Search Results

Collection Creator:

Ukeles, Mierle  Search this

Container:

Box 54, Folder 10

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1995

Collection Restrictions:

This collection is temporarily closed for processing. Contact References Services for more information.

See more items in:

Mierle Laderman Ukeles papers

Mierle Laderman Ukeles papers / Unrealized Projects

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9ad908984-c71b-4566-b1f1-98ab243fe129

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-ukelmier-ref1112

Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Collection Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (4.7" x 6.7".)

Container:

Box 6, Folder 10

Box 39

Type:

Archival materials

Diaries

Place:

Appalachian Trail

Date:

1965

Scope and Contents:

1965 trail diary written by Shaffer on hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Arrangement:

In Box 39.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use reference copies of diaries.

Collection Rights:

Copyrights to all donated materials, both printed and photographic, are retained exclusively by the Earl Shaffer Foundation.

Topic:

Hiking  Search this

Trails  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

Earl Shaffer Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Earl Shaffer Papers

Earl Shaffer Papers / Series 2: Materials Related to Hiking / 2.1: Trail Notes Diaries and General Information

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep886cc77df-8725-4e2a-a14c-9acc0146a547

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0828-ref104

Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Collection Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (4.6" x 6.5".)

Container:

Box 6, Folder 17

Box 39

Type:

Archival materials

Diaries

Place:

Appalachian Trail

Date:

1998

undated

Scope and Contents:

Light blue covered trail diary written by Shaffer on hike of the Appalachian Trail.

Arrangement:

In Box 39.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use reference copies of diaries.

Collection Rights:

Copyrights to all donated materials, both printed and photographic, are retained exclusively by the Earl Shaffer Foundation.

Topic:

Hiking  Search this

Trails  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

Earl Shaffer Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Earl Shaffer Papers

Earl Shaffer Papers / Series 2: Materials Related to Hiking / 2.1: Trail Notes Diaries and General Information

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8f4954e50-9826-45cb-afb1-fe1ba19389bb

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0828-ref111

Collection Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Container:

Box 7, Folder 16

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use reference copies of diaries.

Collection Rights:

Copyrights to all donated materials, both printed and photographic, are retained exclusively by the Earl Shaffer Foundation.

Collection Citation:

Earl Shaffer Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Earl Shaffer Papers

Earl Shaffer Papers / Series 2: Materials Related to Hiking / 2.1: Trail Notes Diaries and General Information

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep893cff0f2-9230-40c3-a6a3-5f96c15f676b

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0828-ref127

Collection Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Container:

Map-folder 7

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use reference copies of diaries.

Collection Rights:

Copyrights to all donated materials, both printed and photographic, are retained exclusively by the Earl Shaffer Foundation.

Collection Citation:

Earl Shaffer Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Earl Shaffer Papers

Earl Shaffer Papers / Series 2: Materials Related to Hiking / 2.3: Maps and Plats

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8959f103e-d1ab-43cc-b095-3f488c183d3f

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0828-ref173

Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Collection Author:

Shaffer, Earl V., 1918-2002  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (5.5" x 4.0".)

Container:

Box 6, Folder 3

Box 39

Type:

Archival materials

Diaries

Place:

Appalachian Trail

Date:

1948

Scope and Contents:

Trail diary written Shaffer during the first hike to cover the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.

Arrangement:

In Box 39.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use reference copies of diaries.

Collection Rights:

Copyrights to all donated materials, both printed and photographic, are retained exclusively by the Earl Shaffer Foundation.

Topic:

Hiking  Search this

Trails  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

Earl Shaffer Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Earl Shaffer Papers

Earl Shaffer Papers / Series 2: Materials Related to Hiking / 2.1: Trail Notes Diaries and General Information

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ed6657b8-4841-42a1-8755-cc8a81b465c5

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0828-ref96

Creator:

Procter & Gamble Company  Search this

Leyendecker, J. C., 1874-1951  Search this

Smith, Jessie Willcox, 1863-1935  Search this

Elliott, Elizabeth Shippen Green  Search this

Extent:

10 Cubic feet (30 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertisements

Photomechanical reproductions

Date:

1883-1998

Summary:

Print advertisements covering almost the entire history of Ivory Soap, including advertisements designed by artists including Jesse Wilcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and J. C. Leyendecker.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists of print advertising and publications covering almost the entire history of Ivory Soap. Researchers may use this collection to examine the evolution of advertising strategies and techniques from the very early days of mass-produced brand-name consumer products to the present. From the beginning, Ivory advertisements proclaimed the product's "99 and 44/100%" purity, its ability to float, and its versatility. The collection, however, is much more than a glimpse into advertising history. It is an extremely rich resource for a wide range of cultural studies. Ivory advertising was primarily aimed at women, and it contains many images of women, babies, and young children. The depictions reflect contemporary attitudes toward class structure, race, immigrants and residents of other countries, cleanliness, and domestic relationships. The advertisements often play upon the guilt of women, suggesting that their main concerns should be their husbands, children, and dishpan hands. Many advertisements associate cleanliness with social and religious propriety, physical fitness, and athleticism. There also are many images of men and women performing every-day tasks in gender-defined situations.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1: Ivory Soap Products Advertisements, 1883-1998, undated

Series 2: Publications, 1883-1969, undated

Biographical / Historical:

In 1837, candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio, to sell their products. The new company prospered, and by 1859 Procter & Gamble sales reached one million dollars. Contracts with the United States Army during the Civil War to supply soap and candles increased Procter & Gamble's customer base and reputation. In 1879, James Norris Gamble, son of the founder, developed an inexpensive pure white soap. A factory worker who forgot to shut off the soap-making machine when he left for lunch inadvertently improved the product. When he returned, the soap mixture was frothy due to the air that had been whipped into it, and the resulting soap cakes floated in water. There was immediate demand for the "floating soap." After considering many names for the new product, Harley Procter, son of the founder, finally named the soap "Ivory" after Psalms 45:8: "All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad." Chemical analyses of the soap in 1882 revealed that 56/100 of the ingredients were not pure soap. Harley Procter subtracted that amount from one hundred and the slogan "99 and 44/100% pure" was born. The first ads appeared in 1882 in The Independent, a weekly newspaper.

Innovations in production, distribution, and market research contributed to Procter & Gamble's success. Procter & Gamble also developed other products such as Ivory Flakes, Chipso (the first dishwasher soap), and Crisco. By 1945, Procter & Gamble had become a nearly $350 million company. The company also was an innovator in advertising, developing creative print advertisements aimed at different target groups, sponsoring radio shows and comic strips, and airing its first television commercial (for Ivory Soap) during the first televised major league baseball game. Procter & Gamble is now a global company, selling more than 250 products, including Ivory Soap, to five billion customers in 130 countries.

Related Materials:

Several collections in the Archives Center have materials relating to Ivory Soap. The J. Walter Wilkinson Papers contain art he created for Ivory Soap advertisements. The Ivory Soap 1940 Essay Contest Collection consists of documents relating to the contest and its winner, Helen Nixon. The Procter & Gamble Product Packaging Collection, 1940s-1970s, includes Ivory brand products. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana's "Soap" subject category contains documents relating to Procter & Gamble and other manufacturers. About twenty-five per cent of the advertisements in this collection are reproduced in the Archives Center's digital image library.

Separated Materials:

Artifacts donated to the Division of Medicine and Science.

Provenance:

Procter & Gamble donated this collection to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution on October 24, 2001.

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:

advertising  Search this

Soap  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertisements -- 20th century

Photomechanical reproductions

Advertisements -- 19th century

Citation:

Ivory Soap Collection, 1883-1998, undated; Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Procter & Gamble.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0791

See more items in:

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88550648b-e85c-4b62-9ccb-f8e6872e4a86

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0791

Creator:

Friedman, Joseph Bernard, Dr., 1900-1982  Search this

Friedman, Betty  Search this

Flexible Straw Corporation.  Search this

Flex-Straw Co.  Search this

Former owner:

Friedman, Robert A.  Search this

Leeds, Pamela B.  Search this

Reiss, Linda A.  Search this

Rosen, Judith B.  Search this

Names:

Klein, Bert  Search this

Extent:

8 Cubic feet (17 boxes, 2 oversize folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ledgers (account books)

Correspondence

Blueprints

Black-and-white photographic prints

Videotapes

Personal papers

Date:

1915-2000

Summary:

Papers relating to the development of the flexible drinking straw, Friedman's manufacturing company, and Friedman's other inventions, such as an ice cream scoop, fountain pens, and household appliances.

Scope and Contents:

Papers relating to the development of the flexible drinking straw, Friedman's manufacturing company, and Friedman's other inventions, such as an ice cream scoop, fountain pens, and household appliances. Includes company ledgers, preliminary sketches, blueprints, correspondence, a video cassette, and photographs.

The Joseph B. Friedman Papers encompass the years 1915-2000, with the bulk of the material ranging between 1925 and 1965. This collection is a near complete source for the understanding inventive process of an American entrepreneur. In the case of the flexible straw, the evolution of the invention can be traced from early concept drawings through its manufacture and production, to the development of advertising and marketing materials. Records of necessary design modifications in the flexible straw and legal issues concerning Friedman's invention through its various stages are present here. In addition to providing a detailed linear account of the flexible straw, these papers reflect the varied interests and additional accomplishments of Friedman's invention career. The collection is arranged in three series to reflect the subjects of the material, namely personal papers, invention materials, and corporate records. Materials within each series are arranged by topic and type, and then chronologically.

Series 1: Personal Records (c.1920s-1940) contains family photographs, personal correspondence, education and employment records. Friedman's education records are in Subseries A, while the records of his careers in optometry, insurance and real estate are contained in Subseries B. Subseries C contains personal financial records, including bank statements and income tax returns. Correspondence, photographs, family history items and death certificate are located in Subseries D.

Series 2: Invention & Patent Materials (1915-1967) consists of invention records that include original concept drawings, legal records and patents, marketing correspondence, and the business records of Friedman's sole proprietorship invention business, the Commercial Research Company. It is important for researchers to note that information on the assignment of straw patents and their machinery, all associated legal records to those specific issues, as well as patent defense case research, and straw advertising and marketing after 1938 may be found in Series 3. Series 2 is divided into several subseries. Subseries A - I are patented inventions arranged chronologically by patent issue date, and include research and development, legal records and correspondence, and advertising and marketing materials. Subseries J - M contain unpatented inventions and business records, as well as multiple concept drawings and invention lists that refer to both patented and unpatented inventions. Researchers interested in the conceptual development of the straw should review the information contained not only in Subseries E: Drinking Tube and Subseries H: Flexible Straw, but also in Subseries L: Invention Lists & Drawings for straw ideas that were drawn on lists or sketches with other concepts. Additionally, researchers interested in the manufacturing device for the straw should review Subseries I: Apparatus & Method for Forming Corrugations in Tubing, as well as Subseries K: Unpatented Inventions, for the Flexible Straw & Method of Forming Same information.

Series 3: Flex-Straw Corporate Records (1938 - 1967) includes correspondence relating to the company and its formation, financial statements, tax returns, legal documents, patent assignments, royalty information, patent defense case research and records, and documents pertaining to the advertising and marketing of the flexible straw. Researchers should note that all conceptual and developmental details relating to the straw and its manufacture, as well as the original patents and their specifically associated legal correspondence can be found in Series 2. Series 3 is divided into several topically arranged subseries. Subseries A consists of the organizational materials for the company, including the minutes, by-laws and limited employee records. This subseries also contains two day books belonging to Joseph B. Friedman recording his appointments and personal notes from 1947 and 1950. Subseries B includes company related correspondence, organized by the correspondent. It begins with general correspondence, from 1939 - 1963, and continues with the letters of Bert Klein (1945 - 1950), David Light & Harry Zavin (1938 - 1962), and Betty Friedman (1940 - 1954). Much of the operational information on the company may be found in the letters Betty Friedman wrote and received from her brother. Subseries C holds the financial records of the company, including financial statements, ledgers, bank statements, check books, tax returns and royalty statements. Subseries D consists of legal records and correspondence, including such topics as changes in entity type, patent assignments, fair trade agreements and patent defense. Subseries E contains the advertising and marketing records of the company. This includes published material relating to the Flex-Straw specifically, as well as some advertising for flexible straws in general. Pencil concept drawings of Flex-Straw packaging and advertising art are drawn on the reverse of Pette calendar pages, and international advertising materials for the product are also present. Product testimonials, distributor bulletins, and corporate letterhead that traces the progression of company locations can also be found here.

Arrangement:

The collection is ivided into three series.

Series 1: Personal Records, circa 1920s-1940

Series 2: Invention and Patent Materials, 1915-1967

Series 3: Flex-Straw Corporate Records, 1938-1969

Biographical / Historical:

Joseph B. Friedman (1900 - 1982) was an independent American inventor with a broad range of interests and ideas. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 9, 1900, Joseph was a first generation American and the fifth of eight children for Jacob Friedman and Antoinette Grauer Friedman. By the age of fourteen, he had conceptualized his first invention, the "pencilite" lighted pencil, and was attempting to market his idea. Over the course of his inventing career, he would experiment with ideas ranging from writing implements to engine improvements, and household products to sound and optic experiments. He was issued nine U.S. patents and held patents in Great Britain, Australia and Canada. His first patent was issued for improvements to the fountain pen on April 18, 1922, (U.S. patent #1,412,930). This was also the first invention that he successfully sold, to Sheaffer Pen Company in the mid 1930s. In the 1920s, Friedman began his education in real estate and optometry. He would use both of these careers at different points in his life to supplement his income while improving his invention concepts. Although he was working as a realtor in San Francisco, California, the 1930s proved to be his most prolific patenting period, with six of his nine U.S. patents being issued then. One of these patents would prove to be his most successful invention - the flexible drinking straw.

While sitting in his younger brother Albert's fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw. He took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations. After removing the screw, the altered paper straw would bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages. U.S. patent #2,094,268 was issued for this new invention under the title Drinking Tube, on September 28, 1937. Friedman would later file and be issued two additional U.S. patents and three foreign patents in the 1950s relating to its formation and construction. Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself.

The Flexible Straw Corporation was incorporated on April 24, 1939 in California. However, World War II interrupted Friedman's efforts to construct his straw manufacturing machine. During the war, he managed the optometry practice of Arthur Euler, O.D., in Capwells' Department Store in Oakland, California, and continued to sell real estate and insurance to support his growing family. Joseph obtained financial backing for his flexible straw machine from two of his brothers-in-law, Harry Zavin and David Light, as well as from Bert Klein, a family associate. With their financial assistance, and the business advice of his sister Betty, Friedman completed the first flexible straw manufacturing machine in the late 1940s. Although his original concept had come from the observation of his daughter, the flexible straw was initially marketed to hospitals, with the first sale made in 1947.

Betty Friedman played a crucial role in the development of the Flexible Straw Corporation. While still living in Cleveland and working at the Tarbonis Company, she corresponded regularly with her brother and directed all of the sales and distribution of the straw. In 1950 Friedman moved his family and company to Santa Monica, California. Now doing business as the Flex-Straw Co., sales continued to increase and the marketing direction expanded to focus more strongly on the home and child markets. Betty moved west in 1954 to assume her formal leadership role in the corporation. Additional partners and investors were added over time, including Art Shapiro, who was initially solicited as a potential buyer of the patent. On June 20, 1969, the Flexible Straw Corporation sold its United States and foreign patents, United States and Canadian trademarks, and licensing agreements to the Maryland Cup Corporation. The Flexible Straw Corporation dissolved on August 19, 1969.

Dr. Joseph Bernard Friedman died on June 21, 1982. He was survived by his wife of over 50 years, Marjorie Lewis Friedman, his four children Judith, Linda, Pamela and Robert, and seven grandchildren

Separated Materials:

"Straw samples and an original dispensing device (ice cream disher) are located in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).

A mandrel prototype from the original flexible straw manufacturing machine is held by the Division of Work and Industry."

Provenance:

Daughters Judith B. Rosen, Linda A. Reiss and Pamela B. Leeds, and son Robert A. Friedman donated this collection and its related artifacts to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History on May 1, 2001.

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:

Inventors  Search this

Inventions -- 1920-2000 -- United States  Search this

Ice cream scoops  Search this

Ice cream industry  Search this

Household appliances  Search this

Fountain pens  Search this

Drinking straws  Search this

Paper products  Search this

Patents  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ledgers (account books)

Correspondence -- 20th century

Blueprints

Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000

Videotapes

Personal papers -- 20th century

Citation:

Joseph B. Friedman Papers, 1915-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0769

See more items in:

Joseph B. Friedman Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88bd71d1a-1ab1-408c-b95b-8c81544027a7

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0769

Collection Creator:

J&B Manufacturing Company.  Search this

Huldah's Brook, Inc.  Search this

Container:

Box 12, Folder 5

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1921

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:

J&B Manufacturing Company Records, 1916-1924, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

J&B Manufacturing Company Records

J&B Manufacturing Company Records / Series 8: Automobile Trade Groups and Shows

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89d73b1fb-7e62-4697-80fa-2c0433d12234

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0563-ref593

Creator:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company  Search this

Consolidation Coal Company  Search this

Donor:

Bethlehem Steel Corporation  Search this

Extent:

23 Cubic feet (99 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Photograph albums

Date:

1885-1940s

Summary:

The collection documents the building, operation and daily life of coal mining communities in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio between 1911 and 1946. The collection is a valuable for the study of mining technology and the social conditions of the time period and regions.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists mostly of photographs depicting Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company mines and mining towns in Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Subjects include worker housing, schools for miners' children, gardens, churches, recreational facilities, health services, company stores, safety, mining machinery, construction of mines and related structures, and the interiors of mines.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1: Background Materials, 1904-1933

Series 2: Photographs, 1885-1940s

Subseries 2.1: Photograph Albums, 1885-1932

Subseries 2.2: West Virginia Division, 19091-1917

Subseries 2.3: Glass Plate and Film Negatives, 1911-1940s

Subseries 2.4: Numbered Photographs, 1911-1930

Subseries 2.5: Miscellaneous, 1913, 1916

Historical Note:

The Consolidation Coal Company was started in 1864 to mine bituminous coal deposits in Maryland's Cumberland region. it expanded by acquiring other mine companies as well as rail and other transportation companies. It went into receivership in 1932. The Pittsburgh Coal Company, founded in 1900, took over the firm in 1945 and formed the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company.

The Consolidation Coal Company (Maryland)

The Consolidation Coal Company was incorporated in Maryland on March 8, 1860, for the purpose of effecting a merger of a number of coal operators mining the Georges Creek basin in Allegany County, Maryland. Because of the Civil War, during which Confederate armies frequently blocked the region's only outlet to market, the company was not actually organized until April 19, 1864. Starting life as the dominant operator in this small but significant coal field, "Consol" rose to become the nation's top producer of bituminous coal.

The Georges Creek or Cumberland Coal Field, occupying part of the triangle of western Maryland, contained a high-quality, low-volatile bituminous steam coal which was also, thanks to the Potomac River, the coal of this type most accessible to Eastern markets. Coal had been mined in the region beginning in the 1700s, and the first coal company, the Maryland Mining Company, had been incorporated in 1828. However, large-scale development could not occur until the mid-1840s, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Cumberland and provided reliable transportation. This also coincided with the development of ocean steam navigation and a rapid growth in the number of railroad locomotives and stationary steam engines. Cumberland coal was ideal for ship bunkering, and much of the output was shipped to New York Harbor. Naturally, New York capitalists and manufacturers played a leading role in developing the field. Lewis Howell's Maryland and New York Iron and Coal Company rolled the first solid U.S. railroad rail at its Mount Savage mill in 1844. The Consolidation Coal merger was put together by New Yorkers such as William H. Aspinwall, Erastus Corning, the Delanos and Roosevelts, and the Boston financier John Murray Forbes, who already had substantial investments in the region.

Upon its formation, the Consolidation Coal Company acquired the properties of the Ocean Steam Coal Company, the Frostburg Coal Company, and the Mount Savage Iron Company totaling about 11,000 acres. The last named company brought with it control of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad, which connected the mines to the Baltimore & Ohio and later the Pennsylvania and Western Maryland railroads. In 1870, Consol absorbed the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company of 1840, the next largest operator in the field, and gained an additional 7,000 acres. Further purchases from the Delano interests gave it over 80 percent of the entire Cumberland Field.

Soon after its hated rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad, gained access to the Cumberland Coal Field, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began purchasing large blocks of Consolidation Coal stock to protect its traffic base in 1875, eventually gaining a 52 percent interest. A B&O slate of directors was elected in February 1877, with Charles F. Mayer of Baltimore as president, and the company offices were moved from New York to Baltimore.

Until the turn of the century, Consolidation Coal's mining operations were confined to the small soft coal region of western Maryland. The company purchased the 12,000 acre Millholland coal tract near Morgantown, W.Va. in 1902 and acquired controlling interests in the Fairmont Coal Company of West Virginia and the Somerset Coal Company of Pennsylvania the following year. These acquisitions boosted Consolidation's annual production more than six-fold in only three years. The company purchased the 25,000 acre Stony Creek tract in Somerset County, Pa., in 1904. The Fairmont Coal Company purchase included a joint interest in the North Western Fuel Company, which owned and operated docks and coal distribution facilities in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In 1906, the Interstate Commerce Commission held a formal investigation of rail ownership of coal companies, which resulted in the passage of the Hepburn Act and its "Commodities Clause," which prohibited railroads from dealing in the commodities they hauled. In anticipation of the new regulations, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad sold its entire holdings of Consolidation stock to a Baltimore syndicate headed by Consol president Clarence W. Watson, J. H. Wheelwright and H. Crawford on April 26, 1906. At the time of the B&O's divestiture, the aggregate annual output of Consolidation's mines totaled more than 10 million tons and the company controlled more than 200,000 acres. The John D. Rockefeller interests began purchasing Consol securities in 1915, eventually securing a controlling interest. The company's offices were returned to New York City in May 1921.

After the B&O divestiture, Consol began expanding into the Southern Appalachian coal fields, which were just being opened by railroads on a large scale. The mines in this region yielded a low volatile coal that provided an ideal fuel source for stationary steam engines, ships, and locomotives. Of equal importance, operators in the remote mountains had been able to resist unionization and thus achieve lower operating costs, while all of Consol's previous holdings had been in the so-called "Central Competitive Field" to the north, which had been unionized in the 1890s. Consolidation Coal purchased 30,000 acres in the Millers Creek Field of Eastern Kentucky in 1909 and 100,000 acres in the Elkhorn Field the next year. In February 1922, Consol secured a long term lease and option on the Carter Coal Company, whose 37,000 acres straddled the borders of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. In 1925, Consol became the nation's largest producer of bituminous coal, excluding the captive mines of the steel companies.

During the Great Depression, Consolidation Coal experienced serious financial difficulties and was forced into receivership on June 2, 1932. The Rockefellers liquidated their holdings at a loss, and the Carter Coal Company was returned to the Carter heirs in 1933. Consol was reorganized and reincorporated in Delaware as the Consolidation Coal Company, Inc. on November 1, 1935, and was able to retain its position as one of the nation's top coal producers. Eventually, stock control passed into the hands of the M.A. Hanna Company group of Cleveland, dealers in coal and iron ore. Although production reached record levels during the Second World War, management feared a recurrence of the collapse that had followed World War I. It also faced the prospect of increased competition from oil and natural gas and the loss of traditional markets such as home heating and locomotive fuel. As a result Consol opened negotiations with another large producer, the Pittsburgh Coal Company, which was the dominant operator in the Pittsburgh District.

The Pittsburgh Coal Company

The Pittsburgh Coal Company was a product of the great industrial merger movement of the late 1890s. In 1899, two large mergers were effected in the Pittsburgh District.

The Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania on October 1, 1899 to merge the properties of over 90 small firms operating mines along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh. Some of these operations dated to the early 1800s, and all of them shipped coal down the Ohio-Mississippi River system by barge from close to the mine mouth, or later by the railroads built along the river banks. The combination controlled 40,000 acres of coal land, 100 steam towboats, 4,000 barges, and facilities for handling coal at Cincinnati, Louisville, Vicksburg, Memphis, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The Pittsburgh Coal Company was incorporated in New Jersey as a holding company on September 1, 1899 and acquired the properties of over 80 operators located in the areas back from the river on both sides of the Monongahela south of Pittsburgh. The combination was engineered by some of the most prominent Pittsburgh industrialists, including Andrew W. Mellon, Henry W. Oliver, and Henry Clay Frick. It controlled over 80,000 acres and six collector railroads, the longest of which was the Montour Railroad. Most of its output was shipped by rail, with a large share being transferred to ships on the Great Lakes for distribution throughout the industrial Midwest. The company owned coal docks and yards at Chicago, Cleveland, Duluth, West Superior, Sault Ste. Marie, Ashtabula, Fairport and Thornburg. Subsequently, the company expanded in southwestern Pennsylvania and the Hocking Valley of Ohio through the lease of the Shaw Coal Company in 1901 and the purchase of the Midland Coal Company in 1903. Most of the properties were vested in a separate Pittsburgh Coal Company, an operating company incorporated in Pennsylvania.

Unlike the Consolidation Coal Company, which had grown by gradual accretion, the Pittsburgh Coal Company had been created in a single stroke. As with many mergers of the period, its capitalization probably contained a high percentage of "water" in anticipation of profits from future growth. Unfortunately, the years after the merger saw explosive growth in the coal fields of Southern Appalachia instead. Although farther from major consuming centers, they enjoyed several advantages. The coal itself was superior, low-volatile with higher BTU content and altogether cleaner than the high-volatile coals of Ohio and the Pittsburgh District. As already noted, the southern mines were also non-union. With the inroads of Southern Appalachian coal, the Pittsburgh Coal Company continuously lost ground in the crucial Lake and western markets from 1900 to 1915. The company's capitalization proved unwieldy in the unsettled economic conditions following the Panic of 1907. A reorganization plan was devised under which a new Pittsburgh Coal Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania on January 12, 1916 by merging the old Pittsburgh Coal Company of Pennsylvania and the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company. The old holding company was then liquidated and the stock of the new operating company distributed to its stockholders. Dissension between the common and preferred stockholders delayed consummation of the plan until July 16, 1917.

The Pittsburgh Coal Company, which had all its operations in the Central Competitive Field, had a much more difficult time than Consolidation in breaking the 1923 Jacksonville Agreement with the United Mine Workers in 1925-1927 and reverting to non-union status. The three-year struggle ended the company's ability to pay dividends. Pittsburgh Coal survived the Depression without receivership but with ever-increasing arrearages on its preferred stock. By the end of World War II, its managers were just as eager as those at Consol to attempt greater economies through merger. The Pittsburgh Coal Company and the Consolidation Coal Company merged on November 23, 1945, with exchange ratios of 65 to 35 percent. Pittsburgh Coal Company, the surviving partner, changed its name to the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company.

The Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company

After the merger, the M.A. Hanna Company interests of Cleveland became the dominant factor in Pitt-Consol's affairs. Hanna had transferred its pre-merger Consol stock to its subsidiary Bessemer Coal & Coke Corporation in 1943. This led to a restructuring whereby Pitt-Consol acquired Hanna's share of the North Western-Hanna Fuel Company in April 1946 and the Hanna coal properties in eastern Ohio on June 16, 1946 These included large reserves of strippable coal that accounted for about 20 percent of the state's production. Pitt-Consol later acquired Hanna's holdings of coal land in Harrison, Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, on December 30, 1949. It purchased the New York Central Railroad's 51 percent interest in the Jefferson Coal Company, giving it full control, in 1952 and merged it into the Hanna Coal Company Division.

Pitt-Consol sold its last major railroads, the Montour Railroad and the Youngstown & Southern Railway to the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad on December 31, 1946. The Northwestern Coal Railway had been sold to the Great Northern system, and the Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad had been sold to the Western Maryland Railway in May 1944.

In addition, a new Research and Development Division was created to fund projects aimed at developing more efficient production methods, new outlets for coal consumption, coal-based synthetic fuels and chemical byproducts. A new coal gasification plant opened at Library, Pa., in November 1948, and the company began the manufacture of a smokeless fuel briquette under the trademark "Disco" at Imperial, Pa., in 1949. An experimental coal slurry pipeline was built in Ohio in 1952.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Pitt-Consol made many changes in its coal holdings, selling high-cost or less desirable properties, diversifying its reserves across many different coal fields, rationalizing property lines to permit large mechanized underground or strip mines and forming joint ventures with steel companies to secure guaranteed customers. Pitt-Consol acquired the Jamison Coal and Coke Company in 1954 and the Pocahontas Fuel Company, Incorporated, a large producer of low-volatile Southern Appalachian coal, in 1956. In the latter year, it sold its Elkhorn Field properties to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. As Pittsburgh District operations became less central, the corporate name was changed back to Consolidation Coal Company in April 1958.

The Consolidation Coal Company, CONOCO and CONSOL Energy, Inc.:

Consol continued to expand into the early 1960s. On April 30, 1962, it absorbed the Truax-Traer Coal Company of Illinois. Truax-Traer also mined lignite in North Dakota, a low-grade but low-sulfur coal that was taking a greater share of the power generation market as environmental laws placed greater restrictions on high-sulfur coal from the Central Competitive Field. The following year Consol acquired the Crozer Coal and Land Company and the Page Coal and Coke Company, owners of additional reserves of low-volatile, low-sulfur steam coal in southern West Virginia.

In 1966, just two years after the company marked its centennial, Consolidation Coal was acquired by the Continental Oil Company (Conoco). This was part of a general trend whereby U.S. oil companies extended their reach by acquiring coal reserves and large coal producers. In turn, Conoco was acquired by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in 1981. This purchase was motivated by DuPont's desire to obtain better control of chemical feedstocks in an era of high oil prices. Consolidation Coal was not a major factor in the Conoco acquisition and did not really fit into DuPont's strategy, especially after coal and oil prices declined. As a result, it was quickly sold off when DuPont was restructured a decade later. In 1991, a new holding company CONSOL Engery, Inc. was incorporated as a joint venture of DuPont Energy Company and the German energy conglomerate Rheinisch-Westfalisches Elektrizitatswerk A.G., through its wholly owned subsidiaries Rheinbraun A.G. and Rheinbraun U.S.A. GmbH. Consolidation Coal Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CONSOL Energy, Inc. DuPont eventually sold most of its half interest, so that by 1998, Rheinbraun affiliates owned 94% of CONSOL Energy stock, while DuPont Energy retained only 6%. CONSOL Energy purchased the entire stock of the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company on September 22, 1998. CONSOL Energy stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CNX" in 1999, with an initial public offering of more than 20 million shares.

CONSOL Energy produced more than 74 million tons of coal in 1999, accounting for approximately 7% of domestic production. The company currently operates 22 mining complexes, primarily east of the Mississippi River.

Source

Historical note from the Consolidation Coal Company Records, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

The Archives Center holds a number of collections that document coal.

Coal and Gas Trust Investigation Collection (AC1049)

Hammond Coal Company Records (AC1003)

Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company Records (AC0071)

Lehigh Valley Coal Company Records (AC1106)

Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company Records (AC0282)

Materials in Other Organizations

Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh

CONSOL Energy, Inc. Mine Maps and Records Collection, 1857-2002

AIS.1991.16

The CONSOL Energy Inc. collection contains coal mine maps, related documents and topographical information, as well as surface maps and detailed information on mine accidents. Additionally, there are technical drawings, outside notes on multiple mines, traverse and survey books, information on companies and railroads with which CONSOL conducted business, and a variety of non-print materials including photographs, negatives and aperture cards. Digital reproductions of selected material are available online.

CONSOL Energy Inc. West Virginia and Eastern Ohio Mine Maps and Records Collection, 1880-1994

AIS.2004.22

The CONSOL Energy Inc. West Virginia and Eastern Ohio Mine Maps and Records Collection contains coal mine maps as well as surface maps and detailed information on mine accidents in West Virginia and Eastern Ohio. Additionally, there are technical drawings, related documents, traverse and survey books, publications and photographs.

Consolidation Coal Company Records, 1854-1971, bulk 1864-1964

AIS.2011.03

The Consolidation Coal Company (Consol) was created by the merger of several small operators mining the Georges Creek coal basin in Allegany County, Maryland. The company expanded rapidly in the early twentieth century through the purchase of substantial tracts in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky as well as docks and distribution facilities in the Great Lakes region. By 1927, Consol was the nation's largest producer of bituminous coal. Following a merger with the Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1945, the company pursued a policy of acquiring companies which afforded opportunities for greater diversification while selling off unprofitable lines. In addition, a new research and development division was created to fund projects aimed at developing more efficient production methods and new outlets for coal consumption. The records of the Consolidation Coal Company and its affiliated companies are arranged in seven series. Minute books and contract files provide the most comprehensive documentation in this collection.

Provenance:

Donated to the National Museum of American History in 1987 by Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Mining corporations  Search this

Mining -- West Virginia  Search this

Mining -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Mining -- Maryland  Search this

Company towns  Search this

Mining -- Kentucky  Search this

Mines -- West Virginia  Search this

Mines -- Pennsylvania  Search this

Mines -- Maryland  Search this

Mines -- Kentucky  Search this

Mining and minerals industry  Search this

Genre/Form:

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

Photographs -- 20th century

Photograph albums -- 20th century

Citation:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1007

See more items in:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep86027ae9f-9a84-4277-adcf-d0b5e919ac6a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1007

Collection Creator:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company  Search this

Consolidation Coal Company  Search this

Collection Donor:

Bethlehem Steel Corporation  Search this

Container:

Box 17

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials

Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company photographs and other materials / Series 2: Photographs / 2.1: Photograph Albums

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8cebfce5d-2b5f-4580-a6a9-45ee526bfef0

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1007-ref36

Creator:

Salem China Company  Search this

American Limoges China Co.  Search this

Sebring Pottery Company  Search this

Crescent China Company  Search this

Leigh Potters, Inc.  Search this

Names:

James Sadler Company  Search this

Extent:

10.15 Cubic feet (26 boxes, 9 map-folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Bulletins

Records

Drawings

Clippings

Blueprints

Place:

Ohio

Date:

1930s-1981

Summary:

Includes records of the Salem China Company relating to the administration of the company, its sales and art department, and other material relating to plant operations prior to 1960, when the company ceased manufacturing and became a distributor only. Includes photographs of various promotions, Salem China patterns, factory buildings, sales staff, show rooms, etc. as well as extensive advertising material of the Salem China Co. and its competitors. Another series contains blueprints and drawings of the Salem China Company's plant and equipment. Another series contains bulletins issued by the Associated Industries of Cleveland from 1977 to 1981.

Scope and Contents:

The collection includes records of the Salem China Company relating to administration of the company, its sales and art department and other material relating to plant operations prior to 1960 when the company ceased manufacturing and became a distributor only. There are a number of photographs of various promotions, Salem China patterns, factory buildings, sales staff, show rooms, etc. There is extensive advertising material of both the Salem China Co. and of its competitors. Another series consists of blueprints and drawings of the Salem China Company's plant and equipment. There is also a series of bulletins issued by the Associated Industries of Cleveland from 1977 to 1981.

Series 1: General Administration, includes a history of Salem, Ohio as well as a history of the United States pottery industry written by Floyd W. McKee, long time manager of the Salem China Company, after he retired. Issues of the Stylon News from 1954 to 1957 indicate the company's interest in tile. Union materials relate to the several craft unions concerned with organizing pottery plants. There is some generalized anti union material.

Series 2 contains bulletins of the Associated Industries of Cleveland (AIC). These bulletins include material of general interest to members, bulletins from the legal counsel, a newsletter for executives, bulletins relating to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and surveys of management employee relations, salaries and benefits and wage settlements.

The third series consists of the Sales Department's records, including advertising brochures, pamphlets and photographs relating to various promotions supermarket, bank, movie, department store as well as those for general advertising of Salem products, the records of a factory outlet store operated by the Salem China Company, bulletins, a notebook and other materials directed to the sales staff.

Art Department records incorporate mats, photographs, some drawings and occasional negatives of nearly 40 patterns of china as well as service plates and souvenir plates. The notebooks relate to premiums, specialized ware such as children's ware, proofs, photos, half tones and ads.

Over 65 companies are represented in the competitors' advertising material, most of which relates to china although there are a few tile and other manufacturers included.

With the exception of the art department notebooks, and the drawings and blueprints, most of the collection is in good condition.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into ten series.

Series 1: Executive and Administrative Records

Series 2: Labor Relations

Series 3: Sales Department Records

Series 4: Promotional Photographs

Series 5: Art Department Records

Series 6: Plant Operating Records

Series 7: Competitors' Advertising

Series 8: US Potters Association

Series 9: Tile Industry

Series 10: Associated Industries of Cleveland

Biographical / Historical:

The Salem China Company of Salem, Ohio was founded in 1898 by Pat and John McNichol, Dan Cronin and William Smith, all from East Liverpool, Ohio. It was sold to the F.A. Sebrings of Sebring, Ohio in 1918. Until retirement in 1950, Floyd W. McKee, who had been with the company since 1918, was the general manager. When he retired in 1950 J. Harrison Keller, the husband of F.A. Sebring's granddaughter, Gretchen, took over the management of the company. Harrison Keller was also president of the United States Potters Association, the principal function of which was labor negotiations. From 1898 until 1960 the company was engaged in both manufacturing and distribution. Since 1960, its function has been distribution only.

In addition to the manufacture and distribution of dinnerware, novelty and souvenirware, the Salem China Co. distributed flatware, crystal and Corningware and was the American distributor for the James Sadler Company, English manufacturers of teapots. The company supplemented its sales to retail outlets by heavy reliance on bank, movie, drugstore and supermarket promotions. For example, Peoples Drug Co. used over 150,000 thirty two piece sets of dishes from the Salem China Co. in the 1930's with the buyer paying $2.98 for a set costing $2.72 at the factory. During the 30's also, about 130 carloads of Salem dinnerware were used by American Stores in Philadelphia in promotions. In 1993, the president of the Salem China Co. was Gary Keller.

Provenance:

Collection donated by Salem China Company, February 22, 1989.

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:

Porcelain  Search this

Potters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Bulletins

Records

Drawings -- 20th century

Clippings

Blueprints -- 20th century

Citation:

The Salem China China Company Collection, 1930s-1981, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0325

See more items in:

The Salem China Company Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8d3c42798-e287-4b04-a398-0c57713bab43

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0325

Creator:

Barnaby, Ralph S. (Ralph Stanton), 1893-1986  Search this

Names:

Early Birds of Aviation (Organization).  Search this

Soaring Society of America  Search this

United States. Navy  Search this

Barnaby, Ralph S. (Ralph Stanton), 1893-1986  Search this

Extent:

3.15 Cubic feet ((7 legal document boxes))

2.94 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Diaries

Manuscripts

Photographs

Publications

Maps

Date:

1915-1986

Summary:

Ralph Stanton Barnaby (1893-1986) was an aviation pioneer. Barnaby was the first licensed glider pilot in the United States and the first to successfully launch a glider from an airship. He organized and directed the Navy's first school for glider pilots. Barnaby also served as president of the Early Birds and helped organize the Soaring Society of America, as well as authoring a number of books on gliders and paper airplanes.

Scope and Contents:

The Ralph Stanton Barnaby collection consists of approximately two cubic feet of materials relating to Barnaby's personal life and his relationship with the Early Birds of Aviation, Inc. This collection contains approximately one-fourth of Barnaby's personal papers, the remainder being held by the National Soaring Museum and the Franklin Institute. Before being accessioned into the Archives, documents from the Museum's biographical files were added to the collection. These documents are indistinguishable from the donated material and so remain part of this collection.

This collection consists almost entirely of correspondence, newsletters, news clippings, and publications relating to early aviation. A problem arises initially from the fact that all of the material in this collection is supposed to relate to Barnaby's relations with the Early Birds. As the majority is correspondence, it would be logical to arrange by individuals and/or offices first, but the fact that offices in the Early Birds organization were rotated yearly and that much of the correspondence is of a personal nature makes this difficult.

Materials in this collection date between 1911 and 1986 and the bulk dates ranging between 1930 and 1980, when Ralph Barnaby was most active in the Early Birds of Aviation, Inc. The materials were broken down into four series.

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Archives received from the estate only those materials relating to his Early Birds affiliation, with his other materials going to the National Soaring Museum and the Franklin Institute. Any researcher interested in information relating to Barnaby's soaring experiences or personal life which NASM does not have should contact these organizations.

Biographical / Historical:

Ralph Stanton Barnaby was born 21 January 1893 in Meadville, PA, but moved to New York City in 1900, Barnaby has his first taste of aviation in 1905, when Roy Knabenshue flew his dirigible over the city. In 1908 Barnaby went to Belleville, New Jersey to see Thomas Baldwin fly what became the Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1. With his inspiration, Barnaby designed, built and flew his first glider in Roxbury Connecticut on 18 August 1909. After improved designs and additional flights, Barnaby was awarded the Fèdèration Aèronautique Internationale Soaring Certificate #1 for the United States, signed by Orville Wright. Now thoroughly bitten by the aviation bug, Barnaby forsook his chosen career as an artist and attended Columbia University, graduating in 1915 with a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical engineering. From Columbia, Barnaby went to the Elco Boat Company, where he worked with Alexander Graham Bell on the design and production of high-speed subchasers for the U.S. Navy. In 1916, he took the position of Assistant Chief Engineer and head of the Engineering Department at the Standard Aero Corporation, under Charles Healy Day.

When America entered World War I, Barnaby resigned from Standard Aero and accepted a commission in the Navy, serving overseas until the spring of 1919. Barnaby then came home and attended the Navy Flight School at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida and the Aviation Ground School at M.I.T., after which he was awarded his wings. Barnaby served as the First U.S. Navy representative on the Army-Navy Standards Committee and, in 1920, he was made Project Engineer for the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On 31 January 1930 Barnaby performed the first successful glider release from USS Los Angeles during tests at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. These tests led to the later operation of powered aircraft from USS Macon and USS Akron. During 1930 he also authored Gliders and Gliding, established the U.S. Navy's Glider School, NAS Pensacola, Florida and served as Chief Engineer and Assistant Manager of the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia. Following the conclusion of the glider/dirigible tests, Barnaby was promoted to the rank of Lt Commander. In 1930 Barnaby joined the recently founded organization known as the Early Birds of Aviation, Inc.

From 1933 to 1939 Barnaby was assigned to a variety of bases in as many roles ranging from aircraft inspector at the Baltimore Naval Aircraft Factory (1933-1934) to repairs officer, NAS Pensacola (1934-1939). In 1938 Barnaby was promoted to the rank of Commander and a year later became Assistant Chief Engineer at the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, where he remained until America's entrance into World War II. During the war, Barnaby was assigned to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard handling the design and procurement of troop and cargo-carrying gliders. In 1944 Barnaby was responsible for establishing and directing the Naval Aircraft Modification Unit, Johnsville, Pennsylvania, later known as the Naval Development Center and from 1945 to 1947 Barnaby served as Commanding Officer. In 1947 he retired from the U.S. Navy at the rank of Captain.

Following his retirement, Barnaby took a position at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia Pennsylvania. where he worked in a variety of capacities including Aeronautics Consultant to the Director of the Science Museum and Chief of the Aeronautics Section He was responsible for planning and directing air traffic control research and aeronautical engineering and for the acquisition of many of the Institute's early flight artifacts, most notable their Wright Model B Flyer, the type Barnaby was taught to fly by George W. Beatty in 1912. When he passed away, Barnaby held the title of "Keeper Emeritus, Hall of Aviation."

Aside from his Navy and professional career, Barnaby had a multitude of other interests. Prior to witnessing the Knabenshue and Baldwin dirigible flights, Barnaby wanted to be an artist and studied at the Art Students League in New York City. He was a skilled craftsman, working in several mediums, but is best known for his sculptures. Examples of his work include bronze busts of famous naval leaders at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, pieces at the Mariner's Museum at Newport News Virginia, the bronze of the Wright Brothers at the Wright Memorial in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and the bas relief of Thomas E. Selfridge, first man to die in an air crash at Fort Myer, Virginia. In addition, most of the medallions and pins cast and presented by the Early Birds of Aviation were designed by Barnaby. Numerous examples of self-designed greeting cards designed by Barnaby reflect his artistic talents.

Another of Barnaby's hobbies was paper airplanes. Barnaby used a design he perfected while acting as liaison officer at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio in 1927 to win Scientific America's First International Paper Airplane Competition in 1967. In 1968, he authored How to Make and Fly Paper Airplanes which sold widely and discussed holding a program with the Smithsonian on paper airplane construction.

In addition to being a Past President of the Early Birds of Aviation, Barnaby was a member and/or officer of many other aeronautical organizations. In 1960 he was named an "Elder Statesman of Aviation" by the National Aeronautics Association. He was also Fellow of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, Founder of the Soaring Society of America, member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association, Past President of Aero Club of Pennsylvania, member of the Gliding Committee of the Fèdèration Aèronautique Internationale, member of the Twirly Birds, the Philadelphia Glider Council, the Golden Eagles, the Army/Navy Club, the Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, founder of the New York Model Aero Club and member of the Scientific Research Society of America.

Barnaby's awards are diverse and include the Legion of Merit for Naval Services, U.S. Navy Air Medal and the Medal of Merit from Columbia University. He was the 1955 recipient of the Paul Tissandier Diploma from the Fèdèration Aèronautique Internationale and was named to the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport of soaring and gliding in America.

Ralph Stanton Barnaby Timeline

1893 -- Ralph Stanton Barnaby born, 21 January, Meadville, Pennsylvania.

1900 -- Family moved to New York City.

1904-1908 -- Grace Church Choisters School, New York City; Trinity School.

1909 -- Designed, built and flew his own glider, 18 August, Roxbury Falls, Connecticut.

1911 -- Co-founded New York Model Aero Club.

1912 -- Took flying lesson with George Beatty, Long Island, New York.

1915 -- Graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University.

1915-1916 -- Worked with Alexander Graham Bell on designing high-speed boats for the Navy with the Elco Company, Bayonne, New Jersey.

1915-1916 -- In charge of sub-chaser assembly and testing at Montreal, Quebec.

1917 -- Joined Standard Aero Corporation with Charles Healy Day, was made Assistant Chief Engineer and head of Engineering Department.

1917 -- Accepted a commission in the United States Navy at rank of ensign; First Navy representative on the Army-Navy Standards Committee.

1917-1918 -- Attended Aviation Ground School, M.I.T.

1921 -- Promoted to rank of Lieutenant in U.S. Navy.

1920-1922 -- Project Engineer, Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia

1922-1927 -- Specification Division, Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, DC.

1928-1929 -- Liaison officer, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.

1929-1933 -- Returned to Specifications Division, Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, DC.

1930 -- 31 January, became the first individual dropped in a glider from a dirigible, USS Los Angeles.

1930 -- Authored Gliders and Gliding, Roland Press.

1930 -- Organized and directed the U.S. Navy's glider school, NAS Pensacola

1930 -- Served as Chief Engineer and Assistant Manager of the Naval Aircraft Factory.

1931 -- Promoted to rank of Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy.

1933-1934 -- Inspector for Naval aircraft, Baltimore, Maryland.

1934-1936 -- Repairs Officer, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida.

1936 -- Married Margaret E. Elston.

1937-1939 -- Assigned to Fleet Air Base, Coco Solo, Canal Zone.

1938 -- Promoted to rank of Commander, U.S. Navy.

1939-1941 -- Assistant Chief Engineer, Naval Aircraft Factory.

1944 -- Established the Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania.

1945-1947 -- Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, Pennsylvania.

1947 -- Retired from U.S. Navy at rank of Captain.

1947 -- Accepted position at Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1950 -- Served as Captain of the first American soaring team to participate in an international gliding event, Sweden.

1967-1968 -- Winner of the First International Paper Airplane Competition and authored How to Make and Fly Paper Airplanes.

1986 -- Passed away, 15 May, Center City, Pennsylvania.

General:

Additional Materials: The following materials were transferred to the National Air and Space Museum Aeronautics Division -- one Early Bird cap, one trophy, two plaques, medals, pins, and official Early Bird envelopes.

Provenance:

Ralph Stanton Barnaby, gift, 1987, 1987-0048, Not NASM

Restrictions:

No restrictions on access

Rights:

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

Topic:

Gliding and soaring  Search this

Aeronautics  Search this

Periodicals  Search this

Works of art  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Diaries

Manuscripts

Photographs

Publications

Maps

Identifier:

NASM.1986.0048

See more items in:

Ralph Stanton Barnaby Papers

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg23121cf42-0f18-4da1-96c9-27eb2fed0abf

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nasm-1986-0048

Creator:

Lemelson Center, National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2015-06-11T14:09:10.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

LemelsonCenter

Data Source:

Lemelson Center, National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

LemelsonCenter

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_ger-4APAltw

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

Lectures

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-12-12T19:54:12.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_ClfM_q8OyJU

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2012-05-08T17:34:32.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_etc8GCY4gnI

Creator:

Smithsonian Gardens  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2023-07-13T13:00:40.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Gardens  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianGardens

Data Source:

Smithsonian Gardens

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianGardens

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_leP9gjVnrhk

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-05-18T16:15:39.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

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NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_Xxa2Ti8zZHg

Creator:

National Portrait Gallery  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2022-12-19T15:54:52.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

Topic:

Portraits  Search this

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NatlPortraitGallery

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

YouTube Channel:

NatlPortraitGallery

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_YX4LMS0oMOc

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Symposia

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-12-14T19:21:40.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

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SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_qZu_TQsKnnA