Overview
The Lewis Ketcham Sillcox papers span the years 1820 to 1959 and contain materials created and collected by an American mechanical engineer for railroads and business executive, largely on topics related to transportation.
Dates
- Creation: 1820-1959
Creator
- Sillcox, L. K. (Lewis Ketcham) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored offsite; access requires advance notice. Contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
79 linear feet (73 cartons)The Louis Ketcham Sillcox papers contain bound and loose-leaf reports often containing additional loose materials, including correspondence, statistics, specifications, etc. Some titles, especially those written by Sillcox, occur in multiple copies. The collection includes several early works on Locomotive Engineering (1820-1871), journals (1885-89), subject scrapbooks (1875-ca.1920) and reports (1900-1920) originally collected by others; the Silcox scrapbooks appear to begin ca.1924.
Scrapbooks (unless noted) contain clippings on various subjects, organized roughly by date within volumes. Major topics are transportation and shipping, labor relations, business, products and government policy. The material was taken chiefly from newspapers (including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston area papers and various other journals), but includes pamphlets and newsletters.
Biographical / Historical
Louis K. Sillcox (April 30, 1886- March 4, 1989) was an American mechanical engineer and authority on transportation. He began a career in railroading in 1903 and worked as a mechanical engineer for several railroad companies in the United States and Canada.
He was Superintendent of maintenance of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad during the 1920s and later joined the New York Air Brake Co., Watertown, NY. He became Vice President of that company by 1934 and later rose to Vice Chairman). Sillcox retired in 1959 and was appointed director of the New York State Office of Tranpsportation where he remained until 1960.
He was president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and received many awards and honorary degrees. Silcox gave guest lectures at several universities in the 1930s and became Honorary Curator of the Transportation Collection at Baker Library circa 1950. He also gave the School a collection of bronze and ceramic furnishings and art objects.
Some details in the biographical note are from "Lewis K. Sillcox, 102, Transportation Expert," New York Times, March 4, 1989, Section 1, Page 34.
Physical Location
MANU
Processing Information
Lewis Ketcham Sillcox Papers. Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Creator
- Sillcox, L. K. (Lewis Ketcham) (Person)
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak01257
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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