Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview
Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.
The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.
"Engineering, Building, and Architecture - Overview" showing 13 items.
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North American Water and Power Alliance Records, 1964-1990
- Notes
- The North American Water and Power Alliance (NAWAPA) was a large-scale, transcontinental water transfer plan designed by the Ralph M. Parsons Corporation in 1964
- Summary
- The collection contains a promotional video, correspondence, reports, articles, and newsletters, among other materials, which describe NAWAPA and reveal efforts to gain federal government and private sector support for the project, in response to concerns about energy and water resources and the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer in the High Plains states
- Cite as
- North American Water and Power Alliance Records, 1964-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1964
- 1964-1990
- 20th century
- 1950-2000
- creator
- Ralph M. Parsons Corporation (Pasadena, Calif.)
- author
- North American Water and Power Alliance
- collector
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3124 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Lockwood-Greene Records, 1883-2004 (bulk 1915-1930)
- Notes
- Lockwood-Greene is one of the nation's oldest engineering firms, tracing its roots to 1832, when Rhode Island native David Whitman began a machinery repair service. In the years of the early industrial revolution in textile manufacturing, Whitman added mill design services, which began a flourishing consulting business. He traveled throughout New England advising industrialists on the placement, design and construction of factories and the layout of the complicated system of machinery they contained. Whitman died in 1858. Amos Lockwood took over the business which he relocated to Boston. Stephen Greene joined the business in 1882, and the firm's scope expanded to supplying all necessary architectural and engineering services. Greene became president upon Lockwood's death in 1884. Eventually the company designed and built the first factory operated electrically from a remote power plant, as an alternative to steam power. They continued expanding, and eventually were designing a wider variety of structures, including newspaper plants, automotive factories, convention halls and schools. In the 1960s, the company's headquarters relocated to Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 2003, CH2M Hill, a global provider of engineering, construction services, and operations services, acquired the company
- Summary
- The Lockwood-Greene Records are a comprehensive range of documents related to the appraisal, building, construction, design, evaluation, and engineering of facilities for a variety of clients. The material covers the entire period of industrialization of the United States, and, provides a thorough record of the textile industry, both in New England and the South. Some of the textile mills are documented with unusual completeness, showing water and steam power layouts, factory village plans, and landscaping schedules. A broad range of other building typologies is also covered, including projects with public or retail functions, such as early automobile showrooms, hospitals, apartments and private dwellings, churches, and schools
- Cite as
- Lockwood-Greene Records, 1883-2004 (bulk 1915-1930), Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1883
- 2004
- 1883-2004
- bulk 1915-1930
- 1890-1900
- 20th century
- 21st century
- creator
- Lockwood-Greene Company
- designer
- Lockwood, Amos
- Greene, Stephen
- creator
- Whitman, David
- collector
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Greene, Stephen
- Local number
- 1997.0021 (NMAH Acc.)
- 2008.3059 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Washington Society of Engineers Records, 1905-1969
- Notes
- A professional society of engineers founded in November of 1905
- Summary
- The collection documents work conducted by the Washington Society of Engineers. A large portion of the papers are from the offices of Charles E. Remington, Former Treasurer of the Society. The collection includes administrative records, organizational information, financial records, business records such as meeting minutes, general correspondence, reprints, records of programs and events, academic papers, and reference files on members and activities of the Society
- Date
- 1905
- 1988
- 1905-1969
- 20th century
- donor
- Washington Society of Engineers
- Ellenberger, William J
- author
- Remington, Charles E
- collector
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3086 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Clyde E. Learned Papers, 1919-1939, 1949
- Notes
- Learned was the senior highway engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads, District Three, 1919-1939. Design engineer for the Public Roads Administration, Division Nine, in 1949
- Summary
- Material prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads relating to highway construction, mostly in Colorado but also Wyoming and New Mexico. Includes construction reports on the Monarch Pass Road (1919), and the Berthoud Pass Project (1927); maintenance and post-construction operations reports (1934-35); general reports of day labor operations (1931-39); and a report on a proposed snow removal system for Yellowstone National Park (1949). All of these reports include charts and photographs
- Cite as
- Clyde E. Learned Papers, 1919-1949, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1919
- 1919-1949
- 1919-1939, 1949
- 1900-1950
- author
- Learned, Clyde E (civil engineer)
- collector
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Bureau of Public Roads
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Federal Works Agency
- United States Public Works Administration
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
American Society of Civil Engineers Fellows Collection, 1929-1969
- Notes
- This material was solicited from ASCE by Robert M. Vogel of NMAH in 1971-1975. ASCE, through its executive directors, coordinated the collection of the papers from the various authors
- Summary
- Technical papers by Mr. Camp and other Fellows of ASCE, published in The ASCE Journal or other professional journals in the field of civil engineering. They deal primarily with problems of water supply and sewage disposal
- Cite as
- American Society of Civil Engineers Fellows Collection, 1929-1969, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1929
- 1929-1969
- 1930-1950
- 20th century
- Creator
- Wisely, William H. Executive Director, ASCE (collector)
- author
- Camp, Thomas R
- collector
- Zwoyer, Eugene Executive Director, ASCE
- collectors
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- collector
- Engineering and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Laing, Kirby
- Martin, Park T
- Morgan, Arthur E
- Newnam, Frank H
- Robinson, Thomas
- Tatlow, Richard T III
- Torres, Ary F
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company Records, 1866-1927
- Notes
- Company organized to ensure parent company, the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, dominance in the transportation of anthracite coal from the Schuylkill fields of eastern Pennsylvania. Franklin B. Gowen, President of the railroad, decided to gain control of enough acreage to ensure the company's survival; but since it was illegal for railroads to own coal fields or operate mines in Pennsylvania, a separate company, the Laurel Run Improvement Company, was organized for this purpose and incorporated May 1871. Utilizing a loophole in the Laurel Run charter, the Philadelphia & Reading purchased it Nov. 1871, thus circumventing the legal restrictions, and renamed it the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, Dec. 1871
- Company quickly acquired coal lands and by 1874 controlled approx. 1/3 of entire Schuylkill coal field. Originally did not mine its own coal, but rented collieries to independent operators. This arrangement did not work so company took direct control of mining operations, leading U.S. government to sue, 1913, claiming monopoly of trade; U.S. Supreme Court ruled against company, Dec. 1920. Under Court agreement, in Dec. 1923 the Philadelphia & Reading transferred interests in the Coal & Iron Company to a new company formed for this purpose--the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Corporation
- Summary
- Bulk of collection comprises 124 letterpress copybooks from the company's engineering department. These contain letters and reports sent by engineers located at the major centers of the company's operations in the Schuylkill coal field--Ashland, Mahanoy City, Pottsville, and Shamokin. These include the Chief Engineer, Assistant Engineer, and division, resident, associate, and mining engineers and their assistants, and transitmen
- Among engineers were George S. Clemens, Joseph B. Garner, James F. Jones, Henry M. Luther, Henry Pleasants, and John H. Pollard. Correspondence deals with all aspects of mining construction and operations, engineering personnel matters, and coordination with the Railroad for the shipment of coal; also periodic reports of operations and wagon accounts detailing amount of coal shipped. Also includes correspondence related to the formation and operation of the Schuylkill Coal Exchange Committee, which was set up to ease competition among railroads in the Schuylkill region
- Four letterpress copybooks kept by S. B. Whiting while general manager of the company, 1885-1887. Whiting also kept letterbooks in which he pasted letters from his superiors: two volumes of letters from Franklin B. Gowen, President (1879-1883), and one volume (1881-1884) from George DeB. Keim, General Solicitor and Vice-President. Eight letterpress copybooks kept by S. B. Whiting while General Manager and General Superintendent, 1882-ca. 1888. Eight letterpress copybooks kept by Roland C. Luther while General Superintendent and 2nd Vice President, ca. 1888-1905. Also, a volume of printed circular letters (1874-1887) from both the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company
- Letters relating to the operation of the Anthracite Water Company among the letterpress copybooks of George S. Clemens, who served as that company's manager in the 1910s. Also, several of the circular letters pertain directly to the 1888 anthracite coal strike
- Cite as
- Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company Records, 1866-1927, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1866
- 1866-1927
- 1930-1950
- creator
- Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company
- Creator
- Hoffman, John R
- author
- Luther, Henry M
- Gowen, Franklin B
- Keim, George DeB
- Clemens, George S
- Creator
- Pleasants, Henry
- author
- Garner, Joseph B
- Jones, James F
- Luther, Roland C
- Pollard, John H
- Whiting, S. B
- Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Corporation
- Subject
- Anthracite Water Company
- Schuylkill Coal Exchange Committee
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Llewellyn N. Edwards Papers, 1925-1964
- Notes
- Edwards, bridge designer and engineer, worked from 1901 to 1943 for the Boston Bridge Works, the Boston and Maine Railroad, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, the Toronto Department of Works, the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads, and the Maine State Highway Commission. Edwards also was interested in the history of bridge engineering, particularly early American bridges
- Summary
- The papers include captioned photographs of dirt roads in North Carolina and Mississippi, 1913; articles, including reprints from engineering journals; typed and handwritten notes on bridges; a handwritten, bound bibliography on bridges; typed notes on bridges and bridge history, including some drawings; correspondence, most relating to his research on the history of bridges but also relating to other topics; reports on landslides in California; a partial manuscript (L-Z) for a glossary of terms relating to bridge engineering and construction; a typescript of "A Manual of Bridge Construction;" a manuscript of "Bridge Construction in America"; and extensive correspondence with J. P. Snow on the history of wooden bridges
- Date
- 1911
- 1911-1950
- 1925-1964
- 20th century
- author
- Edwards, Llewellyn N. 1873-1952
- collector
- Work and Industry, Division of, NMAH, SI
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Local number
- 2007.3077 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
John L. Savage Papers, 1944
- Notes
- Savage was a civil engineer, and Chief Designing Engineer in charge of all designing for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1924-1945
- Summary
- Materials concerning dams, power plants, and materials testing in China, for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. It consists of a bound volume of preliminary reports, with maps, prepared for China's National Resources Commission by John L. Savage, consulting engineer. Includes a report on the Yangtze River Gorge Project (11/1944) and several other Chinese projects: Ta-Tu-Ho and Ma-Pien-Ho projects (9/1944), Upper Ming-Kiang and Kwan-Hsien projects (9-11/1944), Lung-Chi-Ho projects (9-11/1944), and the Tang-Lang-Chuan projects (1-3/1945)
- Cite as
- John L. Savage Papers, 1944, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1944
- 1940-1970
- author
- Savage, John L. 1879-? (civil engineer)
- collector
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Bureau of Reclamation, U.S
- Department of the Interior, U.S
- China, National Resources Commission
- China, Ministry of Economic Affairs
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Alaskan Railroad and Bridge Construction Collection, 1909-1910
- Summary
- Photographs of the Miles Glacier, 1909; Copper River and Northwestern Railway; and the Copper River Railway. Also includes the Copper River Bridge Engineer's Report, 1910, with drawings, notes, and date
- Date
- 1864
- 1864-1883
- 1909-1910
- 20th century
- 1900-1910
- 19th century
- collector
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- History of Technology, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Copper River Railway
- Copper River and Northwestern Railway
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Robert F. Olds Collection, 1918-1948
- Notes
- Olds was a civil engineer of dams, hydroelectric plants, steam plants, water supply systems, and sewage systems
- Summary
- Material from fourteen dam construction projects (1918-1946), including notes, blueprints, reports, drawings, and correspondence, etc
- Cite as
- Robert F. Olds Collection, 1918-1948, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1918
- 1918-1948
- 1900-1950
- collector
- Olds, Robert F (civil engineer) 1881-
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of [former name], NMAH, SI
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH