Encyclopedia Of American Business History And Biography The Automobile Industry 1920 1980

A chronicle of the American automobile industry through its business figures and companies.

The first of two volumes chronicling the history of the automotive industry through biographies of individuals and companies, buttressed by a wide range of supporting entries. All of the famous names are here, from Buick Motor Co. to John North Willys, but it's the names unknown, or only vaguely remembered, or known but not known about, that provide the most pleasure. With both portrait and automotive photographs. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Power, Speed, and Form is the first accessible account of the engineering behind eight breakthrough innovations that transformed American life from 1876 to 1939—the telephone, electric power, oil refining, the automobile, the airplane, radio, the long-span steel bridge, and building with reinforced concrete. Beginning with Thomas Edison's system to generate and distribute electric power, the authors explain the Bell telephone, the oil refining processes of William Burton and Eugene Houdry, Henry Ford's Model T car and the response by General Motors, the Wright brothers' airplane, radio innovations from Marconi to Armstrong, Othmar Ammann's George Washington Bridge, the reinforced concrete structures of John Eastwood and Anton Tedesko, and in the 1930s, the Chrysler Airflow car and the Douglas DC-3 airplane. These innovations used simple numerical ideas, which the Billingtons integrate with short narrative accounts of each breakthrough—a unique and effective way to introduce engineering and how engineers think. The book shows how the best engineering exemplifies efficiency, economy and, where possible, elegance. With Power, Speed, and Form, educators, first-year engineering students, liberal arts students, and general readers now have, for the first time in one volume, an accessible and readable history of engineering achievements that were vital to America's development and that are still the foundations of modern life.

The Studebaker Bibliography was developed with the intent of cataloging as much as possible of the available Studebaker literature. Our goal was to make information accessible to current and future historians as well as casual readers. The bibliography lists 321 books (both fiction and nonfiction), 1,784 magazine articles and 2,768 newspaper articles. All are related to the Studebaker Corporation, its founders, officers, employees, dealers, subsidiaries, or vehicles, and nearly all of it is available free (or inexpensively) from your local libraryâs interlibrary loan program!

Studebaker and the Railroads is a history of the Studebaker Corporation and of the railroads that served it in and around the city of South Bend, Indiana. Both Studebaker and the railroads of northern Indiana have extensive and dramatic histories and there are many connections between the two. Studebaker lovers and railfans will equally enjoy the stories and facts reported.Divided into two volumes, Studebaker and the Railroads comprises over four hundred fifty pages and contains over three hundred fifty photographs, drawings, maps and diagrams.Volume 1 covers the Studebaker and the steam railroads that once decorated South Bend. Volume 2 covers the extensive electric railroad history of the area and includes a history of Studebaker's private in-plant railroad, the Chicago & South Bend, together with additional topics linking Studebaker and railroading. Both volumes feature detailed indexes. Volume 2 includes an extensive bibliography, numerous maps, and corporate history charts.

Throughout World War II, Detroit's automobile manufacturers accounted for one-fifth of the dollar value of the nation's total war production, and this amazing output from "the arsenal of democracy" directly contributed to the allied victory. In fact, automobile makers achieved such production miracles that many of their methods were adopted by other defense industries, particularly the aircraft industry. In Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II, award-winning historian Charles K. Hyde details the industry's transition to a wartime production powerhouse and some of its notable achievements along the way. Hyde examines several innovative cooperative relationships that developed between the executive branch of the federal government, U.S. military services, automobile industry leaders, auto industry suppliers, and the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union, which set up the industry to achieve production miracles. He goes on to examine the struggles and achievements of individual automakers during the war years in producing items like aircraft engines, aircraft components, and complete aircraft; tanks and other armored vehicles; jeeps, trucks, and amphibians; guns, shells, and bullets of all types; and a wide range of other weapons and war goods ranging from search lights to submarine nets and gyroscopes. Hyde also considers the important role played by previously underused workers-namely African Americans and women-in the war effort and their experiences on the line. Arsenal of Democracy includes an analysis of wartime production nationally, on the automotive industry level, by individual automakers, and at the single plant level. For this thorough history, Hyde has consulted previously overlooked records collected by the Automobile Manufacturers Association that are now housed in the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library. Automotive historians, World War II scholars, and American history buffs will welcome the compelling look at wartime industry in Arsenal of Democracy.