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Collection about the history of Leonard Refineries, Inc. (Alma, Michigan).

This is a Historical Collection of the company, not the complete business records of the company. The collection was preserved by Mr. Donald Godrey until it was donated to the Clarke. The collection is physically in good to excellent condition. A few fragile newspaper clippings were photocopied. The collection documents the history of Leonard Refineries in Alma, its mergers and changes, advertising, plants, fires, and people.

The collection consists of over 4,000 negatives and photographs; subject files; oversized volumes, including scrapbooks, photograph albums, and newspaper clippings; oversized advertising and photographs; and 2 copies of a CD of Leonard radio advertising songs, some dated 1959. The collection is organized by format and size, then by topic and date. Series include the following: Negatives (which vary in size, 20 boxes, 10 cubic ft.); Mixed Materials (1 box, .5 cubic ft.); Photographs (3 boxes, 1.5 cubic ft.); Papers, Subject Files, which includes a cassette tape, VHS tape, and booklets (3 boxes, 1.25 cubic ft.); and 36 Oversized Volumes, 3 Oversized Folders, and 2 CDs (approximately 20 cubic ft.). A more detailed inventory of the negatives in Boxes 1-20 follows the box and folder listing. Also included is a 16 mm color film of the 1968 Press on regardless National Rally organized by the Detroit Region Sports Car Club of America and sponsored by Leonard, which traveled from Alma to Gaylord and Grayling, Michigan, and back. Scott Harvey is featured in the beginning of the film. The film last 26 minutes and 58 seconds. A hard drive copy of the Rally is also included, reformatted from the film in 2011. A more detailed inventory of the negatives in Boxes 1-20 follows the box and folder listing.

Image collection of the staff, building, laboratory, refinery, Sohio visits, and newspaper clippings of the company.

The collection consists mainly of both strips of black and white photographs and negatives of the Leonard Refineries, Inc. Images include office staff and managers, Ted Bennet, J. Walter Leonard, and Jim Wright; the main building and laboratory, both interior and exterior views with staff; a local photograph contest with a cash prize of $4,000 which was probably awarded by the refinery; a visit by Sohio representatives on December 29, 1959 and January 1960; and some images entitled “Special Effects of the refinery, July 1957.” It is difficult to ascertain what the special effects were from the images. There are also 29 negatives of the Midwest Refinery in Alma. The obituaries (copies) of Vance W. Orr and George House, both refinery staff, 2005, and a newspaper article (copy) about the negative economic effect the closure of the Alma refinery had on Alma, 2005, complete the collection. The collection provides good visual documentation of the refinery and its staff during the late 1950s and 1960. Most of the images are undated.