TABLE OF CONTENTS

Historical Note

Scope and Content Notes

Restrictions

Controlled Access Terms

Administrative Information

Series A: General Commission Files

Series B: Director's Files

SERIES C: GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAM

SERIES D DENVER SERVICE CENTER

SERIES E SPHPC FINANCIAL RECORDS

SERIES F and G RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE

SERIES H SPHPC PUBLICATIONS

SERIES I GENERAL PUBLICATIONS

Addenda

Addenda: Oversize Materials (Room 301)

Guide to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Collection,

Historical Note

In 1987, federal legislation was passed to establish the Southwestern PA Heritage Preservation Commission within the Department of the Interior. This Commission coordinates America's Industrial Heritage Project, a regional effort to preserve, promote, and interpret the sites and stories of America's industrial heritage in southwestern Pennsylvania. The commission serves as the catalyst for the project's partnership efforts, and through the conservation and commemoration of these industrial sites, the commission will spark economic development in the region.

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Scope and Content Notes

SERIES A GENERAL COMMISSION FILES

SUBSERIES I Central Files

This subseries contains the files maintained by the Commission office in Hollidaysburg and Johnstown for each project in the nine-county region. Included are meeting notes pertaining to the project, reports on or about many of these projects, brochures for many of the AIHP sites, and other miscellaneous materials which relate to each particular project. Also included in this subseries are some administrative materials pertaining to the operation of the Commission, such as budgets, correspondence, and monthly meeting packets. While this subseries provides a good overall view of the Commission and its daily operation, of special interest are four notebooks from the formative years of the America's Industrial Heritage Project which contain meeting notes, notes from brainstorming sessions and weekly reports of the Project, beginning as early as 1986. The reports in particular are rich in detail of the initial stages of AIHP, providing a candid look at the evolution of the project between 1986 and 1990. (See Box 18)

SUBSERIES II Photographs

g Many of the central files in Subseries I included photographs. These photographs have been removed from these files and placed in proper storage containers in this series. They are arranged by reference number, which can be obtained from the project file in which the photograph originally appeared in Subseries I. Subseries IIa includes Commission photographs and contact sheets unrelated to the Central Files. They are arranged in the subseries alphabetically by the title of the photograph.

SUBSERIES III Negatives

gt; This subseries includes the negatives for the photographs found in Subseries II. These are strictly for copying purposes and are unavailable for general viewing. They are arranged by reference number, which can be obtained from the central files in Subseries I, or from the photographs in Subseries II.

SUBSERIES IV Maps, Oversized Materials

gt; This subseries contains all oversized materials from the Commission Files, including maps, oversized drawings and other large documents. They have been inventoried as they were received and are located in the Map Cases in the drawer marked Oversized Commission Materials.

SERIES A GENERAL COMMISSION FILES

SUBSERIES V Videotapes

Included in this subseries are videotapes produced by, for, or about the Commission or an industrial subject or sight. These tapes were created by a variety of entities, with the Commission as their unifying characteristic. They were inventoried as they were received and are, consequently, arranged roughly chronologically.

SUBSERIES VI Clippings File

gt; This subseries contains dated clippings from various newspapers and periodicals, which pertain to the activities and mission of the SPHPC or one of its partners. This subseries is arranged in ascending chronological order.

SUBSERIES VII Microfilm

gt; Several of the large format items from the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site have been captured on microfilm by the National Park Service and are stored in this series

SUBSERIES VIII Computer Diskettes

This series contains a few of the reports that have been prepared for the Commission, as well as the current guidelines for the Grant and Loan Program, on computer disk. These documents will be available through the World Wide Web on the Internet.

SUBSERIES IX Ephemera The various logos of the Commission and the Project have been merchandized on lapel pins and other items. This series includes these articles.

SUBSERIES X Slides The Commission staff periodically prepared a slide show for use in talking about the Project and its sites. The slides stored in Sheet 1 of this series are part of one of those slide shows. The remainder of the slides are from various Commission surveys and events.

SUBSERIES XI Audio tapes

SERIES B DIRECTOR’S FILES

SUBSERIES I

Executive Director’s Files SPHPC This series contains the correspondence and other office files of the Executive Director of the Commission, Randall Cooley.

SUBSERIES II

Monthly Meeting Packets SPHPC This series contains the monthly meeting packets of the Executive Directors of the Commission, Randall Cooley.

SUBSERIES III

Executive Director’s Files - Allegheny Ridge Corporation This series contains the correspondence and other office files of the Executive Director of the Allegheny Ridge Corporation, Stan Over.

SERIES C GRANT AND LOAN PROGR

The Grant and Loan Program of the Commission was created in 1990 and has evolved continuously ever since. In 1992, John Bennett was hired as Program Manager and began overseeing the administration of the grant and loan programs. This series dates from 1990 and includes copies of the draft and original applications for all of the grant and loan programs, as well as all of their reincarnations. It also contains some correspondence and records from Bennett's tenure as Program Manager. Although all of the grant guidelines and much of the correspondence is available for general viewing, much of this series is restricted under the Privacy Act and is unavailable to the public. The container list indicates which materials are accessible for study and which are closed.

SERIES D DENVER SERVICE CENTER

This series is made up of correspondence from and publications by the National Park Service's Denver Service Center, a cooperating partner in this project. The correspondence includes a limited number of task directives and other items sent for filing in the archives. Publications such as resource surveys, environmental assessments, and management and planning publications related to the SPHPC region are found in this series. This series is arranged alphabetically by the site or project name with which the publication is concerned.

SERIES E-G RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE

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SERIES H PUBLICATIONS

Series H is made up of publications produced and printed by the SPHPC. Resource Surveys of various types provide information on the region's history and heritage. Also included here are planning and management documents of the commission and/or its partners. Publications are arranged in ascending chronological order. Related publications produced by the National Park Service/Denver Service Center can be found in Series D of the collection.

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The Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation collection is housed in one archival boxes.

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Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Property rights reside with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University Archives and Special Collections. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the coordinator of the University Archives and Special Collections.

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Administrative Information

Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Collection, MG# 75, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University Archives and Special Collections

This collection was processed by Special Collections Staff,date unknown. Papers reviewed and inventory revised by Special Collections Staff in Spring 2001.

Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Jason Hutchins on February 8, 2002

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