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Finding Aid to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division Photographs, circa 1900-1945
P05-008  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Summary
  • Indexing Terms
  • Information for Researchers

  • Summary

    Title: Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division photographs,
    Date: circa 1900-1945
    Collection No: P05-008
    Creator: Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division

    Extent: 63 items.
    Repository: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (Calif.)
    Historic Documents Department
    Building E, Fort Mason
    San Francisco, California 94123
    Abstract: This collection consists of photographs of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division machinery, employees and War Production Board activities in San Francisco, California during the Second World War.
    Physical Location: Historic Documents Department
    Language: In English.

    Indexing Terms

    The following are indexing terms related to the description of this collection.
    United States. War Production Board.

    Bethlehem Steel Corporation

    World War, 1939-1945

    Group portraits

    Portrait photographs

    Information for Researchers

    Access Information

    Access
    This collection is open for research.

    Access Information

    Condition Restrictions

    There are no restrictions based on the condition of this material. However, you should be aware that access to collection material is always at the discretion of NPS curatorial staff if the condition warrants restricting the access and handling of the collection items at any time.

    Conditions of Use

    Use
    The San Francisco Maritime NHP possesses physical property rights through ownership of the materials. However, copyright may reside with the individual or corporate body responsible for the creation of the materials, or with their heirs. It is the user's responsibility to respect the provisions of the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code). Permission to reproduce or publish from this collection must be secured by the user from the copyright holders.
    Preferred Citation
    [Item title or description including date]. Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division photographs, P05-008. [Location within collection organization identified by container number, series number, file unit number, or item number]. Historic Documents Department, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

    Processing/Project Information

    Processing and Cataloging
    Processed by Charles Miller and completed 3/15/2005.
    ANCS+ Catalog No. SAFR 20646.

    The collection is cataloged in the National Park Service (NPS) Automated National Catalog System (ANCS+). A portion of the ANCS+ catalog record can be viewed on the NPS Museum Collections on the Web Catalog by searching on the catalog number 20646 at http://www.museum.nps.gov/safr/page.htm. Do not include the acronym "SAFR" in the search.

    Administrative Information

    History

    Agency History

    On November 15, 1938, the Bethlehem Steel Company, Shipbuilding Division (formerly the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd.) was established and the former Potrero Yard was renamed the San Francisco Yard. On November 1, 1982, the City of San Francisco became owner of the Potrero location property, and Todd Shipyards, a repair and conversion corporation then headquartered in New York City, assumed title to the assets, the fixtures, and the hardware, of Bethlehem, San Francisco.
    The Union Iron Works built and repaired battleships and merchant vessels, and manufactured a line of mining machinery. In 1849, Union Iron & Brass Co. was established by Irish immigrant Peter Donahue and two brothers. The company was soon known as Union Iron Works. Donahue sold the company in 1864 to Irving M. Scott, who moved the company from First and Mission to Potrero Point in 1883. At the turn of the century, Union Iron Works was sold to the United States Shipbuilding Corporation, which promptly went bankrupt. The company was then sold to Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1905.

    Custodial History

    The photographs were acquired by the San Francisco Maritime Museum from an unidentified source prior to Golden Gate National Recreation Area acquisition of the collection and they were transferred to San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park under the blanket accession SAFR-00001.

    Acquisition

    Accession number SAFR-00001.

    Administrative Information

    Scope and Content

    This collection consists of photographs of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division machinery, employees and War Production Board activities in San Francisco, California during the Second World War.
    (15) 5 x 7 in. black-and-white photographs, thirteen of them portraits of employees. The people are identified, however, the names are written in reverse, so they were either mislabeled as a negative, or the image was inadvertently flipped over. There are two images of machinery.
    (48) 8 x 10 in. black-and-white photographs of machinery and parts, some of which are duplicated. There are three showing War Production Committee honors and the War Production Suggestion box at the shipyard. Two are of officials issuing commendations to personnel. There are five images of a negative image of the commendations, issued to R. B. Brown (Commendation for Production Idea, Honorable Mention), Vic Lepkey (Commendation for Production Idea, Certificate for Production Ideas), and P. E. Pofahl (Commendation for Production Idea), all dated December 27, 1944.

    Arrangement

    Organized in two series, people and machinery.