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Historical Background Information

National Museum of American History

Object Details

sova.nmah.ac.0320_ref266
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a1f51835-c4ba-43da-9124-42fed88f5e34
Collection Donor
Nickse, Hugo
Johnson, Hanford
Collection Creator
Comstock, Cheney and Co.
Pratt, Read and Company
Collection Donor
Steinway, Henry Ziegler
See more items in
Pratt, Read Corporation Records
Pratt, Read Corporation Records / Series 3: Pratt, Read and Company, Pratt, Read and Company, Inc., and Pratt-Read Corporation
Date
1881 - 1989
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0320, Subseries 3.14
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Pratt, Read Corporation Records, 1839-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Scope and Contents
HISTORICAL & BACKGROUND MATERIAL, 1881-1989, consists primarily of news clippings and miscellaneous information about the history of Pratt, Read, the African ivory trade, the piano trade, Pratt Read's involvement in music education, and the Ivoryton area. Especially interesting are an unpublished "History of the Pratt Read Corporation" written by Curtiss S. Johnson, A History of Pratt, Read & Company of Deep River published by the Deep River Historical Society, and news clippings about the company from 1881-1882 and 1935-1986. The ivory trade is documented in news clippings from 1921-1989 and in two personal accounts of life in Zanzibar, one by Harriet Cheney Downing from 1942 and the other by Carlotta Welles from 1980. News clippings about the piano trade, the adoption of plastic for keys, and other developments are also found in this subseries. A reprinted 1899 Souvenir of Essex, Connecticut contains valuable information about the factory buildings, stores, the employees' bicycle club, and the company's central role in the community. Other news clippings cover the Ivoryton Inn, the Ivoryton Theatre, and the Ivory Museum established by the company in 1977.
Collection Restrictions
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
NMAH.AC.0320_ref266
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a1f51835-c4ba-43da-9124-42fed88f5e34
NMAH.AC.0320
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1505493610265-1505493610545-2

  • Pratt, Read Corporation Records


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