Summary Information

Title: Photograph Collection of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation
Collection Number: MSP#33
Creator: Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation
Collection Dates: 1880-1952
Extent: 10 cubic feet (13 boxes, one quarter shelf bound materials)
Abstract:

The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation was one of the largest iron and steel manufacturers in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. These photographs include images of facilities, products and transportation. The facility series features a large assortment of posed shots of employees, listing their names, job titles and miscellaneous information, including nicknames, years of service or reasons for leaving the company. It also contains interior and exterior photos of the many Jones and Laughlin mills, warehouses and office buildings all over the United States. Transportation images include tugboats, barges and railroads carrying Jones and Laughlin finished products and raw materials.

Language:

The material in this collection is in English.

Repository:

Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-454-6364
library@hswp.org
http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/libraryArchives.aspx

Sponsor:

This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project, a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.

Date Published:

Summer, 1999

Author:

This guide to the collection was rewritten by Stephen Doell on June 21, 1993. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Summer, 1999.

Encoder:

Encoded by Jennifer Marshall on August 10, 1999 from an existing finding aid. >Reviewed by Curator Steve Doell on September 1999

Revision Description:

July 1, 2006:

Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to EAD Version 2002

Historical Sketch

For the historical sketch of the Jones and Laughlin Corporation, please see the finding aid for MSS #33.

Collection Scope and Content Note

These photographs include images of facilities, products and transportation. A majority of these photographs were accumulated by the Public Relations Department of Jones and Laughlin between 1952 and 1953 for the company's 100th anniversary. Many former workers and their families contributed personal collections, often including identifications and personal anecdotes.

The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation Photographs are housed in 13 archival boxes and are arranged in three series. Series are designated as Facilities, Products and Transportation.

Materials are arranged alphabetically within each series.

Controlled Access Terms

Topics

• Coal industry and trade -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
• Coke industry and trade -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County
• Inland water transportation
• Inland waterway vessels
• Iron industry and trade -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
• Iron foundries -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
• Steel foundries -- Pennsylvania -- Aliquippa
• Steel foundries -- Ohio -- Cleveland
• Steel foundries -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
• Steel Collection
• River Collection

Corporate Names

• Jones and Laughlin Steel Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
• American Iron Works (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
• Eliza (Steel mill)

Personal Names

• Crawford, George Gordon -- 1869-
• Jones, Benjamin F. -- (Benjamin Franklin) -- 1824-1903
• Jones, B.F. -- 1863-1928
• Jones, B.F. -- d. 1985
• Jones, Thomas -- 1828-1889
• Jones, William Larimer -- 1865-1926
• Jones, W.L. -- d. 1954
• Jones, W.L. -- III
• Kier, Samuel M. -- 1813-1874
• King, Willis -- 1851-1936
• Laughlin, George M. -- Major -- 1842-1908
• Laughlin, Henry A. -- 1838-
• Laughlin, Irwin -- 1840-1871
• Laughlin, James -- 1806-1882
• Laughlin, James -- Jr
• Lauth, Bernard -- 1820-1894
• Lauth, John

Locations

• Allegheny County (Pa.) -- Industry

Access and Use

Access Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Aquisition Information:

Arrived with the Records of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, MSS #33.

Preferred Citation:

Photograph Collection of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, 1880-1952, MSP #33, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Previous Citation:

Processing Information:

This collection was rewritten by Stephen Doell on June 21, 1993.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jennifer Marshall on August 10, 1999.

Copyright:

Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.

Contents List

Series Facilities

I

Scope and Content Notes: The Pittsburgh Works images in this series represent the most significant feature of this collection. The photos of steel workers in box 5, dating from 1880, represent one of the finest collections of labor images. Many of these photos are posed shots of each crew from different years (the most prevalent being the Rolling Mill crews) with identification and anecdotes. The management subsection includes portraits of founders Jones, Lauth and Laughlin and their descendants. The production subsection also includes many exterior photos of the different plants and a collection of images of downtown Pittsburgh. In many cases there are only a few photos from each facility, such as McKeesport Works and Memphis warehouse. The Facilities series is first arranged by specific plants, including McKeesport, Otis and Pittsburgh Works. The photographs from each plant are then divided by employees and production images. The employee photos are further subdivided into a labor and management section. The production section within each plant is arranged alphabetically by department, including blooming mills, coke ovens and barge construction.

Aliquippa Works

Employees

Labor

Box 1

folder

1

Douds, John, 1906

Tin Mill Crew

folder

2

1911

folder

3

1917

folder

4

Bloom Clippers, 1940

Management

Historical Story in Pictures

folder

5

1945-1950

folder

6

1951-1955

folder

7

Supervisory Personnel Mugshots, 1920-1950

folder

8

Administrative Portraits, 1935

Miscellaneous

folder

9

1945

folder

10

1950

folder

11

Unidentified

folder

12

Golf Tournament, 1946

Box 2

folder

1

Golf Tournament, 1946

folder

2

Wire Mill, 1912

Production

folder

3

Bessemer Converter and Seamless Tube Department, 1956

Blooming Mills

folder

4

1928

folder

5-6

1952

Box 3

folder

1

Coke by-product, 1950

folder

2

Coke Ovens, 1926

Shelf

Electrolytic Tinning, c. 1940

folder

3

Open Hearth Furnace, 1912

folder

4

Seamless Tube Mill, 1928

folder

5

Tin Plate Warehouse Extension, 1953

folder

6

Wire Room, c. 1928

folder

7

Miscellaneous, 1907

folder

8

Bartlesville, OK, 1904

folder

9

Baton Rouge, LA, 1920

folder

10

Blair Limestone Company, 1900

folder

11

Chicago, 1915

folder

12

Cincinnati, 1950

folder

13

Detroit, 1950

Eliza Furnace (Soho Works)

Employees

Box 4

folder

1

Blacksmiths, 1892

folder

2

Boiler Crew, 1894

folder

3

Cast House Crew, 1880

folder

4

Supply Department, 1910

folder

5

Unidentified, c. 1890

folder

6

Production, 1896-1940

folder

7

Hess Farm Wells -- Cherry Run, 1864

folder

8

Jalcase Steel, 1926

folder

9

Keystone Bridge Works, 1918

folder

10

McKeesport Works, 1942

Memphis Warehouse

folder

11

1920-1921

folder

12

1923

folder

13

1923-1925

folder

14

1925

folder

15

1927

Box 5

folder

1

Moorehead Furnace, 1890

folder

2

National Bridge Works, 1950

folder

3

New Orleans Warehouse, 1950

folder

4

New York Warehouse, 1950

folder

5

Olive Furnace, c. 1900

folder

6

Otis Works (Cleveland), 1943

Pittsburgh Works

Employees

Labor

folder

7

Army Inspection, 1943

folder

8

Accounting Department, 1901-1917

folder

9

Bessemer Blower, 1952

folder

10

Blacksmith Crew, 1895

folder

11

Blue Print Boys, 1902

folder

12

Burg and Hager Tavern, 1891

folder

13

Chemical Lab, 1901

folder

14

Daschbach Family, 1887-1890

folder

15

Engineering Department, c. 1910

folder

16

Machine Shop, c. 1902

folder

17

Much Mill Crew, 1877

folder

18

Mill #11, 1916

folder

19

Open Hearth Furnace, 1900

folder

20

Pattern House Crew, 1882

folder

21

Polishing Mill Crew, 1906

folder

22

Recruiters, c. 1910

folder

23

Riggers -- Gas Wells, c. 1882

folder

24

Rolling Mill Crew, 1890-1922

folder

25

Scherer's Saloon, 1890

folder

26

Scrap -- "Scull Breaker", 1904

folder

27

Stable Crew, 1890-1909

folder

28

Surveyors, 1910

folder

29

Tow Boat Captains, 1952

Warehouses

folder

30

1895

1952

folder

31

Miscellaneous

Management

Founders

Box 6

folder

1

Jones Family, 1895-1923

folder

2

Kier, Samuel, 1870[?]

folder

3

King, Willis, 1922

folder

4

Laughlin Family, c. 1890

folder

5

Lauth, Bernard, c. 1880

folder

6

Micellaneous, 1889-1902

Micellaneous Portraits, 1910-1952

folder

7

A-C

folder

8

D-H

folder

9

J-R

folder

10

S-Y

folder

11

Unidentified Miscellaneous Groups

folder

12

Bureau of Instruction, 1920

folder

13

Golf Tournament, 1945

folder

14

Operations, 1896

folder

15

Pay Office, 1888

folder

16

Sales Agents, 1904

folder

17

Special Agents, 1910

folder

18

Warehouse, 1895

Production

Shelf

No. 14 Mill Construction, 1908-1909

Box 7

folder

1

Blooming Mills, 1907

folder

2

Bolt and Nut

folder

3

Brick Shed, 1927

folder

4

Coke Ovens, 1923

Construction

folder

5

Barges, 1925

folder

6

Mills, 1963

folder

7

Ovens, 1928

folder

8

Crane #1, c. 1890

Exterior

folder

9

Florida Storm, 1926

folder

10

South Side Works, 1870-1910

folder

11

Miscellaneous, n.d.

folder

12

Foundry, 1893

folder

13

Interior Miscellaneous, 1930-1950

folder

14

Machine Shop Fire, 1922

folder

15

Offices -- Miscellaneous, 1908-1917

Shelf

Office Building, 1917

folder

16

Pig Bed, 1950

folder

17

Polishing Mill, 1908

folder

18

Powerhouse, 1907

folder

19

Seamless Tube

folder

20

Soaking Pits, 1907

folder

21

Tapping an Open Hearth, n.d.

Miscellaneous

Box 8

folder

1

Various Products, 1912-1920

Mill Sites

folder

2

1942

folder

3

n.d.

folder

4

Unidentified, n.d.

folder

5

Safety Trophy, 1927

folder

6

Steel Making Process, n.d.

Vesta Coal Company

Employees

folder

7

Mine No. 1, 1900

Production

Box 9

folder

1

No. 1 and No. 4, 1907

folder

2

No. 5 and No. 6, 1907

folder

3

Blairfour Quarry, c. 1915

folder

4

Hill Annex Complex, c. 1900

folder

5

Iron

folder

6

Tipples, 1915-1918

folder

7

Micellaneous

folder

8

Unidentified

Series II

Products

Scope and Content Notes: The Products Series is made up primarily of images of buildings made with Jones and Laughlin Steel, primarily the patented Junior Beams, and other products including billets, ladles and pontoons.

The buildings section is arranged by location of structures, with those situated outside of the Pittsburgh area first and those built in the Pittsburgh area last. The miscellaneous products are arranged alphabetically.

Buildings (made from Jones and Laughlin materials)

Other Areas 1926-1930

Box 10

folder

1

Churches, Temples

folder

2

Hospitals

folder

3

Hotels

folder

4

Office Buildings

folder

5

Residences

folder

6

Schools

Pittsburgh Area

folder

7

Office Buildings

Residences

folder

8

Miscellaneous

folder

9

Woodlawn House

Box 11

folder

1

Woodlawn House

folder

2

Schools

folder

3

Unidentified

Miscellaneous Products

folder

4

Hoe and Co. Billets, 1936

folder

5

Junior Beams, 1949-1950

folder

6

Oil and Gas Wells, 1922

folder

7

Open Hearth Ladles, 1930

folder

8

Sesquicentennial Statue, 1926

folder

9

Steel Pontoons, 1940

folder

10

Truck Trailers, 1902-1905

folder

11

Miscellaneous Products, n.d.

folder

12

Miscellaneous Pittsburgh Views, 1890-1920

Series III

Transportation

Scope and Content Notes: The Transportation Series contains photographs of Jones and Laughlin owned towboats and barges carrying Jones and Laughlin products. Several boats are identified in these photographs. Other photographs emphasize areas or specific waterways. There is one folder containing photographs of locomotives from the Monongahela Connecting Rail Road used to transport pig iron from the north shore furnaces to the South Side plant. The volumes include images of production photographs from the Aliquippa Works and the Pittsburgh Works.

Photographs are arranged alphabetically.

Barges and Towboats, 1920-1950

Box 12

folder

1

A-L

folder

2

P-S

folder

3

T-V

folder

4

W

Places

Rivers and River Towns, 1920-1950

folder

5

A-K

folder

6

M-W

folder

7

Miscellaneous

The Century Tow

Box 13

folder

1

Glass Plate Negatives, 1928-1930

folder

2

River Scenes, 1930

Miscellaneous Tow Boats

folder

3

Railroad Car Ferry, 1927

folder

4

Interior Views, n.d.

folder

5

Parts, n.d.

Railroads

folder

6

Monongahela Connecting, 1900-1917

folder

7

Pennsylvania, c. 1880

folder

8

Railroad Stations, 1877-1900

folder

9

Miscellaneous -- Bridges, c. 1890

folder

10

Railway Convention Exhibit, 1911