Workplace badges and identification cards, 1910s-1990s

Scope and content:

Includes nearly 250 workplace badges and flat identification cards collected by Earl Dotter in the twentieth century as well as a small number of handbooks, notebooks, membership cards, check stubs and payment slips, and a work apron. All of the badges and id cards include the name of the company and usually a portrait of the employee; additional details may include names, signatures, fingerprints, text, employee id numbers, and other biographical information. Some of the badges and flat id cards are double-sided. Additionally, badges and id cards are often made of plastic laminate, paper, or some type of metal, often brass. Most portraits are in black-and-white, but occasionally may include parts of the badge or id card in color. Portraits depict employees from a wide range of demographics including age, location, ethnicity, and sex, and particularly those employed during the World Wars. Some employees or companies have multiple badges, identification cards, or additional materials including Harold Tuttle, Ernest Long, Paul A. Villa Jr., Johns-Manville, and Kaiser shipyards.

Employees worked in a variety of industries such as household goods; textiles and clothing; automobiles and other forms of transportation such as railroads and ships; machinery; construction; steel, oil, and electricity; and manufacturing more generally. Some companies and government-affiliated locations have multiple badges and id cards included such as include Baldwin Hill Co., Crescent Silverware Manufacturing Co., Dupont, General Electric Co., Johns-Manville, International Longshoremen's Association, Raymond Bag Company, Scranton Electric Utility Co., the US Navy Yard, and the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Additional notable companies with workplace badges and id cards include Chevrolet, Dow Chemical, Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., Johnson & Johnson, Texaco, W.R. Grace & Company, and many more.

Processing information:

Description for workplace badges and flat identification cards was provided by Earl Dotter on an item level.

Titles for workplace badges and identification cards include, in order: company name, location if known, employee id number if known, name if known, job title or related information if known.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by company name; some employees or companies have associated items that follow.

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