A Guide to the Sydney B. Williamson Papers 1909-1939
A Collection in
Virginia Military Institute Archives
Collection Number MS 0206
Virginia Military Institute Archives
Virginia Military Institute ArchivesPreston Library
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia 24450-0304
USA
Phone: (540) 464-7566
Fax: (540) 464-7279
Email: archives@vmi.edu
URL: http://www.vmi.edu/archives
© 2001 Virginia Military Institute
Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Processed by: Diane B. Jacob
Administrative Information
Access
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Sydney B. Williamson Papers, MS 0206, Virginia Military Institute Archives, Lexington, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
The collection was donated to VMI in 1979 by Sydney W. Smith.
Biographical/Historical Information
Scope and Content Information
The bulk of the collection documents Williamson's engineering assignments in Panama, South America, and the United States, and his service on the Interoceanic Canal Board. The collection consists of the following series: Biographical and historical materials; Correspondence; Project and Planning Files; Engineering Drawings and Specifications; Reports, Papers and Speeches; Photographs; Printed Materials and Miscellaneous. The sizable group of drawings and specifications for the Panama Canal construction is of particular importance. Also of interest in the Photographs series is a Panama Album which includes photos of President William H. Taft's tour of the Panama Canal construction site, as well as photos recording in detail the massive task of constructing the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks; many of these photographs are unpublished.
Contents List
- Box-folder
1:3
Masonry dams, including Pernambuco Power House
- Box-folder
1:4
Noes on Nicaragua Canal
- Box-folder
1:5
Notes on the Nicaragua Canal: Book No. 1
- Box-folder
1:6
Notes on the Nicaragua Canal: Book No. 2
- Box-folder
1:7
Lake Worth Inlet Terminal
- Box-folder
2:1
Notes, various projects
Notes on work with State of Alabama; Front Royal, Va. Storage Dam Lexington, Va. Storage Dam; Lake Worth Inlet Terminal
- Box-folder
2:2
Mississippi Floodways
"Comparison of Floodway Crossings as Proposed by the Yazoo and Miss. Valley Ry. and the U. S."
- Box-folder
2:3
Mississippi Floodway
Notes
- Box-folder
2:4
Muscle Shoals; Chile Copper Plant
- Box-folder
2:5
Louisiana State Highway Project
- Box-folder 2:6
- Box-folder
3:1
Panama Canal
Lock Gates and machinery on them; Gate recess covers; Gate operating machinery.
- Box-folder
3:2
Panama Canal
Lighting material, panel boards, reflectors, lamps, etc.
- Box-folder
3:3
Panama Canal
Upper guard gate valve machines
- Box-folder
3:4
Panama Canal
Chain fenders
- Box-folder
3:5
Panama Canal
Transformer Room equipment
- Box-folder
3:6
Panama Canal
Structural steel for Gatun hydro electric
- Box-folder
3:7
Panama Canal
Towing locomotives and tracks for same
- Box-folder
3:8
Panama Canal
Spillway footbridges
Spillway Caissons
Spillway Gates
Spillway Gate machinery - Box-folder
3:9
Panama Canal
Stoney Sluice machinery, Stoney Gates; bulkheads, screens and intakes.
- Box-folder
3:10
Panama Canal
Misc. electrical wiring for power and control wiring
- Box-folder
3:11
Panama Canal
Snubbing posts; buffer castings
- Box-folder
3:12
Panama Canal
Cylindrical valve machinery; culvert drainage pumps; machinery chambers and layouts; numbering system; S. B. Williamson
- Box-folder
3:13
Panama Canal
Auxiliary electrical equipment for Gatun hydro electric station
- Box-folder
3:14
Panama Canal
Extra contract prices
- Box-folder
4:1
Report: Final Report of the Toconce Pipeline
- Box-folder
4:2
Report: Chile Exploration Company
- Box-folder
4:3
Report: Comparison of Estimates and Final Cost of Panama Canal
- Box-folder
4:4
Report: Interoceanic Canal
- Box-folder
4:5
Report: Delaware River
- Box-folder
4:6
Paper by Williamson. The Chief Engineers of the Panama Canal
- Box-folder
4:7
Speech by Williamson. Practicing Engineering
- Box-folder
5:1
Panama Album, #s 1-13
Canal Engineers; social life in Panama; living quarters
- Box-folder
5:2
Panama Album, #s 14-24
- Box-folder
5:3
Panama Album, #s 25-35
- Box-folder
5:4
Panama Album, #s 36-45
Construction of the Pedro Miguel Lock
- Box-folder
5:5
Panama Album, #s 46-55
Construction of the Pedro Miguel Lock
- Box-folder
5:6
Panama Album, #s 56-67
Construction of the Pedro Miguel Lock
- Box-folder
5:7
Panama Album, #s 68-79
Construction of the Miraflores Lock
- Box-folder
5:8
Panama Album, #s 80-90
Construction of the Miraflores Lock
- Box-folder
5:9
Panama Album, #s 90-99
Construction of the Miraflores Lock
- Box-folder
5:10
Panama Album, #s 100-115
Construction of the Miraflores Lock and Balboa Terminals
- Box-folder
6:1
Portrait of Sydney B. Williamson
- Box-folder
6:2
Panama and hydraulic excavation
- Box-folder
6:3
Hydraulic mining, California, 1909.
- Box-folder
6:4
Miraflores Lock construction
- Box-folder
6:5
Miraflores Lock construction
- Box-folder
6:6
Pedro Miguel Lock construction
- Box-folder
6:7
Pedro Miguel Lock construction
- Box-folder
6:8
Pedro Miguel Lock construction
- Box-folder
6:9
Chile
- Box-folder
6:10
Chile
- Box-folder
6:11
Chile
- Box-folder
7:1
Chile
- Box-folder
7:2
Chile
- Box-folder
7:3
Chile
- Box-folder
7:4
Chile
- Box-folder
7:5
Bolivia
- Box-folder
7:6
Peru, Bolivia, Chile
- Box-folder
7:7
Bolivia, Chile
- Box-folder
7:8
Chile
- Box-folder
7:9
Chile, Ecuador, Panama
- Box-folder
7:10
Negatives