Hagley holds the country's finest collection of business records and corporate archives (25,000 linear feet). Many of these organizations built significant structures, employed prominent architects and engineers, and sponsored innovations in building materials and construction practices.
Included in Hagley's holdings are some original materials relating to the work of architects such as Daniel Burnham, Frank Furness, Cass Gilbert, Vincent G. Kling, William Lescaze, Kenneth M. Murchison, Edward Durrell Stone, and Lester C. Tichy of Raymond Loewy Associates. The work of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, and Howe & Lescaze are also represented, along with the archive of Victorine and Samuel Homsey, Inc., one of the first husband and wife architectural practices in the U.S.
The business records at Hagley generally have correspondence and other written materials on the design and construction of industrial and commercial facilities. Many collections include building and site plans, and the PSFS and Phoenix Bridge Company records contain complete drawing sets. Some original furnishings for the PSFS building, designed by William Lescaze, are at Hagley. Some collections also contain material promoting construction-related products such as steel, concrete, and plastics.
Hagley's holdings include the archives of the following major corporations and trade associations:
American Iron and Steel Institute
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (explosives, nylon, rayon, plastics)
Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company (textiles)
J. E. Rhoads & Sons, Inc. (leather tanneries)
Lukens Steel Company
MCI Communications Corporation, Inc.
Maryland Steel Company
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
Philadelphia Saving Fund Society (PSFS)
Phoenix Bridge Company
Radio Corporation of America (Camden, NJ)
Remington Rand (office interiors)
Seagram Company Ltd.
Sperry Corporation (computers, defense)
Strawbridge & Clothier (retail stores)
Sun Oil Company (oil refining, service stations)
Westinghouse Electric Corporation (Power Generation Divisions)
Westmoreland Coal Company
Many of the photographs in Hagley's extensive pictorial collection provide an especially rich commercial and industrial architecture source. Firms routinely took pictures to document the engineering, design, and construction of buildings and then photographed interiors, production processes, and employees in the workplace.
Among Hagley's significant holdings are more than 100,000 photographs from the Sperry Corporation, 70,000 photographs documenting the iron and steel industry, 60,000 views of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's Power Generation Divisions plant, and more than 20,000 images from the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Railroad. The 5,000 photographs from the PSFS archive show many of its bank buildings, including the construction of its Philadelphia headquarters and interior views.
Other commercial structures documented in Hagley's photographic collections range from gas stations to convenience stores. In addition to material from corporate archives, the Dallin Aerial Survey Company collection contains 15,000 aerial views of the Delaware Valley and adjacent areas, taken between 1925 and 1940.
Hagley also holds the papers of individual entrepreneurs, managers, and engineers. Some of these collections contain information on plant and building design. The records of general contractor John McShain are a particularly rich source. His extensive work included the Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Airport in Washington, D.C., and many churches, schools, and office buildings.