Crompton Company Photographs

Collection Number: 6586 P

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Crompton Company Photographs
Collection Number:
6586 P
Creator:
Crompton Company
Quantity:
0.7 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Albumen print, gelatin silver print, photographs, photomechanical--halftone.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Photographs from the Crompton Company. Includes photographs of Howard Richmond. Nightingale Richmond, Frank E. Richmond, and George Martin Richmond.
Language:
Collection material in English


ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The company was founded in 1807 as the Providence Manufacturing Co. in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and by 1808 was operating a cotton mill. Its name changed in 1823 to Crompton Co., and it expanded to include a bleachery and by 1832 calico printing. The village around the mill was named Crompton Mills, later known as Crompton. The company incorporated in 1850. By 1866 George Martin Richmond gained controlling interest, and the Richmond family soon dominated the company. Frank Richmond became president in 1866 and Howard Richmond became treasurer. The company began to make corduroys and velveteens; printed cloth was phased out by 1906. F.E. Richmond, Howard's son, was treasurer and then president from 1907 to 1943. In 1915 the company took over the sales agency of Henry Kupfer & Co. and changed its name to Crompton-Richmond Co. in 1916. It entered the factoring business in 1933 and in 1936 moved its sales of finished goods and factoring subsidiary to New York City The company expanded to the South, building Crompton-Highland Mills in 1925 in Griffin, Georgia, to make grey corduroy. In 1928 Crompton-Shenandoah Co. in Waynesboro, Virginia, was operating as a corduroy dyeing and finishing plant. Other southern plants included Crompton-Arkansas Mills in Morrillton, Arkansas, the Crompton-Osceola Co. (F.E. Richmond plant) in Osceola, Arkansas, and the Howard Richmond Plant in Leesburg, Virginia. The company ceased operations in 1988.
PROVENANCE:

American Textile History Museum Collection, gift of David Belcher, William G. Lord, and James F. Sweeney, Jr.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Dancewicz, Joseph Anthony, 1906-1978
Derrickson, H. P.
Johnson, Carl.
Lord, William G.
Richmond, Frank E.
Richmond, George Martin.
Richmond, Howard.
Richmond, Nightingale.
Blackstone Mill.
Crompton & Knowles Loom Works.
Crompton Company.
Crompton Loom Works.
Crompton Osceola Company.
Crompton-Arkansas Mills.
Crompton-Highland Mills.
Crompton-Richmond Company.
Crompton-Shenandoah Company.
Henry Kupfer & Company.
Howard Richmond Plant (Leesburg, Va.)
Hunt- Spiller Manufacturing Corp. (Boston, Mass.)
Lonsdale Company.
Providence Manufacturing Company.
Rhode Island Plush Mills (Woonsocket, R.I.)
Sagamore Manufacturing Company
Slater Mills (Webster, Mass.)
Soule Mill (New Bedford, Mass.)

Subjects:
Business records
Clerks
Combing machines
Corduroy
Cotton manufacture
Cotton technology, General
Diesel motor
Dyes and dyeing
Executives
Factoring services industry
Glass fiber industry
Immigrants
Industries
Inspecting and repairing
Jacquard weaving
Women employees
Male employees
Industrial relations
Looms
Metal castings
Polish Americans
Silk machinery
Silk weaving
Spinning machinery
Superintendents
Textile factories
Textile industry
Textile machinery
Textile printing
Textile workers
Weaving

Geographic Subjects:
Blackstone (Mass.)
Crompton (R.I.)
Webster (Mass.)
Woonsocket (R.I.)
Worcester (Mass.)

Form and Genre Terms:
Albumen print
Gelatin silver print
Photographs
Photomechanical--halftone


INFORMATION FOR USERS

Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
Crompton Company Photographs #6586 P. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

RELATED MATERIALS

Related Collections:
6586: Crompton Company Records

CONTAINER LIST

Container
Description
Box 1 Folder 1
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 1
Format: Graphics
Halftone print, ca. 1900. Image of the Crompton Company complex along the Pawtuxet River, including the cotton mills and dyeing and finishing works; two smoking chimneys; horses and carriages and horses and wagons on streets surrounding the complex. The Crompton Company was best known for its corduroys. Crompton is now part of West Warwick, R.I. 30.5 x 21 cm.
Box 1 Folder 1
Format: Black and white photograph
Lane, Paterson, N.J. [photographer]. Albumen print, ca. 1880. Image depicts a Crompton silk swivel loom, built at Crompton Loom Works in Worcester, Mass. Loom has overhead Jacquard cards. Most likely installed in a silk mill in Paterson, N.J. 10 x 15.25 cm. (w/out mount); 10.75 x 16.5 cm. (w/mount).
Box 1 Folder 2
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 2
Format: Black and white photograph
Bachrach, photographer. Gelatin silver print, ca.1975. Image depicts Howard Richmond, president of Crompton Company, Inc., from 1965-1975, and chairman of the board, 1975-1978, from the chest up, wearing a white shirt, dark tie, and dark suit. Howard Richmond succeeded Nightingale Richmond as president and then chairman of the board of Crompton. The Crompton Company, which originated in Crompton (West Warwick), R.I., was known for its Crompton corduroys. 27.5 x 35 cm. (w/out mat); 35.5 x 45.75 cm. (w/mat).
Box 1 Folder 3
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 3
Format: Black and white photograph
Fabian Bachrach, photographer. Gelatin silver print, ca. 1957-1960. Image depicts Nightingale Richmond, president of Crompton Company, Inc., from 1944-1964, and chairman of the board, 1965-1975, from the waist up, with his hands crossed in front of him. He holds a pipe in his right hand. He is wearing a white shirt, striped tie, and light gray suit; he wears glasses. Nightingale Richmond succeeded his father, Frank E. Richmond, as president of the Crompton Company; he, in turn, was succeeded by Howard Richmond. The Crompton Company, which originated in Crompton (West Warwick), R.I., was known for its Crompton corduroys. 31 x 39 cm. (to edges of backing); 35.5 x 45.75 cm. (w/mat).
Box 1 Folder 4
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 4
Format: Black and white photograph
Blackstone-Shelburne New York, 3 West 30th St., N.Y., [photographer? or may have produced this print from an earlier photo]. Gelatin silver print, ca. 1940-1955; original ca. 1932-1942. Image depicts Frank E. Richmond (1877-1951), president of Crompton Company from 1907 to 1943, from the chest up, wearing a white shirt, dark tie, and dark suit. Frank Richmond succeeded his father, Howard Richmond, at the helm of the Crompton Company; he, in turn, was succeeded by his son, Nightingale Richmond. The Crompton Company, which originated in Crompton (West Warwick), R.I., was known for its Crompton corduroys. 26.5 x 34.5 cm. (w/out mat); 35.5 x 45.75 cm. (w/mat).
Box 1 Folder 5
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 5
Format: Black and white photograph
Blackstone-Shelburne New York, 3 West 30th St., N.Y., [probably produced this print from an earlier photo]. Gelatin silver print, ca. 1940-1955; original ca. 1900]. Image depicts Howard Richmond (1830-1907), treasurer of Crompton Company from 1876 to his death in 1907, from the chest up, wearing a white shirt with upright collar, dark tie, and dark jacket. He has a mustache and wears glasses. Howard Richmond succeeded his father, George M. Richmond, as treasurer of the Crompton Company; he, in turn, was succeeded by his son, Frank E. Richmond. The Crompton Company, which originated in Crompton (West Warwick), R.I., was known for its Crompton corduroys. 26.5 x 34.5 cm. (w/out mat); 35.5 x 45.5 cm. (w/mat).
Box 1 Folder 6
Format: Black and white photograph
Box 1 Folder 6
Format: Black and white photograph
Blackstone-Shelburne New York, 3 West 30th St., N.Y., [probably produced this print from an earlier photo]. Gelatin silver print, ca. 1940-1955; original ca. 1860. Image depicts George Martin Richmond (died in 1876?), treasurer of Crompton Company from 1850 to 1876, from the chest up in a side view. Richmond wears a high collar, dark tie, and dark jacket; he has a beard. George M. Richmond was succeeded as treasurer of the Crompton Company by his son, Howard Richmond. The Crompton Company, which originated in Crompton (West Warwick), R.I., was known for its Crompton corduroys. 26.5 x 34.5 cm. (w/out mat); 35.75 x 45.75 cm. (w/mat).