Allen Knight Remington Papers


University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

E-mail: archives@etal.uri.edu
Website: https://web.uri.edu/specialcollections/

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title: Allen Knight Remington Papers
Date range: 1904-1960, (bulk 1918-1950)
Creator: Remington, Allen Knight
Extent: 4.75 linear feet
Abstract: 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.
Language of materials: English
Repository: University Archives and Special Collections
Collection number: Ms.235

Scope & content

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

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.

Access & Use

Access to the collection: Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Distinctive Collections Unit.
Use of the materials: 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.
Contact information: University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

E-mail: archives@etal.uri.edu
Website: https://web.uri.edu/specialcollections/

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION  
Acquisition: 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.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID  
Author: Finding aid prepared by Sarina Rodrigues.
Encoding: Finding aid encoded by Sarina Rodrigues 2013 June 21, updated by Mark Dionne on 2020 March 31
Descriptive rules: Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

Inventory

Series 1. Schools
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.

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

Series 2. Subject
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.

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