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Papers of J. Carson Adkerson, 1913-1981, Accession #10244-a, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
The papers of J. Carson Adkerson were given to the Library by Miss Clara Lee Miller of Woodstock, Virginia, on February 7, 1986.
J. Carson Adkerson (1892-1985 ?), of Woodstock, Virginia, was a mining engineer in manganese production. He served as president of the American Manganese Producers' Association (1927-1962). The importance of manganese lies in its use in the production of steel where it is utilized to remove undesirable oxygen, to neutralize the harmful effects of sulphur, and to impart physical characteristics to steel such as hardness, toughness, and resistance to abrasion.
The papers of J. Carson Adkerson (1892-1985 ?) consist of ca. 6,500 items, 1913-1981, chiefly correspondence, financial and legal papers, press releases, reports, photographs, bound volumes, and miscellaneous papers, pertaining to Adkerson's career in manganese production and as president of the American Manganese Producers' Association.
The correspondence series contains correspondence between Adkerson and many of the American manganese mining companies about legislation affecting the industry, problems with mining the ore, efforts to convince Congress to pass the Strategic Materials Act (approved June 7, 1939) in anticipation of possible wartime conditions, accompanied by copies of letters to various congressmen, efforts to convince Congress to pass legislation to boost the domestic production of manganese, manganese producers conflicts with the United States Steel Industry who preferred to purchase their manganese ore from cheaper foreign producers, and discussions of promising manganese properties to be developed.
Other files in this series discuss manganese problems and possibilities by state, representing most domestic manganese producing regions, and related topics, such as the "Buy American" bill, the Railplane System, and the Manganese War Claims bill.
Specific topics or correspondents, mentioned with their folder heading, include: the Strategic Materials Bill, "To provide for common defence by aquiring stocks of strategic and critical raw materials" (1939), and Wilbur D. Mills (April 1, 1942), both in the Otter River Mining Company file; and Harry F. Byrd (April 29, 1938), in the Properties file.
The American Manganese Producers' Association correspondence includes: the steel industry's side of the dispute over use of domestic manganese ore (April 28, 1933), Carter Glass (February 13 & 18, 1933), Fagbagan Company (May 14, 1934), A. Willis Robertson (August 14, 1936 and March 15, 1939), Strategic Materials Bill (June 3, 1939 and July 2, 1940), Harry F. Byrd (March 26, 1940), E.R. Stettinius, Jr. concerning manganese production (July 11, 1940), and a comparison of Russian and American manganese industries (September 28, 1940).
Others include: the effects of the National Recovery Act on employment in manganese ore mining (August 5, 1933), and arguments concerning the domestic manganese ore and the desirability of foreign ore for the production of steel (June 5 & 17, July 3 & 14, and September 12, 18, & 25), in the file on Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas; American Federation of Labor President, William Green (June 26, 1936), in the Delaware and Washington, D.C. file; and George H. Dern (May 5 & 26, 1934), and Daniel C. Roper (May 7, 1934), in the Railplane System file.
Companies or individuals represented in the second series of business and legal papers include: J. Carson Adkerson, the American Manganese Producers' Association, Biggam Manganese Company, Clough Manganese Corporation, Fagabagon Company, E.J. Lavino & Company, W.F. Maginnis, Otter River Mining Company, Raw Materials National Council, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and Unicoi Manganese Company. Adkerson was personally involved in the operation of many of the companies included in this series.
The printed material series includes: copies of legislative bills, maps of various manganese properties, Mineral Industry Surveys , newsclippings and press releases concerning mineral and manganese production, and miscellaneous printed documents.
The fourth series is concerned with articles and reports about manganese production and properties.
Series five consists of miscellaneous papers, including the personal papers of Adkerson, an official program of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Third Inaugural, a petition of the American Manganese Producers' Association to Roosevelt, photographs about manganese mining and one about the railplane system, the minute book of the AMPA, a photograph album of the Cuban American Manganese Corporation Isabelita Plant, Studies for the Application of the Railplane System of Transportation in Rio De Janeiro, the Biggam Manganese Company Ledger, a scrapbook regarding manganese production, a pay ledger for the [Tennessee Manganese Corporation], and oversize photographs about manganese mining and oversize certificates awarded to Adkerson.
This collection was not received in any distinguishable
order. It was arranged in five series:
1) Correspondence (boxes 1-4)
2) Business & Legal Papers (boxes 5-7)
3) Printed Material (boxes 8-10)
4) Articles and Reports
A. Miscellaneous Articles & Reports (boxes 10-11)
B. Reports re Manganese Properties (boxes 12-13)
5) Miscellaneous Papers (boxes 13-15; 2M Ledgers; OS
Tray 53; OS Box P-1 ).