Charles G. Palmer papers, 1897, 1929-1930

Summary

Creator:

Palmer, Charles G.

Abstract:

A civil engineer for the Austin Company in Cleveland, Ohio, who worked in the Soviet Union in 1929. Photographs and a journal documenting Palmer's work on an auto plant construction site near Nizhnii Novgorod. Also, an Alaska travel journal dated 1897.

Extent:

0.3 linear feet

Language:

English

Call Number:

2023017 Aa 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Olga Virakhovskaya in October 2023.

Background

Scope and Content:

The bulk of the collection documents Palmer's work and travel in the USSR. Over 100 photographs- many annotated on verso- depict projects in progress, work sites and workers, and other scenes related to the Avtostroi plant construction. Also, views of Monastyrka, Kostroma, Ples, and other towns along Volga, as well as Moscow.

A black "Record" volume includes Palmer's journal dated September-November 1929 with entries about work and work methods, as well as people, places, and local culture. In addition, the journal includes entries about Palmer's trip to the industrial cities of Sverdlovsk, Cheliabinsk, and Kharkiv; and his travels through Warsaw, Berlin, and Amsterdam on his way back home. The volume also contains Palmer's job-related drawings and notes. Topics include materials description, materials acquisition and movement, job requirements, labor, cost estimations, production procedures, equipment construction, and a report on gravel pits in Nizhnii Novgorod, dated 1930.

Biographical / Historical:

Charles G. Palmer was born in Detroit, Mich. in circa 1870. He was a fifth of nine children. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1896 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. Palmer worked as a civil engineer for the Austin Company located in Cleveland, Ohio. Austin was a consulting firm that employed engineers, architects, designers, and contractors. In 1929-1930 Austin conducted business in the USSR, where it designed and constructed the Avtostroi automobile plant and infrastructure for a workers' city near Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia. In the fall of 1929 Palmer worked on the Avtostroi construction site in town of Monastyrka on the Oka river.

Acquisition Information:

Donated by Bruce Palmer (donor no. 12423 ) in August 2023.

Accruals:

No further additions to the records are expected.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio houses a collection of the Austin Company records and audiovisual materials.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Automobile factories -- Soviet Union.
Civil engineers.
Industrialization -- Soviet Union.

Formats:

Photographs.

Names:

Austin Company.
Palmer, Charles G.

Places:

Nizhnii Novgorod (Russia)
Soviet Union -- Description and travel.