Important Update (4/2016): Our Yale & Towne Collection has been moved from UConn Stamford campus to the UConn Storrs campus, Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.
- The Y&T Oral histories have been placed on our digital repository: Yale and Towne Oral Histories: choose Business & Industry > Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company Collection
- View the Archives & Special Collections Finding Aid: A Guide to the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company Collection, undated, 1869-2001
Detailed Description
Series I: History, n.d.,
1878-2001
Series II: Oral Histories and
Employee Memoirs, n.d., 1874-2001
Series III: Strike History,
1869-1988
Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company
Collection
Finding aid prepared by Francesca Ford.
Finding aid encoded by Betsy Pittman in 2002 and 2003.
This finding aid was prepared with generous support from the Connecticut Humanities Council.
© 2003 University of Connecticut
History
Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company was established in 1868 by Linus Yale and Henry Towne in Stamford,
Connecticut. Linus Yale was the inventor of the tumbler lock. He died in New York on December 24, 1868, never
knowing that his company would become the leading manufacturer of locks in the world. Henry Towne expanded
the company from locks to materials handling in 1875. Yale & Towne Manufacturing was the leading employer in the
Stamford, Connecticut, area.
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Scope and Content
The collection contains a broad range of materials documenting building history, union strikes, and employee
memoirs at the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company in Stamford, Connecticut, including correspondence, newspaper
articles, magazine articles, oral history audio tapes, photographs, video tapes, maps and artifacts.
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Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut
Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.
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Related
Material
Separated Material
Hennessy, Thomas F. Locks and lockmakers of America. Rev. 3rd. ed. Park Ridge, Ill.: Locksmith
Publishing Corp., c1997. Call Number 3
#887: The Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company vs. Yale’s Hardware Store. Appellant’s brief. Superior Court,
No. 43277. June 26, 1934 Fairfield County, CT: Supreme Court of Errors of the State of Connecticut. October Term,
1934. Call Number 4
Same as above, except instead of Appellant’s brief, the title is: Plaintiff’s appeal from Superior Court for
Fairfield County. (2 copies) Call Number 5
Fifty Years of a Successful Industry, 1868-1918.
Stamford, CT: Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company,
c1919. Call Number 2
History of the Trade-Mark “Yale.” 4th edition .
Stamford, CT: Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company,
c1930. Call Number 1
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Administrative
Information
Preferred
Citation
[Item, Folder #], Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company Collection.
Jeremy Richard Library, University of Connecticut Libraries.
Acquisition
Information
Collected by the Yale & Towne Project and University of Connecticut–Stamford students and presented to the
Jeremy Richard Library in July 2002.
Accruals
Additional materials were added to the collection in November 2002 and December 2003.
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Detailed
Description
Series I: History, n.d., 1878-2001 |
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1:1 | Site History, 1978 | ||||||||||||
1:2 | Site, 19th Century photo reproductions including Stamford Historical Society Collection, n.d. |
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1:3 | Site Map, Photo reproduction, 1908 | ||||||||||||
1:4 | Henry Street building, construction, 1920 | ||||||||||||
1:5 | Building description/history, 1980 | ||||||||||||
1:6 | Demolition, photos and negatives, 1982 | ||||||||||||
1:7 | Site photo, 1982 | ||||||||||||
1:8 | Environmental Impact Study, 1983 | ||||||||||||
1:9 | Site Photos, 2001 March | ||||||||||||
1:10 | Site Photos from Christine Irwin, 2000 May 5 | ||||||||||||
1:11 | National Register Nomination, and correspondence, 1980 |
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1:12 | Urban Development Action Grant/Newspaper article “Developer Abandons Plan for Yale & Towne Project”, 1979 |
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2:13 | Four factory scenes, photo reproductions, 1900 | ||||||||||||
Stamford Historical Society Collection Photo reproductions |
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[photocopy] 1900 | |||||||||||||
1920 | |||||||||||||
1945-1946 | |||||||||||||
ca. 1950 | |||||||||||||
Historic Neighborhood News, Spring, 2000-2001 |
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3 | “Stamford” Beers Atlas [photo reproduction], 1878 |
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“Birds Eye View Stamford” [photo reproduction], 1883 |
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Daily Advocate supplememt, 1912 April 3 | |||||||||||||
“Once a Lock Company”, Stamford Advocate, n.d. |
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Saturday Evening Post Advertisements, 1910 September 24 and October 15 |
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5 | Site Tour video tape, 2001 April | ||||||||||||
Yale & Towne site map, March 1921 | |||||||||||||
Shelf | “Plot Plan of Yale & Towne Mfg. Co.”, map mounted on plywood, 1921 March |
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1:13 | “Discovering the Lost World of Yale & Towne”, Historic Neighborhood News, Spring 2000 |
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2:27 | “Wages and Hours of Work in the Lock and Wood Screw Industries”, State of Connecticut, Department of Labor, May 1937 |
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2:28 | The Magazine of Management, 1948 Fall | ||||||||||||
6:43 | Strike accounts (New York, Bridgeport and Stamford, Connecticut papers), 1945 November – 1946 April |
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4 | Heather Alexander’s Project Notes for “Unlocking Yale & Towne: The Impact of a Giant Industry on its Surroundings, 1868-1955″, 2001-2003 |
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Contents
Series II: Oral Histories and Employee Memoirs,
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2:13 | Stamford Advocate article, 1874 May 8 | ||||||||||||
Yale & Towne Advertisement, n.d. | |||||||||||||
Stamford Advocate article, n.d. | |||||||||||||
Stamford Advocate article, 1934 May 27 | |||||||||||||
2:14 | Worker housing newspaper articles, 1926 March 5 |
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2:15 | Al Koprowski letter, 2000 June 21 | ||||||||||||
2:16 | Employee sports photos and articles, 1922-1923 | ||||||||||||
“Yaletowne’s Girl Bowlers Grown Famous”, Photograph from Stamford Advocate, ca. 1927 |
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2:17 | Hogan Family memoirs, photos and newspaper articles, 1922-2000 |
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2:18 | Mehan Family memoirs, photos and correspondence, 1942-1993 |
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2:19 | Apprentice School photos and oral history, 1909-1946 |
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2:23 | Employee memoirs correspondence, 1918-2001 | ||||||||||||
2:24 | Lock Museum History, photos, 2001 | ||||||||||||
2:25 | 25 Ann Durland Files, n.d. | ||||||||||||
2:26 | Yale & Towne vs. Yale Hardware Store, 1936 | ||||||||||||
2:28 | “We Cut the Finest Keys”, photographs of commerical key sign, n.d. |
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2:29 | “Yale in the World of Tomorrow”, pamphlet from New York World’s Fair, 1939 |
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3 | “Linus Yale, Jr., Lock Expert”, advertisement from Saturday Evening Post 1910 October 15 |
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“Mr. Never-Close-the Door, Mr. Always-Slam-the-Door-Goodbye”, Advertisement from Saturday Evening Post, 1910 September 24 |
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“Once a Lock Company”, Stamford Advocate, n.d. |
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Wartime Identification Badge, n.d. | |||||||||||||
“Your Earnings Record”, Record of earnings of Helen Gacher Cossett, 1937-1951 |
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5 | Employee badge, Lucy Bivona, 1943 | ||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Ed Chrostowski, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Bruno Cornilio, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Helen Gacher Cossett, 2001 |
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Oral History audiotape Jean Davis, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Ann Duplex, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Ann Durland, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Jane Karwoski, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History videotape John Valmis, Ann Durland, and Frank Spisinski, 2001 |
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Oral History audiotape Lucy Bivona Morabito, 2001 |
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Oral History audiotape Carmine Salvatore and Dominic Sabia, 2001 |
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Oral History audiotape Ron Salvatore, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Frank Spisinski, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Jerome Sturm, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Charles Vail, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History audiotape Julius Wilensky, 2001 | |||||||||||||
Oral History videotape Paul Lee, 2001 | |||||||||||||
5:Binder | Transcript of Julius Wilensky, Manager Yale & Towne, oral history, 2001 |
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Transcript of John Valmis, Ann Durland, and Frank Spiniski, employees of Yale & Towne, videotape, 2001 |
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Transcript of Carmine Salvatore and Dominic Sabia, employees of Yale & Towne, oral history, 2001 |
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Transcript of Jerome Sturm, Union Lawyer for the International Association of Machinists, oral history, 2001 |
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Transcript of John Valmis, employee of Yale & Towne, oral history, 2001 |
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Letter from Jack Cavanaugh, reminiscences of work at Yale & Towne, 1999 |
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Letter from John Valmis, reminiscences of work at Yale & Towne, 2000 |
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Contents
Series III: Strike History, 1869-1988 |
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2:20 | Correspondence and newspaper article, 1890 | ||||||||||||
2:21 | Union organization efforts, 1937 | ||||||||||||
2:22 | Newspaper articles, 1945-1980 | ||||||||||||
David Kelly thesis “The Strike at Yale & Towne and the Stamford General Strike”, 1988 May 18 |
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6:27 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1869-1870 |
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6:28 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1873-1874 |
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6:29 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1890 |
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6:30 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1892 |
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6:31 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1894 |
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6:32 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1945 March – May |
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6:33 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1945 September – October |
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6:34 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1945 November – December |
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6:35 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1946 January |
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6:36 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1946 February |
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6:37 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1946 March |
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6:38 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1946 April |
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6:39 | Stamford Advocate articles [photo reproductions], 1947 February |
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4:40 | David Kelly’s Research Notebook Volume I, n.d. | ||||||||||||
4:41 | David Kelly’s Research Notebook Volume II, n.d. |
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6:42 | David Kelly’s Research Notebook Volume III, n.d. |
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6:43 | Periodical accounts of strike, November 1945-April 1946 |
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3 | Life Magazine, 1946 January 14 | ||||||||||||
Newspaper article “Unions in a Company Town”, 1983 October 30 |