Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1890 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
ii, 72 ff. (original pagination/foliation 1-50, continued to end; text on rectos only, with the exception of p. 2 and f. 6 verso; blank from f. 48 verso) ; 250 x 205 mm.
Dark red half morocco and marbled paper over boards; label of Pearse & Brown, Stationers, Wind Street, Swansea, inside front cover.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Purchased by Ken Spelman Books from a Chichester bookseller.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Ken Spelman Books Ltd; York; Purchase; November 2022; 994378909702419.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Notebook of George Henry Strick of Swansea and Brynaman, tinplate manufacturer, recording detailed notes and observations of a visit to America, September-November 1890, where he met with fellow industrialists and visited numerous blast furnaces, steelworks, ironworks and other industrial sites in several states.
Beginning apparently in Philadelphia, PA, 25 September-1 October (ff. 1-4), Strick then participates in a lengthy excursion, visiting the Warwick Furnace, [Pottstown, PA], 6 October (ff. 4-9), Lebanon [Valley] blast furnace, [Lebanon, PA], [?7 October] (ff. 10-11), Altoona Railway Works, [Altoona, PA], 8 October (ff. 11-12), the Edgar Thomason and Homestead works, the Isabella and Lucy furnaces, the Carbon Iron Co. works and adjoining aluminium works, all in Pittsburgh, PA, 9-11 October (ff. 12-17), Joliet Steel Works, South Chicago, IL, 14 October (ff. 18-22), various mines and limestone quarries, Bessemer blast furnaces and steel rolling plant, Bessemer Steel Works and the Ensley and Thomas furnaces, all in Birmingham, AL, 16-17 October (ff. 22-31), blast furnaces in Talladega and Anniston, AL, 18 October (ff. 32-35), Basic Steel Works in Chattanooga, TN, and blast furnaces in South Pittsburg, TN, 20 October (ff. 35-38), the town of Middlesboro, KY, 21 October (ff. 38-42), zinc works and a blast furnace in Pulaski, VA, 22 October (ff. 42-44), and Baltimore, MD, 24 October (ff. 45-46), before returning to Philadelphia, 26-28 October (ff. 46-48). While in Philadelphia and Baltimore particularly (ff. 1-4, 45-48) he discusses with fellow tinplate manufacturers and importers the state of the tinplate industry and the level of tinplate exports from Wales to America, against the background of the Tariff Act of October 1890 (The McKinley Tariff). The notes were compiled by Strick in November 1890 during the return voyage (see f. ii).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma system control number
Access points
Subject access points
- Pennsylvania -- Description and travel
- South Chicago (Chicago, Ill.) -- Description and travel
- Alabama -- Description and travel
- Tennessee -- Description and travel
- Middlesboro (Ky.) -- Description and travel
- Pulaski (Va.) -- Description and travel
- Baltimore (Md.) -- Description and travel
- Tinplate industry -- United States
- Blast furnaces -- United States
- Steel-works -- United States
- Iron-works -- United States
- Tariff -- Law and legislation -- United States
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
September 2023.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rhys Jones.