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Papers of Howard B. Bishop
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Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Howard Berkey Bishop (1878-1961) was an American chemist, chemical company executive, and founder of the Human Engineering Foundation. Born in Bloomington, Illinois on January 24, 1878, Bishop attended the Armour Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan. After a brief involvement in running a photographic studio and working for smaller chemical firms, he began working for General Chemical Company as an analytical chemist in 1902.
While employed by General Chemical, he patented several important processes and inventions, including a new method for the production of hydrofluoric acid and the electrotitrimeter, a device for measuring percentages of acid. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Laurel Hill Laboratory Analytical Council, a group designed to study and brainstorm solutions to everyday industrial problems. In 1906, Bishop was awarded the Nichols Medal for his paper "The Estimation of Minute Quantities of Arsenic."
While still an employee of General Chemical, Bishop co-founded several small chemical consulting and manufacturing businesses, chief of which was Sterling Products Company of Easton, Pennsylvania, a firm that specialized in chemicals useful to the laundry industry. Between 1921 and 1929, Bishop was also President of John C. Wiarda Chemical Company, a small chemical works in Brooklyn, New York that also specialized, as did Sterling, in chemicals useful to the laundry industry.
In 1940, having sold his interest in Sterling Products Company to Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, Bishop embarked upon the second phase of his career. He had always been interested in social welfare issues and was an ardent campaigner against smoking and drinking, so he founded the Human Engineering Foundation to propagate his anti-alcohol, anti-nicotine, and anti-caffeine views. While running the foundation, he also managed a small chemical engineering consulting firm, Service Engineering Company.
Howard B. Bishop died in Summit, New Jersey after a brief illness on February 6, 1961.
Sources
Howard B. Bishop Papers, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland. https://oculus.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=nlmfindaid;idno=bishop562;view=reslist;didno=bishop562;subview=standard;focusrgn=bioghist;cc=nlmfindaid;byte=45838879
Papers of Howard B. Bishop, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Papers of Howard B. Bishop contain the personal and professional papers of Howard B. Bishop. The materials in this collection provide documentation of his career as a chemist, chemical company executive, and founder of the Human Engineering Foundation. The collection is arranged into the following five series:
- Biographical Materials
- Human Engineering Foundation
- Professional Career
- Patents
- Handbills
The Papers of Howard B. Bishop were donated to the Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) by Vernon Bishop in 2004.
The Papers of Howard B. Bishop were processed by Andrew Mangravite in December 2004.
Photographic materials separated from the Papers of Howard B. Bishop have been transferred to the Photographs from the Papers of Howard B. Bishop, which are preserved at the Science History Institute Archives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Artifacts separated from the Papers of Howard B. Bishop have been transferred to the Science History Institute Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Organization
- General Chemical Company (New York, N.Y.)
- Human Engineering Foundation
- John C. Wiarda Chemical Company
- Sterling Products Company
Subject
- Publisher
- Science History Institute Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid created by Andrew Mangravite and encoded into EAD by Kenton G. Jaehnig.
- Finding Aid Date
- 2004
- Access Restrictions
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There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes and the collection is open to the public.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Science History Institute holds copyright to the Papers of Howard B. Bishop. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.
Collection Inventory
Arranged in its original order by subject, this series contains Howard B. Bishop's biographical files. The files in this series provide a certain amount of documentation regarding Bishop's life and professional career. Of interest are letters from Bishop (as a boy) to his grandmother and correspondence between Bishop and his future wife Bertha T. Shaffner.
The contents of these files consist of a variety of materials. Correspondence and legal documents are the most common materials found in this series. Copies of patents, financial documents, health reports, an article reprint, and a notebook kept by Bishop as a student are preserved here as well.
Arranged in its original order, this series contains Howard B. Bishop's files pertaining to the Human Engineering Foundation. Its contents consist mainly of handbills printed by the Human Engineering Foundation. A variety of loose materials intended for a for a scrapbook, including correspondence, photographs of Howard B. Bishop and friends, newspaper clippings, and a guest book for Howard B. Bishop's funeral are preserved here as well.
This series contains Howard B. Bishop's professional career files. The files in this series document Bishop's professional career as a chemist and a chemical company executive. The contents of the Professional Career files are arranged into the following six sub-series:
- Service Engineering Company
- Howard B. Bishop, Consulting Chemist
- Metals Reclaiming Company
- Sterling Products Company
- John C. Wiarda Chemical Company
- General Chemical Company
Service Engineering Company was a small chemical engineering consulting firm co-founded by Howard B. Bishop. Based in Summit, New Jersey, Bishop operated this firm from 1944 to 1961.
This sub-series consists of a single correspondence file generated by Service Engineering Company during Bishop's stint as president.
Howard B. Bishop worked as a self-employed consulting chemist based in New York City during the early 1920s. Arranged in alphabetical order, this sub-series contains two files documenting Bishop's activities as a consulting chemist. The contents of these files consist of correspondence and research notes.
Metals Reclaiming Company was a metals reclamation firm. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Howard B. Bishop served as president of this firm between 1909 and 1912.
This sub-series consists of single correspondence file generated by Metals Reclaiming Company during Bishop's stint as president.
Sterling Products Company was a chemical company co-founded by Howard B. Bishop. Based in Easton, Pennsylvania, the firm specialized in chemicals useful to the laundry industry. Bishop served as president of this firm from 1908 to 1939.
Mostly arranged in alphabetical order, this sub-series contains files generated by Sterling Products Company during Bishop's stint as president. The contents of these files consist of correspondence, sales records, legal documents, an examination, and Sales Analysis Institute course materials.
John C. Wiarda Chemical Company was an American chemical company. Based in Brooklyn, New York, the firm specialized in chemicals useful to the laundry industry. Bishop served as president of this firm from 1921 to 1929.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series contains files generated by John C. Wiarda Chemical Company during Bishop's stint as president. Financial documents make up the bulk of the materials in this sub-series. Small amounts of correspondence, minutes, notebook pages, and legal documents are preserved in these files as well.
One missing, but see Box 5 Folder 1.
General Chemical Company was an American chemical company. The firm specialized in industrial acids. From 1902 to 1910, Howard B. Bishop served as chief chemist in General Chemical's analysis laboratory, which was located at the firm's Laurel Hill Works in Queens, New York. While employed by General Chemical, Bishop was a founder and active member of the Laurel Hill Laboratory Analytical Council.
Arranged in its original order, this sub-series contains Howard B. Bishop's General Chemical Company files. The files in this sub-series mainly document Bishop's involvement with the Laurel Hill Laboratory Analytical Council. To a lesser extent, some of his other activities with General Chemical are also documented.
Laurel Hill Laboratory Analytical Council minutes make up the largest component of the General Chemical Company files. A variety of miscellaneous materials, including, but not limited to, correspondence, reports, article reprints, patent materials, and a pocket notebook are preserved in this sub-series as well.
Arranged alphabetically by subject, this series contains foreign patents (British, Cuban, French, and German) awarded to Howard B. Bishop for the Electrotitrimeter and Hydrofluoric Acid Manufacture.
See also Box 5 Folder 3-4.
This series contains handbills printed by the Human Engineering Foundation over the course of its existence, which were used to propagate Howard B. Bishop's anti-tobacco, anti-alcohol, and anti-caffeine views to the general public. The contents of the Handbills series are arranged into the following two sub-series:
- Handbills by Title
- Handbills by Letter
Arranged alphabetically by title, this sub-series contains a selection of handbills printed by the Human Engineering Foundation during the first decade of its existence (1940-1950). The handbills preserved in this sub-series advocate against the use of tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. They also advertise what Howard B. Bishop considered to be the benefits of abstaining from tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine, which include, but are not limited to, general health and well-being, financial savings, healthy families, and contributing to the American war effort during World War II.
Arranged alphabetically by the first letter of title, this sub-series contains a selection of handbills printed by the Human Engineering Foundation between 1940 and 1961. Its contents consist of handbills not found in Series V, Sub-series 1. Most of the handbills in this this sub-series were printed after World War II (1945-1961). A handful of handbills printed prior to and during the war are also preserved here.
The handbills preserved in this sub-series advocate against the use of tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. They also advertise what Howard B. Bishop considered to be the benefits of abstaining from tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine, which include, but are not limited to, general health and well-being, financial savings, automobile safety, fire safety, and healthy families.