Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904

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Photo, Westinghouse Works factory
Annotation

This exhibit includes 21 "actuality" films from the Library's Westinghouse Works Collection. Actuality films were motion pictures that were produced on flip cards, also known as mutoscopes. These films, made by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in 1904, were intended to showcase the company's operations and feature the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, and the Westinghouse Machine Company. They were shown daily in the Westinghouse Auditorium at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. Brief (roughly 500-word) descriptive narratives accompany each film, along with three to five photographs of factory exteriors and interiors and male and female workers performing their duties. A timeline traces the history of the Westinghouse companies from the birth of founder George Westinghouse in 1846 to Westinghouse's last patent, awarded four years after his death in 1918. Another link offers a Wilmerding News article, dated September 2, 1904, about life in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, "the ideal home town," where the Westinghouse Air Brake factory was located. A bibliography of 18 scholarly works on Westinghouse and manufacturing in America is also included. The easily-navigable site is keyword searchable and can be browsed by subject. It is a good resource for information on labor and manufacturing in early 20th-century America, as well as on early film.

Bonnet House Museum and Gardens [FL]

Description

Built in 1920, the Museum is a 35-acre subtropical estate and historic house museum. The Main House is filled with a collection of art and the personal treasures of the Birch/Bartlett families. The surrounding grounds of the estate range from a mangrove swamp to a coastal hammock, providing habitat for a variety of fish, monkeys, and other wildlife.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

Our House [OH]

Description

Our House—a three-story brick tavern in the Federal style—was built in Gallipolis by Henry Cushing in 1819. The tavern boasted (in addition to its taproom, dining room, and other usual facilities) a large ballroom for social functions. On 22 May 1825, General Lafayette visited Gallipolis and was entertained at Our House Tavern. Gallipolis still celebrates Lafayette's visit with a ceremony each spring. The Cushing family owned and operated Our House until 1865.

The site offers tours and educational programs.

Hanby House [OH]

Description

This is the home of Benjamin Russell Hanby, composer of numerous songs, including "Darling Nellie Gray" and "Up on the Housetop." Hanby played many roles in his life, as well as composer: student, abolitionist, father, teacher, minister. The house was built in 1846 and occupied by the Hanbys from 1853 to 1870. From their house and barn, Ben Hanby and his father, Bishop William Hanby, ran a busy station on the Underground Railroad. The home contains furniture and personal items from the family. There is a walnut desk made by Hanby. The original plates for the first edition of "Darling Nellie Gray" and a large collection of sheet music and books are at the site.

The house offers tours.

Fort Ancient [OH]

Description

Fort Ancient features 18,000 feet of earthen walls built 2,000 years ago by American Indians who used the shoulder blades of deer, split elk antler, clam shell hoes, and digging sticks to dig the dirt. They then carried the soil in baskets holding 35 to 40 pounds. Portions of these walls were used in conjunction with the sun and moon to provide a calendar system for these peoples. The Museum at Fort Ancient contains 9,000 square feet of exhibits, including many interactive units, focusing on 15,000 years of American Indian history in the Ohio Valley.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational programs.

Hayes Presidential Center [OH]

Description

The Hayes Presidential Center contains the residence of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States, a library and museum, and the tomb of the president and his wife Lucy Webb Hayes. Hayes's uncle, Sardis Birchard, named the site Spiegel Grove from the German word for mirror. It was based on the reflections from the pools of water under the trees. The homestead, a stately mansion, is furnished in late 19th-century style. The library and museum building houses the personal papers and mementos of the Hayes family, the Civil War, and the White House. Hayes's tomb is encased in a monument of Vermont granite from his father's farm.

A second website for the Presidential Center can be found here.

The center offers exhibits; tours; research library access; lectures; and recreational and educational events, including living history events.

Harding Home, Museum, and Tomb [OH]

Description

Warren G. Harding launched himself into the White House in 1920 with his famous "front porch" campaign, which he conducted from his Victorian home in Marion, OH. The restored house was built in 1891 and contains almost all original furnishings owned by President Harding and his wife Florence. Adjacent to the Harding Home is a press house used during the 1920 campaign which now serves as a museum dedicated to President and Mrs. Harding's lives. Located two miles from the Home and Museum is the Harding Tomb, a circular monument of white Georgia marble containing the remains of President and Mrs. Harding, set in 10 acres of landscaped grounds.

An individual website for the Harding Tomb can be found here.

The house and museum offer exhibits, tours, and educational programs; the tomb is open to the public.

Grant Birthplace [OH]

Description

Ulysses S. Grant was born 27 April 1822 in picturesque Point Pleasant near the mouth of Big Indian Creek at the Ohio River. This restored one-story, three-room cottage, which was built in 1817, was next to the tannery where Grant's father worked. The small cottage is furnished with period items. At one time the birthplace made an extensive tour of the United States on a railroad flatcar and was also temporarily displayed on the Ohio State fairgrounds.

The site offers tours.