Description
The materials in the collection supply a picture of the growth of an internationally successful company through the period
of the Great Depression, as well as the development of the machines important to the farmers and developers in California
and across the world. The collection consists of draftsman’s drawings and blueprints as well as company publications and photographs
of equipment, the majority collected during the employment of Stanley Hahn with R. G. LeTourneau, Inc., an internationally
respected earthmoving company. The bulk of the collection dates between the years of 1935 and 1937, when Hahn was employed
by LeTourneau, and includes related items connected to that company and collected in subsequent years. The collection includes
additional items from Hahn’s employment between 1936 and 1943 with Capps Brothers, steel fabricators and machinery builders
in Stockton, California.
Background
Stanley C. Hahn (1908-2008) graduated from Stockton High School in 1929 and took his first full-time job with R. G. LeTourneau,
Inc., as a draftsman. Known as the “Dean of Earthmoving,” Robert G. LeTourneau (1888-1969) established R. G. LeTourneau, Inc.,
in 1929, combining a contracting business with the manufacture of earthmoving equipment. By 1933, the company dropped out
of contracting altogether to concentrate on the manufacturing side of the business. Working with other draftsmen, Hahn created
blueprints for numerous machines designed for heavy earthmoving projects. When the company moved its main offices in 1935
to Peoria, Illinois, Hahn relocated briefly to Sunnyvale, California, where he worked for the Wooldridge Company. He returned
to Stockton the following year and was employed by Capps Brothers, steel fabricators and machinists. Capps Brothers had bought
the rights to the Laurence L. Miller Almond Huller, and Hahn created blueprints detailing the huller. He also worked on projects
constructing parts for the Holt Combine and for Stevens Boat Works, in Stockton, California.