US-RUn-msg235 Allen Knight Remington Papers 1904-1960 (bulk 1918-1950) Finding aid prepared by Sarina Rodrigues. University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections 2013 June 21 Finding aid encoded by Sarina Rodrigues 2013 June 21, updated by Mark Dionne on 2020 March 31 English Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) English University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt RoadKingston, RI 02881-2011Tel: 401-874-4632 E-mail: archives@etal.uri.eduWebsite: https://web.uri.edu/specialcollections/
 Remington, Allen Knight Allen Knight Remington Papers 1904-1960 (bulk 1918-1950) Nineteen Eighteen (1918) Club 4.75 linear feet These are the papers of Allen K. Remington. A graduate of The New Bedford Textile School, Remington had a career at a time of great transition in the New England textile industry in the mid-20th century. Ms.235 Biographical Note

Allen K. Remington was born in Central Falls, RI on August 29, 1898. His father had been a physician in Central Falls Central Falls and Pawtucket, Rhode Island.His grandfather had been livery stable owner in Coventry.

Remington briefly attended Rhode Island State College (now URI) from September to June of 1917. He then transferred to the New Bedford Textile School. After his graduation in 1920, he worked for Cooley and Marvin in Boston as a Textile Engineer.

In 1922 he worked for J. and P. Coates (RI) in various capacities, culminating as Night Floor Supervisor until 1943 when he took the challenge of improving the Pittsfield Mill as Resident Manager. The mill, it was confessed to him by the treasurer Hervey Kent, been allowed to deteriorate due to benign neglect by the ownership of the Exeter Manufacture Company of which Pittsfield was a subsidiary. The Exeter Mill was seen as the profit maker and funds were funneled from the Pittsfield operation to Exeter. After working hard and with little resources, Remington managed the cotton mill (built in 1827) into a small profit. Although he improved management, training, and updated equipment, it was clear that the Pittsfield Mill would not be allowed to progress beyond those small advances without capital support. He left in 1945 for a position with Pequot and St. Croix Mills (Canadian Cottons, Ltd.) with a better salary and better support but corporate politics came into play. Remington retired from St. Croix. The Pittsfield Mill was closed in 1948. Remington retired after a long memorable career, recounted in lively Oral history interviews in 1974 with Pamela Kennedy as well as long informative letters supplementing his interviews, spending time between New Hampshire and Matlacha, Florida.

Together with his wife Elsie, they raised four children Allen Jr., John, June, and Carol.

 Collection Information

Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Distinctive Collections Unit.

Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.

 Preferred Citation

Allen Knight Remington papers, Mss.Gr.235, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.

 Scope and Content Note

The collection contains educational and technical materials, notebooks and working documents used or collected by Remington during his career in management in New England textile mills.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in two series, Schools and Subject.

Series I, Schools Series II, Subject Administrative Information

Remington gave the material to URI Prof. James Findlay as a consequence of an oral history project conducted by Findlay in 1974. The material was transferred to University Archives and Special Collections in 1990.

 Inventory Series 1 Schools1916-1920

This Series contains notebooks and assignments from Central Falls High School classes in Physics and Chemistry and notes, notebooks, graded assignments for coursework at the New Bedford Textile School.

 1 1 1916 Central Falls High School, Notebooks: Physics and Chemistry 1 2 1920 New Bedford Textile School Notebook: color 1 3 1920 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, picking and carding, frames, the comber, spinning 1 4 1920 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, combers 1 5 1918 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, designs 2 6 1919 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, designs 2 7 1919, 1920 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, doubling and drafting 2 8 1918 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, dyeing 2 9 1918 New Bedford Textile School: Notebook, frames 2 10 1920 Newbedford Textile School: Notebook, weaving 3 11 1918-1919 New Bedford Textile School: Notebooks, loose notes, exams 3 12 1918-1920 New Bedford Textile School: Notes, exams Series 2 Subject1904-1965

This Series contains published technical bulletins, texts, and other material about textile machinery specifications and operations. Also of interests are notes, time and wage studies, and specifications on the mills which Remington supervised. Included is an unpublished memoir about his experiences managing the Pittsfield Mill as Resident Manager.

 3 1 1921 Oct 8-12, 250th Anniversary City of Pawtucket 1671-1921 Official Program 3 2 undated Abbott Machine Co., technical catalogs 3 3 1935 Mar 11 Abbott Machine Company, Wiltons NH: T.S. Winder floor plan 3 3 1943 Feb 2 Abbott Machine Company, Wiltons NH: auto quiller 3 4 1945 Nov Atwood Twists 3 5 1940s Barber-Colman Co. technical catalogs 3 6 undated Barber-Colman Co. spooling and warping instructions and procedures 3 7 1945 Dec Bates Manufacturing Company and the Textile Workers Union of America, agreement 3 7 1946-1949 Canadian Cottons Ltd. A Plan of Group Insurance for Our Employees;Canadian Cottons Ltd. Employees Benefit Plan ; pension plan; 3 7 1949 Oct 16 Canadian Cottons Ltd. Prices F.O.B. Mill Shipping Point 3 8 1947-1949 Canadian Cottons Ltd. and Textile Workers Union of America (C.C.L.-C.I.O.), agreement 3 9 1922 Card foreman's notebook, mill number 6 3 10 1946 Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. - American Competitive Enterprise System 3 10 1950 Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. - Steadier Jobs: An Action Program for Management 3 11 undated Cleaning schedules 3 12 1945 Jan 7 Cost of present filling versus warp spinning plus cone winding and rewinding 3 13 1946 Dec, Aug Cotton Chats no. 266, 367 4 14 1922 Cotton Mill Handbook for Superintendents and Overseers in Cotton Yarn and Cloth Mills 4 15 1937 Crompton & Knowles Loom Works - Electric Warp Stop Motion 4 16 1937 Crompton & Knowles Loom Works - Knowles Head Motion 4 17 1907 Dodge calculator for pulleys and belts and shafting horse power 4 18 1917 Draper Corporation Numbering Yarn and Twist Tables 4 19 1913 Engine Room Chemistry - The Power Handbooks 4 20 1939 Fibro in the Cotton Industry 4 21 11-Jan-1934 Foreman's duties: self acting spooling machines, mill number 2 Pawtucket RI 4 22 1946 Frames and looms: tests of motor speeds 4 23 1909, 1924 H & B American Machine Co. Cotton Machinery 4 24 1927 Harvard Business Review - Point Plan for Industrial Control 4 25 1921 Industrial Management-A Compilation of Tested Methods and Proven Facts 5 26 1899-1905 International Library of Technology, vol. 76-77 5 27 1922, 1937 J. and P. Coats (RI) inc. forms, reporting 5 28 1933, undated J. and P. Coats (RI) inc. forms, reporting 5 29 1945 Feb 13 Labor-O-Meter summary of gains and losses, Pittsfield Mill 5 30 1919 Oct 6 Machinery inventory: Cooley & Marvin Co. (Picking, Weaving, Carding, Spinning, Finishing) 5 31 1937 Magazine Cone Creel with High Speed Warper model w.c. blueprint, Foster Machine Co., Westfield MA 5 32 1934 Mechanical Power Engineering Associates: A practical analysis 5 33 undated Mercer survey 5 34 1932 Mercerized Sewing-Method of Handling in the Finishing Department (J.P. Coats) 5 35 1930s-1940s Miscellaneous forms, notes, pamphlets 5 36 undated Millworker list of duties 5 37 1946 Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co. employee insurance 5 38 1941, 1947 Naumkeag Steam Cotton Co. and Textile Workers Union of America, Local No. 74, No. 292, and Affiliated with the C.I.O., collective bargaining agreement 5 39 undated New England Textile Mills An Adventure in New Hampshire, Rebuilding a Mill, 1943-1946(unpublished manuscript) 5 40 undated New York and New Jersey Lubricant Co: lubrication of revolving flat card TB5; TB13 5 41 1923-1929 Notebooks 5 42 1928-1941 Notebooks 6 43 1920-1942 Notebook: test, training rules 6 44 1942 Page Belting Co. How to Get the Most from Your Leather Belting 6 45 1848 Nov Parks-Cramer Company - Parks' Parables 6 46 undated Pittsfield: cards improvement of coiling and increase of can content 6 47 1946 Pittsfield mills 6 48 1945 Pittsfield mills: forms reporting 6 49 1945 Pittsfield: machine inventory 6 50 1943 Pittsfield mills: new standard cost based on standards of Sept 1943 and wage increases 6 51 1949, undated Platt Bros.Oldham England 6 52 1929 Point system 6 53 1915 Practical mechanics and allied subjects. (Joseph W. L. Hale) 7 54 1946 Apr-May Preliminary report: wage structure in cotton textile mills New England and Southeast 7 55 1948 Rayon staple in the cotton industry, 4th ed. 7 56 1946 Sept 17 Report on piecing sliver left in cans at slubbers 7 57 1948-1950 Rhode Island School of Design Evening Extension School admissions handbook (see Whitin Review, Jan-Feb 1950) 7 58 1928-1950 Saco-Lowell Bulletins 7 59 1938 Oct Saco-Lowell Cotton Machinery Model 38 Spinning Frame 3rd Edition 7 60 1942 Saco-Lowell Hand-Book Vol. I 2nd Edition Opening and Picking 7 60 1939 Saco-Lowell Hand-Book Vol. II Carding 7 60 1940 Saco-Lowell Hand-Book Vol. III Drawing 7 60 1949 Saco-Lowell Hand-Book Vol. V Combing 7 61 1941 Saco-Lowell Lubrication Data Charts 7 62 undated Saco-Lowell shops: cotton mill machinery catalogs 8 63 1942, 1950 Saco-Lowell Shops: service letters 8 64 1938 May 11 Saco-Lowell Shops: piping diagram for kettle taylor system (blueprint) 8 65 undated Saco-Lowell Shops High Speed Warper 8 65 1946 Saco-Lowell Shops Instructions Timing and Operating Data for Saco-Lowell Combers 8 65 1942, 1950 Saco-Lowell Shops: service letters 8 65 undated Saco-Lowell Shops One-Process Pickers and Blending Reserves Catalog of Parts 8 65 undated Saco-Lowell Shops Revolving Flat Card Catalog of Parts 8 65 undated Saco-Lowell Shops Silver Lap Winder Catalog of Parts 8 65 undated Saco-Lowell Shops Spinning Frame Model 38 Catalog of Parts 8 66 1922 Saco-Lowell Spinning Frames No. 17 Model 8 66 1945 Saco-Lowell Spinning Frames Roth System Long Draft Model SR-2 8 67 1920 Saco-Lowell Spoolers Warpers and Slashers 8 67 1920 Saco-Lowell Twisters 8 68 undated Samples: Rayon 9 69 undated Samples: woven cotton cloth 9 70 undated Samples: war items made with our yarn (The Spool Cotton Company) 9 71 undated Spinning Twist Finder (Victor Ring Traveler Co.) 9 72 undated Spool (artifact) 9 73 1947 Supervisors meetings 9 74 1927 Tariff Information Surveys on the Articles in Paragraph 902 of the Tariff Act of 1922 9 75 1945,1946,1965 Textile Club - By-Laws and Roster 9 76 undated Textile Foundation - Opportunities for Trained Men and Women in Textile and Related Industries 9 77 1948 Oct Textile World: Cotton Varieties Are Growing in Importance 9 78 1921 Textile World Kink Book Vol. IV 9 79 1945 Textile World synthetic fiber comparison chart 9 80 undated Thread size comparison (photograph) 9 81 1943 Time ratesheets: .warp spinning dept. 9 82 1940s Universal Winding Co. Getting The Most From Winding No. 39, 40, 42-58 of a series 9 83 1944 Viscose process dept. Schedule of prices 9 84 1945 Werner Textile Consultants 9 85 1937 Whitin - Boiling Down the Facts on Whitin (Long Draft, Inter-Draft, and Super-Draft) 9 86 1932 Whitin Card Room Machinery (Revolving flat card) 9 87 1945 Whitin Card Room Machinery (Slubber-Intermediate and Roving Frames) 9 88 1950 Whitin Component parts catalog for Model J Comber 10 89 1910 Whitin Cotton machinery descriptive catalog 10 90 1915 Whitin Cotton Yarn Machiner, 2nd. Ed. 10 91 1939 Whitin Machine Works buckley cleaner (prospectus) 10 92 1946-1950 Whitin Review (Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville MA) 10 93 1938 Whitin Roving Frames Technical Information on Adjustment and Operation 10 94 1947 Whitin Spinning Frames for Cotton Yarns Model "F2" 10 95 1904 Yarn and cloth calculations (Thomas Yates)