Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Vogel, Robert M.
label: Creator
content: Shayt, David H.
label: Creator
content: Worthington, Bill
label: Names
content: Historic American Buildings Survey
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Bridges
label: Topic
content: Civil engineers
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- 19th century
label: Topic
content: Railroads -- 20th century
creator: label: Creator
content: Vogel, Robert M.
label: Creator
content: Shayt, David H.
label: Creator
content: Worthington, Bill
setName: label: See more items in
content: Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: The collection consists of a wide range of materials--ephemera, trade literature, correpsondence, photographs, maps, plans, schematics, pamplets, brochures, postcards, calendars--documenting the subject of bridges.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 45 Cubic feet (114 boxes, 23 map folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1755-2000
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection assembled by the National Museum of American History, Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (now the Division of Work and Industry) as a reference file.  The collection was transferred to the Archives Center in June 2022.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1577
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Articles
label: Type
content: Color slides
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Copy prints
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Illustrations
label: Type
content: Letterheads
label: Type
content: Maps
label: Type
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Type
content: Newsclippings
label: Type
content: Notebooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Picture postcards
label: Type
content: Pocket notebooks
label: Type
content: Postage stamps
label: Type
content: Press releases
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Specifications
label: Type
content: Stereographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into one series, then alphabetically.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Kendall McKinley, intern; Clare McElhaney, intern; Isaac Meth, intern; and Alison Oswald, archivist, 2022.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Articles
label: Genre/Form
content: Color slides -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Copy prints
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Illustrations
label: Genre/Form
content: Letterheads
label: Genre/Form
content: Maps -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Negatives (photographic)
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsclippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Notebooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Picture postcards -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Pocket notebooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Postage stamps
label: Genre/Form
content: Press releases
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Specifications
label: Genre/Form
content: Stereographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection was assembled by the Division of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (now the Division of Work and Industry) curators over the course of several decades. The collection consists of a wide range of materials documenting the subject of bridges broadly in terms of planning, construction, geography, aesthetics, cost, and failures. Well-known bridges such as the Brooklyn Bridge and its bridge builders and engineers is also documented.  

The materials consist of photographs, negatives, copy prints, illustrations, correspondence, newsclippings, journal articles, HABS/HAER drawings, engineeeing reports, contracts and specifications for building bridges,  blueprints, and notebooks. Throughout the files is curatorial correspondence, principally with curator Robert Vogel and historians of the history of technology, bridge enthusiasts, and civil engineers. There is a mixture of primary, secondary and tertiary materials found throughout the collection. 

Some of the materials related to the Brooklyn Bridge are photocopies or copy prints from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Roebling Collection and other archives and libraries. These materials were assembled for the exhibit  "Building Brooklyn Bridge--The Engineering and Construction, 1867-1883" staged in 1983 at the National Museum of American History. These materials are filed under the title "Building Brooklyn Bridge."

Many of the photographs and other items are from collections at the National Museum of American History: Llewellyn Nathaniel Edwards, Henry Grattan Tyrrell, Samuel E. Reed Collection, and the T.F. Healy Collection. 

Publications vary widely, but some titles include American Contract Journal, American Railroad Journal, Harpers Weekly, Scientific American, Engineers and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering News-Record, Engineering Record, and others.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History


Horatio Allen Papers, NMAH.AC.1447

American Public Works Association "Top Ten Public Works Projects of the Century--1900-2000" Nominations, NMAH.AC.0983

American Petroleum Institute Photograph and Film Collection, NMAH.AC.0711

Archives Center Business Americana Collection, NMAH.AC.0404

Archives Center Lantern Slide Collection, NMAH.AC.0686

Archives Center Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0483

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1086

Benjamin Franklin Bridge Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1029

Berlin Construction Company Records, NMAH.AC.1032

Victor Blenkle Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0200

Bollman Truss Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1064

Donald M. Burmister Paper, NMAH.AC.1068

Canadian Bridges Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1025

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Collection, NMAH.AC.0930

Robert Covington Stereograph Portfolio, NMAH.AC.1201

Cummings Structural Concrete Company Records, NMAH.AC.0218

Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, NMAH.AC.0314

Victor C. Darnell Bridge Construction Photographs, NMAH.AC.1018

William E. Dean Papers, NMAH.AC.0230

Robert Dearborn Panama Canal Glass negatives, NMAH.AC.1111

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Records, NMAH.AC.1074

Beata Drake Covered Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.0998

Llewellyn N. Edwards Papers, NMAH.AC.0959

W.J. Eney Collection, NMAH.AC.1062

Erie Railroad Collection, NMAH.AC.1082

Joseph C. Farber Papers and Photographs, NMAH.AC.0520

Foundation Company Records, NMAH.AC.0974

James Forgie Papers, NMAH.AC.0986

James Gallagher Collection, NMAH.AC.0228

Grand Central Terminal Collection, NMAH.AC.1071

Henry Grattan Tyrrell and Mary Maude Knox Tyrrell Papers, NMAH.AC.0948

Hartford, Connecticut Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1066

William R. Hutton Papers, NMAH.AC.0987

Kahn Family Film Collection, NMAH.AC.0722

Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Bridge Profiles, NMAH.AC.1073

Beatrice Lizinger Postcard Collection, NMAH.AC.0530

Nicholas C. Mandragos Papers, NMAH.AC.0484

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Stereograph Cards, NMAH.AC.1090

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Glass Plate Negatives, NMAH.AC.1089

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, NMAH.AC.0984

Richard H. Miller Bridge Collection of Postcards and Slides, NMAH.AC.0950

Minnesota Railroads Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1023

George S. Morison Collection, NMAH.AC.0978

Modjeski and Masters Company Records, NMAH.AC.0976

Nathan W. Morgan Papers, NMAH.AC.0965

Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Records, NMAH.AC.1060

Thomas Norrell Railroad Photographs Collection, NMAH.AC.1174

Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Construction Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1030

Panama Canal Commission Photonegatives, NMAH.AC.1116

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records, NMAH.AC.0969

David Plowden North American Bridge Photographs, NMAH.AC.1019

David Plowden Steel Manufacturing Photographs, NMAH.AC.1020

Samuel E. Reed Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.1001

Lili Rethi Papers, NMAH.AC.0749

John A. Roebling Collection, NMAH.AC.0981

Lucinda Rudell Covered Bridges Collection, NMAH.AC.1028

Edwin G. Rust Papers, NMAH.AC.1070

Jean W. Seele Rural Photographs, NMAH.AC.0759

Lester Shanks Collection of Bridge Photographs and Ephemera, NMAH.AC.1244

J. Parker Snow Collection, NMAH.AC.1000

Society for Industrial Archaeology Records, NMAH.AC.0688

Quebec Bridge Photograph Collection, NMAH.AC.1026

Railroad Bridges Construction Photograph Album, NMAH.AC.1024

Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, NMAH.AC.0963

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.Ac.0143

U.S. Steel Corporation Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC.1037

Rip Van Winkle Bridge Photographs, NMAH.AC.1027

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Bridges, NMAH.AC.0060

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Railroads, NMAH.AC.0060

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series 2: Other Collection Divisions, NMAH.AC.0060

Washington, D.C. Bridges Collection, NMAH.AC.1095

Raymond W. Wilson Covered Bridge Collection, NMAH.AC.0999