The papers document Leo H. Baekeland, a Belgian born chemist who invented Velox photographic paper (1893) and Bakelite (1907), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile plastic. The papers include student notebooks; private laboratory notebooks and journals; commercial laboratory notes; diaries; patents; technical papers; biographies; newspaper clippings; maps; graphs; blueprints; account books; batch books; formula books; order books; photographs; and correspondence regarding Baekeland, 1887-1943.
Scope and Contents:
Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Reference Materials, 1863-1868 and undated
Subseries 1.1: Biographical, 1880-1965
Subseries 1.2:Company History, 1910-1961
Subseries 1.3: Related Interests, 1863-1968 and undated
Series 2: Published and Unpublished Writings (by Leo H. Baekeland), 1884-1945
Series 3: Correspondence, 1888-1963
Subseries 3.1: Personal Correspondence, 1916-1943
Subseries 3.2: Charitable Donations, 1916-1938
Subseries 3.3: Family Correspondence, 1888-1963
Subseries 3.4: Clubs and Associations, 1916-1943
Series 4: Diaries, 1907-1943
Series 5: Reading and Lecture Notes, 1878-1886
Series 6, Laboratory Notebooks, 1893-1915
Series 7: Commercial Laboratory Notebooks, 1910-1920
Series 8: Bakelite Company, 1887-1945
Series 9, Patents, 1894-1940
Series 10: Bakelite Corporation Ledgers, 1910-1924; 1935; 1939
Series 11: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated
Subseries 11.1: Photographs, 1889-1950 and undated
Subseries 11.2: Film Negatives, 1900-1941 and undated
Subseries 11.3: Photoprints, 1894-1941
Subseries 11.4: Stereographs, 1888-1902 and undated
Subseries 11.5: Film and Glass Plate Negatives, 1899-1900 and undated
Series 12: Audio Materials, 1976
Biographical / Historical:
Leo Hendrik Baekeland was an industrial chemist famous for his invention of Bakelite, the first moldable synthetic polymer, and for his invention of Velox photographic paper. Baekeland's career as an inventor and innovator was punctuated by an urge to improve existing technologies and a willingness to experiment both meticulously and daringly. Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1863, Baekeland was a distinguished chemistry student and became a young professor at the University of Ghent. He had a long standing interest in photography and sought to further photographic technology with his expertise in chemistry. In 1887 he obtained his first patent for a dry plate which contained its own developer and could be developed in a tray of water. With the support of a business partner/faculty associate, Jules Guequier, he formed a company named Baekeland et Cie to produce the plate, but the venture failed due to lack of capital.
On August 8, 1889, he married Celine Swarts, daughter of his academic mentor Theodore Swarts, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Ghent. After his wedding he travelled to different countries using a traveling scholarship he had been awarded two years previously. His travels ended in the United States where he was offered a job researching chemical problems associated with manufacturing bromide papers and films with A. and H.T. Anthony and Company, a photographic supply producer. Leo and Celine Baekeland had three children: George, Nina and Jenny (1890-1895).
He left Anthony and Company in 1891 to be a consulting chemist. During that time he invented a photographic print paper using silver chloride which could be developed in artificial light instead of sunlight and thus offered more flexibility and consistency to photographers. In 1893, with financial support from Leonard Jacobi, a scrap metal dealer from San Francisco, he formed the
Nepera Chemical Company in Yonkers, New York, to manufacture "gaslight" paper under the trade name Velox. The paper became quite popular and the company expanded its operations after its first three years. Finally, George Eastman bought the company for a reported $750,000 which afforded Baekeland the time to conduct his own research in a laboratory he set up on his estate, "Snug Rock," in Yonkers.
Baekeland worked on problems of electrolysis of salt and the production of synthetic resins. He was hired as a consultant to work with Clinton P. Townsend to perfect Townsend's patented
electrolytic cell. Baekeland's work there contributed to the success of the Hooke Electrochemical Company which began in operations in Niagara Falls in 1905.
Simultaneously, in 1902 Baekeland began researching reactions of phenol and formaldehyde, and by 1907 was able to control the reactions and produce a moldable plastic (oxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride) which he named Bakelite. Although the process was not perfected for another couple of years, Baekeland applied for a patent for Bakelite right away.
He announced his discovery to the scientific community in 1909, and in 1910 formed the General Bakelite Company. Bakelite was a thermosetting resin that, unlike Celluloid became permanently solid when heated. It was virtually impervious to heat, acids, or caustic substances. It could be molded into a wide variety of shapes and was an excellent electric insulator that came to replace hard rubber and amber for electrical and industrial applications. It was also suitable for a wide variety of consumer products such as billiard balls, jewelry, pot handles, telephones, toasters, electric plugs, and airplane instrument knobs.
Two companies challenged Bakelite with significant competition, Condensite Corporation of America and Redmanol Chemical Products Company. Bakelite finally merged with these two companies in 1922 to become the Bakelite Corporation. Union Carbide finally bought the corporation in 1939.
Baekeland sustained his interest in photography by taking numerous photographs throughout his lifetime. He also devoted much of his spare time to professional societies and received various
honorary degrees and awards such as the Perkin Medal. He had several hobbies such as boating, wine and beer making, and, exotic plants. He also traveled extensively throughout the world, which is documented in his diaries and photographs.
Baekeland spent his final years mostly in his Coconut Grove, Florida home where he became increasingly eccentric until his mind failed him and he was institutionalized. He died in 1943 at the age of eighty.
Scope and Content: Baekeland documented his life prolifically through diaries, laboratory notebooks, photographs, and correspondence. These constitute the bulk of the collection. The Bakelite company history is also incompletely documented in this collection through Baekeland's correspondence, the commercial laboratory notebooks, and some company ledgers.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Albany Billiard Ball Company Records (AC0011)
Celluloid Corporation Records (AC0009)
J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics (AC0008)
Materials at Other Organizations
The Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department in Delaware also several related collections including: the Directors of Industrial Research Records, 1929 -982; the Du Pont Viscoloid Company, Survey of the Plastics Field, 1932; The Society of the Plastics Industry, 1937-1987; the Roy J. Plunkett Collection, 1910-1994 (inventor of Teflon); and the Gordon M. Kline Collection, 1903.
Separated Materials:
The National Museum of American History, Division Medicine and Science has several artifacts associated with Baekeland including the original "Bakalizer" the apparatus in which Bakelite was first made. See accession numbers: 1977.0368; 1979.1179; 1981.0976; 1982.0034; 1983.0524; 1984.0138.
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated to the National Museum of American History's Division of Physical Sciences in November, 1981, by Celine Karraker, Leo H. Baekeland's granddaughter.
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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Physical Sciences Search this
Extent:
2.66 Cubic feet (8 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Catalogs
Date:
circa 1900-circa 1975
Summary:
J. Harry DuBois (1903-1986) was an industrial consultant in the field of petrochemicals and plastics. In 1927 at General Electric his studies resulted in extending the use of laminated plastics.
Scope and Contents:
This collection of trade catalogs, research reports, correspondence, photographs, and other historical material relating to the plastics industry was donated by J. Harry DuBois.
Included are trade catalogues of the General Bakelite Company, Bakelite Corporation, and competitors in the plastics industry in the 1920's and 1930's, including Dow Chemical and General Electric; material relating to the Boonton Rubber Company, including Richard W. Seabury's notebooks, 1911-1923; memoranda of 1916, 1918, 1923, and 1926 concerning the history of Boonton's early use of Bakelite for molded products; catalogues, photographs, and a blueprint of a 1897 hydraulic press from Charles Burroughs Company; research reports, 1925-1932, of Sigfreid Higgins, on mechanical development research at the Bakelite Corporation; reports on sales development research, 1941-1946, at the Bakelite Corporation; experimental notes, correspondence on possible patents and other materials concerning the use of Bakelite and rubber for printing plates; reports, notes, and and miscellaneous photographs on the history of the plastics industry; Zylonite trade catalogues, pre-1900; and Recto trademark patent and patent drawing.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1: Bakelite Catalogs, 1910-1944
Series 2: Plastics Trade Catalogs, circa 1920-1953
Series 3: Boonton Rubber Co., 1911-1974
Series 4: Charles Burroughs Co., 1879-1929
Series 5: Sigfried Higgins and Bakelite Printing Plates, 1925-1959
Series 6: Plastic Publications and miscellaneous Materials, circa 1890-1975
Biographical / Historical:
J. Harry DuBois (1903-1986) was an industrial consultant in the field of petrochemicals and plastics. DuBois began his career in the plastics industry at General Electric in 1927. His studies resulted in extending the use of laminated plastics. In GE's molding division he pioneered work on compression molded acetates, injection molding, radomes and low pressure laminates. In 1944 he became vice president of Shaw Insulator Company. He also worked at Plax Corporation, Mycalex Corporation of America and Tech Art Plastics. In 1972 he was president of Mybroy Ceramics Corporation. A member of the Society of the Plastics Industry and the Society of Plastics Engineers, DuBois collected much of this material while writing his book, Plastics History U.S.A, published in 1972 by Cahner Publishing Company of Boston.
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
Syracuse University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center
J. Harry DuBois Papers, 1940-1943
Collection consists of the personal and professional papers of J. Harry DuBois, covering his long career in the plastics industry. It includes scrapbooks and photograph albums of his family and world-wide travel for business, photographs and slides, and audio and film reels.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by J.H. Dubois in 1981.
Restrictions:
The 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.
Includes Trade Catalogs and advertisements for the General Bakelite Company and The Bakelite Corporation, dating from 1910 to 1944. Product line catalogs include: Luxene; Bakelite Lacquer; Bakelite Varnish; Bakelite Laminated; Gifts to Treasure; Bakelite Synthetic Resins; Bakelite Molding. Also included is a pamphlet, "Bakelite Information Number One", published by General Bakelite Co. in November 1910.
Collection Restrictions:
The 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:
J. Harry Dubois Collection of the History of Plastics, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Includes Research Reports of Sigfried Higgins, who was the Research Head of the Mechanical Development Division of the Bakelite Corporation. The reports are dated 1925 1932.
Collection Restrictions:
The 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:
J. Harry Dubois Collection of the History of Plastics, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Advertisement illustrates Bakelite parts for a Reconnaissance Transit and contains reprinted article from April 1926, Factory
Local Numbers:
AC0008-0000002.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
The 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.
Advertisement illustrates Bakelite pulley for Lamson Cash Carrier and contains reprinted article from July 1926, Factory
Local Numbers:
AC0008-0000003.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
The 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 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.
Page 22 from 1931 Bakelite Molded: Fifth Edition catalog
Local Numbers:
AC0008-0000008.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
The 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.
The catalog shows the different personal uses for Bakelite such as jewelry, cigarette holders, pipes, manicure sets, letter sets, etc.
Local Numbers:
AC0008-0000009.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
The 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 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.
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
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.
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
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.
Audio recordings of interviews with members of the Plastics Pioneers Association about the plastics industry, its origins, and evolution.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of four 1/4 inch open-reel audiotapes produced from 1952-1968.
Biographical / Historical:
The Plastic Pioneers Association (PPA) was formed in the 1940s to provide individuals involved with plastics invention, innovation, and manufacturing an opportunity to meet with colleagues to share stories about the history of plastics. In 1948 the PPA became a formal organization "of individuals who are persons of accomplishment in the Plastics Industry, and who wish to foster the bonds of friendship and fraternalism among them." At the time, in order to be a member an individual had to have made "a contribution to the growth of the industry and worked at least fifteen years plastics. According to the PPA webiste, membership currently "is capped at 250 active members, and the term of service in the industry required is 25 years or more."
The PPA is dedicated to education as well as documenting and preserving the histories of people who contributed to the plastics industry. The Plastic Pioneers Interviews represents part of this effort
Albany Billiard Ball Company Records (NMAH.AC.0011)
Leo H. Baekeland Papers (NMAH.AC.0005)
Celluloid Corporation Records (NMAH.AC.0009)
Earl S. Tupper Papers (NMAH.AC.0470)
Grace Jeffers Collection of Formica Materials (NMAH.AC.0565)
Provenance:
Audio tapes given to the Division of Manufacturing (now Division of Medicine and Science), by J. Harry DuBois, date unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Copyright status unknown. No releases exist. Collecion items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply.
[Plastic Pioneers Association Interviews, September 18-20, 1968], Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Tape number x.
Head, Howard, 1914-1991 (inventor, business executive) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1943-1991
Scope and Contents:
Arranged chronologically, this series contains correspondence and writings on a variety of subjects. The majority of the correspondence (June 1943 to May 1950) is ski-related, specifically Head's work on the "honeycomb ski project." The correspondence includes: Glenn L. Martin Company; Department of Commerce; Ski Illustrated; United States Plywood Corporation; The Sixty Sales Corporation; Aluminum Company of America; Rust-Proofing and Metal Finishing Corporation; Bakelite Corporation; and Thompson Wire Company. Later correspondence (1955 to 1991) consists of Head Ski Company and personal business.
The "Honeycomb Ski" journal (May 1947 to March 1948) documents Head's work on the honeycomb ski project . This typescript journal contains detailed notes on the history of the project, testing procedures, drawings and sketches, and annotations by Head. The calendars--personal/daily--are small pocket size documents created by Head to record personal dates, appointments, telephone numbers, and thoughts. The calendars are arranged chronologically and are numbered from 1 to 35. In some instances, calendars are missing. The logs/notebooks are small pocket versions that Head created to record specific information such as his meetings and telephone numbers. The writings contain works by Head and others.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for redsearch. No reference copies of audiovisual materials available at this time.
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:
Howard Head Papers, 1926-1991, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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:
William Jones World War II Scrapbook, NASM.2006.0067, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Includes: a lease between William Barton and the Composition Billiard Ball Company, 1945; a bond and mortgage document between Jean W. Harrig and Albany Billiard Ball Company, 1948; memorandum of insurance, 1948; a lease of a service station with the T...
Collection Creator:
Albany Billiard Ball Company (Albany, New York) Search this
Container:
Box 22, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
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:
Albany Billiard Ball Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Bakelite Corporation, manager of molded material sales -washing machine agitators, new phenolic molding material applications
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Copyright status unknown. No releases exist. Collecion items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply.
Collection Citation:
[Plastic Pioneers Association Interviews, September 18-20, 1968], Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Tape number x.
Bakelite Corporation, vice president and The Society of Plastics Industry (SPI), president -formation of SPI, use of phenolic materials: phonograph discs, records, aircraft maintenance, development of molders' associations
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Copyright status unknown. No releases exist. Collecion items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply.
Collection Citation:
[Plastic Pioneers Association Interviews, September 18-20, 1968], Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Tape number x.
