Search Results

Creator:

Smithsonian Channel  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-07-15T16:24:17.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianchannel

Data Source:

Smithsonian Channel

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianchannel

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_iJO12oBEHW4

Author:

Shorland-Ball, Rob  Search this

National Railway Museum  Search this

Science Museum  Search this

Physical description:

236 p. : ill., maps, ports., plans ; 25 cm

Type:

Congresses

Date:

1994

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Railroads--Conservation and restoration  Search this

Call number:

TF15 .C73 1994

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_492723

Author:

Whittemore, Henry b. 1833  Search this

Physical description:

96, 80 p. front., illus. (incl. ports.) pl. 23cm

Type:

Books

Date:

1909

C1909]

Topic:

Steam-navigation--History  Search this

Railroads--History  Search this

Call number:

VM615 .W62 1909

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_383875

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

3.68 Cubic feet (consisting of 8 boxes, 1 folder, 3 oversize folders.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Travel brochures

Commercial correspondence

Letterheads

Receipts

Print advertising

Business cards

Invoices

Business letters

Publications

Business records

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Correspondence

Advertising fliers

Advertisements

Advertising

Advertising mail

Advertising cards

Printed ephemera

Place:

Australia -- Description and Travel

Austria -- description and travel

Spain -- description and travel

Scotland -- description and travel

Colorado -- description and travel

Ireland -- description and travel

England -- description and travel

Europe -- description and travel -- 1910-1950

China -- Description and Travel

Mexico -- description and travel

Europe -- description and travel

Canada -- Description and Travel

United States -- description and travel

Date:

1844-1966

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:

Tours consists of business records and advertisements created by tourism companies and rail lines, travel guides to varied countries and geographic areas, and other select items such as travel advice, resources on hotels and resorts, and travel-related events or lectures.

No expansive business documentation exists for any company represented within the records. The strength of the collection lies in its breadth of information about other countries, states, or geographic locations provided for the purposes of informing travelers. While no substantial material concerning the history and development of the tourism industry exists within the collection, this subject category provides substantial resources for researchers interested in sorts of information that was made available to tourists, types of travel and tours available, and background about resources and perceptions of promoted vacation destinations over a long time period.

Arrangement:

Tours is arranged in three subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material

Genre

Subject

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Tours 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.

Topic:

Railroads -- 19th century  Search this

Railroads -- 20th century  Search this

Health resorts  Search this

Automobile travel  Search this

Railroads -- 1860-1900  Search this

Railroads -- 1874-1910  Search this

Travel  Search this

Hotels  Search this

Automobile travel -- United States  Search this

Railroads -- Dining-car service  Search this

Railroads  Search this

Railroad companies  Search this

Tourist trade -- 1900-1910  Search this

Tourism  Search this

Maps, Tourist  Search this

Transportation  Search this

Railroads -- History  Search this

Railroads -- Trains  Search this

Sleeping cars (Railroads)  Search this

Air travel  Search this

Travel -- 1890-1930  Search this

Tourist trade -- Postcards  Search this

Travel -- 1910-1920  Search this

Railroad travel  Search this

Description and Travel  Search this

Family vacations  Search this

Tourist trade -- 1910-1940  Search this

Railroad stations  Search this

Tourist trade -- 1900-1910 -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

advertising -- Transportation  Search this

Vacations  Search this

Railroad passenger cars  Search this

Genre/Form:

Travel brochures

Commercial correspondence

Letterheads

Receipts

Print advertising

Business cards

Invoices

Business letters

Publications -- Business

Business records

Publications

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Correspondence

Advertising fliers

Advertisements

Advertising

Advertising mail

Advertising cards

Printed ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tours, 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).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Tours

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Tours

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ec3d919a-fdba-4173-8a85-5b72a71d4dfa

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-tours

Creator:

Norrell, Thomas, 1899-1985  Search this

Extent:

18 Cubic feet (84 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Photograph albums

Ephemera

Date:

circa 1840-circa 1960

bulk 1870-1940

Summary:

Approximately 11,000 images collected by Thomas Norrell consisting of original photographic prints and photographic postcards, original film and glass plate negatives, and duplicate/copy photographic prints and negatives. The majority are external views of single locomotive engines of North American railroad and industrial companies. Images of international railroad company locomotives and of representative locomotives from various locomotive works and builders are also included. The collection contains a small number of subject-specific images covering such topics as train wrecks, funeral trains, experimental locomotives, miniature trains, and locomotives at the 1933 and 1939 World's Fairs.

Scope and Contents:

The collection contains material related primarily, but not exclusively, to early North American railroad locomotives. Photographs and negatives comprise the bulk of the material in the collection, with the number of individual images well exceeding 10,000. While the collection is particularly valuable for its images of locomotives from smaller or relatively obscure railroad lines and industrial concerns (such as mining and lumber companies), it also includes a substantial number of images from the leaders of the railroad industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (such as the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad).

Norrell's organization of the collection reflects his technical knowledge of railroad engines and his familiarity with various railroad companies. His use of Whyte notation as an organizational schema gives evidence to this. Whyte notation is broadly utilized by the railroad industry as a way to classify locomotives based on their wheel configuration. A count of leading (non-driving) wheels, middle driving wheels, and trailing wheels (non-driving) is represented by a three-digit hyphenated number. For example, a locomotive with four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and two trailing wheels would be classified as a 4-4-2. Norrell utilized this convention when subdividing railroad companies for which he had collected many images, such as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, among others. Norrell subdivided portions of his collection of Pennsylvania Railroad images based on that company's distinct classification system, where letters of the alphabet corresponded to different Whyte notations.

Norrell used other criteria to help subdivide larger assemblages of single-company railroad images, and these have been maintained. In some instances, he used the company number designation found on the locomotive itself (as in the case of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad). Other times, subject designations were used to distinguish rail yards, passenger cars, and special or prominent locomotives. Because the Pennsylvania Railroad comprised such a large segment of images, Norrell organized it according to a number of subdivision types (including year, Whyte notation, and subject) rather than any single one.

The collection is arranged into three series: Series 1, Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, Series 2, Photographic Prints, circa 1850-1960, and Series 3, Ephemera, undated.

Series 1, Negatives, 1831-1967, undated,contains photographic negatives and is divided into two subseries: Subseries 1, Film Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, and Subseries 2, Glass Plate Negatives, 1831-1967, undated.

The series contains original negative images, copy negatives of other printed images, and copy negatives of printed material, such as book illustrations. The inclusive dates for the series reflect the subject of the material photographed (as in the case of copy negatives) rather than the date the negative was created.

The negatives primarily depict views of single locomotive engines from various North American and international mainline and short line railroads. Interspersed among these are views of company-owned locomotives representing such North American industries as mining (coal, iron, limestone, copper, gold, quartz, zinc), lumber (timber, pulp, paper), metallurgical production (coke, iron, steel), stone/brick production (masonry, cement, gravel), utilities (power, light, telephone), chemical production, leather production, automotive production, and food service. A number of military railroad locomotives as well as early metropolitan transit systems are also represented among the negatives. Most of the images depict steam locomotives, though some diesel engines, diesel-electric hybrid engines, passenger and freight cars, and assorted repair/service vehicles are also spread throughout.

Subseries 1, Film Negatives, 1831-1967, undated consists of polyester film negatives ranging in size from 2 1/4" x 4 1/4" to 5" x 7". Additional larger polyester film negatives are interfiled with the glass plate negatives of Subseries 2 and range in size from 5" x 7" to 8" x 10".

The negatives are physically arranged by size, then by the negative series number originally assigned to them by the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation. This numbering system generally, but not always, follows an alphabetical order by name of railroad company (North American and international) or industrial company. The majority of the film negatives are 5" x 7" or smaller, and the number series for this size of negative begins with 85-20939 and ends with 85-31126.

Film negatives larger than 5" x 7" are separated and interfiled with the glass plate negatives of Subseries 2. As such, the negative series number range for these larger film negatives is not always consecutive. The first series number range begins at 82-4189 and ends at 82-4429. The second range begins at 82-13786 and ends at 82-13795. A printed, item-level index of the negatives containing an alphabetical list of railroad and industrial company names and associated negative numbers is available for consultation in the Archives Center.

The envelope enclosures for all negatives generally include the name of the railroad or industrial company, the engine/locomotive number, the engine/locomotive builder, the Whyte classification (wheel arrangement), the year of the engine/locomotive's construction, a brief description of the image, the size of the negative, and the negative series number.

Subseries 2, Glass Plate Negatives, 1831-1967, undated, consists of glass plate negatives ranging in size from 5" x 7" to 10" x 12". Three broken glass plate negatives have been re-housed and are stored separately. Otherwise the plates are arranged by size, then by original negative series number as assigned by the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation. This number range is not always consecutive because the glass plate negatives are interfiled with the larger film negatives of Subseries 1. A printed, item-level index of the negatives containing an alphabetical list of railroad and industrial company names and associated negative numbers is available for consultation in the Archives Center.

The 8" x 10" glass plate negative number series begins with 82-4168 and ends with 82-4424.

The 5" x 7" glass plate negatives contain series numbers 82-13783 to 82-13785.

The 12" x 10" glass plate negatives contain series numbers 82-4430 to 82-4452.

The envelope enclosures for the negatives generally include the name of the railroad or industrial company, the engine/locomotive builder, the Whyte classification (wheel arrangement), in some cases a brief description of the image, and the negative series number.

Series 2, Photographic Prints, circa 1850-1960,consists of visual material, including photographic postcards, illustrated postcards, photographic prints (made through a variety of photographic processes), and a photograph album. It contains five subseries: Subseries 1, North American Railroad Companies; Subseries 2, International Railroad Companies; Subseries 3, Railroad Builders; Subseries 4, Subjects; and Subseries 5, Duplicate Images.

Subseries 1, North American Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960 includes photographic and illustrated postcards and photographic prints of North American railroad companies, industrial railroads, and urban transit companies. The images range in size from 2 1/4" x 4 1/4" to 8" x 10," with the majority being silver gelatin prints. Occasional albumen prints, cyanotype prints, and salted paper prints are found in the collection. The majority of the images are views of single locomotive engines, though some images of railroad stations, roundhouses, rail yards, and passenger cars are interspersed throughout. While the majority of the photographs are 4" x 6" or smaller, there are prints larger than 4" x 6" which are arranged alphabetically by railroad or industrial company name. In some cases multiple larger images from railroad companies with names close to each other alphabetically are filed together in a single folder and identified with the first common letters of the company names.

Norrell's original alphabetical organization by railroad or industrial company name has been preserved. In some instances where a substantial number of images for a particular railroad company exist, Norrell subidivided the images either by Whyte notation (wheel arrangement) or by subject. This usually follows either an alphabetical or numerical organization, but not in every case. In many instances, hand-written notes and postage appear on the reverse of the photographic postcards. Addresses and salutations indicate that many of the postcards were not sent to Thomas Norrell directly, but were acquired by him at a later date.

Subseries 2, International Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960, includes photographs, illustrated postcards, and a photograph album depicting international railroads and railroad locomotives. Of particular interest is the photograph album compiled by Thomas Norrell containing sixty individual photographs of steam locomotive engines from eighteen assorted British, continental European, and South American railroad companies. The images are all approximately 14" x 10," and each corresponds to an identification chart mounted in the front of the album indicating the railroad company, engine number, Whyte notation (wheel arrangement), and special notes about each engine.

Subseries 3, Railroad Builders, circa 1850-1960 consists photographic prints and photographic postcards containing images of locomotives separated by builder. Norrell's original alphabetical arrangement of the images by locomotive works or manufacturing company name has been preserved.

Subseries 4, Subjects, 1804-1940, contains photographic prints and photographic postcards organized by subject. The images are arranged chronologically by date of the subject of the images. Of particular interest are Norrell's photographs of locomotives at the 1933-1934 Chicago and 1939-1940 New York World's Fairs.

Subseries 5, Duplicate Images, circa 1850-1960, contains duplicate photographic prints and duplicate copy prints created from the either the photographs in Series 2 or from the film and glass plate negatives from Series 1. The duplicate images, including photographic postcards and photographic prints, are subdivided by first letter of the name of the railroad or industrial company. The duplicate copy prints created from the negatives are arranged numerically by a negative number recorded on the negative itself.

Series 3, Ephemera, undated,consists of an unidentified and undated piece of railroad track.

References

Staufer, Alvin F. Pennsy Power III 1847-1968. Medina, OH: Alvin F. Staufer, 1993.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in three series.

Series 1: Negatives, 1831-1967, undated

Subseries 1: Film Negatives, 1831-1967, undated

Subseries 2: Glass Plate Negatives, 1831-1967, undated

Series 2: Photographic Prints, circa 1850-1960

Subseries 1: North American Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960

Subseries 2: International Railroad Companies, circa 1850-1960

Subseries 3: Railroad Builders, circa 1850-1960

Subseries 4: Subjects, 1804-1940

Subseries 5: Duplicate Images, circa 1850-1960

Series 3: Ephemera, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Thomas Norrell was born in West Ham (Essex County) England on November 11, 1899. He emigrated to the United States as a young man and became a naturalized citizen in 1911. He took an apprenticeship at the Baldwin Locomotive Works around 1920. Although the Baldwin works benefited from a boom in the export of steam locomotives meant to replenish foreign rail systems impacted by use during the First World War, the upswing was short-lived. Business at Baldwin slowed considerably in the 1920s as diesel engines began replacing steam locomotives. Recognizing that opportunities for advancement within Baldwin were scarce, Norrell moved out of railroad work completely and into the paper box industry. He married his wife Wilhelmina in 1929, and they resided in Cranston, Rhode Island and later Silver Spring, Maryland.

Despite his shift away from railroads as a vocation, Norrell maintained a life-long interest in trains and was a collector of photographic and print material related to locomotive engines, train cars, and industrial railroads. He contributed a number of articles to various railroad periodicals and was generous in providing images from his collection to other authors for reproduction in their publications. Norrell also influenced and supported a number of prominent railroad historians, including John H. White Jr., curator of the Division of Transportation in the Smithsonian National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History). It was through White's efforts that Norrell's collection became part of the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1942 Norrell gained some degree of notoriety for having rediscovered the famed Brady Civil War negatives in the vault of the Phelps Publishing Company in Springfield, Massachusetts while searching for an unrelated daguerreotype of an early Massachusetts locomotive. The locomotive had been identified from a wood-engraving made by an artist for a Phelps subsidiary publication, and Norrell secured permission to search the Phelps Company's vault for the image. During his search, Norrell stumbled upon and recognized the famed Civil War collection from earlier printed publications of the images. He brought the collection to the attention of the National Archives, which deferred to the Library of Congress. The storage fees for the images had been unpaid for many years by their owner, and the Phelps Company, interested only in recovering compensation for the use of the space, seized the images and sold them at cost to the Library of Congress in 1944.

Norrell later lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia, close to his daughter Elise Mann. He died there on February 1, 1985.

References

Bell, Kurt R. "On the Shoulders of a Giant: A Profile of John H. White, Jr.," Railroad History, 204 (Spring-Summer 2011): 6-23.

Hodge, Robert, comp. An Index to the Death Notices in the Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Virginia), 1981-1991. Fredericksburg, VA: Robert A. Hodge (1992).

Norrell, Thomas. "The Norris Construction Record," Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, 150 (1983): 57-XX.

Norrell, Thomas. "Uriah Wells, Locomotive Builder of Petersburg," Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, 124 (1969): 40-XX.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930: Population Schedule. Massachusetts Enumeration District 9-169, Supervisor's District 10, Sheet 4-1, 1930.

Vanderbilt, Paul, comp. Guide to the Special Collections of Prints and Photographs in the Library of Congress. Washington D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1955.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Baldwin Locomotive Works Collection (Engine Registers and Order Books), 1833-1956, (AC0157)

Baldwin Locomotive Works Drawings, 1870-1890, (AC0353)

John H. White, Jr. Railroad Reference Collection, 1880s-1990, (AC0523)

Materials Held by the National Museum of American History, Division of Work and Industry

Three images from the collection, including an 1848 daguerreotype image of the locomotive "Tioga", an 1855 daguerreotype image of a locomotive on the Niagara Falls, and a circa 1870 daguerreotype image of a Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburgh locomotive.

Materials Held by Other Institutions

Thomas Norrell photographic album, and other views of rail transportation in Canada and the United States, circa 1920-1979, R5500-27-4-E, Andrew Audubon Merrilees fonds. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the United States National Museum, Division of Transportation (now known as the National Museum of American History, Division of Work and Industry) by Thomas Norrell on April 19, 1966.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but the negatives are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Some glass plate negatives are broken and may require special handling care.Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Copyright status unknown, though most images are in the public domain.

Topic:

Railroad companies -- Europe  Search this

Railroad companies -- Africa  Search this

Railroad companies -- North America  Search this

Railroad companies -- South America  Search this

Railroad accidents  Search this

Mine railroads  Search this

Locomotive builders  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 19th-20th century

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century

Photograph albums -- 20th century

Ephemera

Citation:

Thomas Norrell Railroad Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1174

See more items in:

Thomas Norrell Railroad Photographs Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c88d07e2-86c6-4337-9ccd-62a0ee8e3f11

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1174

Author:

White, John H., Jr.  Search this

Object Type:

Smithsonian staff publication

Year:

1986

Citation:

White, John H., Jr. 1986. "[Barney N. Smith, pseud.]. "More Car Builders"." Railroad History, 154 128–131.

Identifier:

127755

Data source:

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:slasro_127755

Publisher:

National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center  Search this

Language:

English

Object type:

Lesson Plan

Topic:

American History  Search this

Business - Careers  Search this

Immigration - Migration  Search this

States - Regions  Search this

Transportation  Search this

Social Sciences  Search this

Economics  Search this

Geography  Search this

Muckrackers  Search this

Tourism  Search this

Transcontinental railroad  Search this

Westward expansion  Search this

National rail system  Search this

Locomotive  Search this

Typical age range 8-10  Search this

Typical age range 10-12  Search this

Typical age range 12-14  Search this

Typical age range 14-16  Search this

Typical age range 16-18  Search this

Educational alignment:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8

Data source:

SI Center for Learning and Digital Access

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:SCLDA_342

Author:

Hiltzik, Michael A.,  Search this

Physical description:

xxiii, 424 pages illustrations, maps 24 cm

Type:

Books

History

Place:

United States

Date:

2020

19th century

1865-1918

1865-1921

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Industrialists--History  Search this

Capitalists and financiers--History  Search this

Big business--History  Search this

HISTORY / United States / 19th Century  Search this

TRANSPORTATION / Railroads / History  Search this

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Transportation  Search this

Big business  Search this

Capitalists and financiers  Search this

Economic history  Search this

Industrialists  Search this

Railroads  Search this

Economic conditions  Search this

History  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1153411

Object Name:

cap, railroad station 'red cap'

Other Terms:

cap, railroad station 'red cap'; Rail

Subject:

African American  Search this

Railroads  Search this

Travel  Search this

ID Number:

TR.335443

Catalog number:

335443

Accession number:

321737

See more items in:

Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad

Clothing & Accessories

Work

Transportation

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-57cd-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_843148

Author:

Kennedy & Company (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Physical description:

11 p. : ill. ; 23 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Pictorial works

Place:

United States

Date:

1952

[1952?]

Topic:

Railroads in art  Search this

Railroads--History  Search this

Call number:

N8237.8.R3 S35 1952

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1000593

Subject:

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

6.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3237]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311082

Subject:

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3238]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311083

Subject:

Chroniger, Mary S  Search this

White, John H. 1933-  Search this

Cumberland Valley Railroad Company  Search this

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3239]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311084

Subject:

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3240]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311085

Subject:

Railroads History  Search this

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3241]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311086

Subject:

Waynick, Andrew B  Search this

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Southern Railway (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3242]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311087

Subject:

Harden, John  Search this

Minnich, Richard S  Search this

Waynick, Andrew B  Search this

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3243]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311088

Subject:

Waynick, Andrew B  Search this

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3244]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311089

Subject:

National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.)  Search this

Physical description:

7.5X9.5

Type:

Black-and-white photographs

Date:

Undated

Topic:

Railroads--History  Search this

Local number:

SIA RU000285 [SIA2010-3245]

Restrictions & Rights:

No access restrictions Many of SIA's holdings are located off-site, and advance notice is recommended to consult a collection. Please email the SIA Reference Team at osiaref@si.edu

Data Source:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_arc_311090

Collector:

Watkins, J. Elfreth (John Elfreth), 1852-1903  Search this

National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Transportation  Search this

Creator:

White, John H., 1933-  Search this

Extent:

31.33 Cubic feet (94 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Manuscripts

Writings

Articles

Photographs

Photocopies

Research

Date:

1880s-1990

Scope and Contents:

The archivist has arranged the collection into five separate series: Series 1: CAR BUILDERS, arranged alphabetically by company or individual. Series 2: EQUIPMENT - ROLLING STOCK, arranged in two sections: alphabetically by White's heading: Articles in Progress and alphabetical by type of railroad car under White's heading: Research Files for Book in Progress. Series 3: LOCOMOTIVES, arranged alphabetically by Locomotive builders in two sections, first by individual company and second by individuals. Series 4: RAILROAD COMPANIES AND LINES, arranged alphabetically by railroad companies and railroad lines. Series 5: PUBLICATIONS, White's files for his book The American Railroad Freight Car, which are arranged into two sections, Illustrations and Text. Both sections are arranged numerically by chapters or sections of the book.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into five series. Most material arranged alphabetically and chronologically.

Series 1: Car Builders

Series 2: Equipment--Rolling Stock

Subseries 2.1: Articles in progress

Subseries 2.2: Research Files for Books in Progress

Series 3: Locomotives

Series 4: Railroad Companies and Lines

Series 5: Publications

Biographical / Historical:

John H. White, Jr., (1933- ), historian and museum curator, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated with a B.A. in history from Miami University, Ohio, in 1958. Shortly after receiving his degree, White joined the staff of the Smithsonian Institution as Assistant Curator of the Division of Transportation, Department of Science and Technology, National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT). White became Associate Curator of the Division, 1961-1966, Curator, 1967-1985, and Senior Historian, 1986-1989. White specialized in land transportation, particularly the history of railroads. He retired in 1990. His papers, the John H. White, Jr., Papers, circa 1959-1989 are at the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

This collection of railroad materials was begun many years ago by employees of the Smithsonian Institution, and maintained later by curators and museum specialists working in the Division of Transportation, NMHT, later named the National Museum of American History (NMAH).

Some of the clippings date back to the time of J. Elfreth Watkins in the 1880-1890s. In 1885 Watkins was appointed Curator of the Section of Steam Transportation, which was successively known as Transportation and Engineering, and Technological Collections. Other portions of White's collection were clearly from Carl Mitman, author of several hundred entries on inventors and engineers in the Dictionary of American Biography and a Smithsonian employee who served as Curator of Mechanical Technology in 1919. In 1921 Mitman took the title of Curator of the Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology, serving in this capacity until 1931. In 1931 the Division of Engineering was established. Mitman served as Curator of the Division and in charge of Mineral Technology, 1931-1938, Head Curator of the Department of Arts and Industries, 1932-1938, and Head Curator of the Department of Engineering and Industries, 1938-1948.

Some portions of this collection were acquired under the time of Frank A. Taylor (Mitman's protégé) who was Assistant Curator, 1928-1931, Assistant Curator for Mechanical Technology, 1932, Curator of the Division and in charge of Mechanical Technology, 1932-1948, Head Curator of the Division of Engineering and Industry, 1948-1957. In 1955 Taylor was appointed Assistant Director, United States National Museum (USNM), with special responsibility for planning the new NMHT, and in 1958 was appointed the first Director of the new museum. In 1962 Taylor became Director of the USNM with responsibility for both the National Museum of Natural History and NMHT.

Smith Hempstone Oliver of the Division of Transportation also kept up the files to a degree, though his main interest was in automobiles.

When White started employment at the Museum in June, 1958, there were, perhaps, two file cabinets on railroads. As Mr. White mentions in a letter to the archivist in March of 2002, "It was and is a great mix of odds and ends -- photos, news clippings, small prints, manufacturing catalogs, post cards, etc. Some junk and some treasure."

White found the material very useful for research and greatly expanded the collection. It more than doubled in size during his years in the Division, 1958-1990. The collection was White's working file and was set up to meet his needs. According to White, the collections greatest lack was cross referencing -- which was mostly in his head. He could usually find things but the organization might be confusing to other users. It was not intended for public use.

White is the author of many books on railroads, including:

American Locomotives: An Engineering History, 1830-1880. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1968; 1997.

Early American Locomotives, with 147 engraving. New York: Dover Publications, 1972.

American Single Locomotives and the "Pioneer". Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1973.

The Pioneer, Chicago's First Locomotive. Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1976.

The American Railroad Passenger Car. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978.

The John Bull, 150 Years a Locomotive. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1981.

A Short History of American Locomotive Builders in the Steam Era. Washington, D.C.: Bass, 1982.

Great Yellow Fleet: A History of American Railroad Refrigerator Cars. Golden West Books, 1986

The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.

Provenance:

The manuscript was donated by Jack White in 1995.

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:

Railroads -- History  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Manuscripts

Writings

Articles

Photographs -- 19th century

Photocopies

Research

Citation:

John H. White, Jr. Railroad Reference Collection, ca. 1830-1980, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0523

See more items in:

John H. White, Jr. Railroad Reference Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep83b50b7ee-ab37-4b18-b17c-cffb2543738e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0523