Collection includes historic photographs, slides and films on subjects relating to all aspects of the petroleum industry, including exploration, drilling, refineries, tankers, pipelines, automobiles, trucks, aviation, refueling, buildings, coal, gasification, plants, mining, surface mining, fields, land reclamation, coastal zone management, corporate public service, educational programs, crude oil, deepwater ports, and watercraft It also documents numerous products other than gasoline produced by the petroleum industry, such as propane, lubricants, heating oil, and plastics.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains, color and black-and-white photographs, contact sheets, slides, color transparencies, negatives, transcripts, audio tape cassettes, and films documenting the American Petroleum Institute (API) and all its activities. The material in the collection was assembled by API public relations staff from oil industry sources over several years and was used in public relations and educational materials.
The photographs and slides are both original and copy prints are organized according to the organizational structure that API used. The photographs and slides document all aspects of the production of oil, from exploration to drilling, from cracking to refineries, from pipelines to tankers, and from storage tanks to service stations. They also document the numerous products other than gasoline produced by the petroleum industry including: kerosene, liquid propane gas, lubricants, heating oil, and plastics. Additionally, they document the industry's efforts at self-promotion, its stand on environmental issues and energy conservation, its efforts to promote safety in its plants, and its perceived competition from other energy sources, such as gasohol, geothermal energy, solar energy, and nuclear energy. Overall, these images portray the petroleum industry as it saw itself.
The collection also includes general images of petroleum workers, landscape and wildlife scenes, urban settings, vernacular architecture (service stations), railroads, road development, and the industry's crucial role during World War II.
Series 1, Historical Photographs, 1860s-1950s
This series is divided into forty subseries and contains primarily black-and-white photographs, but there are some negatives. Many of the photographs contain captions. The content includes: advertising, lighting and heating, kerosene lamps, lubricants, medicine, aircraft, artwork, equipment, political cartoons, automobiles, terminals, disasters, charts, drilling, portable rigs, rotary rigs, exploration land rush, lighting and stoves, memorials, mining, natural gas, oil company offices, oil fields, pipelines, products, railroads, tank cars, refineries, safety, service stations, teamsters, war, watercraft, and wells.
Series 2, Modern Photographs, 1960s-1980s
The series contains black-and-white and color photographs, negatives and transparencies. The photographs are arranged into topical areas such as diagrams and maps, environment, electricity, exploration, natural gas, pipelines, storage, and wells. The following subjects are represented: artwork, automobiles, trucks, aviation, refueling, buildings, coal, gasification, plants, and mining, surface mining, fields, land reclamation, coastal zone management, corporate public service, educational programs, crude oil, and deepwater ports.
Series 3, Miscellaneous Photographs, 1900s-1970s
The photographs consist of black-and-white copy prints, color transparencies, negatives, and slides for a variety of subjects: pipelines, platforms, service stations, and wells. The names of major oil and petroleum companies, such as Shell, Standard Oil, Sun Oil, and Savory Oil, are represented.
Series 4, Slides, 1970s-1980s
The slides are divided into two subseries: slides presentations and slides by subject/topic. The slides presentations were assembled and presented by API staff. In some instances there are slides, transcripts, and audio tape cassettes for the presentations. The presentations have been arranged alphabetically by title. The subject slides are arranged alphabetically by topic/subject and are identified. Only some of the subject-related slides are dated. The miscellaneous slides contain such images as the Space Shuttle Columbia, sunsets, and industrial scenes.
Series 5, Photograph Albums, 1903-1968 (not inclusive)
This series includes two photograph albums: one that focuses on aviation, bulk plants, chemistry, and disasters and the other on an advertising series from 1953. The first album consists of black-and-white copy prints that are subdivided according to subject. Some of the photographs have captions. The album containing the advertising series is comprised of black-and-white copy prints with the corresponding print ad that was used. The print ads vary in size and amount of text. The advertising series addresses a variety of topics.
Series 6, Scripts for Films, 1955-1978
The scripts consist of final transcripts and drafts for various films commissioned by API. In some instances there are accompanying photographs.
Series 7, Publications, 1959-1990
This series includes publications from various petroleum companies such as the Shell News and Petroleum Facts and Figures and accompanying slides from the API library that were featured in articles.
Series 8, Films, 1960s
The films consist of approximately 25 reels of motion picture film. The films are production elements (negatives, track negatives, A and B rolls) for approximately 10 separate titles. It is not possible to make film elements available for research use. This portion of the collection has not been processed.
Arrangement:
Arranged into eight series.
Series 1, Historical Photographs, 1850s-1950s
Series 2, Modern Photographs, 1960s-1980s
Series 3, Miscellaneous Photographs, 1900s-1970s
Series 4, Slides, 1970s-1980s
Series 5, Photograph Albums, 1903-1968 (not inclusive)
Series 6, Scripts for Films, 1955-1978
Series 7, Publications, 1959-1990
Series 8, Films, 1960s
Biographical / Historical:
The origins of the American Petroleum Institute (API) date to World War I, when Congress and the domestic oil and natural gas industry worked together to help the war effort. At the time, the industry included the companies created in 1911 after the court-imposed dissolution of Standard Oil and the independents. These were companies that had been independent of Standard Oil and which had no experience working together. The companies agreed to work with the government to ensure that vital petroleum supplies were rapidly and efficiently deployed to the armed forces. The National Petroleum War Service Committee, which oversaw this effort, was initially formed under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and subsequently as a quasi-governmental body.
After the war, momentum began to build to form a national association that could represent the whole oil and natural gas industry in the postwar years. The industry's efforts to supply fuel during World War I not only highlighted the importance of the industry to the country, but also the industry's obligation to the public.
The American Petroleum Institute was established on March 20, 1919, to afford a means of cooperation with the government in all matters of national concern; to foster foreign and domestic trade in American petroleum products; to promote in general the interests of the petroleum industry in all its branches; and to promote the mutual improvement of its members and the study of the arts and sciences connected with the oil and natural gas industry.
API offices were established in New York City, and the organization focused its efforts in several specific areas. In late 1969, API moved its offices to Washington, D.C. 0F
*History note courtesy The Story of the American Petroleum Institute , by Leonard M. Fanning, published in 1959, and The American Petroleum Institute: An Informal History by Stephen P. Potter, published by API in 1990.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by the American Petroleum Institute through Red Cavaney and G. William Frick on December 16, 1999.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Viewing film portion of collection requires special appointment. See repository for details.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use.
Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI Search this
Extent:
0.5 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Drawings
Specifications
Date:
1864-1865, and undated.
Scope and Contents:
Company records, including specifications, drawings and plans, photographs, and other miscellaneous archival material.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Mining company, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Provenance:
Collected for the National Museum of American History.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Clinton B. Alexander Binder Company (Washington, D.C.) Search this
Source:
Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI Search this
Former owner:
Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI Search this
Extent:
6 Cubic feet (6 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Brochures
Advertisements
Samples
Sales records
Date:
1903-1965
bulk 1921-1955
Summary:
Collection documents the business records of the Alexander Binder Company, as well as the inventions and creations of Clinton B. Alexander. The collection includes business receipts and forms, pamphlets, drawings, trade literature, notes, patents, correspondence, and material samples.
Scope and Contents:
The Alexander Binder collection consists of 7.5 cubic feet of records and business materials which were created between the 1910s and 1965. Most of the collection deals with the binders sold under the Autoset Company and the Autolock Company names. There is also material covering the inventions created and sold under the Alexander Instrument Company. Business and sales information and materials from competitor companies are also included. The vast majority of this collection is textual material, especially business ephemera used to improve the business or sales records between Mr. Alexander and his suppliers and customers. The biggest customer of the Alexander Binder Company was the Aluminum Company of America, now known as Alcoa. However, the Alexander Binder Company sold frequently to companies outside of the United States as well. Along with these sales and business documents, there are material samples, such as grommets, extenders, fabric samples, printing plates, and sample binders from both the Autoset Company and its competitors.
Series 1, Correspondence, 1920-1935,contains correspondence by the Alexander Binder Company about loose leaf binders as well as correspondence with suppliers that the Alexander Binder Company worked with, such as G.H Mansfield and Company, Murphy Specialty Company, and United Screw & Bolt Corporation.
Series 2, Company Forms and Printing Plates, 1921-1954, undated,contains both business letters and information sent out concerning the investment account book, one of the more heavily publicized uses for the loose-leaf binders. It also contains the printing plates and associated materials that were used by the company for all of the various products sold by the company, ranging from the Plummet Adjustor to the Crescent Accounting System.
Series 3, Advertising and Sales Materials, 1912-1965,is divided into four subseries: Subseries 1, Advertising Materials, 1912-1941; Subseries 2, Catalogs, 1916-1921, undated; Subseries 3, Orders, Receipts, Shipments, 1913-1964; and Subseries 4, Sales Materials, 1916-1966. Materials include various marketing books and sales ephemera that Clinton B. Alexander collected to improve the sales and marketing of his products as well as orders, receipts, and shipments that the Alexander Binder Company or one of its subsets received from customers.
Subseries 1, Advertising Materials, 1912-1941, consists of documents that Clinton B. Alexander used to advertise his products. To increase sales, Alexander collected both advertising materials from his suppliers and his competitors as well as books that pertained to business marketing. Also included in this subseries are advertisements that Alexander used for his own products, such as the Crescent Accounting System.
Subseries 2, Catalogs, 1916-1921, includes catalogs from suppliers such as the Lantham Machinery Company and the Dietzgen Supply Company, as well as the Autoset Company. Clinton B. Alexander collected catalogs of various companies, particularly those of his suppliers in order to create catalogs of his own that could successfully market his products.
Subseries 3, Orders, Receipts, Shipments, 1913-1964, consists of all of the orders and sales made by the Alexander Binder Company and its subsets during the period of its existence. This includes not only sales of loose-leaf binders, but also sales of plumb adjusters and tape splices.
Subseries 4, Sales Materials, 1916-1966, contains sales materials that Clinton B. Alexander procured and to improve marketing his products. Included are various sales strategies as well.
Series 4, Drawing, Patterns, and Instructions, 1916-1959, consists of Clinton B. Alexander's drawings, patterns, and instructions concerning his inventions. These materials focus mostly on his loose leaf binder inventions, but also deal with how to create shipping boxes and parts for the machines used to create his products.
Series 5, Patent and Trademark Materials, 1912-1941, consists of all of the patent and trademark materials that Clinton B. Alexander used while inventing. Included is a certificate of copyright for his book, The Crescent Accounting System for Investments and Income Tax (1936) as well as trade names that he considered while starting his company.
Series 6, Competitors, 1931-1939, contains samples and related material for the creation of loose leaf binders as well as correspondence with the supplying companies. The samples are mostly fasteners and screws that were used in loose leaf binders.
Series 7, Binder Samples, 1918, 1931, 1933, 1956, undated, contains samples of binders created by the Alexander Binder Company under the Autoset Company and AutoSet Company names. It also includes binders that were created by competitor binder companies, such as the Walcott-Taylor Company and the Cesco Company.
Series 8, Articles and Publications, 1909-1947,consists of articles and publications pertaining to business development, in particular, documents such as "how to" guides, knowledge journals, and printed material from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Arrangement:
Collection organized into eight series.
Series 1, Correspondence, 1920-1935
Series 2, Company Forms and Printing Plates, 1921-1954, undated
Series 3, Advertising and Sales Materials, 1912-1965, undated
Series 4, Drawings, Patterns, and Instructions, 1916-1959
Series 5, Patent and Trademark Materials, 1912-1941
Series 6, Competitors, 1931-1939
Series 7, Binder Samples, 1918, 1931, 1933, 1956, undated
Series 8, Articles and Publications, 1909-1947
Biographical / Historical:
Clinton B. Alexander was an inventor and entrepreneurial businessman from Washington, D.C. during the twentieth-century. He was born in 1873 in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a mining engineer, moving to Washington D.C. after 1900. From 1915 to 1965, he began to patent and sell various items for businesses and record keeping, such as a plumb adjuster, paper puncher, tape splice, as well as the loose leaf binder. The loose-leaf binder was his most successful invention improvement and was sold under the name Autoset Company and Autolock Company. He also sold his other inventions under the company name The Alexander Instrument Company. Both of these companies—The Autoset Company/Autolock Company and the Alexander Instrument Company—formed part of the Alexander Binder Company. The Alexander Binder Company was located at 467 C St. NW, Washington, D.C. It was a small family business for its entire existence. Both Clinton Alexander's wife (Maria Dixon Alexander) and son (William B. Alexander) are recorded as helping with the business and the patenting process. In February of 1966, Clinton B. Alexander died, and the Alexander Binder Company ceased to exist.
Provenance:
Collection was donated at some time before 1980 and has no acquisition information, thus rendering this archive as "found in collection."
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The records of Jacques Seligmann & Co. are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Collection Citation:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Search this
Names:
Passaic Steel Company (Paterson, N.J.) Search this
Extent:
22.3 Cubic feet (1 box, 59 map-folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photograph albums
Cyanotypes
Place:
Paterson (N.J.)
Hoboken (N.J.)
Date:
1878-1971
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of: a 1903 book of photographs entitled "Illustrations Showing the Works of the Passaic Steel Company at Paterson, New Jersey"; photograph albums (including several cyanotype albums) of the port of Hoboken, the terminal and buildings and other structures; a "souvenir" photograph album of the Clarks Summit/Halstead cut-off, 1914, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers; reports from the 1950s and 1960s itemizing the precise costs of the elements of the Hoboken terminal; track maps; and approximately 10,000 oversized drawings, tracings and blueprints of structures built by the railroad.
Arrangement:
Collection divided into two series.
Series 1: Business Records
Series 2: Drawings
Historical:
The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania on April 7, 1832, as the Liggetts Gap Railroad Company. Its name was changed to the Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company on April 14, 1851, and to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) Railroad Company on March 11, 1853, at which time it absorbed the Delaware & Cobbs Gap Railroad Company.
The first section of railroad, from Scranton to Great Bend, opened in October, 1851. The Southern Division of the railroad was opened between Scranton and the Delaware River on May 27, 1856, forming a more direct route to New York City in connection with the Warren Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The DL&W leased the Morris & Essex Railroad in 1868 and, after upgrading it to permit a heavy coal tonnage, secured its own line to New York Harbor. Other extensions carried the Lackawanna to Utica, Syracuse, Ithaca, and Oswego in central New York State and to Buffalo in the early 1880s. The DL&W had a particular advantage in that it was allowed to directly operate coal mines. The DL&W began mining on its own account in 1851, when a Coal Department was organized. The Lackawanna was exceptionally well placed to supply both New York City and New England via the Southern Division and also upstate New York, the Great Lakes, and Canada via the Northern Division.
The DL&W was still bound by its 1856 traffic contract with the Central of New Jersey, and on March 16, 1872, the two companies agreed to consolidate, being managed by a joint committee of directors from the two companies. However, the two companies were actually now competitors, with roughly parallel lines between Scranton and New York. The consolidation broke up after about a year over arguments as to which company would be the dominant partner. All connection between the two companies was severed in 1875.
During the long presidency of the conservative Samuel Sloan (1867-1899), the road became extremely prosperous as a coal hauler. Financial control was exercised by Moses Taylor and his National City Bank of New York, who had bought into the company at the time of the Panic of 1857. In March 1876 the DL&W converted from 6-foot gauge to standard gauge.
In 1880 Jay Gould acquired an interest in the company and promoted its extension to Buffalo (1882), giving it a significant share of the truck line business for the first time. However, Taylor and his successors refused Gould any further voice in the management. In 1890 William Rockefeller became a director, reflecting the alliance between the Standard Oil group and the National City Bank.
William H. Truesdale replaced Sloan as president and began a massive modernization of both the company's management and the physical plant. The company began issuing full annual reports for the first time since 1857. Two major line relocations were built to the highest engineering standards, across western New Jersey and between Scranton and Binghamton, to improve grades and clearances. They featured massive cuts and fills and huge viaducts, the Tunkhannock Viaduct, 240 feet high, being the largest concrete arch bridge in the world. The DL&W was a pioneer in the adoption of reinforced concrete construction for all types of structures. Under Truesdale's successor, John M. Davis, the principal New Jersey commuter services were electrified in the early 1930s.
After successful government prosecution of the other anthracite railroads for antitrust violations, the DL&W voluntarily divested itself of its Coal Dept., which became the Glen Alden Coal Company in 1921.
After World War II the DL&W hoped to merge with its principal western connection, the Nickle Plate, but was unsuccessful. After continuing losses from commuter service and heavy storm damage to its main lines in 1955, the company began to explore the possibility of consolidation with the roughly parallel Erie Railroad. The merger, forming the Erie Lackawanna Railroad Company, took effect on October 17, 1960.
Source
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company records, Accession 1643, Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company records, 1849-1960
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company Coal Department photographs (Accession 1990.267), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department
The Enderlin Collection of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company Records, 1835-1956
The collection consists of material acquired by Enderlin during his career with the Lackawanna, primarily the kind of historical miscellany that flowed into the secretary's office. Two-thirds of the collection consists of newsclippings on labor matters (ca. 1900-1919), and the remainder of agreements, letters of resignation, statistics and rough minutes.
John G. Enderlin was born on August 16, 1888. In 1903, he began work as an office boy in the New York City headquarters of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, rising through the ranks in the president's and secretary's offices to become secretary-treasurer in 1933. He retired at the end of 1956 and died on September 28, 1981.
Syracuse University Libraries
Lackawanna County Historical Society
The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad was one of the largest and most prosperous anthracite mining and transporting companies in Pennsylvania.Their records consist of minutes of the DL&W and its two direct predecessors.
Provenance:
The oversized items were donated to the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering by Consolidated Rail Corporation (ConRail) through William M. Wehner in 1987. Provenance for the rest of the collection is unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Records include voluminous correspondence, much of it to or from W.P. Millington, Secretary of the Estate; with the Lehigh Valley Coal Company and Lehigh Valley Railroad Company; and with the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. Also reports, including annual reports, reports by the Mining Engineer, and reports on visits by trustees; applications for permits; leases, including the lease for the City of Philadelphia as trustee under the will of Stephen Girard to Lehigh Valley Coal Company, 1884-1899; deeds; original agreements regarding the land, 1785 and 1793; licenses to mine coal; photographs, including photographs taken as part of surveys; blueprints; maps; patents; and daily journals for the years 1872, 1873, and 1879, kept by E.C. Wagner, Assistant Superintendent for the Girard Estate, detailing such things as inspections, meetings, etc.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1830, Stephen Girard, a merchant, financier, and philanthropist, purchased 67 tracts of land in Pennsylvania that had been held by trustees of the first Bank of the United States. A large portion of the land passed into the Girard Trusts, bequeathed by Girard to the city of Philadelphia. Beginning in 1862, leases for the mining of coal on these lands were granted by the Estate.
Provenance:
Collected for the Museum for the Division of Extractive Industries.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
