Overview
The Windham Manufacturing Company records document an 19th century cotton manufacturing company based in Willimantic, Connecticut. Many of the records relate to a general store run in connection with the factory.
Dates
- Creation: 1822-1911
Creator
- Windham Manufacturing Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
6 linear feet (61 volumes)The Windham Manufacturing Company records contain material related to operating a cotton manufacturing company and a general store adjacent to the mills. Materials include day books and journals, ledgers, time books, payroll, expense books, weekly reports, production records, shipping records, factory and boarding house construction records, and letter books.
Time books from 1824 to 1885 indicate that most of the employees were women. One volume of payroll records from 1855 to 1858 lists the names of both men and women workers and the amounts they were paid.
Biographical / Historical
The Windham Manufacturing Company was a cotton manufacturing company based in the Willimantic borough of Windham, Connecticut. The earliest records indicated that there was a mill producing products prior to 1822, but there's no specifified date of origin. The company also operated under the names of the Windham Company and the Windham Cotton Manufacturing Company. The factory produced broadcloth and cassismeres as well as spinning cotton. The blue broadcloth produced at the factory was used to make men's swallow-tailed coats, which were fashionable at the time. Many of the records in this collection relate to a general store the company operated alongside the mill in Willimantic starting in 1825. The store may have been purchased from a John Tracy. The company merged around 1911 with the Quidnick Manufacturing Company of Anthony, R.I. and became the Quidnick-Windham Manufacturing Company.
Arrangement
The Windham Manufacturing Company records are arranged according to original order.
Physical Location
MANU
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Windham Manufacturing Company records were received by Baker Library Special Collections as a donation from W.B. Knight on November 21, 1927.
Processing Information
Processed: March 2018 By: Baker Library Special Collections
Creator
- Windham Manufacturing Company (Organization)
- Title
- Windham Manufacturing Company. Windham Manufacturing Company Records, 1822-1905
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak00448
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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