Business & Industry History Sources at The McCall Library
The exterior of the Adam Glass store on Royal Street, c. 1880. C.L. Hutchisson Papers.
For more information about these collections please email us at mccalllib@southalabama.edu.
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ALABAMA DRY DOCK AND SHIPBUILDING COMPANY
Contains annual reports from 1943 to 1991, and files from the public relations department
at ADDSCO that contain information about the various ships built or worked on from
1919 to the 1970s. Most Liberty ships and tankers built during WWII have individual
files with photographs and information about ship names, sponsors, launching ceremony
programs, etc. There are also subject files concerning activities and individuals
at ADDSCO and projects such as the Bankhead and I-10 tunnels and Auxiliary Submarine
Rescue Ships. The collection includes copies of Fore & Aft, the company's publication
for its employees. 12 linear feet.
ALCOA
The Aluminum Ore Company's refining plant in Mobile, Alabama, was constructed in 1937.
At the time, it was the largest bauxite refining plant in the United States. The company
discontinued its Mobile operations in 1982. The records of the public relations department
at Alcoa contain historical information about the company, its products, and employees.
Also included are copies of company publications, The Al-Zalean and Aluminews. 3 linear
feet.
BROCK, GLEN PORTER
These are the personal papers of G. P. Brock, president and executive officer of the
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad from 1957 to 1972 and chairman of the board of the Illinois
Central Gulf Railroad following the merger of the GM&O and the Illinois Central. The
collection covers the period from 1940 to 1987. 56 linear feet.
BUSBY, ANNA (MATTIE MAY JORDAN)
A diary written in 1912-1913 by Mattie May Jordan, an older sister of Anna Busby.
The diary describes fur trading and farming activities in Washington County, Alabama.
The diary has been published under the title Where the Wild Animals is Plentiful:
Diary of an Alabama Fur Trader's Daughter (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,
1999). A typed transcript of the diary is also available. 1 linear foot.
CUMMINS, WILLIAM
Contains a 12-page program describing the 50th anniversary of the Murphy High School
class of 1927. Also includes a personal scrapbook of William Cummins's father, who
was the circulation manager at the Mobile Press Register. The scrapbook gives interesting
insight into how the paper motivated its delivery boys. .25 linear foot.
DELANO / MAGOUN
A collection of letters, receipts, and invoices, 1835-1844, from various ship captains
in Mobile to the ship owners, Benjamin Delano and Son of Kingston, Massachusetts,
and Thatcher Magoun and Son of Boston. The ship captains describe their cargo and
their experiences in the port of Mobile. .25 linear foot.
DOWLING, WILLIAM
Consists of 1 letter written by William Dowling to his brother Michael on April 13,
1869, at the beginning of Reconstruction. Dowling, living at the time in Marengo County,
discusses the effect the newly-freed slaves were having on economic conditions in
Mobile and in the countryside.
DURANT, W. D.
A small, handwritten township and range survey book of turpentine activities in Washington
County kept by W. D. Durant for Taylor Lowenstein. The date of the book is hard to
determine. It lists landowners and the amount of turpentine cupped per section of
land. .10 linear foot.
HUTCHISSON JR., C. L.
C. L. Hutchisson Jr. (1902-1993) was the last of five generations of a family of builder-architects
who were extremely influential in the architectural development of the city. This
collection contains his personal correspondence and business records, minutes and
newsletters from the Mobile Housing Board (1939-1946), the Alabama Society of Architects
(1949-1958), and the Alabama Association of Registered Architects (1933-1949). Also
includes more than 350 architectural drawings of structures designed by C. L. Hutchisson
Sr. and Jr. (ca. 1908-1972). The drawings are indexed by address as well as the client's
name. 21 linear feet.
KESLER, LUTHER E.
Contains 6 pocket diaries that document the life of this school teacher, farmer, and
barber. The handwriting in the diaries can be hard to decipher but they are dated
ca. 1908, 1912-1913, 1916, 1918, and 1923. The entries are extremely brief, sometimes
no more than "at home," "short day," or "I'm sick." They trace the life of Kesler
from his school days in Mississippi to his teaching career in Baldwyn, Mississippi,
to his job as a truck driver for Railroad Mail Service. The diaries also list Kesler's
cash balance and make notes about Mississippi history. .25 linear foot.
LOGAN, DANIEL W.
Correspondence, journals (1862, 1869-1870, 1898, 1899-1901), and account books of
Daniel W. Logan, a bookkeeper. Born in Charleston, SC, in 1835, Logan lived in Mobile
from the 1860s until his death in 1906. The journals discuss events of the day, as
well as Logan's travels, visitors, work schedule. They also allude to the Civil War
and Reconstruction. 2 linear feet.
MC CORVEY, GESSNER T.
Kept in his youth by the former Alabama state Democratic executive committee chairman,
this one-volume (November 1, 1907 - August 1, 1909) handwritten financial journal
details household and business transactions. Gessner is perhaps best known as one
of the leaders of the Dixiecrat revolt of 1948, and for his support of the Boswell
Amendment, a 1945 codicil to the Alabama state constitution that selectively disfranchised
blacks and poor whites.
MOBILE HOUSING BOARD RECORDS
The records of the Mobile Housing Board cover roughly the years 1950 to 1980 and concern
the urban renewal projects which the housing board directed. These project areas included
Water Street, East Church Street and Central Texas Street. The collection contains
appraisal reports with photos of acquired properties, project planning books, maps
of project areas, correspondence between the Mobile Housing Board and the Department
of Housing and Urban Development officials, various HUD publications, as well as files
concerning the activities of the Mobile Community Action Committee. Box inventories
to the collection are available on site. 305 linear feet.
PACE ORCHARD COMPANY
While covering only a few years, this collection documents the nuts and bolts of operating
and financing a Satsuma orchard. It consists of correspondence dating from February
1910 to May 1916 (with 1914 missing) between the operators of Pace and an array of
other orchard owners, agents, nurseries, railways, and individuals. 2 linear feet.
SAUNDERS, JAMES E.
One 900-page ledger used by James E. Saunders. Entries cover the period from 1858
to 1863 and record profits and losses, commissions, sales, and interest and dividends.
Saunders was a commission merchant in Mobile from 1842 and co-owner of the firm of
Bradford and Saunders (which became Saunders and Son). Over 125 individuals and firms
are listed, including a few African Americans.
TOULMIN II, HARRY T. AND MARY
Harry Toulmin II's papers includes a manuscript written by Toulmin that talks about
the management of the Black Belt plantation owned by J. Freeman Suttle's son of the
same name. In it, he discusses the convict leasing system and sharecropping and makes
recommendations for improvement in the running of the plantation. 1 linear foot.
WATERMAN, JOHN B.
This collection deals primarily with operations of the Waterman Steamship Corporation
from 1919 to 1937, and includes correspondence, mail contracts, construction loans,
ship repairs, speeches, reports, published materials, etc. 13 linear feet.