National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
Extent:
270 Cubic feet (233 boxes, 850 oversize folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Linen tracings
Paper flimsies
Business records
Design drawings
Blueprints
Patents
Specifications
Reports
Photograph albums
Photographs
Trade literature
Date:
1784-2004, undated
bulk 1915-1930
Summary:
The engineering firm that became Lockwood Greene was founded by David Whitman, a mill engineer, in 1832. Amos D. Lockwood, a consultant, succeeded Whitman and entered a partnership with Stephen Greene in 1882. The firm specialized in industrial engineering and construction; they designed and built a wide variety of structures and work environments worldwide over the next century. Lockwood Greene was acquired by CH2M HILL in December, 2003. Before its acquisition by CH2MHILL it was reportedly the oldest industrial engineering, construction, and professional services firm in the United States.
Scope and Contents:
The Lockwood Greene records are a comprehensive range of documents related to the appraisal, building, construction, design, evaluation, and engineering of facilities for a variety of clients. The material covers the entire period of industrialization of the United States, and, provides a thorough record of the textile industry, both in New England and the South. Some of the textile mills are documented with unusual completeness, showing water and steam power layouts, factory village plans, and landscaping schedules. A broad range of other building typologies is also covered, including projects with public or retail functions, such as early automobile showrooms, hospitals, apartments and private dwellings, churches, and schools.
In-depth study of the company's earliest history is hampered by a scarcity of records, many of which were lost in the great fire that destroyed Boston's city center in 1872. Nevertheless, graphic and textual evidence does exist within the collection that illuminates these early projects, in addition to the fabric of surviving buildings. The Lockwood Greene records document several commissions that the firm would return to again and again over the course of many decades as clients requested plant additions, upgrades to mechanical and operating systems, and other substantive changes. Researchers are encouraged to examine the blueprints, elevations, and plans for these later additions in order to find illustrations of the firm's earlier interventions at the site. In addition to drawings, other visual evidence for nineteenth-century projects can be found in the company's extensive photo files, which often document structures for which drawings do not exist.
The Lockwood Greene records contain an abundance of graphic and textual evidence for structures designed after 1910 until the 1930s. After this period, visual documentation becomes much more limited. This is partially due to the evolution of drafting tools and information management technologies within the architecture and engineering profession. Lockwood Greene was an early adopter of technological innovations in rendering and data capture, beginning with the introduction of aperture cards and microfilm and extending to the adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) programs. These more modern formats were not part of the acquisition, and, at the time of writing, still reside with the company.
The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of interest to historians of architecture and engineering, as well as those that study the history of business and labor relations. It provides extensive textual and documentary evidence on the evolution and growth of American engineering and the increasing professionalization of the discipline through specialization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rich holdings of architectural drawings, photographs, and specifications provide unparalleled resources that trace the evolution of industrial buildings and their typologies; experimentation with building materials and systems, particularly with regards to fireproofing; and the history of textile manufacture in the United States. In addition, there is also rich visual and documentary evidence of the changing relationships between corporations and their employees through photographs, plans, and designs for company towns and mill villages, as well as through corporate records that illustrate the work culture of Lockwood Greene itself. The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of special interest to historic preservationists as the awareness of the significance of industrial and vernacular buildings continues to grow, and detailed design drawings and other visual material will be of especial value for restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive-reuse projects.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1, Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans, 1784-1969, undated
Series 2, Photographs and Slides, 1881-2001, undated
Series 5, Non-Lockwood Greene Publications, 1910-1984, undated
Series 6, Audio-Visual, 1964
Biographical / Historical:
Lockwood Greene, one of the nation's oldest engineering firms, traces it roots to 1832, when Rhode Island native David Whitman began a machinery repair service. Riding the wave of the early industrial revolution in textile manufacturing, Whitman added mill design services to his repertoire, which formed the backbone of a flourishing consulting business for the rest of the century. Whitman was one of the first itinerant mill engineers or "doctors" that traveled throughout New England advising various industrialists on the placement, design, and construction of their factories and the layout of the complicated system of machinery and shafting that they contained. His largest commission was the design of the Bates Manufacturing Company complex in Lewiston, Maine, which was incorporated in 1850 and soon became one of the largest textile producers in New England.
Upon Whitman's death in 1858, his unfinished work was assumed by Amos D. Lockwood, a prominent mill agent and astute businessman who had built a name for himself in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The successful completion of the projects at Lewiston brought enough additional demand for Lockwood's services to prompt him to relocate to Boston, where he formally opened an independent consulting office with partner John W. Danielson in 1871. For the next ten years, A.D. Lockwood & Company was involved in a least eight major mill design projects, half of which were for new construction. One of these projects, the design and construction of the Piedmont Manufacturing Company in Greenville (now Piedmont), South Carolina was especially significant and is considered to be a prototype for the Southern textile industry.
In 1882, Lockwood established a new business, Lockwood, Greene and Company, with Stephen Greene, a professionally-trained civil engineer who had joined the firm in 1879. As the firm grew, it expanded its scope as consultants supplying all of the necessary architectural and engineering services a prospective owner needed to initiate, equip, and run a complete plant. Acting as the owners' representative, the company supervised construction and installation but did not directly act as builders or contractors. Lockwood
Greene's objective expertise was legendary and made it a leader in this emergent field. As Samuel B. Lincoln explains in his history of the company:
"The new firm's knowledge and experience in the textile industry enabled it to analyze samples of cloth and, from such samples, to provide everything necessary for a completed plant to make such goods in any desired quantity. It did not at any time act as selling agents for machinery or equipment, neither did it accept commissions or rebates from suppliers: by this policy it maintained a position as impartial and independent engineer." (pages 105-107)
Greene became president of the company upon Lockwood's death in 1884. Under his leadership, the company expanded into additional industries and designed an array of other industrial building types that would prefigure the diversity of later work. In 1893, the company revolutionized American industry by designing and constructing the first factory whose operating power was provided entirely over electric wires from a remote power plant, rather than relying upon a water source or a stockpiled fuel supply. The Columbia Mills project created a great deal of publicity for the firm and was a signal to other manufacturers that there were viable alternatives to the use of steam power.
As changing economic conditions led Lockwood Greene to move away from its traditional reliance upon the textile manufacturing industry, it was very successful at soliciting projects for a wide variety of structures, from newspaper plants and automotive factories to convention halls and schools. After 1900, Lockwood Greene expanded its operations and opened branch offices in other cities, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, and Charlotte. In 1915, Edwin F. Greene, president and son of Stephen Greene, reorganized the firm as Lockwood, Greene & Company, Incorporated This new entity served as the parent company and controlled three subsidiaries: one to own and operate cotton mills that Greene had acquired; one to manage other companies' textile mills; and one to provide engineering services.
Lockwood Greene expanded its operations tremendously as the textile industry boomed under wartime demand and in the years following. The severe textile depression from 1923 to 1928 caused the collapse of this structure, however, as Lockwood Greene continued to suffer deep losses in the textile mills that it owned. The parent company was dissolved in 1928 and the engineering subsidiary, which had remained profitable, was salvaged as Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated.
After a rocky start with the onset of the Depression, the company began to prosper during the Second World War and its growth continued steadily throughout the next several decades. In the late 1960s, as a result of declining business, the company's headquarters was transferred from Boston to Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 1981, Phillipp Holtzman USA, a subsidiary of Phillipp Holtzman AG of Frankfurt, Germany, acquired a majority interest in Lockwood Greene. In 2003, CH2M Hill, a global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services based in Denver, Colorado, acquired the company.
From its beginnings under David Whitman, Lockwood Greene has become one of the most diversified engineering firms in the United States. The firm is best known as a designer of industrial and institutional buildings, but the company has become a leader in many additional areas in recent years. Lockwood Greene dominates the market in the design and production of the germ- and dust-free "clean room" facilities required by the pharmaceutical industry and micro-electronics manufacturers. The company has also developed expertise in designing integrated security and networking systems for industrial plants, international port facilities, and military installations worldwide.
Banham, Raynor. A Concrete Atlantis: U.S. Industrial Building and European Modern Architecture, 1900-1925. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.
Biggs, Lindy. The Rational Factory: Architecture, Technology, and Work in America's Age of Mass Production. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Greene, Benjamin Allen. Stephen Greene: Memories of His Life, with Addresses, Resolutions and Other Tributes of Affection. Chicago, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, 1903.
Heiser, William J. Lockwood Greene, 1958-1968, Another Period in the History of an Engineering Business. Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated, 1970.
Lincoln, Samuel B. Lockwood Greene: The History of an Engineering Business, 1832-1958. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1960.
Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated The Lockwood Greene Story: One-Hundred-Fifty Years of Engineering Progress. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated; undated.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Smithsonian Instituion Libraries
"[Trade catalogs from Lockwood, Greene & Co.]", Trade Literature at the American History Museum
Books, Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Lockwood Greene, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1997 (original drawings). An addendum to the collection was donated by CH2M HILL in 2007.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
12.77 Cubic feet (consisting of 26.5 boxes, 1 folder, 7 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial), plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Print advertising
Periodicals
Publications
Advertising cards
Advertising mail
Printed ephemera
Patterns
Catalogues
Designs (textile)
Sales catalogs
Business cards
Legal records
Contracts
Textiles
Trade catalogs
Exhibition catalogs
Advertising
Advertisements
Mail order catalogs
Business records
Designs
Printed material
Labels
Instructional materials
Trademarks
Legal documents
Trade cards
Legislation (legal concepts)
Ephemera
Samples
Manuals
Sample books
Design patents
Advertising fliers
Illustrations
Catalogs
Sales letters
Business letters
Correspondence
Manufacturers' catalogs
Commercial correspondence
Letterheads
Invoices
Photographs
Sales records
Printed materials
Fabrics
Trade literature
Business ephemera
Receipts
Commercial catalogs
Date:
1784-1970
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
Scope and Contents:
This material is concentrated on the 19th century United States textile manufacture and trade, and the sale of textiles in the form of bale, bolt, roll, and fabric to commercial vendors or consumers as source material to make other goods. The first series contains day-to-day records of dealers and vendors, plus advertising and marketing material. Artisan and home production of goods are virtually not covered but are a couple of incidental publications related to arts, crafts (rugs, weaving, looms), and more refined work such as tapestry. The import/export of textiles is well represented with a large volume of records, which may also provide some insight into the shipping industry.
There is not much on the infrastructure of the industry in the way of directories, trade journals, trade associations, along with manufacturing and plants, though there are a few examples of each. There are virtually no catalogues, except for a few thin ones that were filed by company name. While not extensive, the sample books and swatches offer a glimpse into product lines. Material types offers limited, specific information on certain varieties such as cotton, wool, linen, rayon, etc. Thread might be incidentally present but is not specifically included since there is already a dedicated subject category for it.
There is a healthy sampling of product labels. A handful of intellectual property related documents cover protections of designs, plus patents and trademarks. There is a small bulk of publications related to tariffs and the wool industry.
Clothing patterns, home economics, sewing and seamstresses, household use of textiles (furniture covering, as a cleaning tool, bedding/pillows, etc.) are not covered within this category. Researchers should also look at any of a number of other Warshaw categories, particularly those related to clothing, hosiery, dry goods, furniture, curtains, etc. for period popularity of certain materials and patterns.
Arrangement:
Textiles is arranged in three subseries.
Business Records and Marketing Material
Genre
Subject
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Textiles is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Textiles, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
The collection consists primaily of photographs and films created by the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) to document cotton production and use and to support the advocacy and educational work of the organization.
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of photographs, slides, and 16mm films created by the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) to document cotton production and use and to support the educational and advocacy work of the organization. It is arranged into four series.
Series one contains black and white photographic prints dating primarily from the 1950s-1970s. The photographs document every aspect of cotton farming, from before the seed is planted to the production of finished cloth. Most of these prints illustrate agricultural practices, including land preparation, planting, bedding, plowing, harrowing, drainage, cultivation, stripping, and harvesting. Another group documents pests and infestations – boll weevils, fleas, mites, pink bollworm, hoppers - and the methods of countering them with insecticide and herbicide applications. Other photographs illustrate more general topics, including the history of cotton, research programs, trading, foreign cotton farming, printing, spinning, and weaving. There are also photographs of agricultural equipment manufactured by International Harvester. In addition, a small group of photographs consist of images from movies produced by the National Cotton Council of America (NCC). The photographs were maintained in the order that was created by the National Cotton Council of America (NCC).
Series two include slides and color photographs which date from the 1980s-early 2000s. These materials document many of the same topics as the black and white photographic prints during a later time. Many of the slides were created and assembled for use in presentations. In addition, there are slides of individuals and activities from the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) board meetings and conferences.
Series three consists of publications and reference materials.
Series four contains two hundred and fourteen films that were created by the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) and date from the 1960s-1980s. Films primarily document cotton farming and its versatility and use in consumer goods. A consistent theme and message are to promote cotton to the fashion industry and for home use.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1, Black and White Photographic Prints, 1945-1970s, undated
Subseries 1.1, Cultivation and Production of Cotton, 1950s-1970s
Subseries 1.2, Film Stills, 1956-1971, undated
Subseries 1.3, Subjects and Events, 1945-1965
Series 2, Slides, 1979-1999, undated
Series 3, Publications, 1954-1981
Series 4, Films, 1953-1996, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The National Cotton Council of America (NCC) is the official trade association of the cotton industry. The NCC was founded in 1939 to promote the interests of cotton farmers, ginners, brokers, and manufacturers from the Southern, cotton-growing states. Its mission evolved over the years as new uses for cotton and its byproducts were found; as synthetic fibers were developed; as fashion tastes changed; as government regulation increased; and as foreign competition in farming and manufacturing grew. The National Cotton Council's website states that its current mission is "to ensure the ability of all United States cotton industry segments to compete effectively and profitably in the raw cotton, oilseed and United States-manufactured product markets at home and abroad." Throughout its existence, the NCC has been the contact point for industry issues affecting its members, legislators in Congress, allied agribusinesses, and consumers.
The National Cotton Council of America (NCC) initially gave this collection to the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange early in 2008, during the move of the Memphis-based NCC's corporate offices into a much smaller facility. Calvin Turley, president of the Board of the Cotton Museum, accepted the materials with the understanding that he could do with them as he wished. Ultimately, he decided that the collection was outside the scope of the Cotton Museum's mission. Turley offered the collection to the National Museum of American History in the belief that this was "the best possible place in the whole world for it."
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Maid of Cotton Records (NMAH.AC.1176)
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (NMAH.AC.0060)
Peter Paul Haring Papers (NMAH.AC.1014)
Sally Fox Innovative Lives Presentation (NMAH.AC.0646)
William Mason Papers (NMAH.AC.0045)
Anne E. Peterson Stereograph Collection (NMAH.AC.0402)
Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records (NMAH.AC.0773)
Uriah A. Boyden Papers (NMAH.AC.0982)
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2009 by the Cotton Museum.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.
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.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Lake Victoria; Mwanza district. Typical house (Swahili) and cotton collecting". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Family and cotton collection on a farm on shores of Lake Victoria". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Lake Victoria area. Cotton haul and sorting - typical scene in June - cotton picking season". Original number, "15"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania: Women in typical dress - the cotton-printed kanga". Original number, "3336-26"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. East Africa; Cotton picking near Lake Victoria on a cooperative farm". Original number, "32"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. East Africa. A thatched hut and a man with cotton. Typical of the area. A lot of cotton is grown there". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Lake Victoria. Cotton sorting and collecting]". Original number, "26113"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania; Picking cotton on a cooperative farm in Lake Victoria area". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Cotton picking near Lake Victoria". Original number, "23033"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania; Cotton picking Lake Victoria area. Woman picking with baby on back". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Lake Victoria". Original number, "22230"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Cotton picking on cooperative farm. Lake Victoria - Mwanza district". Original number, "19323"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Cotton-picking on a cooperative farm near Lake Victoria. Mwanza district". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Typical village houses in cotton country near Lake Victoria - Mwanza district". Original number, "20733"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "[Village houses in cotton country near Lake Victoria]". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania. Lake Victoria; cotton picking along shores of lake". Â
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Original caption reads, "Tanzania; Picking cotton on a cooperative farm in Lake Victoria area". Original number, "228"
Series Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Series Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
