Inventor Name
Unknown
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
1 linear ft.
Summary
The American Iron and Steel Institute is the major trade association of the U.S. iron and steel industry. The historical miscellany includes scattered notes, draft articles, bulletins, clippings, etc. on the history of the American Iron and Steel Institute and its predecessors, including the 1855 constitution and bylaws of the American Iron Association. There are lists of presidents and honorary vice presidents, original membership lists, lists of medals and awards, and menus from early Institute banquets. A file on "Activities of the Washington Office" (1916-1921) consists of typed transcripts of letters from government officials regarding setting production and prices for the World War I effort and the text of a 1921 speech by General Pershing congratulating steel executives for their contribution to the victory. Other historical items include copies of court documents from the patent infrigement suit of William Kelly vs. Henry Bessemer concerning priority on the Bessemer process (1857), an 1889 patent to William R. Thomas of Catasauqua, Pa., for a magnetic ore separator, and a glossary of terms commonly used in the steel industry. The Library also contained a collection of four volumes from early American iron producers: account books from the Mount Hope (N.J.) Furnace (1786-1788) and of Noble & Townsend’s Sterling Iron Works in New York (1768-1775); a forge diary and time book with lists of anconies and bars made at the Birdsboro (Pa.) Forges (1816-1824); and an 1837 notebook of George Nock of the Ramapo (N.Y.) Iron Works containing notes on production and techniques.