Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock Company records

The records of the Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock Company document the history of this Cleveland-based company from 1882 to 1963. The records are incomplete in some cases, but they can be of some use to the labor or business historian.

The minutes of the Dock Company's Safety Committee span from the committee's first meeting in 1945 until 1960. The Safety Committee was composed of individuals from both the management and labor departments of the company; their safety recommendations were employed at both the Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock and the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Dock.

During the 1920s many of the Dock Company's consignees undertook capital investment projects in the form of technological improvements of existing facilities. These improvement projects are documented by the information found in the subject files. The files include correspondence, reconditioning reports, purchase orders for equipment, pamphlets, photographs, and blueprints of existing dock equipment and proposed improvements.

Reports found in this record exist in the following forms: vessel lists, reprimand lists and operation reports. The vessel lists date from 1927 and 1929 through 1935. These lists are daily work logs which identify dock ships, cargo, and their estimated time of arrival. The reprimand list dates from 1905 to 1907. This list includes the names of all individuals who were punished for inappropriate behavior at work; included is the offense and punishment. The operation reports, which date from 1908-1913, are daily logs of the docks operators. They primarily report on the unloading of iron ore and the efficiency at which this task was accomplished. Also included are many references to growing union support among the workers. Found within these reports are transcripts of local union meetings, copies of various union charters and contracts, and copies of other dock operation reports where violence had occurred. These reports, though incomplete, give a good representation of daily life on the Cleveland docks.

Legal documents in this collection reinforce the representation of dock life found in the operation reports. This series is composed of labor agreements and grievance reports which date from 1897 to 1963. The majority of the documents found in this series are of labor agreements; the early contracts focus primarily on pay rates, while later contracts change focus to working conditions. Included with these agreements are plans of organization and worker constitutions. This series also includes worker grievances filed against the company. The majority of these grievances were made from 1908 to 1915, and their general theme is complaints of preferential treatment of one worker over another.

Financial documents found in this series consist of two areas. First are the operating expenses which date from 1927 to 1936. These itemized monthly reports give an explanation of both cost increases and decreases. Also found in this series are statements of iron ore handled by each consignee of the Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock Company. These records were maintained in ledger form from 1889 to 1936, and are arranged alphabetically. Within the ledgers is recorded the name of each dock consignee (member) and the amount of ore handled. In 1936 the format was changed from a ledger to a monthly statement sheet which also includes a total monthly shipment amount for all consignees involved. These records document the entirety of ore haulage and iron production for Cleveland, Ohio from 1889 to 1941. Examination reveals the impact of economic factors which affected that area and industry, such as World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II, by the increase and decrease of material shipped.