Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

An appointment for research is required. The collection is open for research. No interlibrary loan.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

[Article title, volume, issue, page number, date], "The Iron Worker" Collection, Appalachian Collection, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA The Iron Worker Collection: Official publication of the Lynchburg Foundry, Accession # AC 027, University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University

Acquisition Information

Donated in 2013.

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Custodial History

Copies of The Iron Worker were donated to the Appalachian Collection in 2013.

Processing Information

Processed by Wes Hess, Spring 2013, with finding aid additions by Gene Hyde.

Biographical Information

The Iron Worker was a company publication of The Lynchburg Foundry, which had plants in Radford and Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg Foundry Company was founded in 1896 in Lynchburg, Virginia, and spent its first several years consolidating stock and building capital. In 1903 it constructed a plant in Lynchburg to produce iron pipe. In 1905 it purchased the Radford Pipe Works, which was originally developed by a group of Cincinnati investors that included J. N. Gamble of the Proctor & Gamble Company. The Radford plant went into receivership for a while, and was idle before being purchased by the Virginia Iron, Coal, and Coke Company, which operated it as the Radford Pipe Works for about a year, when VICC then leased the plant to Glamorgan Pipe and Foundry until 1905, when it was sold to Lynchburg Foundry.

Scope and Content

This collection contains issues of the publication Iron Worker which was produced from 1934-1977. Articles about local history are present with topics such as the early days of the Radford Works, a description of Lynchburg in 1935, and Lynchburg's Early Water Systems. Articles written during World War II specifically from 1942-1944 detail the effect the war had on the industry and foundries in Lynchburg with article titles such as We have a Task to Perform, Postwar Planning, and Training for War Production. Issues from 1945-1947 detail the surrender of Nazi Germany, ending World War II and discussion of the atomic bomb with articles such as For War or Peace? and From Horsedrawn Plow to Actomic Energy. Also included are the issues of the Iron Worker from 1960-1977.A typical issue of The Iron Worker included articles about plant processes, plant employees and managers, features on local history and personalities, and dozens of photographs. Relevant local history articles in the issues from 1934-1947 are noted in the container list, but the later issues (1948-1977) also contain articles on local history that are not documented in this finding aid.

Arrangement

Box 1: 1934-1956

Box 2: 1960-1977