Collection ID: 4078823 MS#1414

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
W.R. Grace & Co.
Extent:
90 linear feet and 167 boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); W.R. Grace & Co. records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Background

Scope and Content:

The records of W.R. Grace & Co. cover the rise of the Grace shipping business from 1864 until World War II. The early correspondence concerns all aspects of the shipping business in New York and South America, mining interests in Peru and Chile, the railroad in Costa Rica, the inter-ocean canal planned for Nicaragua, and political interests throughout Central and South America. There are letter books, correspondence, and scrapbooks of clippings for all aspects of W.R. Grace's career. There are minute books and other documents for more than 50 subsidiary companies owned by W.R. Grace & Co. or by family members. The papers of Joseph Peter Grace (1872-1950) continue the business, family, and philanthropic activities until 1942. There are also 20 reels of motion picture film about the Grace Co. South American interests in the 1950s.

This wide-ranging collection of correspondence, administrative records, motion pictures, scrapbooks, and other materials details the development of the W.R. Grace & Co. shipping business as well as more than fifty other companies owned by the company or the Grace family. Apart from merchant and trade activities, prominent topics covered in the collection include mining, railroads, the construction of a trans-Isthmian canal, and South American, Central American, and United States politics.

Biographical / Historical:

William Russell Grace (1832-1904) and Michael Paul Grace (1842-1920) emigrated from Ireland during the 1850s and set up in business respectively in New York and Callao, Peru as ship's chandlers (boat supplies). They soon developed into shipping brokers and later owned their own fleet, the beginning of the present-day Grace Line. Grace companies were established in San Francisco and London. W.R. Grace was active in New York City politics (Mayor, 1881-1882, and 1885-1886), banking and insurance, real estate interests, and Catholic charities.

Acquisition information:

Source of acquisition--W.R. Grace Co. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1980. Accession number--M-80.

Historical Report, 1963-1972: Source of acquisition--Harper Collins. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/14/1990. Accession number--M-90-12-14.

Gift of W.R. Grace Co., 1980 1985.

Gift of Harper Collins, 1990.

Processing information:

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 06/--/1989.

Historical Report, 1963-1972 Processed HR 08/20/1992.

Arrangement:

Selected materials cataloged, remainder arranged. Cataloged correspondence, A-Z; Boxes 1-8: Unbound correspondence & documents, 1861-1918; Boxes 9-97: Letterbooks, contract books, etc., 1864-1917; Boxes 98-103: Nicaragua Canal, 1897-1900; Boxes 104-122: Scrapbooks, 1884-1920; Boxes 123-146: Subsidiary companies, Minute books, etc., 1869-1939; Boxes 147-153: Joseph Peter Grace, Correspondence & documents, 1919-1942; Boxes 154-155: Printed books & atlases; Boxes 156-157: Photographs; Box 158-162: Misc. & additions; 35 Oversize items.

Accruals:

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Physical / technical requirements:

Material base and configuration--20 reels motion picture film

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed Terms

Subjects:
Families -- New York (State) -- New York
Families -- Peru -- Callao
Shipping -- United States
Shipping -- South America
Shipping -- England
Railroads -- Costa Rica
Mines and mineral resources -- Peru
Mines and mineral resources -- Chile
Canals -- Nicaragua
Canals, Interoceanic
Banks and banking -- New York (State) -- New York
Real property -- New York (State) -- New York
Insurance -- New York (State) -- New York
Charities
Ship chandlers
Ship brokers
Ships -- Equipment and supplies
Industries -- Peru
Industries -- Chile
Deeds
Motion pictures
Powers of attorney
Scrapbooks
Capitalists and financiers
Businessmen
Chief executive officers
Executives
Mayors
Accounts
Agreements
Annual reports
Articles of incorporation
Atlases
Balance sheets
Bills (financial)
Bills (legislative records)
Bylaws (administrative records)
Clippings (Information Artifacts)
Contracts
Financial records
Genealogies (histories)
indexes (reference sources)
Insurance policies
Leases
Ledgers (account books)
Letterpress copybooks
Lists (document genres)
Maps (documents)
Memorandums
minutes (administrative records)
Mortgages
Obituaries
Payrolls
Pedigrees
Personnel records
Photographs
Profit and loss statements
Receipts (financial records)
Reports
Tables
Names:
Bryce, Grace & Co
Cerro de Pasco Mining Syndicate
Ingersoll-Rand Company
Pan American-Grace Airways
Peruvian Corporation, Limited
Catholic Church -- Charities
Grace family
Alexander, James W. (James Waddell), 1839-1915
Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886
Astor, John Jacob, 1864-1912
Barlow, Samuel L. M. (Samuel Latham Mitchill), 1826-1889
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919
Chapman, John Jay, 1862-1933
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908
Corrigan, Michael Augustine, 1839-1902
Cortelyou, George B (George Bruce), 1862-1940
Coudert, Frederic R (Frederic René), 1832-1903
Daly, Joseph Francis, 1840-1916
Dana, Richard Henry, 1851-1931
Davis, J. C. Bancroft (John Chandler Bancroft), 1822-1907
Davis, Noah, 1818-1902
Dodge, W. E. (William Earl), 1832-1903
Douglas, Robert M (Robert Martin), 1849-1917
Eyre, Edward, 1851-1937
Fish, Hamilton, 1808-1893
Fish, Stuyvesant, 1851-1923
Frye, William P (William Pierce), 1831-1911
Gorman, Arthur P (Arthur Pue), 1839-1906
Grace, William Russell, 1832-1904
Grace, Michael Paul, 1842-1920
Grace, Joseph Peter, 1872-1950
Guardia, Tomás, 1831-1882
Hallock, Charles, 1834-1917
Harding, B. L
Havemeyer, William Frederick, 1850-1913
Hay, John, 1838-1905
Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878
Holt, Henry, 1840-1926
Hornblower, William B (William Butler), 1851-1914
Jarvis, Thomas Jordan, 1836-1915
Lamont, Daniel Scott, 1851-1905
Loomis, Francis B (Francis Butler), 1861-1948
McCall, John A (John Augustine), 1849-1906
McClellan, George B (George Brinton), 1865-1940
McKinley, William, 1843-1901
Milliken, Seth Mellen, 1836-1920
Mills, Darius O. (Darius Ogden), 1825-1910
Montt, Pedro
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913
Palmer, William Jackson, 1836-1909
Phelan, James D (James Duval), 1861-1930
Porter, David D. (David Dixon), 1813-1891
Porter, John Addison, 1856-1900
Prado, Mariano Ignacio, 1826-1901
Quincy, Josiah, 1859-1919
Robinson, Tracy, 1833-1915
Rogers, Henry Huttleston, 1840-1909
Sargent, A. A (Aaron Augustus), 1827-1887
Saunders, W. L. (William Lawrence), 1856-1931
Shearman, Thomas G (Thomas Gaskell), 1834-1900
Sherman, J. S (James Schoolcraft), 1855-1912
Stickney, Albert, 1839-1908
Straus, Isidor, 1845-1912
Straus, Oscar S (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926
Strobel, Edward Henry, 1855-1908
Ward, William Lukens, 1856-1933
Warner, John DeWitt, 1851-1925
Watts, Frederick, 1801-1889
Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 1854-1927
Williams, George Fred, 1852-1932
Woodward, James T., -1910
Yglesias Castro, Rafael, 1861-1924
Zelaya, José Santos, 1853-1919
Places:
Nicaragua Canal (Nicaragua)
South America -- Commerce
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government -- To 1898
New York (N.Y.) -- Commerce
London (England) -- Commerce
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Commerce
Callao (Callao, Peru) -- Commerce
Costa Rica -- Commerce
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Ireland
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Ireland

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection has no restrictions.

The following boxes are located off-site: 1-164. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); W.R. Grace & Co. records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027, United States
CONTACT:
(212) 854-5590
rbml@library.columbia.edu