Topic:
Aeronautics  Search this
Aeronautics -- Flights  Search this
Astronautics  Search this
Beech Aircraft Family  Search this
Women in aeronautics  Search this
Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NASM.2023.0052
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2b905f10b-05ae-4366-94c0-809cf299d0bc
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nasm-2023-0052
Online Media:

Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection

Author:
Maynard, Thomas  Search this
Donor:
Clark, Julie  Search this
Extent:
1 Cubic foot (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Bills of sale
Deeds
Land titles
Slave bills of sale
Manuscripts
Manumission, deeds of
Place:
Maryland
Date:
undated
1710-1865
Summary:
A collection of a variety of legal documents that relate to slavery and African-Americans.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists mainly of a wide vareity of court and legal documents such as, bills of sale, warrants, a manumission document, a certificate of free birth, and documents concerning debt, property, and legal obligations. The documents originated in four states: Alabama, the Carolina colony, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. They span the greatest portion of the era of slavery within what is now the United States. Most of the documents are from Lawrence County, Alabama and may have at one time been created or used as evidence in either an orphans court or civil court case. The documents are arranged in one series in chronological order.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 1 series:

Series 1: Legal Documents Concerning Slavery, 1710-1865, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Up until the Emancipation Proclamation and the subsequent victory of the Union forces in the Civil War, slaves were considered chattel, property that could be bought and sold. Slaves were a commodity that could be attached for non-payment of debt, used as collateral, given as bequests in a will, and were considered assets of a deceased's estate. As such, they engendered legal battles and the need for a variety of legal documents asserting one's freedom or manumission.
Provenance:
Bill of Sale of "one Negro girl named Nancy, about three years old, from Thomas Maynard to John Stephen Hale, for the sum of 30 pounds, Frederick County, Maryland, June 13, 1796." 2002 acquisition: "Receipt for a slave named Wilson", January 19, 1863, and two carte-de-visite portraits: W.B. Mitchell, July 1880, and Pleasant A. Mitchell, undated. Gifts of Julie Clark, 2008 addendum.
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:
Branding (Punishment)  Search this
Fugitive slaves  Search this
Slaves -- Emancipation  Search this
Slave trade -- Maryland  Search this
Slaveholders -- Maryland  Search this
Slavery -- United States -- Maryland  Search this
Genre/Form:
Bills of sale
Deeds
Land titles
Slave bills of sale
Manuscripts -- 18th century
Manumission, deeds of
Citation:
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection, 1710-1865, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0786
See more items in:
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep87426a4aa-cb23-4756-8f7c-9b86dc7fd96a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0786
Online Media:

Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings

Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Names:
Brown, Ellison, 1913-1975  Search this
Extent:
.25 Linear feet
Culture:
Narragansett  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
Boston (Mass.)
Rhode Island
Date:
1936-2021
Undated
Summary:
This collection contains newspaper clippings on the running career of Ellison "Tarzan" Brown and his trainer Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr.
Scope and Contents:
This collection contains 19 newspaper and magazine clippings collected by Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr. on the career of Ellison "Tarzan" Brown, whom he trained. There are also four newspaper clippings on Salimeno as a trainer. Additionaly included is a scrapbook of clippings compiled by Salimeno's friend and local sports writer George Falcone in 1987.
Arrangement:
Content is arranged in one series. Clippings are in chronological order followed by a scrapbook that is mostly undated.
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown, also called Deerfoot by the Narragansett, was born on September 22, 1913, to Otis Brown (1879-1943) and Grace Babcock (1876-1935) in Westerly, Rhode Island. He was a very athletic kid, always running and climbing. Brown first met Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno, Sr. when he was 12 years old after following another Narragansett runner on a professional training run. Salimeno was impressed with Tarzan's ability to keep up and promised to train him once he turned 16. After the pair started working together, Brown won many footraces, and he would sell the trophies or prizes in order to support his family and community. In 1936, Brown won the Boston Marathon ahead of the favored winner John Kelly after passing him on a downhill stretch, which caused the hill to become famously known as "heartbreak hill." The win also brought much needed attention to the Narragansett nation, who were fighting for recognition after Rhode Island Supreme Court claimed to detribalize them. Brown would go on to win the Boston Marathon again in 1939 and was chosen for the U.S. Olympic team in 1936 and 1940. His athletic skill led him to be inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. Brown was married to Ethel Wilcox (1919-2015) and they had 4 children. He passed away August 23, 1975.
Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno:
Thomas "Tippy" Salimeno was born March 14, 1900. He owned a café in Westerly and was also an athlete trainer, promoter, and manager for boxers and runners. He was a prominent figure in local and semi-pro sports due to his vast knowledge of the subject and training success. He passed away May 30, 1987
Provenance:
Gift of Anna Brown-Jackson, 2023
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAI.AC.446
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4a6820f71-2ec8-447c-aaa9-1be796460344
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmai-ac-446
Online Media:

Gene Nora Jessen and family, 1962-1965

Collection Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Container:
Box 13, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers / Series 4: Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Oversized, 1956-2013 and undated
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg27d0f033c-7a02-404e-8589-cebb8afab42f
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nasm-2023-0052-ref143

Flying, 1956-1977

Collection Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Container:
Box 14, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers / Series 4: Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Oversized, 1956-2013 and undated
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg202844ac0-edb3-41d6-a14f-49ed914a4166
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nasm-2023-0052-ref144

Flying, 1966-1985

Collection Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Container:
Box 15, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers / Series 4: Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Oversized, 1956-2013 and undated
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg26ca0af44-51ae-46f2-b182-1d89a9862ca6
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nasm-2023-0052-ref146

"Women With Wings" and other Jessen columns, 1972-2013

Collection Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Container:
Box 15, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers / Series 4: Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Oversized, 1956-2013 and undated
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2a2511e5f-1abe-42e0-bed3-4f849ad56af1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nasm-2023-0052-ref147

Bill of sale, New Orleans, Louisiana

Collection Author:
Maynard, Thomas  Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 9
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1833
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection 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 Citation:
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection, 1710-1865, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
See more items in:
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection
Legal Documents Concerning Slavery Collection / Series 1: Legal Documents Concerning Slavery
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b64c21bd-a25c-42c0-9344-025741fe2ca1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0786-ref17

"Tarzan" Clippings, I

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1939-1996
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv481cfaab3-a3ee-4086-9657-418c41cb531e
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref1

"Tarzan" Clippings, II

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1999-2021
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv405b2fa52-90bd-4506-b3d0-8ce0e9e47728
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref2

"Tarzan" Clippings, III

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
Undated
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv475ad19e5-50f7-4938-8ada-a0db793d3a46
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref3

"Tippy" Salimeno Clippings

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1987-2013
Undated
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4c34929bf-83e2-4709-910c-44d374e088ad
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref4

Contract and Photo

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1941
Undated
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv45ade2d75-da0d-43a0-8a6f-e9edbc7f0ca7
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref5

Scrapbook, I

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1936-1982
Undated
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv44ac32416-7b11-4b3a-ab3a-072929bf7116
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref6

Scrapbook, II

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1936-1982
Undated
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4b05780a4-bf1a-48f5-9769-c418f4edf02e
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref7

"Tarzan" Clippings

Collection Creator:
Salimeno, Thomas, Sr., 1900-1987  Search this
Container:
Oversize 1, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1940
1981
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown Scrapbook and Clippings, image #, NMAI.AC.402; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ellison "Tarzan" Myers Brown scrapbook and clippings
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv42539c28c-e764-4e56-a109-b266e569e138
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-446-ref8

Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records

Creator:
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Names:
Anacostia Community Museum  Search this
Extent:
21.6 Cubic feet (consisting of 17 cartons, 2 oversized boxes.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Transcripts
Color slides
Exhibition records
Exhibit scripts
Contact sheets
Photographic prints
Correspondence
Place:
Washington Metropolitan Area
Date:
1942-1998
Summary:
These records document the planning, organizing, execution, and promotion of an exhibition exploring the immigration of people of African descent from Central and South America and the Caribbean to the Washington Metropolitan Area. The show was organized and hosted by the Anacostia Museum from August 21, 1994 through August 7, 1995. Materials include correspondence, research files, exhibit script, administrative records, brochures, press coverage, education packets, loan agreements, floor plans, and catalogues.
Scope and Contents:
The records of the Black Mosaic exhibition presented by the Anacostia Community Museum measure 21.6 cubic feet and date from 1942 to 1998, with the bulk of material dating from 1990 to 1995. The records include administrative records, publications, research files, floor plans, exhibit text drafts, oral history transcripts, and project files for programs coordinated for or tangentially with the Black Mosaic Exhibit.

Administrative records include advisory board member lists, meeting minutes, agendas, grant proposals, project reports and assessments, correspondence, training material for museum volunteers and docents, and assorted notes. Publications within the series directly relate to the Black Mosaic Exhibit and the Anacostia Community Museum. Correspondence includes both internal correspondence and those with local community members.

Writings and notes were previously scattered throughout the collection have been collocated within the Administrative Records series, and a majority are undated. The notes cover topics ranging from administrative activities to exhibit and research planning. Included are printed documents, scrap paper, and spiral-bound notebooks.

The research files contain background information about numerous immigrant communities within Washington D.C. The community research files were originally organized by country, continent, or region of origin, and then later by subjects that coordinated with the exhibit's designated themes. This organization method has largely been maintained. Research files include scholarly articles, news clippings, event programs, compiled bibliographies, and material related to the study of museology.

The exhibit files include floor plan layouts, photocopies of images, interview transcripts, exhibit literature, and extensive exhibit text drafts. Drafts of the exhibit's text include notes throughout multiple editing stages. Additionally, copies of flip books for different thematic sections of the Black Mosaic exhibit are included and are organized alphabetically by title. Other exhibit literature present is primarily in English with one French copy present.

The project files include training material for collecting oral histories and documenting community folklife, conference records, event records, and records pertaining to related projects at the Anacostia Community Museum. Concurrent projects supporting the exhibit include the Black Mosaic community newsletter and an educational curriculum project. Additional project records that thematically overlap with the Black Mosaic exhibit but extend beyond the timeframe of the formal exhibit are present also.
Arrangement:
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. exhibition records are arranged in four series:

Series 1: Administrative Records

Series 2: Research Files

Series 3: Exhibit Files

Series 4: Project Files
Historical Note:
The exhibit Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. was curated by the Anacostia Community Museum's supervisory curator Portia James, and was open at the Anacostia Community Museum from August 1994 to August 1995. The exhibition explored the immigration of people of African descent from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean to the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Topics addressed in the exhibition include migration, situations faced by Black immigrants, the maintenance of relationships with places of origin, community events and cultural performances, public and private expressions of culture, commodification of culture for economic support, and the expression of multiple identities. Some intentions of the exhibit were to provide forums for discussing culture and identity, provide resources for people learning about communities in the Washington Metro area, and to be a model to other museums and cultural institutions for understanding and interpreting similar immigration and settlement patterns.

The exhibit was designed to be experienced with broader cultural concepts being introduced towards the external part of the exhibit, while personal stories could be experienced further in. Over 100 oral history interviews featured prominently in the exhibit where interviewed individuals explained their immigration experience and how they've adapted to life in the area. The exhibit also included mounted photographs, artifacts, music, and conversations. Artifacts included passport photos, tickets, family photographs, and letters. The exhibit's text displayed in three languages: English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. There were additional exhibition guides provided in Brazilian Portuguese, French, and the Ghanaian languages of Ga, Twi, Akan, and Ewe.

Coupled with the exhibit, the museum coordinated an extensive series of programs to engage various communities in the exploration of issues and traditions. These programs included creating newsletters and a photograph exhibit to keep the community up to date about the progression of the exhibit, working with performance groups, creating multi-institutional partnerships in order to develop more effective methods of collecting oral histories, and collaborating and modeling for the CFPCS African Immigrant Communities project.
Provenance:
Records of Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity Among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. Exhibition were created by the Anacostia Community Museum.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Immigrants -- United States -- Exhibitions  Search this
Museum exhibits  Search this
Genre/Form:
Transcripts
Color slides
Exhibition records -- 1990-2004
Exhibit scripts
Contact sheets
Photographic prints
Correspondence
Citation:
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
ACMA.03-027
See more items in:
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
Archival Repository:
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa769b48dcf-5b93-4db2-b89e-3e4819fb8f55
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-acma-03-027
Online Media:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Creator:
Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this
Compiler:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering  Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry  Search this
Extent:
33 Cubic feet (100 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Blueprints
Drawings
Lantern slides
Photographs
Date:
1886-1931
Summary:
A collection of 19th and early 20th century lantern slides collected by the Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Scope and Contents note:
A collection of 19th and early 20th century silver gelatin dry plate lantern slides acquired by the staff of the Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. These materials were collected for research purposes and relate to various engineering and mining subjects. The photographs document engineering activities, equipment, facilities, and projects. Activities include engineering inspection; moving an obelisk; rock drilling and riveting; tunneling; V drive ratio testing; and weighing. Photographs are also of objects including blueprints, boilers, bridges, canals, drawings, Egyptian temples, flywheel governors, and valves.

Images of corporate facilities documented include American Locomotive Company; Fairbanks Morse and Company; Hamiliton; Ingersoll-Rand, Incorporated; and Nordberg Manufacturing Company. In addition, there are images of equipment such as diesels, marine diesel generator set, diesel models, and marine diesel engines.

Images were created by photographers and photographic studios including L. C. Handy Photo, Washington, DC; W. H. Lawrence and B. S. Turpin; Underwood & Underwood; and the Massachusetts Intitute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department. Locations include various parts of the United States, Cuba, and Africa.

Collection is arranged in five series: series 1, engineering collections; series 2, manufacturing companies; series 3, engineering activities; series 4, equipment; and series 5, projects.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged in five series.

Series 1, Engineering Collections, dates Subseries 1.1, Architecture and Structures, dates Subseries 1.2, Bridges, Cantilever, dates Subseries 1.3, Bridges, Concrete Arch and Beam, dates Subseries 1.4, Bridges, Masonry Aqueducts, dates Subseries 1.5, Bridges, Metal Arc, dates Subseries 1.6, Bridges, Metal Truss, dates Subseries 1.7, Bridges, Movable, dates Subseries 1.8, Bridges, Suspension, dates Subseries 1.9, Canals, dates Subseries 1.10, Hydraulic Engineering, dates Subseries 1.11, Machine Tools, dates Subseries 1.12, Materials Handling, dates Subseries 1.13, Power, dates Subseries 1.14, Railroad Mileage Maps, dates Subseries 1.15, Steam Boilers, dates Subseries 1.16, Steam Turbines, dates Subseries 1.17, Tunneling Machine Tools, dates Series 2, Manufacturing Companies, dates Series 3, Engineering Activities, dates Series 4, Equipment, dates Series 5, Projects, dates

Series 2, Manufacturers, dates
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History

For related material on Canals, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Canals, NMAH.AC.0060

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0143

Roland A. McCrady Photograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0710

Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs, NMAH.AC.0945

Niagara Falls Power Company Records, NMAH.AC.0949

Modjeski and Masters Company Records, NMAH.AC.0976

George Morison Collection, NMAH.AC.0978

Uriah A. Boyden Papers, NMAH.AC.0982

James Forgie Papers, NMAH.AC.0986

William R. Hutton Papers, NMAH.AC.0987

Snake River Irrigation Project Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1031

Silas H. Woodard Papers, NMAH.AC.1038

Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1074

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

New York State Barge Canal Photographs, NMAH.AC.1536

Lackawaxen Canal Survey Profiles, NMAH.AC.1546

Nicaragua Canal Collection, NMAH.AC.1550

For related material on Cantilever Bridges, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0143

Nathan W. Morgan Papers, NMAH.AC.0965

George Morison Collection, NMAH.AC.0978

John A. Roebling Collection, NMAH.AC.0981

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1577

For related material on Concrete Arch and Beam Bridges, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

For related material on Hydraulic Engineering, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Engineering, NMAH.AC0060

Charles Richardson Pratt Papers, NMAH.AC.0958

Rudolph Hering Collection, NMAH.AC.0989

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Glass Plate Negatives, NMAH.AC.1089

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

For related material on Machine Tools, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tools, NMAH.AC.0060

Pratt & Whitney Company Scrapbook, NMAH.AC.0093

Max Holland Numerical Control Collection, NMAH.AC.0537

Southwark Foundry and Machine Company Records, NMAH.AC.1107

For related material on Materials Handling, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Materials Handling, NMAH.AC.0060

James J. Childs Numerical Control Collection, NMAH.AC.0420

World War Two Bomb Damage Photographs, NMAH.AC.1535

Norton Grinding Machine Company Photograph Collection, NMAH.AC.1551

Paul Steam-Heating System Company Records, NMAH.AC.1554

For related material on Metal Arch Bridges, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bridges, NMAH.A.C0060

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1577

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

For related material on Movable Bridges, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

Henry Grattan Tyrrell and Mary Maude Knox Tyrrell Papers, NMAH.AC.0948

Nathan W. Morgan Papers, NMAH.AC.0965

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1577

For related material on Panama Canal, see the following collections:

John Frances Little Panama Canal Scrapbook, NMAH.AC.0708

A.R. Van Tassell Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1015

W. A. Fishbaugh Panama Canal Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1021

W. P. Stine Panama Canal Papers, NMAH.AC.1039

Katherine Kingsford Panama Canal Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1040

Richard Fisher Collection of Panama Canal Materials, NMAH.AC.1045

Robert Dearborn Panama Canal Glass Negatives, NMAH.AC.1111

Charles Edwards Wood Panama Canal Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1114

Panama Canal Commission Photonegatives, 1903-circa 1939, NMAH.AC.1116

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Panama Canal Collection, NMAH.AC.1569

For related material on Steam Boilers, see the following collections:

Frick Company Collection, NMAH.AC.293

Erasmus D. Leavitt Collection, NMAH.AC.0966

Edwin Rust Papers, NMAH.AC.1070

Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company Records, NMAH.AC.1541

For related material on Steam Turbines, see the following collections:

Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records, NMAH.AC.0001

Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company Records, NMAH.AC.0977

Skinner Engine Company Records, NMAH.AC.1087

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Glass Plate Negatives, NMAH.AC.1089

For related material on Suspension Bridges, see the following collections:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0143

Nathan W. Morgan Papers, NMAH.AC.0965

Modjeski and Masters Company Records, NMAH.AC.0976

Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Records, NMAH.AC.1060

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Glass Plate Negatives, NMAH.AC.1089

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

Robinson & Steinman Collection, NMAH.AC.1562

Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1577
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research 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.
Topic:
African American women  Search this
Architecture  Search this
Bearings (Machinery)  Search this
Bridges  Search this
Canals  Search this
Children -- 20th century  Search this
Coal mines and mining  Search this
Engineering  Search this
Hydraulic engineering  Search this
Machine-tools  Search this
Materials handling  Search this
Mining engineering  Search this
Power  Search this
Steam-boilers  Search this
Turbines  Search this
Tunnels  Search this
Laborers  Search this
Rubber -- Ceylon  Search this
Rubber -- Congo  Search this
Rubber plantations  Search this
Tires  Search this
Water-supply  Search this
Genre/Form:
Blueprints
Drawings -- 20th century
Lantern slides
Photographs -- Lantern slides -- 19th century
Photographs -- Lantern slides -- 1900-1950
Citation:
Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1886-1931, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1013
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep864c4320f-954c-462f-8434-2b79c0ed7159
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1013

Western Union Telegraph Company Records

Creator:
United Telegraph Workers.  Search this
Western Union Telegraph Company  Search this
Extent:
452 Cubic feet (871 boxes and 23 map folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Administrative records
Articles
Books
Clippings
Contracts
Drawings
Photographs
Patents
Newsletters
Photograph albums
Scrapbooks
Specifications
Technical documents
Date:
circa 1820-1995
Summary:
The collection documents in photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, correspondence, stock ledgers, annual reports, and financial records, the evolution of the telegraph, the development of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the beginning of the communications revolution. The collection materials describe both the history of the company and of the telegraph industry in general, particularly its importance to the development of the technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection is useful for researchers interested in the development of technology, economic history, and the impact of technology on American social and cultural life.
Scope and Contents:
The collection is divided into twenty-six (26) series and consists of approximately 400 cubic feet. The collection documents in photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, correspondence, stock ledgers, annual reports, and financial records, the evolution of the telegraph, the development of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the beginning of the communications revolution. The collection materials describe both the history of the company and of the telegraph industry in general, particularly its importance to the development of the technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection is useful for researchers interested in the development of technology, economic history, and the impact of technology on American social and cultural life.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into twenty-seven series.

Series 1: Historical and Background Information, 1851-1994

Series 2: Subsidiaries of Western Union, 1844-1986

Series 3: Executive Records, 1848-1987

Series 4: Presidential Letterbooks and Writings, 1865-1911

Series 5: Correspondence, 1837-1985

Series 6: Cyrus W. Field Papers, 1840-1892

Series 7: Secretary's Files, 1844-1987

Series 8: Financial Records, 1859-1995

Series 9: Legal Records, 1867-1968

Series 10: Railroad Records, 1854-1945

Series 11: Law Department Records, 1868-1979

Series 12: Patent Materials, 1840-1970

Series 13: Operating Records, 1868-1970s

Series 14: Westar VI-S, 1974, 1983-1986

Series 15: Engineering Department Records, 1874-1970

Series 16: Plant Department Records, 1867-1937, 1963

Series 17: Superintendent of Supplies Records, 1888-1948

Series 18: Employee/Personnel Records 1852-1985

Series 19: Public Relations Department Records, 1858-1980

Series 20: Western Union Museum, 1913-1971

Series 21: Maps, 1820-1964

Series 22: Telegrams, 1852-1960s

Series 23: Photographs, circa 1870-1980

Series 24: Scrapbooks, 1835-1956

Series 25: Notebooks, 1880-1942

Series 26: Audio Visual Materials, 1925-1994

Series 27: Addenda
Biographical / Historical:
In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse, assisted by Alfred Vail, conceived of the idea for an electromechanical telegraph, which he called the "Recording Telegraph." This commercial application of electricity was made tangible by their construction of a crude working model in 1835-36. This instrument probably was never used outside of Professor Morse's rooms where it was, however, operated in a number of demonstrations. This original telegraph instrument was in the hands of the Western Union Telegraph Company and had been kept carefully over the years in a glass case. It was moved several times in New York as the Western Union headquarters building changed location over the years. The company presented it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1950.

The telegraph was further refined by Morse, Vail, and a colleague, Leonard Gale, into working mechanical form in 1837. In this year Morse filed a caveat for it at the U.S. Patent Office. Electricity, provided by Joseph Henry's 1836 "intensity batteries", was sent over a wire. The flow of electricity through the wire was interrupted for shorter or longer periods by holding down the key of the device. The resulting dots or dashes were recorded on a printer or could be interpreted orally. In 1838 Morse perfected his sending and receiving code and organized a corporation, making Vail and Gale his partners.

In 1843 Morse received funds from Congress to set-up a demonstration line between Washington and Baltimore. Unfortunately, Morse was not an astute businessman and had no practical plan for constructing a line. After an unsuccessful attempt at laying underground cables with Ezra Cornell, the inventor of a trench digger, Morse switched to the erection of telegraph poles and was more successful. On May 24, 1844, Morse, in the U.S. Supreme Court Chambers in Washington, sent by telegraph the oft-quoted message to his colleague Vail in Baltimore, "What hath God wrought!"

In 1845 Morse hired Andrew Jackson's former postmaster general, Amos Kendall, as his agent in locating potential buyers of the telegraph. Kendall realized the value of the device, and had little trouble convincing others of its potential for profit. By the spring he had attracted a small group of investors. They subscribed $15,000 and formed the Magnetic Telegraph Company. Many new telegraph companies were formed as Morse sold licenses wherever he could.

The first commercial telegraph line was completed between Washington, D.C., and New York City in the spring of 1846 by the Magnetic Telegraph Company. Shortly thereafter, F. O. J. Smith, one of the patent owners, built a line between New York City and Boston. Most of these early companies were licensed by owners of Samuel Morse patents. The Morse messages were sent and received in a code of dots and dashes.

At this time other telegraph systems based on rival technologies were being built. Some companies used the printing telegraph, a device invented by a Vermonter, Royal E. House, whose messages were printed on paper or tape in Roman letters. In 1848 a Scotch scientist, Alexander Bain, received his patents on a telegraph. These were but two of many competing and incompatible technologies that had developed. The result was confusion, inefficiency, and a rash of suits and counter suits.

By 1851 there were over fifty separate telegraph companies operating in the United States. This corporate cornucopia developed because the owners of the telegraph patents had been unsuccessful in convincing the United States and other governments of the invention's potential usefulness. In the private sector, the owners had difficulty convincing capitalists of the commercial value of the invention. This led to the owners' willingness to sell licenses to many purchasers who organized separate companies and then built independent telegraph lines in various sections of the country.

Hiram Sibley moved to Rochester, New York, in 1838 to pursue banking and real estate. Later he was elected sheriff of Monroe County. In Rochester he was introduced to Judge Samuel L. Selden who held the House Telegraph patent rights. In 1849 Selden and Sibley organized the New York State Printing Telegraph Company, but they found it hard to compete with the existing New York, Albany, and Buffalo Telegraph Company.

After this experience Selden suggested that instead of creating a new line, the two should try to acquire all the companies west of Buffalo and unite them into a single unified system. Selden secured an agency for the extension throughout the United States of the House system. In an effort to expand this line west, Judge Selden called on friends and the people in Rochester. This led, in April 1851, to the organization of a company and the filing in Albany of the Articles of Association for the "New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company" (NYMVPTC), a company which later evolved into the Western Union Telegraph Company.

In 1854 there were two rival systems of the NYMVPTC in the West. These two systems consisted of thirteen separate companies. All the companies were using Morse patents in the five states north of the Ohio River. This created a struggle between three separate entities, leading to an unreliable and inefficient telegraph service. The owners of these rival companies eventually decided to invest their money elsewhere and arrangements were made for the NYMVPTC to purchase their interests.

Hiram Sibley recapitalized the company in 1854 under the same name and began a program of construction and acquisition. The most important takeover was carried out by Sibley when he negotiated the purchase of the Morse patent rights for the Midwest for $50,000 from Jeptha H. Wade and John J. Speed, without the knowledge of Ezra Cornell, their partner in the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company (EMTC). With this acquisition Sibley proceeded to switch to the superior Morse system. He also hired Wade, a very capable manager, who became his protege and later his successor. After a bitter struggle Morse and Wade obtained the EMTC from Cornell in 1855, thus assuring dominance by the NYMVPTC in the Midwest. In 1856 the company name was changed to the "Western Union Telegraph Company," indicating the union of the Western lines into one compact system. In December, 1857, the Company paid stockholders their first dividend.

Between 1857 and 1861 similar consolidations of telegraph companies took place in other areas of the country so that most of the telegraph interests of the United States had merged into six systems. These were the American Telegraph Company (covering the Atlantic and some Gulf states), The Western Union Telegraph Company (covering states North of the Ohio River and parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota), the New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company (covering New York State), the Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company (covering Pennsylvania), the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company (covering sections of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois), and the New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company (covering the southern Mississippi Valley and the Southwest). All these companies worked together in a mutually friendly alliance, and other small companies cooperated with the six systems, particularly some on the West Coast.

By the time of the Civil War, there was a strong commercial incentive to construct a telegraph line across the western plains to link the two coasts of America. Many companies, however, believed the line would be impossible to build and maintain.

In 1860 Congress passed, and President James Buchanan signed, the Pacific Telegraph Act, which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to seek bids for a project to construct a transcontinental line. When two bidders dropped out, Hiram Sibley, representing Western Union, was the only bidder left. By default Sibley won the contract. The Pacific Telegraph Company was organized for the purpose of building the eastern section of the line. Sibley sent Wade to California, where he consolidated the small local companies into the California State Telegraph Company. This entity then organized the Overland Telegraph Company, which handled construction eastward from Carson City, Nevada, joining the existing California lines, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Sibley's Pacific Telegraph Company built westward from Omaha, Nebraska. Sibley put most of his resources into the venture. The line was completed in October, 1861. Both companies were soon merged into Western Union. This accomplishment made Hiram Sibley leader of the telegraph industry.

Further consolidations took place over the next several years. Many companies merged into the American Telegraph Company. With the expiration of the Morse patents, several organizations were combined in 1864 under the name of "The U.S. Telegraph Company." In 1866 the final consolidation took place, with Western Union exchanging stock for the stock of the other two organizations. The general office of Western Union moved at this time from Rochester to 145 Broadway, New York City. In 1875 the main office moved to 195 Broadway, where it remained until 1930 when it relocated to 60 Hudson Street.

In 1873 Western Union purchased a majority of shares in the International Ocean Telegraph Company. This was an important move because it marked Western Union's entry into the foreign telegraph market. Having previously worked with foreign companies, Western Union now began competing for overseas business.

In the late 1870s Western Union, led by William H. Vanderbilt, attempted to wrest control of the major telephone patents, and the new telephone industry, away from the Bell Telephone Company. But due to new Bell leadership and a subsequent hostile takeover attempt of Western Union by Jay Gould, Western Union discontinued its fight and Bell Telephone prevailed.

Despite these corporate calisthenics, Western Union remained in the public eye. The sight of a uniformed Western Union messenger boy was familiar in small towns and big cities all over the country for many years. Some of Western Union's top officials in fact began their careers as messenger boys.

Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century the telegraph became one of the most important factors in the development of social and commercial life of America. In spite of improvements to the telegraph, however, two new inventions--the telephone (nineteenth century) and the radio (twentieth century)--eventually replaced the telegraph as the leaders of the communication revolution for most Americans.

At the turn of the century, Bell abandoned its struggles to maintain a monopoly through patent suits, and entered into direct competition with the many independent telephone companies. Around this time, the company adopted its new name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).

In 1908 AT&T gained control of Western Union. This proved beneficial to Western Union, because the companies were able to share lines when needed, and it became possible to order telegrams by telephone. However, it was only possible to order Western Union telegrams, and this hurt the business of Western Union's main competitor, the Postal Telegraph Company. In 1913, however, as part of a move to prevent the government from invoking antitrust laws, AT&T completely separated itself from Western Union.

Western Union continued to prosper and it received commendations from the U.S. armed forces for service during both world wars. In 1945 Western Union finally merged with its longtime rival, the Postal Telegraph Company. As part of that merger, Western Union agreed to separate domestic and foreign business. In 1963 Western Union International Incorporated, a private company completely separate from the Western Union Telegraph Company, was formed and an agreement with the Postal Telegraph Company was completed. In 1994, Western Union Financial Services, Inc. was acquired by First Financial Management Corporation. In 1995, First Financial Management Corporation merged with First Data Corporation making Western Union a First Data subsidiary.

Many technological advancements followed the telegraph's development. The following are among the more important:

The first advancement of the telegraph occurred around 1850 when operators realized that the clicks of the recording instrument portrayed a sound pattern, understandable by the operators as dots and dashes. This allowed the operator to hear the message by ear and simultaneously write it down. This ability transformed the telegraph into a versatile and speedy system.

Duplex Telegraphy, 1871-72, was invented by the president of the Franklin Telegraph Company. Unable to sell his invention to his own company, he found a willing buyer in Western Union. Utilizing this invention, two messages were sent over the wire simultaneously, one in each direction.

As business blossomed and demand surged, new devices appeared. Thomas Edison's Quadruplex allowed four messages to be sent over the same wire simultaneously, two in one direction and two in the other.

An English automatic signaling arrangement, Wheatstone's Automatic Telegraph, 1883, allowed larger numbers of words to be transmitted over a wire at once. It could only be used advantageously, however, on circuits where there was a heavy volume of business.

Buckingham's Machine Telegraph was an improvement on the House system. It printed received messages in plain Roman letters quickly and legibly on a message blank, ready for delivery.

Vibroplex, c. 1890, a semi-automatic key sometimes called a "bug key," made the dots automatically. This relieved the operator of much physical strain.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Additional moving image about Western Union Telegraph Company can be found in the Industry on Parade Collection (AC0507). This includes Cable to Cuba! by Bell Laboratory, AT & T, featuring the cable ship, the C.S. Lord Kelvin, and Communications Centennial! by the Western Union Company.

Materials at Other Organizations

Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware.

Western Union records (Western Union Right of Way and Other Agreements, 1848-1990, bulk: 1910-1989 and the Western Union Locality Files, 1892-1995, bulk: 1910-1989) form part of the MCI Communications Corporation Records, 1849-1999. See accession 2225.

First Data Corporation, Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Records of First Data Corporation and its predecessors, including Western Union, First Financial Management Corporation (Atlanta) and First Data Resources (Omaha). Western Union collection supports research of telegraphy and related technologies, and includes company records, annual reports, photographs, print and broadcast advertising, telegraph equipment, and messenger uniforms.

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Western Union Telegraph Expedition, 1865-1867

This collection includes correspondence, mostly to Spencer F. Baird, from members of the Scientific Corps of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, including Kennicott, Dall, Bannister, and Elliott; copies of reports submitted to divisional chiefs from expedition staff members; newspaper clippings concerning the expedition; copies of notes on natural history taken by Robert Kennicott; and a journal containing meteorological data recorded by Henry M. Bannister from March to August, 1866.
Separated Materials:
Artifacts (apparatus and equipment) were donated to the Division of Information Technology and Society, now known as the Division of Work & Industry, National Museum of American History.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Western Union in September of 1971.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. 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.
Topic:
Communications equipment  Search this
Communication -- International cooperation  Search this
Electric engineering  Search this
Electric engineers  Search this
Electrical equipment  Search this
Electrical science and technology  Search this
Telegraphers  Search this
Telegraph  Search this
Genre/Form:
Administrative records
Articles
Books
Clippings
Contracts
Drawings
Photographs -- 19th century
Patents
Photographs -- 20th century
Newsletters
Photograph albums
Scrapbooks -- 19th century
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Specifications
Technical documents
Citation:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0205
See more items in:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b72e8493-288c-4bd0-84d5-011155da30a7
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0205
Online Media:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials

Donor:
Bethlehem Steel Corporation  Search this
Manufacturer:
Consolidation Coal Company  Search this
Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company  Search this
Extent:
23 Cubic feet (99 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Photograph albums
Window displays
Date:
1885-1940s
Summary:
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.
Topic:
Accidents  Search this
Children -- 20th century  Search this
Coal miners  Search this
Company towns  Search this
Churches  Search this
Coal mines and mining -- Safety measures  Search this
Construction  Search this
Dams  Search this
Gardens  Search this
General stores  Search this
Hospitals  Search this
Housing  Search this
Kindergarten  Search this
May Day  Search this
Mine safety  Search this
Mines -- Kentucky  Search this
Mines -- Maryland  Search this
Mines -- Pennsylvania  Search this
Mines -- West Virginia  Search this
Mining corporations  Search this
Mining equipment  Search this
Mining -- Kentucky  Search this
Mining -- Maryland  Search this
Mining and minerals industry  Search this
Mining -- Pennsylvania  Search this
Mining -- West Virginia  Search this
Railroads -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Schools -- school houses -- Classrooms  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Photograph albums -- 20th century
Window displays
Citation:
Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1007
See more items in:
Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep86027ae9f-9a84-4277-adcf-d0b5e919ac6a
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1007
Online Media:

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