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Albert E. Wills papers
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Held at: Fireman's Hall Museum [Contact Us]147 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA , 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Fireman's Hall Museum. 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
Albert Wills was a "member of Union Historical Fire Society and the Cornwells Fire Company in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, PA. [He] served Cornwells as a Fire Chief as well as being their historian. [He] was a foremost authority on firemarks and was a Charter Member of the "Fire Mark Circle of the Americas" and on the restoration and preservation of antique leather parade hats, helmets and buckets. His expertise was used frequently at the Fireman's Hall Museum (Philadelphia [PA] Fire Dept's official museum), where he was honored prior to his death by having an exhibit room dedicated to him. He also served as an Honorary Fire Chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department, Official Historian and a Director with the Philadelphia Fire Department Historical Corporation (Fireman's Hall Museum)."
Bibliography:
Quoted text from: Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America. Obituary for Albert Wills. Accessed May 14, 2012. http://web.archive.org/web/20040415160117/http://www.spaamfaa.com/memorial.htm.
This collection is comprised of binders compiled by Wills relating to fire fighting history and equipment. These binders include research notes, newspaper clippings, drafts of articles and speeches, and correspondence relating to apparatus appraisal. There are also binders of firemen's patches and fire department ephemera. The collection also includes photographs albums depicting fire apparatus (original and reproductions) as well as a binder of newsletters from various fire museums and organizations.
Gift of Albert E. Wills, Jr.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2011-2012 as part of a pilot project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Fireman's Hall Museum directly for more information.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Fireman's Hall Museum
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Michael Gubicza through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Fireman's Hall Museum for information about accessing this collection.