Chicago Ship Building Company records

The records generated by the Chicago Shipbuilding Company extend from 1890 to 1962, with the bulk of the material falling between 1900 and 1950. A single record series included in the collection dates to 1832, but it consists of land titles that were not generated by the company.

The records are arranged chronologically by series where possible. It must be noted, however, that very early records of the company (ca. 1890) and later records (after 1950) are, for the most part, incomplete or missing.

The most important record series include: dry dock ledgers and reports, correspondence, surveys, and financial papers. Together, these documents help the researcher to grasp the administrative, fiscal, and historical importance of the Chicago Shipbuilding Company.

The dry dock ledgers and reports are records documenting typical activities of the company: what ships were repaired, how long it took to repair them, and what services were rendered. The records are in convenient column form for statistical analysis of, for example, linear growth trends in the company. The dry dock reports also include signatures of dock employees, which may provide leads for the researcher interested in turn-of-the-century worker or labor history. The dry dock reports comprise the most complete of all of the record groups in this collection, for they extend without gaps from 1907 to 1962.

Correspondence consists of a variety of series: official, legal, and labor correspondence. To glean information regarding expansion, property-leasing transactions, and labor relations, these documents would be most useful. The bulk of correspondence lies between 1915 and 1950.

Third, the South Yard surveys visually document the expansion of the main dry dock area of the Chicago Shipbuilding Company. The blueprints, charts, and maps extend from 1894 to 1932, which covers well the early-century years of South Yard improvements.

The daily and monthly financial papers are of importance primarily to statisticians, although the general researcher in Great Lakes history could benefit from perusing the financial statements, for example, to better understand the company's status at a given point in its history. This record group extends from 1909 to 1943, although many series are incomplete.

A feature of this collection is a record group entitled "World War I Shipbuilding." This group consists of contracts, payroll bills, correspondence and superintendent's reports for the years 1917-1918. For the researcher interested in the effects of the war years upon American industrial concerns, this record group would be of primary importance.

The remaining materials include building materials specifications, ship tests, and land titles.

CORRESPONDENCE; 1900-1939; arranged chronologically. Consists of official correspondence from miscellaneous sources.

LABOR CORRESPONDENCE; 1916-1950; arranged chronologically according to subject. Consists of incoming, outgoing and interdepartmental correspondence regarding accidents, wages, bonuses, and draft exemptions, as well as miscellaneous correspondence.

SOUTH YARD CORRESPONDENCE; 1917-1950; arranged chronologically according to subject. Consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence regarding land, expansion and improvement of existing facilities, and machinery.

BUILDING MATERIALS SPECIFICATIONS; 1929, undated; no arrangement. Contains equipment specifications for the Wabash Railway Company and the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company.

NORTH YARD TRANSACTIONS; 1915-1930; arranged chronologically according to subject. Consists of lease and sale correspondence and appropriate documentation for transactions made.

WORLD WAR I SHIPBUILDING; 1917-1925; arranged chronologically according to subject. Consists of contracts, payroll bills, correspondence, and superintendent's reports.

DRY DOCK LEDGERS; December 1906-July 1924; arranged chronologically. Consists of identifying features of docked ships (tonnage, name of vessel), when and where they were docked, and a breakdown of charges incurred for repairs.

DRY DOCK REPORTS; July 1924-October 1962; arranged chronologically. Consists of loose paper forms that include information identifying docked ships (tonnage, name of vessel), when and where docked, and how many days passed before docks were flooded.

TITLES; 1832-1906; arranged chronologically. Includes abstracts and examinations of land titles.

FINANCIAL RECORDS; 1890-1957; arranged chronologically. Both in ledger and loose paper format. Consists of defense bond ledgers, alphabetized and indexed financial ledgers, sales ledgers, payroll ledgers, payroll insurance information, financial statements, machine shop ledgers, purchase orders, petty cash records, invoice registers, cost books, balance sheets, stock certificates, memos, and tax correspondence and forms.

SHIP TESTS; 1926; arranged chronologically. These tests resembling blueprints were designed to determine the performance of the ship propellers, boilers, pumps, engines, etc.

SOUTH YARD SURVEYS; 1894-1932; arranged chronologically. Includes blueprints, charts, maps of the South Yard area.