Roebling, Washington Augustus, 1837-1926. Search this
Collector:
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
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
18.5 Cubic feet (62 boxes, 1 map-folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photograph albums
Specifications
Reports
Price lists
Photographs
Newsletters
Letterpress books
Correspondence
Blueprints
Ledgers (account books)
Genealogies
Notebooks
Patents
Date:
1836-1975
bulk 1930-1950
Summary:
Collection documents the work of the John A. Roebling's Sons Company, builders of bridges. The materials consist primarily of photograph albums documenting some of the bridges, tramways, ski lifts and chair lifts that Roebling's Sons Company was involved with. The documentation also includes specifications, patents, and reference materials about the engineering process of building bridges and bridges in general.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the work of the John A. Roebling's Sons Company, builders of bridges. The materials consist primarily of photograph albums documenting a variety of bridges, mostly in the United States. The documentation also includes specifications, patents, and reference materials about the engineering process of building bridges and bridges in general.
Series 1, Historical background materials, 1895-1958, is divided into two subseries: Subseries 1, John A. Roebling's and Sons Company materials, 1895-1949 and Subseries 2, Newsletters, 1929-1931.
Subseries 1, John A. Roebling's and Sons Company materials, 1895-1949, contains a variety of items related to the company such as historical narratives, correspondence, price lists, testing data, and a ledger with cost estimates. The correspondence is partially bound (pages 1 to 104) from a letter press book (handwritten and typescript) belonging to John A. Roebling's and Sons Company. William Hildebrand and Charles G. Roebling are the chief correspondents. The correspondence documents daily activities related to the design and erection of bridges as well as finances and supplies. Charles G. Roebling's notebook, undated, contains calculations and notes about various bridge projects.
Subseries 2, Newsletters, 1929-1931, contain copies of Blue Center and Wire Engineering, which were John A. Roebling's and Sons Company publications intended for employees. The newsletters were apparently used as scrapbooks, with black-and-white photographs pasted into the pages. Found among the pages of Blue Center are photographs of the Hudson River Bridge and in Wire Engineering, there are photographs of the Maysville, Kentucky Bridge.
Series 2, Photographs, 1926-1975, comprises the largest series in the collection. The photographs are primarily black-and-white and document aerial tramways, tramways for logging or mining, chair lifts, ski lifts, floods, and bridge construction projects. The latter makes up the majority. Most photographs were assembled into albums with corresponding captions and dates, and almost all of the photographs document bridges in the United States. There is one exception, the Yauricocha Tramway in Peru. In some instances, the captions are recorded on the back of the photographs, and others were recorded on album pages. The series is arranged alphabetically by name of bridge and/or project.
Series 3, Specifications, 1855-1962, consists of printed textual documents (both bound and loose) that contain information for bidders, proposals, contracts, and bonds, and the detailed specifications. This series is arranged alphabetically by bridge name.
Series 4, Reports, 1928-1938, contains bound reports (both progress and final) detailing problems, requirements, research, manufacture, plant installation, cable equipment, strand adjustments, and Roebling Company developments. This series is arranged alphabetically by bridge/and/or project.
Series 5, Patent materials, 1849-1952, consists of issued patents (to a variety of individuals) for cable and cable appliances, cables, and cable apparatus, cableways and tramways, and grips. The patents are arranged by subject area, then by patent number.
Series 6, Reference materials, 1836-1964, contains a wide range of materials—articles, biographical files, drawings, photographs, newspaper clippings, advertising, correspondence, notes—documenting all aspects of bridges. This series is arranged alphabetically by topic.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series.
Series 1, Historical background materials, 1895-1958, undated
Subseries 1, Biographical, 1900-1958, undated
Subseries 2, John A. Roebling's and Sons Company materials, 1895-1949
Subseries 3, Newsletters, 1929-1931
Series 2, Photographs, 1926-1975
Series 3, Specifications, 1855-1962
Series 4, Reports, 1928-1938
Series 5, Patent materials, 1849-1952
Series 6, Reference materials, 1836-1964
Biographical / Historical:
John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869) was the founder and proprietor of John A. Roebling's Sons Company. Born in Mühlhausen, Germany, he was a civil engineer famous for his wire rope suspension bridge designs, in particular, the design of the Brooklyn Bridge. Roebling married Johana Herting in 1836 and they had nine children: Washington A. Roebling (1837-1926); Laura R. Methfessel (1840-1873); Ferdinand W. Roebling (1842-1917); Elvira R. Stewart (1844-1871); Josephine R. Jarvis (b. 1847); Charles Gustavus Roebling (1849-1918); Edmund Roebling (1854-1930); William Roebling (b. 1856, d. 1860); and Hannah Roebling (died in infancy). Roebling's three sons, Washington Augustus Roebling; Ferdinand William Roebling and Charles Gustavus Roebling, worked for the company.
Roebling's Sons Company was active in the design and manufacture of wire rope used in the erection of suspension bridges since the 1840s. Roebling devised a system of spinning the wires together where weights and swivels turned the wire coils in the opposite direction from the twisting, thereby removing kinks. Method of and Machine for Manufacturing Wire Rope (US Patent # 2,720) issued on July 16, 1842. Roebling would adapt this wire rope to his suspension bridge principle. In 1848, he established a company—John Roebling's Sons Company—in Trenton, New Jersey, to manufacture his wire rope. Roebling manufacturing plants were sold in 1952 to the Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) Company of Pueblo, Colorado. In 1968, the Crane Company purchased the CF& I.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
George S. Morison Collection (AC0978)
Modjeski and Masters Company Records (AC0976)
Materials at Other Organizations
The Rutgers University, Special Collections and University Archives
Roebling family papers, cicra 1820s-1950s
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Blair Birdsall, former chief engineer at John A. Roebling's Sons Company in 1981.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Rebikoff Underwater Products, Inc. (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) ; Rebikoff Oceanics, Inc. (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) Search this
Notes content:
Water towers ; "Horton" elevated steel tanks of large capacity ; steel tanks designed to meet railroad water service requirements ; "Hortonsphere" designed to contain gas or liquids under pressure ; "Wiggins Roof" to stop evaporation ; oil storage tanks ; pipe lines ; penstocks ; manifolds ; wyes-tees ; Johnson Differential surge tanks ; smokeless incineration units to solve pollution problems ; Horton pickling process to mill scale from steel ; etc.
Pencoyd Iron Works ; American Bridge Company ; Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation Search this
Notes content:
1884 ; wrought iron and steel shapes, bars, stafting, hammered axles, railroad bridges, viaducts, turn tables, and all classes of structures of wrought iron and steel ; http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/texts/first200/business_5.html ;
Roebling Construction Co. ; Woven Wire Fabrics Div. ; John A. Roebling's Sons Co. of California (San Francisco, CA ; Los Angeles, CA ; Seattle, WA ; Portland, OR) ; John A. Roebling's Sons Div., Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp. ; Kellems Products Inc. ; John A. Roebling's Sons Co. of New York (New York, NY ; Boston, MA) Search this
Notes content:
wire rope and wire rope fastening ; iron, copper, brass and steel wire ; galvanized telegraph wire ; hard copper telephone wire ; bi-metallic wire, copper wire and cables for electrical purposes ; wire cables for cableways and tramways, bridges, and wire rope haulages ; "Roebling Royal Blue" all-steel wire rope ; "Blue Center" steel wire rope ; "Roeplastic" control cable ; "Blueclad" wire rope clip fittings ; aircord for airplanes ; yacht rigging rope and strand ; flat wire ; wire slings ; wire mesh ; wire lath ; wire netting ; wire cloth ; poultry fencing ; "Jersey" wallboard sealing strips and joint laths ; fireproof building construction ; welding products using electrodes and gas welding sticks ; construction of tramways, ski lifts and aerial wire rope systems ; oil field rope with "Blue Center" steel ; preformed sucker rods and tubing lines for oil industry ; oil drilling lines with fiber cores ; wrie for mining applications ; logging rope ; distribute "Kellems" wire rope grips ; "Outspinning the Spider: the Story of Wire and Wire Rope" ; "Transmission of Power By Wire Ropes" ; "Final Report on the Corrosion-Fatigue Failure of Aircraft Control Cables (N-101)" by National Defense Research Committee, 2-26-1945, declassified ; conceived and designed the Brooklyn Bridge ; 1893-1957 ; for a detailed history of the company see: Spanning the Industrial Age, by Clifford W. Zink (1992)
Includes:
Trade catalog, price lists, manual and histories
Black and white images
Color images
Physical description:
147 pieces; 10 boxes
Language:
English
Type of material:
Trade catalogs
Trade literature
Place:
Trenton, New Jersey, United States
Date range:
1800s-1900s
Topic (Romaine term):
Architectural designs and building materials Search this
Earle Engineering ; Earle Gear and Machine Co. Search this
Notes content:
Centrifugal pumps, fire pumps, turbine, volute pumps, cold cutting-off saws, Lea-Simplex cold cutting saws, herringbone gears, cut gears of all descriptions, and operating machinery for movable bridges, gates, locks, dredges, etc. "Herringbone" gears ; speed reducers and machinery ; "Earle" bridge-operating power units ; centrifugal pumps...this comprises the uncataloged portion.
