Westmoreland Coal Company photograph and video collection.
Title:
Westmoreland Coal Company photograph and video collection. 1876-1983.
Coal was first mined in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1854. The earliest item in the collection is an album of photographs from this division of the company. It shows mines in Adams, Biddle, Criterion, Denmark, Export, Hutchinson, Irwin, Magee, Marchand, McCullough, Penn, and South Side, Pennsylvania, during the years ca. 1889 to 1927. Company offices in Irwin and Philadelphia are also represented. In the 1900 to 1944 period there are loose photographs from Adams, Export, Hutchinson, Irwin, Magee, Marchand, McCullough, Penn, and South Side, Pennsylvania mines. The collection also includes photographic copies of numerous certificates awarded at various world's fairs and trade expositions from 1876 to 1919. In addition there are portraits of the members of the board of directors from 1854 to 1942. The Hampton Division of the company located in West Virginia is represented in this collection with some excellent doumentary photography of the No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 mines, cleaning plants, and the Ferrell mine which began in 1969. Items from the Stonega Coke and Coal Company make up the largest portion of the Westmoreland collection. There are almost 400 5x7 inch original photographic prints from 1919 through 1940. These include mines, camps, offices and stores in the following communities most of which are in Virginia: Andover, Arno, Derby, Dunbar, Eccles (W. Va.), Exeter, Imboden, Osaka, Roda, Stonega and Sun. In addition, the glass plate negatives for these survive. Many of the plates are unprinted, for example, views of Glenbrook, the Inman slate dump, and Pine Branch. There are also ten boxes of glass plate negatives which are unnumbered. These have been divided into the following categories: safety; mining; railroad; buildings which include houses and camps; roads and autos; commissary Christmas windows and store interiors; people (some indentified); and miscellaneous subjects--which include some maps. There are additional photographs of the Stonega Coke and Coal Company. The files for these are divided by locations (Appalachia, Va.; Arno; Big Stone Gap, Va.; Bullitt mine and transloader; Cane Patch Mine; Central Machine Shop; Central Supply Co.; Crossbrook; Derby; Dunbar; Exeter; Glenbrook; Imboden; Keokee; Osaka; Pine Branch; Prescott; Roda; Stonega; Virginia Wholesale Co.; Wentz) and by subjects (safety meetings; safety contests for African American miners; maps; laboratories; company picnics; strip mining protests; mine inspection tours; management and workers; retirement parties; offices and office buildings; railroad cars; Virginia Birmingham Bolt; and coal trade associations). Some materials from two company magazines, the Stonegazette (1951-1952 only) and the Triangle (1975-1982 only), are included. There are halftones and line drawings on 42 sheets which were used in the composition of the Stonegazette magazine; most of these have multiple images. There are also some photographic negatives from the Stonegazette. Panoramic photographs were taken of the following camp communities, towns, etc.: Appalachia and Norton, Va.; Andover; Arno; Derby; Dunbar; Exeter; Interstate Railroad and Roaring Forks Railroad; Imoden; Keokee; Osaka; Roda; Stonega Coke and Coal Company. There are also 11 x 14 inch photos of the following camps: Arno; Derby; Dunbar; Exeter; Imboden; Roda; and Stonega. There is a large quantity of 35mm color slides which include WCC Board of Directors and management; annual report photography; Andover; Westmoreland Resouces, Inc.; Winding Gulf Coals Inc. managers. From Westmoreland there are many 8 x 10 glass negatives; the majority are maps, but there are also charts and blueprints which were used in annual reports from 1920 to 1937. The Charles H. Sprague acquisition is represented by photographs from the Imperial Smokeless Coal Co. Images show company stores and housing, processing plant machinery, mines, tipples, and a few strip mining. There are also files of Winding Gulf Coals, Inc. picturing the following mines: Clifftop, East Gulf, Lamar, Louisville, MacAlpin, Tams, West Gulf and Winding Gulf and files from New River Company mines. In addition there are views of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway that show their coal pier operations at Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia, and Toledo, Ohio. There are also views of the transloader owned by the General Coal Company in Appalachia, Virginia. There are photographs that relate to coal mining machinery made by various manufacturers: Goodman, Jeffrey, Long, Wilcox. The collection also includes some videotapes in the U-matic format which mostly date from the 1970s. The subjects span a variety of subjects: wildcat strikes; price fixing and the Sherman Act; women coal miners; energy issues; a speech by E. B. Leisenring, Chairman and CEO of Westmoreland coal Co.; public relations spots for the coal industry; a career guidance film directing students to the mining and petroleum industry; orientation tape for new Westmoreland Company employees; coal mine work; coal as an energy source. See department for a detailed inventory.
ArchivalResource:
1 album (138 photographic prints) : b&w ; 28 x 36.5 cm.98 photographic prints : b&w ; 20 x 8 in.33 photographic prints : b&w ; 11 x 14 in.3270 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller.568 photographic prints : color ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller.47 negatives : b&w ; 8 x 10 in.or smaller.556 negatives : b&w ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller.287 negative : color ; 120mm.97 negatives : color ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller.4 transparencies : color ; 9.5 x 9.5 in.10 transparencies : color ; 4 x 5 in.425 transparencies : color ; 35mm.16 postcards b&w ; 3 x 5 in.529 negatives : glass ; 8 x 10 in.1941 negatives : glass ; 5 x 7 in.9 videocassettes (U-matic) : sound, color ; 3/4 in.1 videocassettes (VHS) : sound, color ; 1/2 in.1 reel : sound, color ; 16mm.
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