Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records
name: label: Creator
content: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas
label: Names
content: Belvedere, DeKalb, and Southern Railway
label: Names
content: Chicago Traction and Subway Commission
label: Names
content: Detroit Rapid Transit System
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: Names
content: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Calif.)
place: label: Place
content: Detroit (Mich.)
label: Place
content: Texas
label: Place
content: Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.)
label: Place
content: Fremont (Neb.)
label: Place
content: Columbus (Neb.)
label: Place
content: New York
label: Place
content: Boston (Mass.)
label: Place
content: Chicago (Ill.)
label: Place
content: Death Valley
topic: label: Topic
content: Wharves
label: Topic
content: Subways -- New York (N.Y.)
label: Topic
content: Tunnels
label: Topic
content: Subways
label: Topic
content: Subways -- Boston (Mass.)
label: Topic
content: Dams
label: Topic
content: Railroads
label: Topic
content: Bridges
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The initial collection was donated in 1967, presumably by the firm of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas, to the Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History).
creator: label: Creator
content: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas
setName: label: See more items in
content: Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents the engineering firm of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas through reports prepared for a variety of clients.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: The addendum of motion picture films was donated in 1985 by Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: On January 1, 1885, William Barclay Parsons (1859-1932) and his younger brother Henry de Berkeley Parsons founded a consulting engineering firm in New York City. The brothers combined their talents as civil and mechanical engineers to create a firm that would making a lasting mark on designing and constructing infrastructure. Among the firm's most notable projects were the original IRT line of the New York City Subway, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), the Cape Cod Canal, and the charting the course of a railway in China from Hankow (Wuhan) to Canton (Guangzhou). The firm also designed and built large water supply systems, railroads, hydro-electric dams, refrigeration warehouses, marine terminals, and conducted survey work. Through the years, the firm diversified its engineering competence and knowledge by adding partners: Eugene A. Klapp (b. 1867), chief engineer and bridge specialist; Henry M. Brinckerhoff (b. 1868), a traction engineer; Walter J. Douglas (b. 1872), structural engineer and bridge specialist; and Maurice Quade (1900-1966), structural engineer. The firm had several name changes and became known as Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas with both domestic and foreign offices. Today the company operates in the fields of strategic consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, infrastructure and community planning. Parsons Brinckerhoff was acquired by WSP Global in 2014. 

Sources

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Notes, December 1960. 

Bobrick, Benson. Parsons Brinckerhoff The First 100 Years. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1985. 

Petroski, Henry. "William Barclay Parsons," American Scientist, Volume 96, No. 4, July-August 2008, pp. 280-283.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 5 Film reels
label: Extent
content: 5 Cubic feet (11 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1906-2003
label: Date
content: bulk 1906-1918
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The entire collection was transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Work and Industry, 2007.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0969
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: 16mm films
label: Type
content: Motion pictures (visual works)
label: Type
content: Reports
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into three series. 

Series 1: Background Materials, 1960-2003

Series 2: Reports, 1906-1918

Series 3: Moving Image, 1960 and undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: 16mm films
label: Genre/Form
content: Motion pictures (visual works) -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: These records contain reports (some containing photographs and full size drawings folded) from the New York engineering firm of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas. Included are typewritten and printed reports for a variety of clients.  The bulk of the reports relate to power and transportation. The collection includes five 16mm motion picture films, relating to the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Streetcars and Subways (AC0060)

Materials at Other Organizations

New York Public Library

William Barclay Parsons papers, 1880-1939

Collection consists of correspondence, lecture notes, and materials used in preparation of Parsons's book, Engineers and Engineering in the Renaissance, published in 1939. Correspondence, 1881-1900, relates to his student days at the Columbia University School of Mines, appointments to various railroads, and activity as Columbia trustee. Notes on lectures about mining at Columbia, 1880-1881, are illustrated with drawings and plates. Materials used in the preparation of Parsons's book include final typescript, proofs, illustrations, maps, notebooks, and other source materials.

Columbia University

Papers, 1899-1915

Correspondence including letters from Grover Cleveland, Gilbert Parker, and printed monographs and magazine articles. Mr. Parsons' diaries of Panama Canal years and World War I have been catalogued as book manuscripts.