Nordberg Manufacturing Company Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Nordberg Manufacturing Company
label: Names
content: Chain Belt Company
label: Names
content: Nordberg, Bruno V.
place: label: Place
content: Milwaukee (Wis.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Heavy machinery
label: Topic
content: Diesel engines
label: Topic
content: Steam-engines
label: Topic
content: Marine engines
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
creator: label: Creator
content: Nordberg Manufacturing Company
setName: label: See more items in
content: Nordberg Manufacturing Company Collection
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Additional collection materials donated in 1979 by Rexnord, Inc., through D. Taylor, president; in 1984 by Rexnord, Inc., through Richard R. Bains, manager, Communications and Training; and in 1995, drawings for the Lakeview Pumping Station in Chicago by Frank Bieberdick.
bioghist: label: Historical
content: The Nordberg Manufacturing Company, founded in 1890  by Bruno V. Nordberg, manufactured steam engines (later diesel engines) and precision built heavy machinery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company later added Poppet valve steam engines, oil engines, railway track maintenance machinery, crushers, machinery for processing ore, mine hoists, blowing engines, condensers, steam pumping engines, and Corliss engines for every type of power service. Nordberg was a leading manufacturer of marine diesel engines and supplied engines for many of the American merchant marine ships. 

In 1895, the company elected Jacob Friend as its first president. From 1912-1924, Bruno Nordberg served as president, and in 1924, Robert Friend, son of Jacob Friend, became president. The company purchased the Busch-Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Company of St. Louis in 1946, merging two of the largest diesel engine manufacturers.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 45 Cubic feet (58 boxes, 110 map-folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1891-1979
custodhist: label: Ownership and Custodial History
content: Transferred from Division of Work and Industry to the Archives Center, 2006.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0975
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Notebooks
label: Type
content: Trade catalogs
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Blueprints
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into ten series.

Series 1: Background Materials, 1912-1957

Series 2: Catalogs/Bulletins, 1891-1972

Series 3: Sales/Order Materials, 1891-1971

Series 4: Advertising Materials, 1911-1955

Series 5: Operating Manuals and Instructions, 1917-1964

Series 6: Technical Memorandum, 1919-1969

Series 7: Turnwald Notebooks, 1928-1942

Series 8: Trade Literature, 1912-1974

Series 9, Photographs, undated

Series 10: Drawings, 1884-1979
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Notebooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Trade catalogs
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 19th-20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Blueprints
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of the company's photo and negative archives; miscellaneous trade publications; G. Turnwald notebooks; technical memoranda; trade literature; operating manuals; parts books; Nordberg company history; machinery proposals; order books; time records; Chain Belt Company catalogs; and blueprints used in the shops.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials at the National Museum of American History
content: Division of Work and Industry

The Division holds a photograph of the Nordberg diesel type oil engine at the Central Station Burro Mountain Copper Company Power House.  Related artifacts include a builders plate and calipers. See Accession #: 1984.0243

Smithsonian Institution Libraries Trade Literature Collection

The libraries hold trade literature relating to Nordberg Manufacturing Company, Chain Belt Company, Rexnord, Inc. 

Michigan Technological University, J.R. VanPelt and Opie Library

Nordberg Manufacturing Company Engineering Blueprints Collection, circa 1890-circa 1946

220.0 cubic ft. 

Blueprints, circa 1890-circa 1946, of the Nordberg Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Includes blueprints of valve engines, pumps, hoists, compressors, and similar equipment, much of which was used by mining companies in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Wisconsin Historical Society Library and Archives

Nordberg Manufacturing Company photographs, circa 1910-1970s

182 photographs and 4.0. c.f. of negatives (10 archives boxes).

Photographs and negatives, circa 1910-1970s, related to the Nordberg Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Images include views of heavy machinery used in the manufacture of mine hoisting engines and aerial views of the manufacturing company. The collection also includes an album of photographs made in the manufacturing plant of the company of Corliss and Poppett valve steam engines.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Division of Work and Industry holds related Nordberg Manufacturing Company objects that include a builders plate and calipers.  See Accession #1984.0243.