Mainly forms, manuals, federal regulations, accounting instructions, and personnel materials. Included are labor agreements, an employee handbook, and information on the employees' sick benefit association. Other materials include drawings of property owned; and photographs, engineering drawings, technical publications relating to railroad passenger car brake equipment; also a public relations publication, "The Pony Express Story."
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1, Adams Express Company, 1899-1913
Series 2, Railway Express Agency Printed Material, 1914-1965
Series 3, Engineering drawings and publications, 1898-1952
Series 4, Air and Mail Forms, 1954-1964
Series 5, Personnel materials, 1864-1879
Series 6, Schedules and routes, 1929-1967
Series 7, Rates, Rules, and Regulations, 1860-1962
Series 8, Notebook--Bulletins and Circulars, 1929-1958
Series 9, Drawings, 1873-1970
Biographical / Historical:
In 1860 there were three principal transcontinental mail and express routes: By ship from New York to Panama then by portage across the Isthmus to the West Coast and finally back to sea for the last leg to San Francisco; Second, the Butterfield and Fargo Stageline operating from St. Louis through the Indian Territory along the Santa Fe Trail and up to Los Angeles to San Francisco; and third the stageline of Russell, Majors, and Waddell, which traveled from Ft. Levenworth, Kansas to Denver, then over the mountains to Salt Lake City and California terminating in San Francisco. Early in 1860 the Pony Express concept was formed and operated from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacremento, California. The end of the Pony Express came in 1861 when the telegraph line connected Omaha and San Francisco and officially ended on Oct. 26, 1861.
On November 1, 1866 Wells Fargo & Co. purchased the stage and Pony Express operations from Ben Holladay. At this time there were several express companies; however, by 1914 there were only seven. During World War I these seven companies were consolidated at the direction of the Federal Government into one nationwide organization, the American Railway Express Agency. In 1929 the nations railroads bought the express business and changed the name to Railway Express Agency, Inc. In November 1960 REA Express was adopted as the Company's trade name. In October 1960 acquired Fast Service Shipping Terminals Inc. In January 1961 formed REA Leasing Corp a trailer leasing company. In February 1965 formed with Seven Arts Associated Corp. and Travel Theaters Inc. REA Express Seven Arts Transvision, Inc. In 1965 sold 32 terminals and leased them back. In April 1967 formed REA Express Canada, Ltd. In May 1967 formed Rexco Supply Corp. to conduct tire recapping and automotive parts distribution business. In February 1970 formed The Express Co., Inc. as a subsidiary of REA Holding Corp to conduct an international air freight forwarding business.
On February 21, 1975 the Company filed a petition under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act in Federal Court in New York County listing assets of $41,000,000 and liabilities of $55,000,000. Company said the reasons for the petition included losses created by years of railroad domination as well as high rate of inflation, a recent decline in express shipments, and limited availability of credit.
Provenance:
Gift from Roger F.R. Karl, consulting engineer.
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.
Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of Search this
Container:
Box 1 (Series 2), Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Text
Date:
April 3, 1860-October 26, 1861
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:
Railway Express Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Ink on paper., 7.4" x 5.5")
Container:
Box 1 (Series 2), Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Booklets
Date:
Unknown
Local Numbers:
AC0260-0000001 (AC scan no.)
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.
Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of Search this
Container:
Map-folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
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:
Railway Express Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Pony Express rider galloping away on a fresh horse.
Local Numbers:
AC0059-0000009 (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply. Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies.
Robinson, Franklin A., Jr., 1959- (actor) Search this
Container:
Box 39, Folder 11
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1950
Collection Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site to portions of collection, but some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment.
Collection Rights:
The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Preservation of the 8mm films in this collection was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Film Preservation Fund.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Richard York Gallery records, circa 1865-2005, bulk 1981-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care Fund
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
The Allen Tupper True and True family papers, 1841-1987
Sponsor:
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company Building, Denver, Colorado, Murals include: "Primitive Communication--The Smoke Signal," "Pioneer Communication--The Pony Express," "Mountain Construction," "The Crucible of Science," "The Wings of Though...
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
The Allen Tupper True and True family papers, 1841-1987
Sponsor:
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audio visual materials. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
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:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Illustrated map published by Union Pacific Railroad.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Express, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Color reprint titled The Pony Express, 1860 (Maynard Dixon, 1925). 14 large, color stamps promoting Wells Fargo services.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series 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.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Express, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
