Western Highway Historical Collection, 1888-1960

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Western Highway Historical Collection
Dates:
1888-1960
Creators:
Western Highway Institute
Abstract:
Photographs, dealer catalogs, and specification sheets concerning trucks, mostly from the 1920s and 30s, and trucking ephemera from the early 1950s.
Extent:
6 Linear Feet (11 boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Western Highway Historical Collection (M3014), Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection of photographs, dealer catalogs, specification sheets and other material concerning trucks, buses, trailers, and other vehicles for transportation, freight and construction. Manufacturers include Autocar, Trailmobile, Fageol Motors, Kenworth, Mack Trucks/International Motor Company, Reliance Trailer and Truck, Hilo Transportation and Terminal, and White Motor Company.

The Western Highway Historical Collection was founded in 1960 with the cooperation of the Western Highway Institute, primarily to preserve the records and pictures of the early days of highway transportation west of the Rocky Mountains. Donors include Randolph Brandt, E.E. Brower, W.D. Patterson, Don Pennell of Peterbilt Motors, Sam A. Simpson, William Tice, and E. Guy Warren. Some published material was transferred to general stacks where it is accessible through the library's catalog.

While the focus of the collection is on the vehicles themselves, also depicted in photographs are drivers, workers, and urban/industrial locales infrequently captured on camera. Additionally, researchers may encounter all manner of businesses and occupations, including bakeries, dairies, gas stations, lumbering, passenger buses, house movers, and municipal projects.

In 2018, several boxes of related material was added, primarily ephemera from Western trucking and moving companies, circa 1949-1952. Most files in these series originated in the Hopkins Transportation Library as "Pamphlet Material on Motor Carrier Industry" HE5612 Zpc. This addition includes training manuals, forms, promotional booklets and fliers, photographs & negatives, employee magazines, legal papers, radio program and advertising scripts, speech transcripts, etc.

Correspondence within the collection, largely with Hopkins librarian Carolyn Mohr, concern the acquisition of research material from various companies in the early 1950s. Mohr was also likely the author of the thumbnail histories included for most firms. Some photographs referred to in the letters have not been located, although many are likely to be found in the various Hopkins Transportation Library archival collections.

Acquisition information:
Various sources.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-02 11:07:37 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item] Western Highway Historical Collection (M3014), Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Website