R.A. Stearn, Inc., records

As a window into ship building activities at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, the R. A. Stearn, Incorporated collection provides researchers with a view of the technology of ship design in the period 1940-1950. Stearn, a naval architect, participated in the design phase of vessels used for military purposes in World War II. Much of Stearn's work recorded in the collection was performed in conjunction with the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company of Sturgeon Bay. The conversion of many of these naval vessels to civilian usage following 1945 occupied the Stearn and Smith companies for many years.

The files in the collection are heavily oriented toward construction projects. A small series of subject correspondence is present (one cubic foot out of the collection of eleven cubic feet). Projects are the most frequently discussed subjects. In larger quantity are the Job Files (three cubic feet) developed on such projects as the conversion of the SS ARROWWOOD from military use into a car ferry. The single largest file for a project is on the SS JAMES LAUGHLIN.

Blueprints and drawings regarding the various classes of vessels (cargo, submarine chaser, escort, tanker, etc.) form the largest series in the collection (seven cubic feet). These items have been retained to provide an historical record of vessel construction.

Photographic material (35 items) have been separated for cataloging purposes to the main Historical Collections of the Great Lakes photograph collection. Similarly, published items have been removed for separate cataloging.