Guides to Archives and Manuscript Collections at the University of Pittsburgh Library System

Summary Information

Title: Rust Engineering Company Records
Collection Number: AIS.2006.06
Creator: Rust Engineering Company.

Collection Dates: Bulk, 1908-1967
Collection Dates: 1905-1989
Extent: 37.77 linear feet (84 boxes, 5 rolls of microfilm, 1 oversize folder)
Language: English
Abstract:
The Rust Engineering Company specialized in the design and construction of equipment and facilities for heavy industry, including furnaces, boiler settings, industrial chimneys, and entire manufacturing and processing plants. This collection documents the management of Rust Engineering's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, headquarters by its first two presidents, Stirling Murray Rust and Stirling Murray Rust, Jr., through correspondence, job and financial reports, meeting minutes, promotional items, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Digital reproductions of the collection are available online.

Sponsor:

Funding for this project was provided by Stirling Murray Rust, Jr.

Publisher:

ULS Archives Service Center
University of Pittsburgh Library System
7500 Thomas Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA, 15260
412-648-3232
archives-ref@mail.pitt.edu

Author:

Finding aid prepared by Carolyn Smith.

History

The Rust Engineering Company was founded in 1905 as a partnership between three brothers from Virginia; Ellsworth Marshall Rust (E.M. Rust), Edmund Jennings Lee Rust (Lee Rust), and Stirling Murray Rust (S.M. Rust). Originally created to handle boiler sales and brickwork for the Rust Boiler Company, which was owned by three older Rust brothers, Rust Engineering quickly expanded into other subsets of design and construction and was soon building foundations, power houses, and eventually entire manufacturing plants. Rust Engineering was also a leading builder of industrial chimneys and furnaces, which were in high demand throughout most of the twentieth century.

In 1913, Rust Engineering opened an office in Pittsburgh, where the Rust Boiler Company was already established. The small office was headed by S.M. Rust, who already had experience working in the Pittsburgh region. In 1920 the partnership was dissolved and Rust Engineering was incorporated into three separate companies based in Pittsburgh, Birmingham, and Washington, D.C. S.M. Rust became president of the Pittsburgh companies, while vice-presidents E.M. Rust and Lee Rust headed the Washington, D.C., and Birmingham companies, respectively. The partnership struggled at first, facing railroad delays, uncooperative workers, and droughts in the south. In the mid-1920s, the Washington, D.C. company was dissolved and became a sales office, and the Birmingham and Pittsburgh companies merged. The official headquarters was in Pittsburgh, but the Birmingham office continued to operate independently for many years. The company survived these initial difficulties, as well as the Depression that followed, through its versatility. By taking on everything from simple repair jobs to complex design projects, the company could adapt to major changes.

In 1939, S.M. Rust, Jr. became the operating manager for the Pittsburgh office, although his father remained president until 1944. A mechanical engineer, S.M. Rust, Jr. had the daunting task of managing a constant supply of government contracts during World War II. Rust Engineering's experience with many types of industrial construction made it ideal for wartime work.

By the 1950s, Rust Engineering was a leading engineering firm known for its furnaces, paper mills, concrete work, and "turn-key" plants, so called because the company handled everything from the blueprints to the installation of machinery, leaving the plant fully operational and the keys in the hands of management. Rust Engineering took contracts across the United States, but was especially important in Pittsburgh, where it built for Westinghouse, Pittsburgh Plate and Glass, and many of the city's steel mills. Rust Engineering also built the foundations and steel framework of the Koppers Building, one of the distinctive features of the Pittsburgh skyline.

In 1967, Rust Engineering was sold to Litton Industries. In the years following the sale, the company was merged and reassigned numerous times, and in 1971 its headquarters was moved from Pittsburgh to Birmingham, Alabama. Now owned by Morrison Knudsen Corporation, the company operates under the name Rust Constructors, Inc., and continues to specialize in the design and construction of heavy industrial plants.

Historical detail about Rust Engineering's work at particular times is described at the series level.

Collection Scope and Content Notes

The majority of the documents in this collection follow the Rust Engineering Company from its founding in 1905 until its sale to Litton Industries in 1967 -- the time when Rust was a family-run organization. Although it contains a variety of material, the strength of the collection lies in the correspondence and project files of the company's first two presidents, S.M. Rust and S.M. Rust, Jr., who operated from the Pittsburgh office.

Working at a time when most long-distance business communication was by letter or telegram, both presidents wrote constantly to their officers, their brothers and uncles at branch offices, foremen and site superintendents, lawyers, financial advisors, other companies, and clients. Their discussions, which are often detailed and sometimes personal, show how they handled management decisions day to day; a typical letter might inquire about a shipment of brick, settle a dispute between workers, or discuss contacts in the paper mill industry. A great deal of correspondence is devoted to individual jobs, since the presidents were ultimately responsible for arranging contracts and correcting any problems that arose, such as delays, union strikes, or unexpected costs. The frequency and detail of the letters makes it possible to see what was important in the office at nearly any time from 1918 to 1949.

Taken as a whole, the president's files demonstrate how the company reacted and adapted to the major events of the twentieth century, as well as changing ideals in business culture. Rust Engineering profited from the need for steel and steam power during the 1920s, survived the Great Depression, served the home front during World War II, and reverted to peacetime operations afterwards. In the process, Rust Engineering also transformed from a small, family-run company offering a single specific service into a large corporation overseeing multiple projects of many types across the United States and around the world.

In addition to providing a record of one company's changes over time, the collection can also be seen as the history of the careers of S.M. Rust and his son S.M. Rust, Jr. The files span S.M. Rust's career from his time as a 27-year-old worker in New Orleans, just beginning his professional work, through his retirement from the presidency in 1944. His letters are clear and logical and often explain in detail the reasoning behind the decisions he made. He was especially attentive to human resource decisions, since he believed that getting the "right man for the job" was key to the success of any business. There is little evidence of self-censorship in these files; S.M. Rust discussed the strengths and weaknesses of employees with honesty and fairness, and he did not hesitate to tell them what they did wrong. More telling, though, is that his workers often had no qualms about responding to their employer in an equally frank tone. He maintained a strong sense of loyalty to those who worked for him, and attempted to solve or prevent problems rather than simply replace a worker.

Similarly, the files trace S.M. Rust, Jr.'s transition from a management position to president of the company. Like his father, he had to make personnel decisions and was concerned with character and potential. Perhaps the most striking example is a series of letters in which S.M. Rust, Jr. is the only employer among ten companies willing to consider a former Alcatraz prisoner for a job. S.M. Rust, Jr. was also involved in the local community as a member of several social and charitable organizations.

The record of president's files ends abruptly after 1949. The few materials from after the company's sale to Litton Industries in 1967 are mostly published items, probably collected by the Rust family.

In addition to the president's files, the collection contains minute books and charters, promotional items, an extensive clipping collection, and approximately 400 photographs of construction sites and employees at work. A photo album from 1917 and 1918 captures the construction of structures for the steel industry in Alabama, including coal tipples, coke ovens, storage bins, screening plants, and blast furnaces.

Timeline

1905: The Rust Engineering Company is founded in Birmingham, Alabama, as a partnership between three brothers.

1913: Pittsburgh Office opens.

1920: Partnership is dissolved, and the company is incorporated into three financially independent companies: Rust Engineering of Delaware (Pittsburgh Office), Rust Engineering of Maryland (D.C. Office), and Rust Engineering of Alabama (Birmingham Office).

1918: Rust purchases the Birmingham Clay Products Company to manufacture brick.

1925: Eric Plagwit is hired and placed at the head of a new Chimney Department.

Mid-1920s: Rust Engineering of Maryland is dissolved, assets go to Pittsburgh.

1927: Rust's first subsidiary, the Rust Furnace Company, is formed.

1936: The Allegheny Industrial Electrical Company is formed as a subsidiary.

1938: The Woodbridge Clay Product Company becomes an affiliate.

1939: S.M. Rust, Jr. becomes operating manager of the Pittsburgh Company.

1944: S.M. Rust retires from the presidency and becomes Chairman of the Board of Directors; S.M. Rust, Jr. becomes president.

1967: Rust is bought by Litton Industries, becoming a division of that company.

1971: Rust's headquarters is moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Birmingham, Alabama.

1972: Rust is bought by Wheelabrator-Frye

1981: Wheelabrator-Frye acquires Pullman, Inc. Rust's northeast operations are merged with Swindell operations, forming Swindell Rust.

1981: The Rust Engineering Company becomes a division of Kellogg Rust, Inc., still owned by Wheelabrator-Frye.

1982: Kellogg Rust forms Rust International Corporation by merging all of Rust's former divisions.

1983: Wheelabrator-Frye merges with the Signal Companies, Inc. Rust becomes one of the signal companies.

1985: The Signal Companies and Allied Corporation merge into Allied-Signal, Inc.

1986: Kellogg Rust is dissolved. Rust International becomes part of Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of the Henley Group, Inc. The Henley Group had been created in a spin-off of Allied-Signal to its shareholders.

1990: Waste Management Inc. becomes Rust's parent company by increasing its equity ownership of Wheelabrator Technologies.

1992: Rust International, Inc. is formed by combining parts of Waste Management companies Chemical Waste Management, Wheelabrator Technologies, and the Brand Companies.

1993: Waste Management changes its name to WMX Technologies, Inc.

1995: Rust is owned 60 percent by WMX Technologies and 40 percent by Wheelabrator Technologies.

1996: Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, part of Raytheon Company, acquires Rust.

2000: Morrison Knudsen Corporation acquires Raytheon Engineers & Constructors and creates Washington Group International, Inc. It is one of the largest engineering and construction firms in the United States. Rust is now known as Rust Constructors, Inc.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into the following series and subseries. The president's files have been described by decade in order to highlight the changes. The presidents' office files were kept in three basic ways; correspondence between the presidents and others, files on individual jobs, and subject files containing information on particular events or problems. While they form subseries, it is important to note that they may not contain all information about a particular topic; in most cases, more information can be found in the correspondence files. Also note that while the filing system in the president's correspondence sometimes appears continuous and may contain documents from every working day, it is not a complete record. The office's main criteria for retaining documents changed over time. Please see the series and subseries notes for more detail.

Series I. Histories and General Information

Series II. Minute Books, 1920-1967

Series III. President's Office Files, 1905-1919

Series IV. President's Office Files, 1920-1929

Series V. President's Office Files, 1930-1939

Series VI. President's Office Files, 1940-1941

Series VII. Affiliate Companies, 1927-1974

Series VIII. Publicity, 1920-1989

Series IX. Photographs, 1911-1967

Subject Terms

Topics

Boilers

Bricklayers

Brickmaking

Chimneys

Coke plants

Construction equipment operators

Construction industry -- Management

Depressions -- 1929

Engineering

Engineers

Furnaces

Gunite

Industrial buildings foundations

Industrial engineering

Industrial engineers

Industrial management

Labor unions

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineers

Paper mills

Pulp mills

Sales personnel

Steam-boilers

Steel industry and trade

Strikes and lockouts

Corporate Names

Allegheny Industrial Electrical Company.

Rust Engineering Company.

Rust Furnace Company.

United States. National Recovery Administration.

Vibroflotation Foundation Company.

Personal Names

Rust, Edmund Jennings Lee

Rust, Ellsworth Marshall, b. 1879

Rust, Stirling Murray, Jr.

Rust, Stirling Murray

Locations

Birmingham (Ala.)

Holt (Ala.)

New York (N.Y.)

Pittsburgh (Pa.)

Washington (D.C.)

Occupations

Draftsmen (People in engineering)

Executives

Genres/Forms

Black-and-white negatives

Black-and-white photographs

Brochures

Chief financial officers

Clippings (Information artifacts)

Construction workers

Correspondence

Microfilms

Minute books

Office files

Photograph albums

Category
Business and Industry

Access and Use

Access Restrictions:
No restrictions.
Acquisition Information:
Gift of Stirling Murray Rust, Jr. on February 2, 2006.
Alternate Format:
Digital reproductions of the collection are available electronically at http://digital.library.pitt.edu/images/pittsburgh/rust.html.
Preferred Citation:
Rust Engineering Company Records, 1905-1989, AIS.2006.06, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Processing Information:
This collection was processed by Carolyn Smith in 2006-2007.
Copyright:
Copyright resides with the donor, S.M. Murray Rust, Jr. Some photographs are stamped with the names of studios or photographers. These items are the intellectual property of the creator and cannot be reproduced without permission.
Separated Material:
Photographs and microfilm are housed in the Media Room. Boxes 43 and 65 are oversized and housed separately.

Collection Inventory

Series I. Histories and General Information

Scope and Content Notes:
This series contains material created or collected by Rust Engineering to document its own history. Some of the information was gathered for short articles about the company, which were written for special events or publications. The authors contacted members of the Rust family and other long-term employees for information on the company's first years, as well as their personal memories and anecdotes. Their responses are present alongside research notes and drafts of the history articles. Drafts of book entitled, Engineering for Excellence, Building for Permanence: The Rust Engineering Company, 1905-1975, written by Norma Shields, provide a solid summary of the company's major changes and accomplishments. The company also kept newsletters and a small amount of ephemeral material in its history files, which have been included in a separate subseries.

Subseries 1. History Articles and Research Notes

Scope and Content Notes:
Files related to history articles contain a variety of documents, including drafts, correspondence, notes, and questionnaires.

Box 1
Folder 1 Article about the Rust Boiler Company, 1904-1907

Folder 2 List of company officers, 1920-1947

Folder 3 Booklet on Rust history and qualifications, 1947

Folder 4 History of Rust Engineering as told by R.L. Hess, 1948

Folder 5 Article, The Rust Engineering Company: A History written by J. Paul Scheetz for The Bicentennial History of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, 1953

Folder 6 Personal histories collected for History of the Rust Engineering Company by Arthur M. Lawrence, 1955

Folder 7 Changes in company structure after merge with Litton Industries, 1968

Folder 8 Rust's History and Experience, written for Litton Industries, 1969

Box 2
Folder 01-03 Drafts and correspondence for Engineering for Excellence, Building for Permanence, 1974

Folder 4 Histories of Rust departments and subsidiaries, 1974

Volume 1 Rust of Virginia: Genealogical and Biographical Sketches of the Descendents of William Rust, 1654-1940 by Ellsworth Marshall Rust, 1940

Subseries 2. General Information

Scope and Content Notes:
Rust Engineering retained examples of directories and other items published for internal use for inclusion in an archive. They provide information about the company's benefits, insurance policies, and other employee concerns. Rust Engineering's newsletter, The Rust Triangle, was published from 1957 to 1967 and contains articles on particular jobs, events, individual employees, and areas of the company otherwise unrepresented by the collection, such as the Women's Auxiliary.

Box 3
Folder 01-02 General information and policies for employees, 1950s-1960s

Folder 03-04 Phone books, 1958-1969

Folder 5 Birmingham Office Personnel Directory, 1964

Box 4
Folder 1 Pittsburgh Office Personnel Directory, ca.1970

Folder 2 Birmingham Office Personnel Directory, ca.1970

Folder 3 Field Office Personnel Directory, 1970

Folder 4 Rust Civic Service Award and Fifty Year Medallions, 1965-1968

Folder 5 Scrapbook of internal announcements and leaflets, 1959-1960

Box 5
Volume 01-02 The Rust Triangle, Vol. I-XI, 1957-1967

Folder 1 Reactions to The Rust Triangle, 1957-1966

Series II. Minute Books, 1920-1967

Scope and Content Notes:
Series II is comprised of bound volumes and microfilmed copies of minute books for the Rust Engineering Company of Delaware (the Pittsburgh office) and ten of Rust's subsidiaries and affiliates. They cover the time from the founding of each company or affiliate until its dissolution or until 1967, when Rust was purchased by Litton Industries.

Each set of books begins with records documenting the creation of the company, its bylaws, the minutes of its first meeting, and in some cases stock ledgers and other financial documents. After this initial information, minutes almost always represent one of three types of meetings; the Annual Meeting of Stockholders was held once a year to choose the Board of Directors for the following year. Immediately after this, at the Meeting of the Board of Directors, the board would appoint a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Special Meetings of the Board of Directors could be held at any time throughout the year to decide courses of action on major issues -- especially financial ones -- such as opening accounts or selling stock. Minutes for these meetings are brief, usually consisting of little more than a tally of votes and formal declarations of any decisions made that day, but they do provide a complete record of board members and officers until 1967, as well as documentation of the companies' involvement with particular regions, industries, and projects. There are also a few additional document types, including a list of the government contract projects which Rust completed during the 1940s to serve the war effort.

Minutes were originally bound into books, but in some cases only microfilmed copies remain. It is likely that the originals were passed to Litton Industries when the company was sold. A paper index to the microfilmed books can be found in box 8.

Volume 3 Potomac Clay Products Company, 1929-1930

Box 6
Volume 01-02 Bolivar Clay Products Company Minute Book, Vol. 1-2, 1921-1959

Box 7
Volume 1 Rust Construction Company, 1927-1934

Volume 2 Rust Gunite Company, 1930

Volume 3 Loudoun-Rust Company Minute Book, 1930-1934

Microfilm-cabinet 3
Drawer 8
Reel 1 Rust Engineering minute books, 1920-1943

Reel 2 Rust Engineering minute books, 1945-1956

Reel 3.1 Rust Engineering minute books, 1957-1960

Reel 3.2 Vibroflotation Foundation Co. minute books, 1953-ca.1966

Reel 4.1 Vibroflotaion Foundation Co. minute book, 1966-1997

Reel 4.2 Allegheny Industrial Electrical Co. minute books, 1936-1967

Reel 4.3 Rust Furnace Co. minute books, 1929-1947

Reel 5.1 Rust Furnace Co. minute book, 1957-1967

Reel 5.2 Doyle and Russell, Inc. minute book, 1962-1967

Reel 5.3 Rust Engineering Co. (Canada) Ltd. minute book, 1936-1967

Series III. President's Office Files, 1905-1919

Scope and Content Notes:
Rust Engineering was founded in 1905, but little survives from its first few years in Alabama, when the company installed boilers for the Rust Boiler Company. The earliest letters, written from 1907 to 1910, are between officers at both Rust Engineering and the Rust Boiler Company in Alabama and S.M. Rust, who had been sent to New Orleans in an attempt to break into the boiler market. Letters from the sales department instruct him on marketing the company to this part of the south.

Despite his southern roots, S.M. Rust was no stranger to Pittsburgh when the Rust Engineering office opened there in 1913. He had moved to the city at the age of seventeen to work in the steel mills, where he was a laborer, blueprint boy, and eventually a member of design and engineering departments. The new office employed a small team of engineers, but jobs were non-existent at first. One employee, looking back, credited S.M. Rust holding the company together with only "good humor, his companionship and his fellowship with his employees," because the company could not afford to pay them.

Files from these first years in Pittsburgh are sparse compared to later years, but most discuss the brickwork and boiler jobs that the company was able to acquire.

Subseries 1. Correspondence

Scope and Content Notes:
Items in this subseries are not in original order, but have been filed chronologically by month. When exchanges covering several months were found together, they were filed by the date of the earliest letter

Box 9
Folder 01-02 S.M. Rust correspondence, 1907

Folder 03-06 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-November, 1908

Folder 7 S.M. Rust correspondence, 1910-1915

Folder 8 S.M. Rust correspondence, 1915

Folder 9 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-July, 1916

Box 10
Folder 1 S.M. Rust correspondence, August, 1916

Folder 2 S.M. Rust correspondence, 1917

Folder 03-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-August, 1918

Folder 5 S.M. Rust correspondence, September-December, 1918

Folder 06-08 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-September, 1919

Box 11
Folder 1 S.M. Rust correspondence, October-December, 1919

Subseries 2. Subject Files

Scope and Content Notes:
The subject files from this period are mainly financial reports tracking the company's progress. The Boiler Brickwork Quantity Sheets give specifics for the amount of brick needed to complete a given job.

Folder 2 "Early years", 1905-1919

Folder 3 Financial agreements, 1914

Folder 4 Financial statements, 1916

Folder 5 Business report, 1918

Folder 06-07 Boiler Brickwork Quantity Sheets, February 12, 1918

Folder 8 Business reports, April and July, 1919

Folder 9 Financial information, 1919

Series IV. President's Office Files, 1920-1929

Scope and Content Notes:
This series documents Rust Engineering's efforts to establish itself in Pittsburgh and its eventual prosperity during the Roaring Twenties. In 1920, the Rust Engineering partnership was dissolved and the company was incorporated into three functionally separate entities; the Rust Engineering Company of Delaware (Pittsburgh office), headed by S.M. Rust, the Rust Engineering Company of Maryland (Washington, D.C. office) and the Rust Engineering Company of Alabama (Birmingham office). Each company took jobs in its respective region and functioned independently from the others, but S.M. Rust was president of Rust Engineering as a whole and received reports from all offices. During the mid-1920s, the Maryland company was dissolved and transferred its assets to Pittsburgh, becoming a branch specializing in sales for the Pittsburgh office.

Much of the correspondence from the early 1920s concerns problems with particular jobs and attempts to correct them. Although some of the delays were related to weather conditions and railway strikes, problems were most often attributed to personnel; there is much discussion of habits and character as they apply to work, and the letters are surprisingly emotional and dynamic, but also fair. Other conversations concern orders and shipments, salaries and wages, attempts to land desirable jobs, and occasional run-ins with unions, particularly Pittsburgh Bricklayers Union No. 2. A series of letters between all three brothers, placed in a folder labeled "hard times," discusses the strain of financial difficulties on both the company and the family.

Despite the hardship, Rust Engineering took many jobs, especially to install boilers and build complete power houses and incinerators. In 1925, the company hired experienced chimney engineer Eric Plagwit and formed the Chimney Division, which would go on to erect more than 3,000 concrete and brick industrial chimneys. Rust's Furnace Division, which specialized in the design and installation of large furnaces for heating steel and other metals, became a wholly-owned subsidiary in 1927 and thrived from then on. More information about the Rust Furnace Division can be found in Series VII.

Subseries 1. Correspondence

Scope and Content Notes:
Items in this subseries are not in original order, but have been filed chronologically by month. When exchanges covering several months were found together, they were filed by the date of the earliest letter. In addition to general correspondence, there are also files of letters between the Pittsburgh office and other branch offices. These interoffice files are present throughout the rest of the collection.

Folder 10 S.M. Rust correspondence regarding incorporation, 1920

Folder 11 S.M. Rust correspondence, 1920

Box 12
Folder 1 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and E.M. Rust, 1920

Folder 02-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December 1921

Folder 05-08 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1922

Box 13
Folder 1 "Hard Times" correspondence between Rust brothers, 1922

Folder 02-03 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1923

Folder 04-05 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1924

Folder 06-07 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-August, 1925

Box 14
Folder 01-02 S.M. Rust correspondence, September-December, 1925

Folder 03-06 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1926

Box 15
Folder 01-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1927

Folder 5 New York Office correspondence, 1927

Folder 6 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1927

Box 16
Folder 01-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1928

Folder 5 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1928

Folder 6 New York Office correspondence, 1928

Folder 07-10 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1929

Box 17
Folder 1 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1929

Folder 2 New York Office correspondence, 1929

Folder 3 Washington Office correspondence, 1929

Folder 04-06 Abstracts of New York mail, 1925-1927

Folder 07-08 Personal mail and trade articles, 1920-1929

Subseries 2. Job Files

Scope and Content Notes:
Job files contain documents related to the acquisition of jobs, such as proposals and contracts, as well as folders on individual jobs filed alphabetically by client name. More information about these jobs, as well as those which did not receive their own folders, can be found in the correspondence files. The type of work, location, job number, and dates have been included where possible

Folder 9 Inquiries handled by New York Office, 1925-1926

Folder 10 Inquiry reports, interoffice, 1926

Folder 11 Inquiries and proposals for boilers and furnaces, 1927-1928

Folder 12 Prospect reports, 1928

Folder 13-14 Proposal file, 1928-1929

Folder 15 List of foremen, 1928

Box 18
Folder 1 Chimney contracts, ca. 1925

Folder 02-04 Contract reports, 1926-1929

Folder 05-06 American State Bank, office building at Grant & Sixth, Pittsburgh, PA (Job #101), 1927-1928

Folder 7 Balmer Company, incinerator, Floral Park, NY, 1925

Folder 08-09 Ford Motor Company, manufacturing plant, Chester, PA (Job #1600), 1926-1931

Folder 10 Davison Coke & Iron Company, cement plant, Neville Island, PA (Job #2150), 1928-1929

Folder 11 Delaware River Steel Company, blast furnace, Chester, PA (Job #1797), 1927

Folder 12 Henry Clay Hotel Company, 8-story hotel building, Ashland, KY (Job # 1828), 1927

Folder 13 Koppers Construction Company, Koppers Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 1927-1928

Box 19
Folder 01-03 Koppers Construction Company, Koppers Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 1927-1929

Folder 4 Koppers Seaboard By-Product Coke Company, office buildings at Waverly, NJ and Clifton, NJ, 1929

Folder 5 Koppers Seaboard Company, office building, Kearny, NJ, 1929

Folder 6 Koppers Seaboard Co., office building, Jamaica Yard, NY (Job #2370), 1929

Folder 7 Published plan for Koppers Construction Co. By-Product Recovery Plant, date unknown

Folder 8 New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, boiler settings, Van Nest, NJ (Job #2192), 1929

Folder 09-11 Packard Motor Car Company, contract for additions to a building, Pittsburgh, PA (Job #104), 1928

Folder 12 Phoenix Utility Company, chimneys, Trinidad, TX, 1925

Box 20
Folder 1 Raleigh-Wyoming Coal Company, construction work, Glen Rogers, WV (Job # 1227), 1921

Folder 2 U.S. Government, addition to a government printing office, Washington, D.C., 1928-1929

Folder 03-04 YMCA, building, Newell, PA (Job #102), 1928

Subseries 3. Subject Files

Scope and Content Notes:
There are several files related to the dissolution of the partnership and creation of the three companies, as well as information about Rust's attempts to purchase brick plants.

Folder 5 Dissolution of Partnership, 1920

Folder 6 Annual meetings and stocks, 1920-1924

Folder 7 J.B. Mingle vs. Rust Engineering, 1921

Folder 8 Agreements with other companies, 1922

Folder 9 Expenses related to International Bricklayers and Plasterers Union Local #2,June 17, 1922

Folder 10 Annual report of Washington, D.C. Office, 1923

Folder 11 Financial information, 1923-1928

Folder 12 Receipted invoices, 1924-1926

Folder 13 New Hope Brick Company, purchase of plant, 1925

Folder 14 John Fenson Company, sales, 1925-1926

Folder 15-16 Applications for a construction executive position, 1926

Box 21
Folder 1 Cumberland Brick Company: lease, 1926

Folder 2 Potomac Fire Brick Company; purchase of plant, 1926

Folder 3 Valley Fruit Company vs. Rust Engineering, 1926

Folder 4 Report of profits and losses, 1926

Folder 5 International Cement Corporation, 1927

Folder 6 Portable boiler, 1927

Folder 7 Proposed purchase of brick plant, 1927

Folder 8 Discussion on Piercing Mill Furnace Design, August 7, 1928

Folder 9 Patent: Method of and Apparatus for Supporting the Side Walls of Excavations, 1928

Folder 10 Proposed Chimney Builders Association, 1928

Folder 11 Report of profits and losses, 1928

Folder 12-13 Woodbridge Property for brick manufacturing, 1928-1929

Folder 14 Letters of recommendation by S.M. Rust, 1928-1930

Folder 15 Drawings, Study for River-Rail Terminal, February, 1929

Series V. President's Office Files, 1930-1939

Scope and Content Notes:
The stock market crash of October 29, 1929, impacted Rust Engineering as it did nearly all businesses. Correspondence from this time shows that in the early 1930s, the company was forced to let many employees go and cut the salaries of most others, often more than once. S.M. Rust pulled funds from his personal savings to secure loans. Rust Engineering survived the hardship through its versatility, taking on any jobs, large or small, that it could secure.

In 1936, the National Recovery Administration's (NRA) "codes of fair competition" became a major concern for Rust Engineering and many other corporations. Part of Roosevelt's New Deal to restore the economy and pull the nation out of depression, NRA codes were intended to discourage aggressive competition by setting minimum wages and maximum hours for workers. Following the codes was not required by law, but public boycotts of companies that could not display the Blue Eagle symbol of compliance pressured businesses to conform. Rust Engineering was affected by a number of codes, and fearing that the cuts were too drastic and could severely impair the company's ability to function, E.M. Rust of the Washington office formed a committee to have certain exceptions made under the constructor's code. He argued that "engineering constructors", which handle both design work and construction, operate differently than pure construction companies and required different rules. The NRA code files contain correspondence and other documents that trace these efforts, which were ultimately successful.

During the 1930s, S.M. Rust, Jr. worked closely with his father and became operating manager in 1939. S.M. Rust, Sr., still president, began building his estate "Murray Hill" in Leesburg, Virginia, and had his son and other officers send daily reports to keep track of office activity. After 1939, the files become primarily those of S.M.Rust, Jr.

Subseries 1. Correspondence

Box 22
Folder 01-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1930

Folder 5 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1930

Folder 6 New York Office correspondence, 1930

Folder 07-08 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1930

Folder 09-10 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1931

Box 23
Folder 01-02 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and C.F. Drew, 1931

Folder 3 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1931

Folder 4 New York Office correspondence, 1931

Folder 5 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1931

Folder 06-08 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-August, 1932

Box 24
Folder 1 S.M. Rust correspondence, September-December, 1932

Folder 2 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and C.F. Drew, 1932

Folder 3 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1932

Folder 4 New York Office correspondence, 1932

Folder 5 Philadelphia Office correspondence, 1932-1939

Folder 06-07 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1932

Folder 08-09 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1933

Folder 10 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and C.F. Drew, 1933

Folder 11 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1933

Folder 12 New York Office correspondence, 1933

Box 25
Folder 1 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1933

Folder 02-03 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence -- E.M. Rust, 1933

Folder 04-07 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1934

Folder 8 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1934

Folder 9 New York Office correspondence, 1934

Folder 10-11 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1934

Box 26
Folder 01-02 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1935

Folder 3 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1935

Folder 4 New York Office correspondence, 1935

Folder 05-07 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1935

Folder 08-10 S.M. Rust Day File, January-December, 1935

Box 27
Folder 01-04 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1936

Folder 5 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and C.F. Drew, 1936

Folder 6 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1936

Folder 7 Chicago Office correspondence, 1936

Folder 8 New York Office correspondence, 1936

Folder 09-12 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1936

Box 28
Folder 01-04 S.M. Rust Day File, January-December, 1936

Folder 05-07 S.M. Rust correspondence, January-December, 1937

Box 29
Folder 1 Interoffice correspondence, 1937

Folder 2 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1937

Folder 2 Chicago Office correspondence, 1937

Folder 3 New York Office correspondence, 1937

Folder 04-06 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1937

Folder 7 S.M. Rust Day File, January-February, 1937

Box 30
Folder 01-05 S.M. Rust Day File, March-December, 1937

Folder 6 S.M. Rust Correspondence, 1938

Box 31
Folder 01-02 S.M. Rust Correspondence, 1938

Folder 03-07 S.M. Rust Day File, January-September, 1938

Box 32
Folder 01-02 S.M. Rust Day File, October-December, 1938

Folder 03-09 General Day File, March-December, 1938

Folder 10 Birmingham Office correspondence, March-April, 1938

Box 33
Folder 01-03 Birmingham Office correspondence, May-December, 1938

Folder 4 Chicago Office correspondence, 1938

Folder 5 New York Office correspondence, 1938

Folder 06-07 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1938

Box 34
Folder 1 Correspondence, 1939

Folder 02-03 S.M. Rust Day File, January-August, 1939

Folder 04-05 S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, January-December, 1939

Folder 06-07 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and C.F. Drew, 1939

Folder 8 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1939

Box 35
Folder 1 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1939

Folder 2 New York Office correspondence, 1939

Folder 03-04 Personal mail and trade articles, 1930-1939

Subseries 2. Job Files

Scope and Content Notes:
Job files contain documents related to the acquisition of jobs, such as proposals and contracts, as well as folders on individual jobs filed alphabetically by client name. More information about these jobs, as well as those which did not receive their own folders can be found in the correspondence files. The type of work, location, job number, and dates have been included where possible.

Folder 5 Prospects, 1930

Folder 6 Prospects handled by R.R. Cutler, 1930-1938

Folder 7 Prospects handled by John English, 1931

Folder 8 Prospects handled by C.A. Sheldon, 1931-1932

Folder 9 Prospects handled by G.P. Prather, 1938

Folder 10 Proposals, 1930

Folder 11-13 Contracts, 1930-1939

Box 36
Folder 1 Contracts, 1938-1939

Folder 2 Construction Department contracts, 1931

Folder 03-05 Labor cost reports by contract, 1930-1931

Folder 06-07 Bartlett Hayward Company, gas holder foundations (Job #3026) Chillum Road, MD, 1934-1935

Folder 8 Charles L. Stockhausen & Co., architect, government funded apartment complex, Pittsburgh, PA, 1931

Folder 9 City of Pittsburgh, garbage incinerators, 1932

Folder 10 District of Columbia, "O" Street and Georgetown incinerators (Job #2817& 2843), Washington, D.C., 1931-1932

Box 37
Folder 1 District of Columbia, district heating system (proposal by Rust), 1935

Folder 2 Georgia School of Technology, School of Aeronautics, wind tunnel, Atlanta, Georgia, 1931

Folder 3 Gulf Refining Company, pump house (Job #2629), Cleves, Ohio, 1931

Folder 4 Guntersville Bridge blueprint (client unknown), 1938

Folder 5 H. Craig Severance, Inc., apartment house, Pittsburgh, PA, 1931

Folder 6 Town of Leesburg, VA, sewage system and disposal plant, Leesburg, VA, 1935-1936

Folder 7 Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, rebuilding boilers, Sayre, PA, 1930

Folder 08-09 Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, railroad bridge (Job# 2778-9), Weequahic Park, NJ, 1932

Folder 10 Pangborn Corporation, building (Job #2900), Hagerstown, MD, 1932-1934

Folder 11 Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, brickwork (Job #3147), Mt. Vernon, Ohio, 1935-1936.

Folder 12 Southern States Cooperative Mills, grain elevator (Job #3127), Baltimore, MD, 1934

Folder 13 Tennessee Valley Authority, alterations to Tennessee River Bridge (Job #3626), Guntersville, AL, 1938

Folder 14 Tennessee Valley Authority, blast furnace, Muscle Shoals, AL, 1934

Folder 15 Terry Steam Turbine Company, plant, Hartford, CT, 1934

Folder 16 Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company -- warehouse, (Job #2882), Mansfield, Ohio, 1932

Folder 17 Westvaco Chlorine Products, Inc., plant, South Charleston, WV, 1931

Box 38
Folder 1 Wheeling Steel Corporation, mill foundations (Job #3062), location unknown, 1934

Folder 2 U.S. Government (War Department), addition to Wright Field heating plant (Job #3051), Wright, Ohio, 1934-1936

Folder 3 Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, mill foundations (Job #3103), Youngstown, Ohio, 1934-1935

Folder 4 Unknown company and project, riots at job (Job# 2776-2777), Ashland, KY, 1932

Subseries 3. Paper Mill Job Files

Scope and Content Notes:
General files on paper mill jobs are filed by year at the start of the series, while individual jobs are arranged alphabetically by company name.

Folder 05-09 Paper mills, multiple jobs, 1934-1937

Box 39
Folder 1 Paper mills, multiple jobs, 1938-1939

Folder 2 Paper mill issue of The Tidewater News, 1938

Folder 3 Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Company, Brooks-Scanlon Corporation -- plant, Richmond, VA, 1939

Folder 4 Brooks-Scanlon Corporation, kraft Mill, Foley, FL, 1937-1938

Folder 05-09 Chesapeake-Camp Paper Company contract, paper mill, Franklin, VA, 1936-1937

Box 40
Folder 01-02 Chesapeake-Camp Paper Company, paper mill, Franklin, VA, 1937-1938

Folder 03-05 Crossett Lumber Company, kraft pulp and paper mill (Job # 3617), Crossett, AR, January-September, 1936

Box 41
Folder 01-05 Crossett Lumber Company, kraft pulp and paper mill, Crossett, AR, October, 1936-January, 1939

Folder 6 Crossett Mill progress reports, 1937

Folder 7 Crossett Mill cost estimates, 1938

Folder 8 Equitable Paper Bag Company, Inc., pulp mill, Orange, TX, 1936-1937

Folder 9 Fernandina Pulp and Paper Company, pulp mill (Job #3551), Fernandina, FL, 1938-1939

Box 42
Folder 1 Florida Pulp and Paper Company, pulp and paper mill (Job #3960), Pensacola, FL, ca. 1937

Folder 2 Hollingsworth & Whitney Company, paper mill, Mobile, AL, 1938-1939

Folder 3 Hytest Newsprint Company, newsprint mill, Rome, GA, 1936-1937

Folder 4 Riegel Paper Company, paper and pulp mill, Acme, NC, 1938

Folder 5 Rust Family, S.M. Rust Residence "Murray Hill", Leesburg, VA (Job #IB3598), 1939

Folder 6 St. Joe Paper Company, paper mill, St. Joe, FL, 1936-1937

Folder 7 Southern Kraft Corporation, recovery plant, Panama City, FL, 1930

Section: Southland Paper Company, paper mill, Lufkin, TX, 1937-1938

Subseries 4. Subject Files

Box 43.1
Oversize 1 Patent Applications, 1930-1936

Box 44
Folder 1 Blueprints and instructions for the Furnace and Chimney Divisions, 1930

Folder 2 Accident reports and insurance policies, 1930

Folder 3 Purchase of Vulcan Tile and Brick Company, 1930

Folder 4 Patents for steam heating devices, 1930-1931

Folder 5 Financial Information handled by C.F. Drew, 1930-1937

Folder 6 Purchase of plant from Elkland Fire Brick Company, 1931

Folder 7 Articles on price fixing, wages, and economic decline, ca. 1931

Folder 8 Negotiations with the Pittsburgh Cut Stone Company, 1942

Folder 10 Bulletins from the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh, 1932-1936

Folder 12 Cold Metal Process Company, controlling stock, 1933-1934

Folder 13-14 NRA Codes, 1933

Folder 15 NRA Codes by Associated General Contractors of America, 1933

Box 45
Folder 1 NRA Codes by the Engineering Constructors Group, 1933

Folder 02-04 NRA Codes, 1934

Folder 5 Settlement of A.H. Blair account, 1934-1935

Folder 6 Birmingham Fabricating Company agreements, 1934-1935

Folder 7 Purchase of Woodbridge Brick Plant, 1936-1937

Folder 8 Sales representative in Carolinas, T.C. Heyward, 1936

Folder 9 Legal council on the Fair Labor Act of 1938 and other issues, 1938-1940

Folder 10 Purchase and management of Virginia Highlands Property, 1935-1937

Folder 11 Masonry Chimney Association, 1936

Folder 12 Agreements and cost sheets, undated

Series VI. President's Office Files, 1940-1949

Scope and Content Notes:
Even before the U.S. entered World War II, jobs became more available as the nation began building its defenses. By 1941, the company was working almost exclusively on government-funded projects across the United States. Rust Engineering's skill in building large plants made it ideal for the jobs, which included the construction of navy shipyards, machine shop and assembly buildings, shell forging and machining plants, and ordnance plants. Some projects, such as a Naval Ordnance Plant in Canton, Ohio, employed hundreds of employees and operated on 24-hour shifts. The company was particularly proud of this plant, which was completed ahead of schedule and contained what one worker called "the prettiest machine shop I ever saw."

To complete this work, Rust had to navigate the many restrictions and regulations on the use of raw materials, and a significant amount of correspondence is dedicated to dealing with rationing boards and securing salaries for workers. Private work did continue, and Rust built boiler houses, blast furnaces, and stove foundations for steel mills.

Most wartime work was overseen by S.M. Rust, Jr., who was vice-president at the time. S.M. Rust, Sr. did not retire from the presidency until 1945, when he became Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Rust Engineering's opportunities for jobs only rose after the war, as it repaired overworked machinery and converted now-obsolete war factories into peacetime enterprises. As the nation entered the Space Age, the company also worked on nuclear energy projects and structures for NASA.

The files taper off and end by 1949. It is possible that records from the 1950s went on to Litton Industries, which purchased Rust in 1967. Some information about Rust's activities during the 1950s and beyond can be found in Series VIII.

Subseries 1. Correspondence

Scope and Content Notes:
Records from the 1940s are made up almost entirely of Day Files, consisting of copies of outgoing correspondence written by S.M. Rust, Jr., and interoffice files containing both incoming and outgoing mail. There are no job files and few subject files, but despite the limitations a great deal of information about company activity can be found in the correspondence. The interoffice files are much more extensive than earlier, possibly because of better record keeping techniques, but more likely because the offices had to work together constantly to keep up with government projects; many letters were sent between branch offices every day, often by airmail, as Rust coordinated numerous jobs around the country.

Box 46
Folder 1 General Correspondence, 1940

Folder 02-04 S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, January-December, 1940

Folder 05-06 S.M. Rust and S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, January-October, 1940

Folder 7 S.M. Rust and S.M. Rust, Jr. Correspondence, January-December, 1940

Folder 8 Daily reports from Pittsburgh Office to S.M. Rust, 1940

Folder 9 S.M. Rust, Jr., personal, 1940

Box 47
Folder 1 Interoffice correspondence, 1940

Folder 02-04 Birmingham Office correspondence, January-December, 1940

Folder 5 Los Angeles Office correspondence, 1940

Folder 6 New York Office correspondence, 1940

Folder 07-08 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, October-December, 1940

Folder 9 Windsor Office correspondence, 1940

Box 48
Folder 1 General correspondence, 1941

Folder 02-04 S.M. Rust and S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, January-December, 1941

Folder 5 Daily reports from Pittsburgh Office to SMR, 1941

Folder 6 Daily Reports from SMR, Jr. to SMR, 1941

Folder 07-09 Birmingham Office correspondence, January-March, 1941

Box 49
Folder 01-08 Birmingham Office correspondence, April-November, 1941

Box 50
Folder 1 Birmingham Office correspondence, December, 1941

Folder 02-03 Chicago Office correspondence, 1941

Folder 4 Los Angeles Office correspondence, 1941

Folder 5 Montreal Office correspondence, 1941

Folder 06-07 New York Office correspondence, 1941

Folder 08-09 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, January-June, 1941

Box 51
Folder 01-02 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, July-December, 1941

Folder 3 General correspondence, 1942

Folder 04-06 W.B. Gillies correspondence, 1942

Folder 7 S.M. Rust personal correspondence, 1942

Folder 08-09 S.M. Rust, Jr. and Day File, First-Second Quarter, 1942

Box 52
Folder 1 S.M. Rust, Jr. and Day File, Third Quarter, 1942

Folder 02-04 Interoffice correspondence, January-December, 1942

Folder 05-07 Birmingham Office correspondence, January-March, 1942

Box 53
Folder 1 Birmingham Office correspondence,April-September, 1942

Box 54
Folder 01-03 Birmingham Office correspondence, October-December, 1942

Folder 4 Los Angeles Office correspondence, 1942

Folder 5 New York Office correspondence, 1942

Folder 6 Philadelphia Office correspondence, 1942

Folder 07-08 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, January-February, 1942

Box 55
Folder 01-05 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, March-April, 1942

Folder 2 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, May-December, 1942

Folder 6 General correspondence, 1943

Folder 07-09 S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, First-Third Quarter, 1943

Box 56
Folder 1 S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, Fourth Quarter, 1943

Folder 2 Interoffice, First Quarter, 1943

Folder 03-04 Interoffice, Third-Fourth Quarter, 1943

Folder 05-09 Birmingham Office correspondence, January, 1943

Box 57
Folder 01-07 Birmingham Office correspondence, June-December, 1943

Folder 8 Los Angeles Office correspondence, 1943

Folder 9 New York Office correspondence, 1943

Box 58
Folder 01-02 Washington, D.C. Office correspondence, 1943

Folder 03-04 General correspondence, 1944

Folder 5 S.M. Rust, Jr. correspondence, 1944

Folder 06-08 S.M. Rust, Jr. Day File, Second-Fourth Quarter, 1944

Folder 9 S.M. Rust, Jr. correspondence, 1944

Folder 10 General correspondence, 1945

Folder 11-13 S.M. Rust Day File, January-September, 1945

Box 59
Folder 1 S.M. Rust Day File, October-December, 1945

Folder 2 S.M. Rust General Correspondence, 1946

Folder 03-06 S.M. Rust Day File, First-Fourth Quarter, 1946

Folder 7 S.M. Rust Interoffice, 1946

Folder 8 Interoffice, 1946

Folder 09-10 S.M. Rust Day File, January-December, 1947

Folder 11 S.M. Rust, Jr. personal file, 1947

Box 60
Folder 1 General Correspondence, 1948

Folder 02-03 S.M. Rust Day File, January-December, 1948

Folder 4 Birmingham Office correspondence, 1948

Folder 05-06 S.M. Rust Day File, January-December, 1949

Folder 7 S.M. Rust Personal File, 1949

Folder 8 S.M. Rust, Jr. personal file, 1949

Folder 9 S.M. Rust personal correspondence, 1950-1953

Subseries 2. Subject Files

Folder 10 Salary raises and financial information, 1940-1942

Folder 11-12 Contracts, 1940-1942

Box 61
Folder 1 Board of Directors and Stockholders Meeting minutes, 1940

Folder 2 Daily reports from H.J. Bawser to S.M. Rust, April-May, 1940

Folder 3 Job application by prisoner Walker Buckner, 1940

Folder 4 Salary Records, 1940-1942

Folder 5 Completed questionnaire on construction practices for Associated General Contractors of America, 1941

Folder 6 Legal information handled by Bayard Baldridge, 1942

Folder 7 Balance sheets, 1942

Folder 8 Fuel oil rationing, 1942

Folder 9 Gasoline rationing, 1943

Folder 10 Insurance, 1943

Folder 11-12 War Department survey of personnel, services, completed projects, 1943

Folder 13 Qualifications and histories of key personnel for Army records, 1943

Folder 14 China-America Council of Commerce and Industry, Inc., 1944

Folder 15 Proposed international work in South America, 1944

Folder 16 Law Office of Miller and Chevalier, 1944-1945

Folder 17 Report to Reconstruction Finance Corporation Relative to Gadsden Ordnance Plant, Gadsden, Alabama, 1945

Box 62
Folder 1 Anthony Bruyaux -- post-war surplus plants, 1945

Folder 2 Drawing: Oil and air piping layout for No. 7 periodic circular kiln, Harbison Walker Refectories, 1946

Folder 3 Proposed incinerator for the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, 1946

Folder 4 Wage and fuel expenses, 1947

Folder 5 Birmingham Office analysis, 1939-1949

Series VII. Affiliate Companies

Scope and Content Notes:
This series contains documents related to Rust Engineering's many subsidiaries, franchises, and other affiliate companies. In the early 1920s, Rust Engineering was made up of several divisions and departments. As the company expanded, affiliates were formed to specialize in specific services. This enabled the company to effectively handle, for example, both the construction work and the electrical work on a single plant, or to manufacture the brick that the Chimney Department required rather than purchase it from another company. Most subsidiaries could also take jobs on their own and operate somewhat independently from the larger company.

Rust Engineering's first subsidiary was the Rust Furnace Company, which was created from the Furnace Division in 1927. Known for its patented triple-fired continuous furnace, which could heat steel from above and below at a rapid rate, the Rust Furnace Company could also custom-design, engineer, install, and repair all other types of industrial furnaces. The company provided furnaces for many of Pittsburgh's steel mills as well as for companies as far away as New Zealand and South Africa. Other successful subsidiaries include the Allegheny Industrial Electrical Company, which installed electrical systems for large plants, and the Vibroflotation Foundation Company, which used a unique process to build foundations on unstable ground by injecting sand into soil.

The series also contains information on Coppee-Rust, a joint subsidiary created in 1962 by the Rust Engineering Company and Evence Coppee et Compagnie, an engineering and construction firm based in Brussels, Belgium. Coppee-Rust was a design and construction company which specialized in assisting American businesses interested in expanding outside of the U.S. It built plants in Belgium, Iraq, Qatar, the USSR, and many other countries. The formation of Coppee-Rust represents Rust Engineering's first attempt to merge its services with those of another independent corporation.

Materials in this series have been arranged alphabetically by subsidiary or affiliate name and may include correspondence, reports, minute books, and promotional items, as well as technical information about the processes in which each subsidiary specialized.

Section: Allegheny Industrial Electrical Company

Folder 6 Contracts, 1946-1955

Folder 7 Promotional leaflets, ca. 1950s-1960s

Folder 8 Catalog of expense report sheets, 1961

Folder 9 Correspondence, 1962

Folder 10 Financial statements, 1965-1966

Section: Birmingham Clay Products Company

Folder 11 Correspondence between S.M. Rust and Lee Rust, 1925-1938

Folder 12-15 General Correspondence, 1921-1938

Box 63
Folder 1 "Hard Times" correspondence, 1932-1935

Folder 2 Correspondence, 1936-1940

Folder 03-04 Balance sheets, 1920-1929

Folder 05-06 Cost sheets, 1921-1930

Folder 7 U.S. Department of Justice -- brick for a chimney (#1859), Atlanta, Georgia, 1927

Folder 8 Expenses, 1927

Folder 9 Report: Building Brick Manufacture in the District of Birmingham, Alabama, by H. Doolittle and Stanley N. Brown, Jr., 1928

Folder 10 Statements of income, profit, and loss, 1930

Folder 11 Blueprint: North Birmingham Plant of Birmingham Clay Products Co., July 12, 1930

Folder 12 W. R. Culbertson, furnace inventor, 1931-1935

Folder 13 Bond holder agreement, 1933

Folder 14 Indemnity and bond agreements, 1936-1939

Folder 15 Audit report, 1940

Folder 16-17 Bankruptcy and reorganization, 1940-1941

Box 64
Folder 01-02 Bankruptcy and reorganization, 1940-1941

Folder 3 Balance sheet and statement of income, 1965

Folder 4 Report on examination of accounts, June 30, 1965

Folder 05-06 Reports on Examination of Financial Statements and Additional Information, 1968-1976

Folder 7 Correspondence and balance sheets, 1979

Section: Bolivar Clay Products Company

Folder 08-09 Correspondence, 1921-1931

Folder 10 Incoming correspondence, 1930-1931

Folder 11 Property and taxes, 1921-1924

Box 65
Oversize 1 Bolivar Clay Products Company Cumulative Preferred Stock Certificates, 1921-1946

Oversize 2 Bolivar Clay Products Company Common Stock Certificates, 1921-1958

Box 66
Folder 1 Coal Lease, Newport Coal Company, 1921-1924

Folder 2 Blueprints and plans for Bolivar Manufacturing Plant, 1922

Folder 3 Financial information, 1922-1926

Folder 4 Amendments to the Certificate of Incorporation, 1932-1949

Folder 5 Company reorganization, 1959

Folder 6 Agreements between Bolivar and Woodbridge Clay Companies, 1959-1962

Section: Brick and Tile Manufacturing Company

Folder 7 Correspondence, 1930-1931

Folder 08-09 Proposed bylaws, 1931

Folder 10 Incorporation and stockholder information, 1931

Section: Coppee-Rust

Box 67
Folder 01-07 Correspondence, 1961-1968

Box 68
Folder 01-02 Correspondence, 1966-1974

Folder 3 Promotion Commerciale A Hasselt

Folder 4 Commercial Promotion in Lille

Folder 05-06 Delta Phi Fraternity -- dormitory, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA,1963-1966

Folder 7 Rust Engineering Company, Ltd., Great Britain, 1965

Folder 8 Brochures, Rust Engineering Company, Ltd., Croydon, Surrey, ca. 1965

Folder 9 European Economic Community and Evence Coppee & Compagnie, March 15, 1961

Box 69
Folder 1 Objective: European Expansion: A Profile of the Engineering and Construction Services of Coppee-Rust

Folder 2 Annual reports of Coppee-Rust and Coppee, 1973

Folder 3 Annual reports of Coppee-Rust and Coppee-affiliated companies, 1976

Folder 4 Social and financial reports, 1979

Folder 5 Etude et Construction Evence Coppee-Rust S.A

Folder 6 Coppee-Rust-Damiron Group promotional book, ca. 1963

Volume 1 Coppee-Rust promotional book, ca. 1963

Section: Doyle and Russell, Incorporated

Box 70
Folder 1 Financial statements, 1965, 1967

Section: Howard R. Wright & Associates

Folder 2 Financial statements, 1965

Section: Loudon Rust

Folder 3 Bids on school building jobs, financial reports, 1930-1931

Section: Mason-Rust

Folder 4 Promotional brochure, 1950s

Section: Penwick Distillery Company

Folder 5 Proposed company structure, 1933

Folder 6 Correspondence, 1933-1934

Section: Potomac Clay Products Company

Folder 7 Incorporation and organization, 1930-1931

Folder 08-09 Correspondence, 1930

Folder 10 Annual reports, 1931-1937

Folder 11 Blueprint: Proposed Arrangement of Machinery, Woodbridge, VA, February 17, 1937

Box 71
Folder 1 Blueprint: Proposed Flow Sheets, April, 1930

Folder 02-03 Waterfront property, Georgetown: acquisition and management, 1929-1941

Folder 4 Registration in Virginia, 1930-1938

Folder 5 Federal taxes, 1935

Folder 6 Meeting minutes, 1936

Folder 7 H.B. Rust estate settlement, 1937

Folder 8 Dissolution, 1938

Section: Potomac Real Estate Company

Folder 9 Correspondence, 1935

Section: Process Engineering Division

Folder 10 Promotional brochures, ca. 1950s

Section: Rust Associates, Ltd.

Folder 11 Financial statements, 1965

Section: Rust Building, Inc.

Folder 12 Financial statements, 1965

Folder 13 Lease of property, 1960s

Box 72
Folder 1 Dissolution, 1966

Section: Rust Construction Company

Folder 02-03 Incorporation and organization, 1927-1938

Folder 4 Meeting minutes, 1927

Folder 5 State registration, 1930-1933

Folder 6 Meeting minutes and dissolution, 1934-1938

Section: Rust Engineering Company (Canada) Ltd.

Folder 7 Financial statements, 1965

Folder 8 Report Covering the Present and Future Power Plant Expansion Program for Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd., 1937

Section: Rust Furnace Division, Rust Furnace Company

Box 73
Folder 1 Patent Agreements, 1929

Folder 2 Continuous Furnaces Promotional brochure, ca. 1930s

Folder 3 Division correspondence and reports on refractory purchases, 1930-1931

Folder 04-05 Rust Engineering vs. Chapman-Stein Corporation, patent infringement on soaking pit design, ca. 1930

Folder 06-07 Patent infringement on furnace design, 1932-1935

Folder 8 Blueprints: Details of Brick Shapes, Rust Zone Controlled Triple Fired Continuous Recuperative Slab Reheating Furnace for Ford Co., 1934

Folder 9 Profits and losses, 1936

Folder 10 Correspondence, 1940-1943

Folder 11-13 Wartime salary regulations, 1943-1945

Folder 14 Promotional booklet, 1944

Folder 15 Rust Furnace vs. Loftus Engineering, patent infringement on furnace design, 1947

Box 74
Folder 1 Rust Furnace Company: Pioneers in Furnace Design promotional brochure, ca. 1955

Folder 02-04 Financial statements, 1956-1966

Folder 5 Brochures and photographs, 1968

Folder 6 Rust-Escher Hollow Fin Metallic Recuperators promotional brochure, ca. 1960s

Section: Rust Gunite Company

Folder 7 Correspondence and expense reports, 1930

Section: Rust International Corporation

Folder 8 Promotional brochure, ca. 1980

Section: Rust Properties

Folder 09-10 Financial statements, 1964-1969

Folder 11 Dissolution, 1969-1970

Section: Vibroflotation Foundation Company

Folder 12 Promotional brochures, ca. 1955

Folder 13 Financial statements, 1965-1966

Section: Woodbridge Clay Products Company

Folder 14 Production and average cost of manufacturing brick, 1939-1946

Series VIII. Publicity, 1920-1989

Scope and Content Notes:
Series VIII consists of published newspaper and journal articles, advertisements, and booklets that represent the public face of Rust Engineering. Aimed at a wide audience of clients and the general public, they explain the services the company was capable of providing and describe some of its major successes. This series has been divided into two subseries, one for articles, and another for promotional items distributed by Rust.

Subseries 1. Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1942-1954

Scope and Content Notes:
Articles about Rust Engineering's projects and officers often appeared in the news. In order to keep track of what was published and how many people it reached, the company hired professional clipping services to collect articles from newspapers and trade journals. These were added to scrapbooks alongside copies of press releases and advertisements, and each article's circulation was recorded.

Most articles announce contracts or describe successfully completed projects, often stressing the company's speed and utilization of current technology. Since there are very few files from the 1950s, these articles are the best source of information about the Rust Engineering's activity during that time. Paper mills, furnaces, and large plants were still the most common assignments, but there is also mention of the company's involvement with nuclear technology, including the construction of a massive spherical structure to house an atomic submarine's reactor during tests. Loose clippings and articles have also been included in this subseries.

Box 75
Folder 1 Clipping Book, December 15, 1941-February 1, 1942

Folder 2 Clipping Book, March-April, 1942

Folder 3 Clipping Book, July-August, 1942

Folder 4 Clipping Book, September-October, 1942

Folder 5 Clipping Book, October-December, 1944

Folder 6 Clipping Book, January-December, 1946

Box 76
Folder 01-04 Clipping Book, January-December, 1948

Folder 05-07 Clipping Book, January-September, 1949

Box 77
Folder 1 Clipping Book, October-December, 1949

Folder 02-05 Clipping Book, January-December, 1950

Folder 06-08 Clipping Book, January-September, 1952

Box 78
Folder 1 Clipping Book, November 1952-March 1953

Folder 02-03 Clipping Book, January June, 1954

Folder 4 Clippings, 1930s

Folder 5 Clippings, 1940s

Folder 06-10 Articles sent to Newspapers and Trade Journals, 1942-1957

Folder 11 Articles sent to Newspapers and Trade Journals, 1965-1966

Folder 12 Paper Mill Articles, 1950-1958

Folder 13 Fortune articles, August, 1960

Folder 14 Contract Announcements, 1942

Subseries 2. Promotional Items, 1920-1989

Scope and Content Notes:
Rust Engineering published brochures and booklets for distribution to potential clients. They explain the company's services and experience and are often illustrated with diagrams and photographs of successful projects. This subseries contains examples of items that promote the company as a whole, but similar brochures for specific subsidiaries, such as the Rust Furnace Company, can be found in Series VII.

Box 79
Folder 1 General Construction, ca. 1920s

Folder 2 Chimneys for All Purposes, ca. 1920s

Folder 3 Chimney brochures, 1938-1958

Folder 4 Promotional leaflets for radial brick, waterproofing, gunite application, and other services, ca. 1935

Folder 5 The Rust Engineering Company and the Rust Furnace Company, 1944

Folder 6 The Rust Engineering Company and Subsidiary Companies, ca. 1954

Folder 7 The Rust Engineering Company: Engineers and Constructors for the Pulp and Paper Industry, 1954

Folder 8 Promotional booklet for Birmingham Office, 1954

Folder 9 The Rust Engineering Company and Subsidiary Companies, ca. 1956

Folder 10 Experience Record of the Rust Engineering Company, ca. 1960

Folder 11 Promotional booklet for Birmingham Office, 1961

Folder 12 Series of booklets on engineering, design, power plants, and steel mills, ca. 1963

Folder 13 Promotional booklet, ca.1975

Folder 14 Promotional packet on construction, model building, and aerospace work, ca. 1989

Box 43.2
Oversize 02-12 Rust Promotional Calendars, 1944-1956

Oversize 13 Industrial and Public Utility Engineering Projects Recently Executed by the Rust Engineering Company, Inc., 1930

Oversize 14 Industrial and Public Utility Engineering Projects Recently Executed by the Rust Engineering Company, Inc.,1938

Series IX. Photographs, 1914-1967

Scope and Content Notes:
This series contains over 400 prints and negatives depicting Rust Engineering's construction sites, offices, personnel, and events such as banquets and recognition ceremonies. The majority of the photographs had been housed in three albums, two containing images of job sites and machinery from the 1920s through the 1950s, and one documenting the construction of coke processing facilities and blast furnaces for Central Iron and Coal Company in Holt, Alabama, between 1917 and 1918. The Holt album covers many stages of the large project and also includes rare images of the working conditions and the surrounding town. "Before and after" images, found in all albums, follow progress at construction sites and show the types of tools, scaffolding, and underlying foundations used to build a variety of structures.

Many of the loose photographs appear to have been taken for publication, either in Rust's advertising brochures and leaflets or for the Rust Triangle newsletter. Please note that some photographs are stamped with the name of a photographer or studio. They remain the intellectual property of the creator and cannot be reproduced without permission.

Digital reproductions of the collection are available online.

Subseries 1. Job Album 1

Box 80
Folder 1 Framework for "Rutherfords job" (Job #6059), Grammercy, LA, June 8, 1950

Folder 2 Boilers, Consolidated Gas Co. Hunts Point, NY

Folder 3 Coke plant, Koppers Seaboard Coke Company, Brooklyn, NY

Folder 4 Construction work on a plant for International Cement, Washington, D.C., ca. 1925

Folder 5 Gunite work and bridge construction for the Pennsylvania RR. Co., Hunts Point, NY (Job #2114)

Folder 6 Gunite work, Riverside Drive, NYC (Job #1870), December, 1927-1928, July 8, 1927

Folder 7 Monitor ends for Chevrolet Plant, Atlanta, GA (Job #1978), March 1928

Folder 8 Completed bridge for the New Jersey Highway Commission, 1966

Folder 9 Steam engine and completed floor system of New York Ave. Bridge, Washington, D.C., October, 1931

Folder 10 Ordnance Department, Picatinny Arsenal Packing House, M-4344, March 23, 1932

Folder 11 Completed Route 30 Bridge for the D.L and W.R.R., April 25, 1932

Folder 12 Workers applying concrete to a nine foot wind tunnel for the Georgia School of Technology, Atlanta, GA, May 1930

Folder 13 Installation of three Springfield Boilers for Consolidated Gas Co., Hunts Point, NY, ca. 1925

Folder 14 Completed bridge for L.V. RR Co. and Essex County Park Commission, Newark, N.J. (Job #2778-2779), October 10, 1932

Folder 15 Before and after shots of Geary Boiler installation for Pittsburgh and West Virginia Gas Co., Downs, W.V., ca. 1925

Folder 16 Domestic screening plant for Koppers Seaboard Coke Co., Kearney, N.J.

Folder 17 Construction of Lake Street Bridge, Ashtabula, Ohio (Job #2088), October 31, 1928

Folder 18 Workers applying gunite to a fur vault for Joseph Horne Warehouse, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17, 1928

Folder 19 Load test for chimney bearing (Job #1692), July 4, 1925

Folder 20 Completed boilers, location unknown

Folder 21 Boiler installation, location unknown, ca. 1925

Folder 22 Monitor ends for Chevrolet plant, Atlanta, G.A. (Job #1978)

Folder 23 Coal silo for Utica Gas and Electric Co., Utica, NY, ca. 1925

Folder 24 Construction and brickwork in an unknown building, July 19, 1924

Folder 25 Bridge walls for Metropolitan Power Co., Middletown, PA., 1926

Folder 26 Tangentially fired burner for Ford, Walkerville, Ontario,

Folder 27 Completed boiler installation for Penn. American Refining Co., Oil City, PA, ca. 1925

Folder 28 Boiler installation, location unknown

Folder 29 Interior shot of unknown building, Binghamton, NY

Folder 30 Super-power station for Ohio River Edison Company, Toronto, Ohio, January 17, 1925

Folder 31 Interior brickwork, location unknown, ca. 1925

Folder 32 Garbage incinerator, Garden City, NY

Folder 33 Building and power plant for Ford Motor Company (Job #1347), 1924

Folder 34 Workers building 75th Street Bridge over Village Creek, November 1931

Folder 35 Pennsylvania State Highway Bridge at Groveton, Pa, 1929

Subseries 2. Job Album 2

Box 81
Folder 1 Chimneys, stills, plants, and other work for Pennzoil Co., Oil City, Pa (Job #1728, 1777), 1926

Folder 2 Gunite work on a bridge for New Jersey State Highway Commission, Newark, NJ (Job #1966), January 4-December 16, 1927

Folder 3 Overpass bridge for New Jersey State Highway Commission (Job #2233), March 19, 1929

Folder 4 Exterior shot of building for Aracoma Laundry Company, Logan, WV,

Folder 5 Garage and car showroom for Dawley Motor Company, ca. 1925

Folder 6 Coke and coal bins for Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Co., Fort Wayne, Indiana

Folder 7 Construction of a nine foot wind tunnel for Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, May 1931

Folder 8 Workers building Brighton Road and W. North Ave. Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA

Folder 9 Overlooking town and construction of Winchester Ave. Overpass, Ashland, KY, September 14, 1932

Folder 10 Workers and cranes, construction of D.L & W. R.R. Main Line, Washington, NJ (Job #2766), June-December, 1931

Folder 11 Completed gunite power house for Phoenix Utility Company, Phoenix, AZ (Job #2405)February 14, 1930

Folder 12 Floor system of New York Ave. Bridge, Washington, D.C., October, 1931

Folder 13 Lake Street Bridge, Ashtebula, Ohio (Job #2088), November 1, 1928

Folder 14 Gunite repair to Q. Street Bridge, Washington, D.C. (Job #2863), August 31, 1932

Folder 15 New Philadelphia, O.3" reinforced gunite lining (Job #2765), October 19, 1931

Folder 16 Gunite application, Payson Park Reservoir, Cambridge, MA (Job #1838)September 8, 1927

Folder 17 Ordnance Department Picatinny Arsenal, Cannon powder blender M-4245, 1929

Folder 18 Construction of Bell Telephone Company Building addition, Pittsburgh, PA, 1929

Folder 19 Gunite application, location unknown, February 21, 1928

Folder 20 Chevropet Plant

Folder 21 Niagara Street Bridge for NJ State Highway Commission, Newark, NJ, 1927

Folder 22 Bridge, location unknown, August 8, 1928

Folder 23 P. RR bridge, Arcade, NY, October, 1929

Folder 24 Exterior and office shots of an assembly plant for Ford Motor Company, Chester, PA, 1927

Subseries 3. Banquet Photos

Folder 25 Veteran Employee's Dinner, October 25, 1946

Box 82
Folder 1 Founders Day and Service Award Dinner, University Club, Pittsburgh, October 27, 1950

Folder 2 Service Award Banquet commemorating the company's fiftieth anniversary, Hotel William Penn, Pittsburgh, PA, October 19, 1955

Folder 3 Sixtieth Anniversary and Fifth Service Banquet, Hotel Webster Hall, Pittsburgh, PA and Parliament House, Birmingham, AL, November 11, 1965, December 7, 1965

Folder 4 Banquet booklets, 1950-1955

Folder 5 General banquet information, 1964-1965

Folder 6 Quarter Century Club, 1985-1995

Subseries 4. Miscellaneous Photos

Folder 7 Rust Boiler Shop, 1905

Folder 8 Extension to the government printing office, Washington, D.C., September 3, 1929

Folder 9 Building and bricklayers in a building, location unknown, May 8, 1929

Folder 10 Office building for National Gas Co., Clarksburg, WV, May 8, 1929

Folder 11 Shots of employees in the first Pittsburgh office, located in the Farmers Bank Building, 1917

Folder 12 Boston Office building, Boston, MA, 1956

Folder 13 S.M. Rust and Coppee-Rust officers, August 13, 1964

Box 83
Folder 1 Rust Engineering Award for high school students, March 28, 1950

Folder 2 Unidentified building and train tracks, July 21, 1950

Folder 3 Unknown plant, October 25, 1950

Folder 4 Banquet at University Club, October 30, 1950

Folder 5 Photo of a drawing of a warehouse and office building for Kroger Company, Pittsburgh, PA, March 23, 1951

Folder 6 Brickwork, July 11, 1951

Folder 7 Interior and exterior shots, J&L plant, Hazelwood, October 22, 1951

Folder 8 J&L Aliquippa, October 24, 1951

Folder 9 Hubbard Aluminum Products Co. building, November 9, 1951

Folder 10 Two men at desk in Rust building at Sixth Ave. and Diamond, Pittsburgh, PA, August 15, 1952

Folder 11 Rust building at Sixth Ave. and Diamond, March 25, 1952

Folder 12 Rust building at Sixth Ave. and Diamond, April 2, 1952

Folder 13 Retouched image of Rust building at Sixth Ave. and Diamond, May 27, 1942

Folder 14 Ceremony for winners of the Rust Technology Award, Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh, PA, February 1929, 1956

Folder 15 Rust Technology Award, winning drawings, March 2, 1957

Folder 16 Man instructing a small group about materials, February 12, 1958

Folder 17 Unloading equipment from flatcase, interior of warehouse at Allegheny Industrial Electrical, March 31, 1959

Folder 18 Student Architect Awards ceremony, May 28, 1958

Folder 19 Children playing games and group shots at Rust company picnic, North Park, Pittsburgh, PA, July 23, 1958

Folder 20 Junior Achievement Awards ceremony, December 17, 1958

Folder 21 Airplane and hanger at Allegheny Airport, December 15, 1958

Folder 22 Architectural award ceremony, May 20, 1959

Folder 23 Science Awards ceremony at Kaufmanns, Pittsburgh, PA, May 21, 1959

Folder 24 Company plane and pilot, Allegheny County Airport, June 30, 1960

Folder 25 Anniversary Party, Webster Hall, October 19, 1960

Folder 26 President S.M. Rust, Jr. in office, June 15, 1961

Folder 27 Company jet at Allegheny Airport, July 19, 1968

Folder 28 Scale model of a structure

Folder 29 Winning 3D model by Carnegie Tech students, March 25, 1957

Folder 30 Paul Scheetz, engineers, and draftsmen in the Drawing Room of the Heeran Building, 1948

Folder 31 Three Sisters Bridges and Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge in snow, taken from Rust office, March 3, 1960

Item 1 Boiler on cart, ca. 1920

Item 2 Chimney for Seaboard By-Product Co., Jersey City, NY, ca. 1920

Item 3 Chimneys for Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, ca. 1920

Item 4 Chimney for Midland Coke Ovens, ca. 1920

Item 5 Stack, Lehigh, PA, ca. 1920

Item 06-07 Eggners Ferry Bridge being raised, Murray, KY, ca. 1943

Item 08-09 Monitor on roof at Evanston

Item 10-11 Boiler brickwork for 10 Franklin boilers, Charleston Con. Ry. Light and Power Co., Charleston, SC, 1911

Oversize 1 Cartoons and caricatures of Rust personnel (negatives), ca. 1960

Box 84 Photo Album of projects for Central Iron and Coal Company, Holt Alabama, 1917-1918