Object Details
- Collection Creator
- United Telegraph Workers.
- Western Union Telegraph Company
- See more items in
- Western Union Telegraph Company Records
- Date
- 1851-1994
- Archival Repository
- Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Identifier
- NMAH.AC.0205, Series 1
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Western Union Telegraph Company Records, 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
- The corporate history of Western Union consists of a bound volume which contains the history and organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company and of all subsidiaries which have been consolidated, merged, purchased, leased or controlled by Western Union. A corporate genealogy can be found within the corporate history volumes. These genealogical charts depict Western Union as it existed on December 31, 1914. The charts are lettered A though Q, showing the development of the present company through the acquisition of subsidiary telegraph companies. For each subsidiary the record indicates the date of incorporation, and whether the subsidiary was leased or sold to Western Union. See Series 2: Subsidiaries, 1844-1986 and Series 7: Secretary's Files, 1844-1987, for additional information about the subsidiary companies. Volumes titled A Brief Outline of Technical Progress Made by Western Union detail the technological development and progress of the company between 1910 and 1950, and other small histories include the Story of Western Union, the Short History of Western Union and the Western Union Telegraph Company A Retrospect, 1851-1901. These narratives provide brief sketches and historical background of the company. Included in this series are two narratives handwritten by Charles Brown. Of note is Brown's work titled "My experiences in the plains in 1861 in assisting the construction of the first telegraph lines across the continent."
- Collection Restrictions
- Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
- Record ID
- ebl-1503510250829-1503510250979-0
