Finding aid for the Warner and Swasey Company Photographs


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Warner and Swasey Company
Title: Warner and Swasey Company Photographs
Dates: 1900-1978
Extent: 0.60 linear feet (2 containers)
Abstract: The Warner and Swasey Company was a leading manufacturer of machine tools, especially turret lathes, and telescopes and optical equipment. By 1928, the company was the world's leading manufacturer of turret lathes, and during World War II produced half of all the turret lathes made in the United States. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1881 by Worcester R. Warner, who had a passionate interest in astronomy, and Ambrose Swasey. The company was bought by the Bendix Corporation of Michigan in 1980, which was taken over by Allied in 1983, which, in turn, sold it to Cross and Trecker in 1984. The collection consists of portraits of Ambrose Swasey, Worchester Reed Warner, the Warner and Swasey Company, its personnel, plants, and products. Products depicted include telescopes, scientific instruments, textile machines, and machine tools. Also included are views of the residences and personal observatory of Ambrose Swasey and Worchester Reed Warner. The collection was originally compiled as a reference source for use by company personnel and for publicity purposes. Included in this collection is written descriptive material that corresponds to the photographs.
PG Number PG 270
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

History of the Warner and Swasey Company

The Warner and Swasey Company (f. 1881) was a leading manufacturer of machine tools, with a worldwide reputation for its telescopes and precision instruments. The machine tool shop of former New England merchants Worcester R. Warner and Ambrose Swasey, located on Carnegie Avenue near East 55th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, initially manufactured a variety of types tools but eventually specialized in turret lathes and telescopes. By 1886 the firm had gained international fame for a telescope built for the Lick Conservatory in California, leading to contracts from the United States Naval Observatory and the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. Although much of the Warner and Swasey Company's fame came from its astronomical instruments, most of its profits came from its machine tool division. After incorporation in 1900, the company increased its emphasis on turret lathes, introducing several new types and becoming the world's leading producer by 1928. The Carnegie Avenue plant in Cleveland expanded several times, enabling the firm to produce additional optical equipment such as panoramic sights and binoculars. The firm became a public company in 1940 and began gradually withdrawing from the telescope business to diversify into the textile machinery, construction equipment, and electronics industries. By 1965, it employed 2,000 people and had moved several plant operations to the Cleveland suburb of Solon, Ohio, while establishing its headquarters in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland. In 1980 Bendix Corporation purchased the operation, closing several of the plants and implementing large-scale layoffs in Cleveland. A series of corporate purchases eventually resulted in the sale of Warner and Swasey to the Michigan machinery firm of Cross and Trecker in 1984.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Warner and Swasey Company


Scope and Content

The Warner and Swasey Company Photographs, ca. 1900-1978, consist of portraits of Ambrose Swasey, Worchester Reed Warner, the Warner and Swasey Company, its personnel, plants, and products. Products depicted include telescopes, scientific instruments, textile machines, and machine tools. Also included are views of the residences and personal observatory of Ambrose Swasey and Worchester Reed Warner. The collection was originally compiled as a reference source for use by company personnel and for publicity purposes. Included in this collection is written descriptive material that corresponds to the photographs. Material is maintained in the order of the original loose leaf volumes, arranged according to product type. The collection includes 383 black and white and color photographs that measure 8 x 10 inches.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series. The collection has been retained in original order according to album volume number.
Series I: Carnegie Avenue Plant
Series II: Cedar Avenue Plant and Subsidiaries

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 4486 Warner and Swasey Company Records.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Industries -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs.
Machine-tool industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs.
Machine-tool industry -- United States -- Photographs.
Optical industry -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs.
Optical industry -- United States -- History -- Sources.
Optical instruments -- Design and construction -- Photographs.
Swasey, Ambrose, 1846-1937 -- Photograph collections.
Telescopes -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Photographs.
Warner & Swasey -- Photograph collections.
Warner, Worcester Reed, 1846-1929 -- Photograph collections.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 270 Warner and Swasey Company Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Warner and Swasey Company in 1983.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Carnegie Avenue Plant 1880-1969

Box Folder
1 1-2 Volume 1: jobbing and contract work including parts, assemblies, and special machines built 1895-1948
1 3-4 Volume 2: obsolete machine tools designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1880-1939
1 5-6 Volume 3: special machines and machine tools, taper measuring machine (Timken), rotor portable pneumatic tools, Gradall construction equipment, and textile machines designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1882-1955
1 7-8 Volume 4: observatories and refractor, reflector, and photographic telescopes designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1880-1965
1 9-10 Volume 5: instruments including dividing engine, astronomical, army and navy telescopes, position or range finders, gun sights, binoculars, transits, meridian circles, micrometers, azimuth instruments, coronagraph, spectrograph, and optical work machines designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1894-1939
1 11-12 Volume 6: views of the Carnegie Avenue plants, the Warner and Swasey residences and observatory, and portraits of company personnel 1881-1966
1 13-14 Volume 7: telescopes, observatories, machines, and exhibits designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1881-1938
1 15-16 Volume 8: various machines designed and built by the Warner and Swasey Company 1959-ca. 1965

Series II: Cedar Avenue Plant and Subsidiaries 1969-1978

Box Folder
1 17-18 Volume 9: views of machines manufactured by the Balas division, computer division, controls division, Gradall division, Gradall Ltd., Warner and Swasey Switzerland, and the G. A. Gray Company 1969-1978
Box Folder
2 19-20 Volume 10: views of machines manufactured by the grinding machine division, Manchester Tools division, Midwest Machine and Tool Company, Murata Warner and Swasey Company Ltd., and the research division 1969-1978
2 21-22 Volume 11: views of machines manufactured by Satec Corporation, Sterling foundry, Turning Machine division, Warner and Swasey Turning Machines Ltd., the textile division, and Wiedemann division 1969-1978
2 23-24 Volume 12: views of machines manufactured by Adams engineering, Badger division, control instrument division, duplex division, Lahr machine division, Lima division, and Philway Products division 1969-1978