J. HARRY DuBOIS COLLECTION ON THE HISTORY OF PLASTICS, ca. 1900-1975 (2.33 cubic feet: 7 DB, 1 (.5) DB) by: Robert S. Harding, Jeffrey Sturchio, and Ann Seeger, March 1982 Biography J. Harry DuBois, born September 18, 1903 in Clarion, Iowa, was an industrial consultant in the field of petrochemicals and plastics. DuBois began his career in the plastics industry at General Electric in 1927. His studies resulted in extending the use of laminated plastics. In GE's molding division he pioneered work on compression molded acetates, injection molding, radomes and low pressure laminates. In 1944 he became vice president of Shaw Insulator Company. He also worked at Plax Corporation, Mycalex Corporation of America and Tech Art Plastics. In 1972 he was president of Mybroy Ceramics Corporation. A member of the Society of the Plastics Industry and the Society of Plastics Engineers, DuBois collected much of this material while writing his book, Plastics History U.S.A., published in 1972 by Cahner Publishing Company of Boston. He died in March of 1986. Scope & Content This collection of trade catalogs, research reports, correspondence, photographs, and other historical material relating to the plastics industry was donated by J. Harry DuBois. The collection has not been finely processed to the folder level. It has been divided into six series: Series 1: BAKELITE CATALOGS, 1910-1944, Series 2: PLASTIC TRADE CATALOGS, ca. 1920-1953, Series 3: BOONTON RUBBER CO., 1911-1974, Series 4: CHARLES BURROUGHS CO., 1897-1929, Series 5: SIGFRIED HIGGINS AND BAKELITE PRINTING PLATES, 1925-1959, and Series 6: PUBLICATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, ca. 1890-1975. Included are trade catalogues of the General Bakelite Company, Bakelite Corporation, and competitors in the plastics industry in the 1920's and 1930's, including Dow Chemical and General Electric; material relating to the Boonton Rubber Company, including Richard W. Seabury's notebooks, 1911-1923; memoranda of 1916, 1918, 1923, and 1926 concerning the history of Boonton's early use of Bakelite for molded products; catalogues, photographs, and a blueprint of a 1897 hydraulic press from Charles Burroughs Company; research reports, 1925-1932, of Sigfreid Higgins, on mechanical development research at the Bakelite Corporation; reports on sales development research, 1941-1946, at the Bakelite Corporation; experimental notes, correspondence on possible patents and other materials concerning the use of Bakelite and rubber for printing plates; reports, notes, and and miscellaneous photographs on the history of the plastics industry; Zylonite trade catalogues, pre 1900; and Recto trademark patent and patent drawing. Provenance Transferred from the Division of Physical Sciences 4/5/83. Container List
by: Robert S. Harding, Jeffrey Sturchio, and Ann Seeger,
March 1982 |
E-mail: archivescenter@si.edu Revised: August 15, 2001 |