The Archives Collections

The Archives originated at the HCEA’s inception in 1986, and within a few years had grown to include records from over 500 manufacturers. As of January, 2012, over 3,000 manufacturers of machinery, attachments, engines and other components, and truck and trailer equipment were represented in the collections. The collections also encompass records from contractors, mining firms, dealers, auctioneers, government agencies and non-profit organizations related to our fields of interest, as well as personal papers and photographs from a number of individuals.

Spanning from the 1870s to the present day, the Archives’ holdings include major collections of records from the Marion Power Shovel Company, Euclid, Terex, Volvo Construction Products, Galion Iron Works, Clark Equipment Company and Clark Michigan, Allis-Chalmers, Fiat-Allis, Austin-Western, and the Cleveland Trencher Company. The collections include approximately:

• 300 lineal feet of sales literature, including catalogs, brochures and spec sheets;
• 350 lineal feet of service literature, such as manuals and parts books;
• 140,000 photographs and digital images;
• 130,000 slides;
• 900 videos;
• 700 motion pictures;
• 160 lineal feet of periodicals; and,
• 55 lineal feet of annual reports and related business records.

The Marion Power Shovel Company collection, which consists of the records of the Company’s marketing and engineering departments, includes:

• Approximately 10,000 8×10 inch photographs dating from the 1880s through 1980s;
• A nearly complete set of sales literature from the 1890s through end of production;
• 400 glass plate negatives, dated from the 1880s through 1910s; and,
• Shipping records of all machines built from 1914 through end of production.

We also have extensive collections of blueprints and engineering drawings of dredges and cranes from the early 1900s from the former Dunbar & Sullivan Dredging Company and Victor R. Browning Company (later the Browning Engineering Company.