Guide to Modjeski and Masters Company Records NMAH.AC.0976 Alison Oswald 2015-2016 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 3 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Bibliography...................................................................................................................... 4 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 4 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 6 Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1915 - 1986......................................................... 6 Series 2: Letter Press Books, 1898 - 1906.............................................................. 8 Series 3: Photographs, 1878 - 1979...................................................................... 11 Series 4: Contracts, 1895 - 1960........................................................................... 28 Series 5: Printed Materials, 1862 - 1969............................................................... 34 Series 6: Newspaper Clippings, 1924 - 1941........................................................ 41 Series 7: Lantern Slides, undated.......................................................................... 42 Series 8: Glass Plate Negatives, 1906-1926, undated (bulk 1906-1908)............... 44 Series 9: Film Negatives, 1924 - 1924, undated.................................................... 69 Series 10: Drawings, 1901 - 1952......................................................................... 70 Modjeski and Masters Company Records NMAH.AC.0976 Collection Overview Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Title: Modjeski and Masters Company Records Identifier: NMAH.AC.0976 Date: 1870-1979 (bulk 1900-1940) Source: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (Collector) National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology (Collector) Creator: Modjeski and Masters (Creator) Extent: 60 Cubic feet (139 boxes) Language: Collection is in English. Some materials in French, Polish, and Russian. Summary: The records document the work of consulting engineers and bridge builders, Ralph Modjeski (1861-1940) and Frank Masters (1883-1974) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Administrative Information Acquisition Information The collection was donated by Modejeski and Masters Consulting Engineers, through Joseph J. Scherrer, October 2, 1990. Provenance Transferred from Division of Work and Industry to the Archives Center in 2006. Related Materials Materials in the Archives Center Bollman Truss Bridge Collection, 1852-1986 (AC1064) Canadian Bridges Photograph Albums, 1873-1911 (AC1025) Victor C. Darnell Bridge Construction Photographs, 1911-1913 and undated (AC1018) Beata Drake Covered Bridge Collection, 1954-1981 (AC0998) Ben Franklin Bridge Photograph Album, 1922-1926 (AC1029) Hartford, Connecticut Bridge Collection, 1903-1905 (AC1066) Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Bridge Profiles, 1877-1896 (AC1073) Richard H. Miller Bridge Collection : postcards and slides, circa 1950-1988 and undated, #950 George S. Morison Collection, 1846-1903 (AC0978) Niagara Falls Bridge Commission Records, 1848-1946 (bulk 1890-1929) (AC1060) Page 1 of 71 Modjeski and Masters Company Records NMAH.AC.0976 Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge Construction Photograph Album, 1883-1884 (AC1030) David Plowden North American Bridge Photographs, 1970-1976 (AC1019) Quebec Bridge Photograph Collection, 1905-1986 (bulk 1905-1916) (AC1026) Railroad Bridges Construction Photograph Album, circa 1905-1914 (AC1024) Samuel Reed Bridge Collection, 1947-1964 (AC1001) Rip Van Winkle Bridge Photographs, 1933-1935 (AC1027) John A. Roebling Collection,1836-1975 (bulk 1930-1950) (AC0981) Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, 1889-1938 (AC0963) Lucinda Rudell Covered Bridges Collection, 1942-1979 (AC1028) Lester Shanks Collection of Covered Bridge Photographs and Ephemera, 1876-2010 (bulk 1973-2008) (AC1244) Washington, D.C. Bridges Collection, 1900-1905 (AC01095) Raymond E. Wilson Covered Bridge Collection, 1958-1974 (AC0999) Materials at Other Organizations Southern Illinois University, Morris Library Special Collections Walter E. Angier photograph collection, 1901-1915 Walter E. Angier Vertical File Manuscript, 1924 Michigan Historical Collections, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Alfred Noble Papers, 1862-1922 Processing Information Collection processed by NMAH staff. Processing Information Collection processed by Alison Oswald, 2015-2016. Preferred Citation Modjeski and Masters Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History Restrictions Collection is open for research. Conditions Governing Use 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. Biographical / Historical Rudolphe Modrzejewski was born to Helena Jadwiga Opid (d.1909) and Gustav Sinnmayer Modrzejewski (d. 1901) on January 27, 1861, in Cracow, Poland. His mother was an internationally known stage actress who went by the name Helena Modrzejewska. In 1868, Helena married Count Karol Bożenta Chłapowski. In July 1876, Helena and Rudolphe emigrated to America, where, for purposes of American citizenship, the Page 2 of 71 Modjeski and Masters Company Records NMAH.AC.0976 Polish form of their surname was later changed to Modjeski (feminine form Modjeska). Modjeski became a naturalized citizen in 1883 in San Francisco, California. In 1882, Modjeski returned to Europe to study at the Ecole Des Ponts et Chaussees and graduated in 1885 with a degree in civil engineering. Modjeski worked with prominent civil engineer and "Father of American Bridge Building," George S. Morison, on the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over the Missouri River at Omaha as an assistant engineer. He remained with Morison from 1885 to 1892. Some of his assignments included working in the shops which produced steel sections; the design office where he advanced to chief draftsman; and as an inspector of quality control in shops that fabricated steel elements. Modjeski worked with Morison on his Willamette, Nebraska City, Sioux City, Winona, Cairo, and Memphis bridges across the Mississippi River. The Memphis bridge was the longest span cantilever in the country at the time. In 1893, Modjeski opened a civil engineering practice in Chicago with S. Nicholson. After some financial difficulties, Nicholson and Modjeski dissolved their partnership. Modjeskis first individual large commission was the bridge at Rock Island, Illinois (1895) across the Mississippi River where he designed and supervised the construction of the bridge for the federal government and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Company. In 1902, Modjeski went into partnership with fellow civil engineer, Alfred Noble (1844-1914) forming the firm of Noble and Modjeski. He went into partnership with Walter Angier, under the name Modjeski and Angier, civil and inspecting engineers, between 1912 and 1924 with several offices around the United States. Angiers had worked with him beginning in 1902 on the bridge across the Mississippi at Thebes, Illinois. Modjeski partnered, in 1924, with Frank Masters (1883-1974), who had worked with him and Angiers between 1904 and 1914 on the Memphis and Louisville Bridges, forming Modjeski and Masters. Clement E. Chase and Montgomery B. Case later joined the firm as partners. In 1937, Masters assumed full control and ownership of the firm which specialized in the design and construction supervision of large bridges and other structures, rehabilitation and reconstruction of existing bridges, the design of highways and expressways, subways and wharves, the design of large and complex foundations, inspection of construction materials, and the creation of surveys, investigations and reports. Modjeski builtand/or consulted on over forty bridges in his lifetime. He built truss, steel arch, and suspension bridges. He introduced steel tower pylons in place of masonry towers and he used better grades of steel, such as new steel alloys with improved strength and durability. He also introduced advancements in the design of cable configurations and deck-stiffening beams. Some of his major projects included: the Columbia River and Willamette bridges, McKinley Bridge at St. Louis; the Celilo Railroad Bridge at Celilio, Ohio; the Thebes Bridge over the Mississippi; the Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River; the Delaware River Bridge; the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Mid-Hudson Bridge. On December 28,