American Society for Testing Materials records
Collection 3574
1902-1916, 1922, undated(0.6 Linear feet ; 2 boxes)
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Creator
- American Society for Testing Materials.
- Title
- American Society for Testing Materials records
- ID
- 3574
- Date
- 1902-1916, 1922, undated
- Extent
- 0.6 Linear feet ; 2 boxes
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Cary Hutto
- Sponsor
- Processing made possible by a generous donation from Carol Ingald.
- Language
- English
- Mixed materials [Box]
- 1-2
Preferred citation
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], American Society for Testing Materials records (Collection 3574), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Background note
The American Society for Testing and Materials, now known as ASTM International, was founded in 1898 by a group of engineers and scientists to tackle the problem of frequent break in railroad tracks. From their work grew industry-wide standards for the steel used in rail construction. Among the society’s founders was Charles B. Dudley, who worked as a chemist for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The society once shared offices with the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia at 1315 Spruce Street. Today, ASTM International’s headquarters are in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Scope and content note
This small collection of records of the American Society for Testing Materials specifically pertains to one of the society’s committees--Committee A-8, cold drawn steel--that appears to have been headquartered in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There are incoming and outgoing letters between East Pittsburgh and ASTM’s Philadelphia office, as well as letters between the committee’s chair, C. E. Skinner, and numerous firms that used, bought, and sold the steel, such as Remington Arms Company, General Electric, American Steel & Wire Company, National Cash Register, and Union Drawn Steel Company, among others. While the majority of the correspondence concerns setting up meetings and letting in new members, some of the letters, to varying degrees of detail, discuss test results and new steel-making machinery and processes, such as the Bessemer process, which was invented by Henry Bessemer in 1851 and introduced a cheaper way of mass producing steel. There are numerous blueprints/schematics, forms, and test result sheets mixed among the letters. Additionally, there are a few printed items, including an undated work called "A List of Alloys," which contains documentation on the composition of numerous metal alloys.
According to the records, in mid 1916 a recommendation was made to merge Committee A-8 on cold drawn steel with Committee A-1 on steel (currently titled "Steel, Stainless Steel, and Related Alloys"). Though this collection of records does not cover the merger, it likely occurred based on the fact that today the ASTM no longer maintains a committee designated A-8.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2014
1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200
Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of GLBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center, 2010.
Accession number 2010.055.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- American Society for Testing and Materials. Committee A-1 on Steel, Stainless Steel, and Related Alloys.
Geographic Name(s)
- Philadelphia (Pa.)--History--20th century.
Subject(s)
- Bessemer process.
- Engineering--Problems, exercises, etc.
- Railroad engineering.
- Science and engineering--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--20th century
- Steel--Standards--United States.
- Steel.
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
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"Extract from report on testing of cold-rolled steel" 18 November 1902 |
1 | 1 | ||
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Letters concerning cold drawn and cold rolled steel March-April 1907 |
1 | 2 | ||
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Correspondence (including data sheets) January-May 1909 |
1 | 3 | ||
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Correspondence (including data sheets) July-December 1909 |
1 | 4 | ||
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Data sheets and tests 1909-1910 |
1 | 5 | ||
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Correspondence 1910 |
1 | 6 | ||
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Correspondence 1911 |
1 | 7 | ||
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Correspondence 1912 |
1 | 8 | ||
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Correspondence 1913 |
1 | 9 | ||
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Correspondence February-March 1914 |
2 | 1 | ||
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Correspondence March-August 1914 |
2 | 2 | ||
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Correspondence 1915-1916 |
2 | 3 | ||
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Correspondence and reports: Subcommittee VI -- forging 1915-1916 |
2 | 4 | ||
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Miscellaneous forms and specification sheets 1910, 1911, undated |
2 | 5 | ||
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Publications: "A List of Alloys;" "Regulations governing technical committees" 1922, undated |
2 | 6 | ||
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