East Tennessee State University
Archives of Appalachia
Box 70295
Johnson City, Tennessee 37614
E-mail: archives@etsu.edu
Telephone: (423) 439-4338
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Title: |
The General Shale Products Corporation Records |
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Collection Number: |
Accession No. 307 |
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Physical Description: |
1.5 linear feet |
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Creator: |
General Shale Products Corporation |
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Repository: |
Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University |
Provenance: The General Shale Products Corporation Records were donated to the Archives of Appalachia by James Widener November 16, 1987.
Access: The records are open to research.
Processing Information: Scott Schwartz, Dawn Gentry and A.Kilgore completed processing and the records were opened to researchers April 12, 1990.
HISTORICAL NOTE
The General Shale Products Corporation, Johnson City, Tennessee, was created through a buy-out and merger of the Kingsport Brick Corporation and the Johnson City Shale Brick Corporation by General Shale Products of Delaware in 1925. The newly consolidated East Tennessee company began operation September 1, 1928 after three years of negotiation. One year later four more regional quarry companies were purchased by the Johnson City Division of General Shale Products; these acquisitions included the Oliver Springs Company, Richlands Brick Company, Bristol Brick Company, and Jellico Brick and Coal Company. The Cherokee Brick Corporation of Knoxville, Tennessee also was leased by General Shale Products from 1929 to 1936. The original company management included: Sam R. Sells as President; E. H. Hunter as Vice-President; J. C. Stone as Secretary; and Glen Bruce as Treasurer.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the region's finest homes, churches, and public schools were built from General Shale Products' red facing brick. During the company's peak production years, the Johnson City Division became the largest manufacturer and seller of brick in the United States, annually producing 1.2 billion bricks. As a result of General Shale Products acquisition of several of its regional competitors and an increase in its production, the East Tennessee company was able to capture and control between 12% and 15% of the total market share within the United States by the end of the first half of the twentieth century.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The General Shale Products Corporation Records contain three Hollinger boxes of loose ledger sheets and one ledger of stock holder meeting minutes, minutes to General Shale Products Company board of directors meetings, corporate by-laws, land deeds, and correspondence documenting the general operation and management of the company between 1909 and 1986. In addition to these records there are documents that portray General Shale Products acquisition of the Kingsport Brick Corporation, Johnson City Shale Brick Corporation, Richlands Brick Company and Bristol Brick Company between 1928 and 1929. The ledger and ledger sheets are arranged first alphabetically by company name and then chronologically by the first date of each folder's date span.
Important subjects covered in the collection are:
Brick trade
Bruce, Glen
Coe, Charles F.
Dennis, John B. (John Bartlett), 1866-1947
Doggett, Arthur J.
Doggett, Ruth C.
Eaton, Warren P.
Franke, William B. (William Birrell)
General Shale Products Corporation
Hunter, E. H.
Hyatt, C. C., Jr.
Industries--Tennessee--Johnson City
Industries--Tennessee--Kingsport
Johnson, J. Fred (John Frederick), 1874-1944
Johnson City Shale Brick Corporation
Kingsport Brick Corporation
Meade, Roy H.
Richlands Brick Corporation
Sells, Sam H.
Sells, Sam Riley, 1871-1935
Sells, W. S.
Tennessee, East--Industries
Tunnel kilns
United States. Securities and Exchange Commission
Box 1
1. General Shale Products Corporation, book 1, October 5, 1928.
2. General Shale Products Corporation, book 1, November 30, 1928-February 3, 1930.
3. General Shale Products Corporation, book 2, May 1, 1930- December 1, 1935.
4. General Shale Products Corporation, book 2, December 7, 1935- December 24, 1936.
5. General Shale Products Corporation, book 3, May 6, 1937-July 1937.
6. General Shale Products Corporation, book 3, July 19, 1937-May 26, 1938.
7. General Shale Products Corporation, book 4, August 11, 1938.
8. General Shale Products Corporation, book 4, August 17, 1938- May 10, 1944.
9. General Shale Products Corporation, book 5, May 26, 1944-June 24, 1945.
10. General Shale Products Corporation, book 5, July 19, 1945- November 30, 1949.
Box 2
1. General Shale Products Corporation, book 6, February 7, 1950- July 1950.
2. General Shale Products Corporation, book 6, August 19, 1950- November 27, 1951.
3. General Shale Products Corporation, book 6, January 1952- November 21, 1952.
4. General Shale Products Corporation, book 7, March 18, 1953- March 3, 1954.
5. General Shale Products Corporation, book 7, May 27, 1954-July 1, 1955.
6. General Shale Products Corporation, book 7, August 27, 1955- May 23, 1957.
7. General Shale Products Corporation, book 7, August 31, 1957- December 1958.
8. General Shale Products Corporation, book 7, November 28, 1958-October 22, 1959.
9. General Shale Products Corporation, Securities Exchange Commission, June 2, 1986.
10. General Shale Products Corporation-Richlands Brick Corporation, June 11, 1909-June 19, 1944.
Box 3
1. Johnson City Shale Brick Corporation, November 19, 1919- January 25, 1936.
2. Richlands Brick Corporation Minutes, January 22, 1909-June 19, 1944.
Ledger 1. General Shale Products Corporation Stock Certificate Book, June 30, 1944.
Appalachian Block Company: 2-3.
Brading, J. E.: 1-4.
Bristol Brick: 1-4.
Brown, C. H.: 1-2.
Bruce, Glen: 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-9, 2-1.Carnegie Realty: 1-2, 3-1.
Dennis, John B.: 1-1, 1-2, 1-6, 1-7.
Doggett, Ruth C.: 1-6.
Eastman Kodak: 2-7.
Eaton, Warren P., 1-4, 1-6.Eddy And Company: 2-1.
Franke, W. B.: 2-1.
Hines, Juliet: 2-3.
Hunter, E. H.: 1-1, 1-2, 11-3, 1-6, 1-9.
Hyatt, C. C.: 1-4, 1-6.Hyatt, Mary B.: 1-6.
Johnson City Shale: 1-1.
Johnson, Elizabeth D.: 1-6.
Johnson, J. Fred: 1-1, 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-0.
Kelly, F. M.: 1-2, 1-4.Kingsport Brick: 1-2, 3-1.
Lorenzen, G. F.: 2-7.
Merchants Association: 2-1.
Mitchell, Harry E.: 1-2.
Peabbles, C. S.: 1-1.Perkins, James L.: 2-9.
Richland Brick Company: 1-9, 2-10, 3-2.
Securities Company: 2-1.
Securities Exchange 2-9.
Sells, Sam R.: 1-1, 1-2, 1-6.Simmonds, J. R.: 1-2.
Stone, J. C.: 1-2, 1-6, 1-9.
Thomas, T. T.: 2-3.
Trice, Ann H.: 3 ledger 1.
MTC 05/01