Series 03: Automobile Body Department Records, 1919-1936, bulk: 1919 - 1925
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence, memoranda, blueprints, production reports, and financial records documenting the Manufacturing Department’s (later Pullman Car and Manufacturing Company) manufacture of all-steel automobile bodies, dating primarily from 1919-1925. Includes administrative correspondence and memoranda between Peter Parke, J. Henry Smith (departmental sales manager), and corporate officials regarding the direction of the department, product promotion, Budd Company patent infringement claim investigations, and other matters; and correspondence and memoranda regarding the equipping of plant and office facilities at the Pullman Car Works, the construction of Willys-Overland and Packard prototype cars, and manufacturing procedures. There are also daily production reports, 1923-1925, for Moon and Peerless auto bodies and financial records (monthly financial statements, 1922-1924, billing records, 1924-1925, and journals, 1920-1924).
For contracts with the Moon Motor Car Company and Peerless Motor Car Company, see Record Group 02/01/06, Contracts and Agreements (Manufacturing Contracts), and for auto body patents see Record Group 02/01/07, Patent Files, Pullman Company Archives.
Dates
- Creation: 1919-1936
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1919 - 1925
Creator
- From the Collection: Pullman Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
The Pullman Company records are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Medical records and records of disciplinary action are closed for a period of fifty years after the creation of the record. Such records may be disclosed only to the named individual or his legal representative. Application and service files that may contain medical and disciplinary information will be reviewed and records removed before the files are supplied to a researcher.
Personnel records less than fifty years old and not specified in (1) above are open for research with the user's written assurance that information from the records will be used for statistical or summary purposes only and that no specific names or individually identifiable information will be disclosed. Such information may be revealed only if the individual or his legal representative agrees to its release, or if the individual is deceased.
Photocopies of open personnel records less than fifty years old are supplied only for the researcher's personal use and may not be reproduced. All copies must be destroyed or returned upon completion of work.
Extent
3 boxes
Arrangement note
Series organized by subject and/or type of document, arranged alphabetically. After the first World War the Pullman Company moved into the manufacture of all-steel automobile bodies at its Pullman Car Works and sought business with such firms as Packard, Willys-Overland, the Moon Motor Car Company, and the Peerless Motor Car Company. Using patented designs developed by Peter Parke (Pullman Company Chief Engineer), the company built experimental prototypes for Packard and Willys-Overland and manufactured bodies for Moon and Peerless automobiles. In 1930, Pullman, having abandoned the automobile arena, sold its patents to the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company.
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org