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George F. Johnson Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Johnson, George F., 1857-1948.
Title: George F. Johnson Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1882-1956
Quantity: 25.0 linear ft.
Abstract: Papers of the American industrialist, business executive. President of Endicott-Johnson Corporation. Finding aid includes a personal recollection from his daughter, Lillian Johnson Sweet. Correspondence, incoming and outgoing (1900-1945); financial records (1892-1938); articles and speeches (1920-1967); pamphlets, broadsides and posters (1910-1953); blueprints, scrapbooks, photographs, and other material relating to Endicott-Johnson Corporation and Johnson's philosophy of industrial democracy and labor-management relations.
Abstract: Correspondents include Bruce Barton, Calvin Coolidge, Charles E. Coughlin, James A. Farley, Edward A. Filene, Bertie C. Forbes, Herbert Hoover, Robert M. La Follette, Kenesaw M. Landis, Alfred M. Landon, Herbert H. Lehman, Connie Mack, Nathan L. Miller, James C. Penney, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alfred P. Sloan, Alfred E. Smith, Billy Sunday, Ida M. Tarbell, Robert F. Wagner, Woodrow Wilson, and many others.
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

George Francis Johnson (1857-1948), industrialist, was born in Milford, Massachusetts, October 14, 1857, the son of Frank A. Johnson, an itinerant shoemaker, and Sarah Jane Aldrich. His schooling ended at age thirteen, when he was given a job at the Seaver Brothers Shoe Factory in Ashland, Massachusetts. Like his father, Johnson moved from town to town during his youth in search of better employment in the boot industry.

In 1881 he became foreman for George and Horace Lester, manufacturers of shoes, of Binghamton, New York. When the Lester Brothers in 1891 were forced to turn over the company to Henry B. Endicott, their chief creditor, Endicott retained Johnson as overall manager of the factory. By 1909 Johnson had worked his way up to a partnership beside Henry B. Endicott and Eliot Spalding.

In 1919 the Lestershire Manufacturing Company was rechartered as the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Corporation, having a capital of close to $30 million. Endicott died the following year, leaving Johnson as the obvious candidate for corporation president. He was further promoted to Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1930. By this time the corporation had expanded to a firm of twenty-eight plants and 18,000 employees, and production was averaging 45 million pairs of shoes a year.

Johnson's management of the firm was not only successful; it was innovative. He developed a philosophy of industrial organization and labor-management relations which is identified with "industrial democracy." His controversial methods were discussed in national publications throughout the twenties and thirties.

George F. Johnson married twice. Lucie Willis, his first wife, accompanied him to New York but she died before he began his successful career with Endicott. In 1896, Johnson took Mary McGlone as his second wife. They had a daughter, Lillian, now Mrs. Lloyd Sweet. Johnson's children by the first marriage were George W., Walter L., Zaida (later Mrs. M. W. Robertson), and Irma (later Mrs. R. Clay). Two boys, Ernest and Earl, died in childhood. Son George W. Johnson, nephew Charles F. Johnson, Jr., and grandson Frank A. Johnson figured prominently as officers of the Endicott-Johnson Corporation, especially after George F. Johnson retired from close supervision of the firm in the late thirties.

Mary McGlone Johnson died on October 1, 1947, and George F. Johnson died the following year on November 28. His legacy included a business which remained a major producer of staple footwear, a corporate philosophy whose merits are still debated, and a record of little or no industrial strife through the labor-management turmoil of the 1920's and 1930's.

George F. Johnson: A Personal Recollection
by Lillian Johnson Sweet

Much has been written about my father, George F. Johnson, and his wisdom, generosity, business acumen and success in the field of labor-management relations. I knew him as a loving and beloved parent.

His father, Francis A. Johnson, was a stern and uncompromising man; his mother, Sarah Jane, a warm and compassionate woman. The characteristics of both parents influenced my father in large measure and were the basis for much of his development. I remember him through my early childhood and adolescent years as tender and fun-loving but also stern and awesome--all in about equal degrees.

My father's second marriage, to Mary Ann McGlone who became my mother five years later, was a happy partnership which lasted for fifty years. We were a close family and we spent the winters in Florida, where Father carried on his business with the help of a secretary and daily long distance telephone conversations. Business came before pleasure, but the enjoyment of games and social events was an important part of his life. We participated in or watched, with equal pleasure, ocean bathing, beach ball, golf, boxing matches, auto racing, concerts, dinner parties, picnics, walks and rides.

Father was a genuine sports enthusiast, with organized baseball claiming his most active interest. For many years he owned the Binghamton Triplets Ball Club, a member of the minor leagues. Judge Kenesaw M. Landis, baseball's best known commissioner, was a close friend of Father's and we covered the World Series circuit on special trains which carried Judge Landis and the competing teams to cities throughout the country.

Father confessed that money making had been his original objective as he achieved his first toe-hold in the business world, but he found that the acquisition of wealth alone was not a sufficient goal and a desire to serve humanity soon took precedence over his earlier aims. This desire was directed primarily toward improving the lot of the Endicott Johnson employees, who he always maintained were the backbone of his financial success. He began by improving working conditions, wages and living circumstances for those whom he termed his "working partners."

Homes were built and sold at cost. Playgrounds, recreation halls for bowling, roller skating and dancing were provided. Hospitals and a medical plan which received world-wide attention and acclaim were established. An eight-hour day, one of the first in a large industry, and other benefits were inaugurated.

There was opposition to these developments from a few of the corporation heads but despite misgivings on the part of many, Father persisted in carrying out his program, brooking no interference, and its ultimate success surpassed even his dreams.

As time went on, his concern for people broadened to include surrounding communities, where playgrounds, churches, swimming pools and parks now bear evidence of George F. Johnson's interest in human welfare.

In the cynical age with which we now contend, his business policies have too frequently been dismissed as paternalism. The intended slur in such a charge is obvious, but those of greater intellect and compassion will dismiss it on the ground of their own understanding.

In summation, I know no more true or graphic words to epitomize the life of my father than these: "The world was a better place because he walked through it."

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The George F. Johnson papers consist of biographical data, correspondence, subject files, articles and speeches, pamphlets, broadsides and posters, financial records, legal documents, serial publications and clippings, memorabilia, films and phonotapes.

Biographical data includes life sketches, random notes and questionnaires about Johnson and his family.

Correspondence, 1900-1945, is divided into four groups: incoming, outgoing (mainly in carbon), executive, and employee correspondence. Johnson's wide range of influence and interests may be gauged from the the first two groups of correspondence which include letters from presidents, state governors, religious leaders, foreign consuls, industrialists, and the laborers who worked in the Endicott-Johnson shops. The more significant correspondence is that of

  • Edward A. Filene, 1930
  • Herbert Hoover, 1932
  • Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., 1936
  • Frances Perkins (to President Roosevelt), 1930
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1928-1938
  • Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., 1927-1934
  • William (Billy) A. Sunday, 1927

Letters of lesser importance, but from noted personalities include those of

  • Bruce Barton, 1926-1929
  • Calvin Coolidge, 1932
  • Charles E. Coughlin, 1938
  • Stephen Early, 1938
  • James A. Farley, 1935-1940
  • Bertie C. Forbes, 1923-1939
  • Clark Griffith, 1919
  • Edgar A. Guest, 1938
  • Kenesaw M. Landis, 1924-1938
  • Alfred M. Landon, 1938-1939
  • Herbert H. Lehman, 1929-1940
  • Marvin H. McIntyre, 1936
  • Connie Mack, 1919-1933
  • Nathan L. Miller, 1921-1922
  • James C. Penney, 1934
  • Alfred E. Smith, 1919-1940
  • Francis Cardinal Spellman, 1945
  • Ida M. Tarbell, 1919-1927
  • Joseph P. Tumulty, 1916-1917
  • Robert F. Wagner, 1932-1934
  • David I. Walsh, 1933
  • Woodrow Wilson, 1916-1917

A complete roster of correspondents is provided in the shelf list. Much of the correspondence was damaged by fire before the papers were received. To obviate further damage to the letters through repeated handling, a microfilm of this portion of the collection has been made for research use.

The Endicott-Johnson Executive correspondence, 1901-1945, brings together the letters of George F. Johnson to officers of the firm as well as correspondence between company executives and their counterparts in other firms. The letters are generally confined to interdepartmental affairs, plant operation and market conditions.

The more significant letters among the executive correspondence include those of

  • Louis D. Brandeis, attorney, Boston, 1901-1905
  • Henry B. Endicott, company president, 1901-1922
  • William O. Inglis, Johnson biographer, 1934-1936
  • William Seward, publisher, New York, 1934-1936

A letter to Johnson from Henry Stude, Chairman of the National Bakers Council, November 23, 1934, is of interest for its views on industrial democracy.

Employee correspondence, 1920-1939, contains group letters to Johnson, mostly in the form of telegrams congratulating the head of the company upon an anniversary or the receipt of an industrial award; others express gratitude for bonuses.

The Subject files contains a small section of material relating to hospital plans, the International Business Machine Corporation, labor relations, and radio programming.

Articles and speeches by or about Johnson and the firm cover the years 1920-1967. The articles are in typescript, mimeograph and printed form, and are arranged chronologically, with articles about George F. Johnson first, followed by articles about the corporation. A select bibliography of Johnson's writings between 1929 and 1938 is included in the first folder of this group.

Pamphlets, broadsides and posters, 1910-1953, consist of printed materials advertising Endicott-Johnson products, or announcing employee benefits and labor policies of the company. Advertising pamphlets of competitors are also included. Most of the posters are titled "To the Workers:" and offer inspirational messages or statements of company policy and philosophy.

The larger part of Financial records consists of periodic reports and statements which reveal the overall financial condition and rate of shoe production and sales of the several Endicott-Johnson divisions such as Lestershire, Endicott, Johnson Welt and Leatherboard. The statistics in these reports are often broken down by factory and department. The financial statements recur on monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual bases, the concentration of records being within the period 1900-1930. Records of subsidiary utility, finance and realty companies, including the Endicott Water Works Company, Endicott-Johnson Realty Company, First National Bank of Lestershire and the Ontario Pipe Line Company, consist of balance sheets, statements and miscellaneous financial papers, and are located at the end of this group.

The Legal documents include corporate charters obtained from the states of New York, Maine and Massachusetts. Mortgages, leases and other property transactions will be found among these documents. Agreements with other firms for the provision of production materials or the guaranteeing of power and water resources for the factories are recorded in the folder titled "Manufacturing & utility contracts and sub-contracts, 1901-1919." While annual incomes of the partners were listed among the financial records ("Shares, stockholders and earnings, 1912-1921"), the formal terms of agreement about the distribution of profits among partners and supporting bankers are found in the folder titled "Partnership and stock agreements, 1907-1934."

Serial publications issued or sponsored by the Endicott-Johnson firm between 1919 and 1925 include issues of the company magazine, variously titled A Magazine, 1919, the E-J Workers' Review, 1919-1921, E-J Workers' Magazine, 1922-1925, and the Endicott-Johnson Workers Monthly Review, a single issue, 1933. These are followed by issues of "The Endicott Johnson Workers Daily Page," a regular feature of the Binghamton Sun, appearing from May 16, 1928, to December 30, 1930. The "Page" was devoted to human interest news about work and recreation engaged in by company employees, and it fulfilled much the same purpose as the firm's earlier magazine publications. Newspaper clippings, 1897-1948, about Henry B. Endicott, George F. Johnson, his wife, Endicott-Johnson workers, management philosophy and labor relations follow and are taken mostly from the Binghamton Sun, with smaller representations from Business Machines (published by IBM), the New York Daily Mirror, the Endicott Bulletin, the Endicott Times, the Lestershire-Endicott Record, the New York Times, the Owego Times, the Scrantonian, the New York Sun, the Syracuse Herald, the Wall Street Journal, and the Polish-American Obywatel of Binghamton. There is a folder of Johnson newspaper obituaries, eulogies and biographical material published in 1948, as well as scrapbooks of clippings taken from widely-scattered newspapers across the nation.

Among the Memorabilia, 1888-1956, are awards and decorations, commemorative pamphlets, drawings, photographs, printing plates and sheet music. The photographs of Rudy Vallee and Max Schmelling are autographed. A number of medals struck by the Sons of Italy, the editors of Forbes Magazine, and several local and national veterans' groups are also included.

Films and phonotapes, 1931-1951, include a 16mm film celebrating Johnson's fifty years with the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Corporation. Magnetic tapes record Johnson's funeral in 1948 and the dedication of a monument in his memory in 1951.

The collection also contains blueprints, three scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, 1904-1936, and a few broadsides and photographic collages, all located in map cases or oversized packages.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by writer; outgoing correspondence is arranged chronologically. Executive correspondence is arranged alphabetically under the name of the executive, then chronologically. Employee correspondence is arranged chronologically. Subject files are arranged alphabetically by subject. Articles and speeches are arranged alphabetically by type, then chronologically. Pamphlets, broadsides and posters are arranged in no particular order. Financial records are arranged alphabetically by type, then chronologically. Legal documents are arranged alphabetically by type. Serial publications and clippings are subdivided into journals (arranged alphabetically by publication title) and clippings (arranged chronologically). Memorabilia is arranged alphabetically by type. Films and phonotapes are in no particular order.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Barton, Bruce, 1886-1967.
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933.
Coughlin, Charles E. (Charles Edward), 1891-1979.
Farley, James Aloysius, 1888-
Filene, E. A. (Edward Albert), 1860-1937.
Forbes, B. C. (Bertie Charles), 1880-1954.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Johnson, George F., 1857-1948.
La Follette, Robert M. (Robert Marion), 1895-1953.
Landis, Kenesaw Mountain, 1866-1944.
Landon, Alfred M. (Alfred Mossman), 1887-1987.
Lehman, Herbert H. (Herbert Henry), 1878-1963.
Mack, Connie, 1862-1956.
Miller, Nathan Lewis, 1868-1953.
Penney, J. C. (James Cash), 1875-1971.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Sloan, Alfred P. (Alfred Pritchard), 1875-1966.
Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944.
Sunday, Billy, 1862-1935.
Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva), 1857-1944.
Wagner, Robert F. (Robert Ferdinand), 1877-1953.
Watson, Thomas John, 1874-1956.
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.

Corporate Bodies

Endicott-Johnson Corporation -- Employees.
Endicott-Johnson Corporation -- History -- Sources.

Subjects

Executives -- New York (State)
Footwear industry -- New York (State)
Industrial relations -- United States.
Industrialists -- United States.
Manufactures -- United States.
Shoe industry -- Employees.
Shoe industry -- New York (State)

Places

Endicott (N.Y.) -- Industries.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Blueprints (reprographic copies)
Broadsides (notices)
Correspondence.
Financial records.
Pamphlets.
Photographs.
Posters.
Scrapbooks.
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Executives.
Industrialists.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

George F. Johnson Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Lloyd M. Sweet and the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Corporation, December, 1963, August, 1965, and July, August and November, 1967.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: -
Date: unknown
Revision history: 11 Apr 2008 - converted to EAD (AMCon); 2 Jun 2008 - additions (MRC); 12 Oct 2012 - posters and blueprints on tubes added to inventory (MBD)

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Inventory

Biographical data
Box 1 Biographical data
Correspondence
Incoming correspondence 1900-1945
Box 1 A 1920-1937
Box 1 American Legion 1921-1938
Box 1 Amertalian Benevolent Society 1926-1931
Box 1 B 1919-1938
Box 1 Babcock, Bruce L. 1929-1937
Box 1 Bachrach, Louis F. 1927
Box 1 Barton, Bruce 1926-1929
Box 1 Bennett, Claude E. 1919-1926
Box 1 Bethune, Mary M. 1920-1937
Box 1 Booth, Maud B. 1935-1937
Box 1 Brown, John A. 1919-1931
Box 1 Burgman, Charles F. 1920-1929
Box 1 C 1919-1939
Box 1 Calder, William M. 1920-1921
Box 1 Callahan, Leo 1931-1939
Box 1 Capper, Arthur 1931-1934
Box 1 Carlton, Doyle E. 1932
Box 1 Clarke, John D. 1926-1933
Box 1 Conroy, Joseph H. 1921-1937
Box 1 Conway, Patrick 1926
Box 1 Coolidge, Calvin 1932
Box 1 Copeland, Royal S. 1924-1932
Box 1 Cornell, Ferris D. 1925-1926
Box 1 Coughlin, Charles E. 1938
Box 1 Crowther, Samuel 1919-1933
Box 1 Curley, Daniel J. 1929-1931
Box 1 Cutten, George B. 1922-1923
Box 1 Czechoslovak Legation 1929
Box 1 D 1920-1937
Box 1 Davenport, Frederick M. 1920
Box 1 Davis, James J. 1924-1929
Box 2 Day, James R. 1921
Box 2 Dwyer, Ambrose 1925-1935
Box 2 E 1919-1937
Box 2 Early, Stephen 1938
Box 2 Ellison, Eben H. 1919-1938
Box 2 Endicott, Henry B. 1900
Box 2 F 1919-1939
Box 2 Farley, James A. 1935-1940
Box 2 Feld, Rose C. 1924-1935
Box 2 Filene, Edward A. 1930
Box 2 Fiske, Charles 1922-1923
Box 2 Forbes, Bertie C. 1923-1939
Box 2 Furry, Herbert G. 1925-1930
Box 2 G 1919-1938
Box 2 Gannett, Frank E. 1937
Box 2 Goldman, Sachs & Company 1921-1929
Box 2 Graves, George B. 1924-1925
Box 2 Griffith, Clark 1919
Box 2 Grover, E. S. 1930
Box 2 Guest, Edgar A. 1938
Box 2 H 1915-1938
Box 2 Hecox, William H. 1920-1938
Box 2 Hill, William H. 1919-1937
Box 2 Hinman, Harvey D. 1919-1924
Box 2 Hoadley & Giles 1919-1921
Box 2 Hoover, Herbert 1932
Hull, Cordell
See S. D. Nichols
Box 2 Inglis, William O. 1935-1939
Box 2 Irving, John J. 1924-1931
Box 2 J 1919-1937
Box 3 Johnson, C. Fred 1921-1933
Box 3 Johnson, Harry L. 1917-1921
Box 3 K 1919-1939
Box 3 Keck, Charles 1923-1927
Box 3 Keller, Helen 1926
Box 3 L 1919-1939
Box 3 LaFollette, Robert M., Jr. 1936
Box 3 Landis, Kenesaw M. 1924-1938
Box 3 Landon, Alfred M. 1938-1939
Box 3 Lehman, Herbert H. 1929-1940
Box 3 Lester, G. Harry 1923-1927
Box 3 Lord, Bert 1936
Box 3 Lord, Chester B. 1927-1933
Box 3 M 1928-1937
Box 3 MacAlpine, William 1921-1925
Box 3 McIntyre, Marvin H. 1936
Box 3 Mack, Connie 1919-1933
Box 3 Miller, Nathan L. 1921-1922
Box 3 Morgan, Donald C. 1927-1931
Box 3 N 1915-1937
Box 3 Nichols, S. D. 1937 - with enclosure of Cordell Hull to Nichols, 1937
Box 3 O 1920-1936
Box 3 P 1922-1930
Box 3 Page, Maurice E. 1919-1935
Box 3 Penney, James C. 1934
Box 3 Perkins, Frances 1930
Box 3 Perkins, James H. 1929
Box 3 Platt, T. H. 1925-1937
Box 3 R 1919-1937
Box 3 Reisner, Christian F. 1925-1937
Box 3 Rodeheaver, Homer 1929
Box 4 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 1928-1938
Box 4 Roper, Daniel C. 1934
Box 4 Rukeyser, Merle S. 1923-1924
Box 4 S 1918-1939
Box 4 Seward, William 1933-1936
Box 4 Sloan, Alfred P., Jr. 1927-1934
Box 4 Smith, Alfred E. 1919-1940
Box 4 Spellman, Francis J. 1945
Box 4 Sunday, William A. 1927
Box 4 T 1919-1939
Box 4 Tarbell, Ida M. 1919-1927
Box 4 Thompson, James 1931-1937
Box 4 Tumulty, Joseph P. 1916-1917
Box 4 U 1930
Box 4 V 1925-1938
Box 4 W 1912-1938
Box 4 Wagner, Robert F. 1932-1934
Box 4 Walsh, David I. 1933
Box 4 Watson, Thomas J. 1926-1939
Box 4 Wilson, Woodrow 1916-1917
Box 4 Winters, Nellie L. 1936
Box 4 Y 1919-1922
Box 4 Z 1922-1928
Box 4 Unidentified 1921-1939
Outgoing correspondence 1909-1943
Box 5 1909-1918
Box 5 1919 (3 folders)
Box 5 1920 (4 folders)
Box 6 1921 (4 folders)
Box 6 1922 (4 folders)
Box 7 1923 (4 folders)
Box 7 1924 (4 folders)
Box 7 1925, January-March
Box 8 1925, April-December (3 folders)
Box 8 1926 (4 folders)
Box 8 1927, January-March
Box 9 1927, April-December (3 folders)
Box 9 1928 (4 folders)
Box 10 1929 (4 folders)
Box 10 1930, January-June (2 folders)
Box 11 1930, July-December (2 folders)
Box 11 1931, January-March (4 folders)
Box 12 1932 (6 folders)
Box 12 1933, January-August (3 folders)
Box 13 1933, September-December (2 folders)
Box 13 1934 (6 folders)
Box 13 1935, January
Box 14 1935, February-December (4 folders)
Box 14 1936 (5 folders)
Box 15 1937 (6 folders)
Box 15 1938 (4 folders)
Box 15 1939, January-May
Box 15 1939, June-1943, February
Box 15 Extracts, fragments, and public letters
Executive correspondence 1901-1945
Box 16 Accounting Office 1921-1930
Box 16 Burns, J. Runyan 1923-1924 - plant manager
Box 16 Callahan, Leo 1932-1944 - public relations man and editor of "Endicott-Johnson Workers Page"
Correspondents include William O. Inglis, biographer of George F. Johnson; Irving Keats, bookdealer; Charles A. Kenny, U.S. Army captain; Bohumir Kryl, band leader; William C. McDermott, trade journalist; Dorsey Owings, U.S. Army lieutenant colonel; Harold R. Quimby, trade journalist; William Seward, publisher; Minna Thielker, secretary to William Seward; Raymond A. Wolff, trade journalist
Box 16 Chrisfield, H. Edward 1930-1937 - general manager
Box 16 Clarke, Herbert C. 1927-1929 - sales
Dickson, W. F. 1920-1930 - auditor-director
Box 16 1919-1924 (4 folders)
Box 17 1925-1930 (4 folders)
Box 17 Douglas, George M. 1905 - insurance agent
Box 17 Endicott, Henry B. 1901-1922 - partner of George F. Johnson
Correspondents include E. P. Bliss, treasurer, Bliss Securities of Maine; Charles Ellixer, president, Crane Buckle Company; Gaston, Snow & Saltonstall, Shawmut Bank of Boston, executors of H. B. Endicott estate; Eliot Spalding, treasurer and partner of H. B. Endicott; H. L. Stone, shoe wholesaler
Box 17 Firth, C. M. 1919-1927 - treasurer
Box 17 Hogan, W. J. 1931-1933 - auditor
Box 17 Johnson, Charles F., Jr. 1921-1938 - nephew of George F. Johnson and vice-president and general manager
Box 17 Johnson, George W. 1921-1936 - son of George F. Johnson and president of Endicott-Johnson Corporation
Correspondence includes a critical letter by labor leader, Henry Stude, Chairman, National Bakers Council, November 22, 1934
Box 17 Johnson, John W. 1915-1930 - an advertising man in Georgia
Box 17 Muffley, Joseph F. 1930-1933 - sales
Box 17 Neiley, Jewett F. 1922-1925 - treasurer
Box 17 Paden, J. M. 1922-1925 - treasurer
Box 17 Powell, Clyde 1943-1945 - personnel manager
Correspondence is in the form of letter-size photographic negatives of letters of appreciation sent from major corporations within the industrial geographical triangle of Virginia, New York and Michigan. In this area Powell had toured over sixty plants to address both shop supervisors about safety practices and industrialists on the topic, "Understanding and Controlling Human Behavior."
Spalding, Eliot J. - treasurer of the Lestershire Manufacturing Company, Boston; later, partner of Endicott-Johnson and treasurer of the corporation
Box 18 Eliot Spalding-P. V. Byrnes Letter Book 1912-1913 - vice-president, Ontario Pipe Line Company, Hamilton, Ontario
Box 18 General correspondence 1901-1905, 1906-1927 (2 folders)
Correspondents include J. W. Beggs, sales; William M. Bradley, attorney, Portland, Maine; Louis D. Brandeis, attorney, Boston; Cowing, White & Waite, law firm, New York; W. F. Dickson, auditor; Henry B. Endicott, president of Endicott-Johnson Company; S. Firestone, engineer, Rochester; Herbert C. Freeman, C.P.A., Touche, Niven & Company, New York; W. Gillette, production; John Haley, executor, Endicott estate; Harry L. Johnson, brother of George F. Johnson; Thomas Lynch, deputy commissioner, New York Income Tax Bureau; Maurice E. Page, attorney, Binghamton; Laurence H. Parkhurst, Bond Department, Old Colony Trust Company, Boston; Albert L. Schomp, vice-president, American Bank Note Company, New York; H. L. Stone, wholesale shoe dealer, Stone & Porter, New York. (Where employer and company location have not been indicated, it should be assumed that the correspondents held positions in the Endicott-Johnson firm.)
Box 18 Stanford, Leland 1922-1934 - bookkeeper
Box 18 Swartwood, Howard A. 1928-1935 - legal department
Box 18 Miscellaneous 1922-1935
Box 18 United States government contracts 1914-1918
Correspondents include the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Army and Navy Quartermasters
Box 18 Holiday notices to Endicott-Johnson workers 1942-1948
Employee correspondence
Box 18 Employee correspondence 1920-1939
Subject files
Box 19 Hospital plans
Box 19 International Business Machine Corporation
Box 19 Labor relations
Box 19 Radio programs
Articles and speeches
Magazine articles by George F. Johnson, typescript and printed 1920-1936
Box 19 "Thirty years without a strike," System: the magazine of business, 37 no. 1, incomplete January 1920
Box 19 "A president's letters to his workers," System: the magazine of business November 1924, January 1925, February 1925
Box 19 "Shall we become a nation of jellyfish?" Colliers June 20, 1925
Box 19 "Fewer bosses, more thinkers: our management plan," System: the magazine of business, 49 no. 5 May 1926
Box 19 "Falling commodity prices are today's problem," Printers' ink, 152 no. 2 July 10, 1930
Box 19 "Why keep wages secret?" Saturday evening post November 15, 1930 - typescript carbon
Box 19 "Idle rumors" May 7, 1931 - privately printed
Box 19 "Your part in life: an address delivered to the members of the Men's Bible Class of Johnson City Church," Primitive Methodist journal August 1936
Box 19 "The Endicott-Johnson idea" undated - privately printed
Newspaper articles by George F. Johnson
Box 19 Miscellaneous 1920-1955 - Most of Johnson's contributions to daily papers appeared in the Binghamton Sun
Magazine articles about George F. Johnson 1920-1955
Box 19 Paul Clay, "Immigration and prosperity linked: influx of foreign laborers to bring wages and prices down to fair basis," Forbes magazine September 18, 1920
Box 19 Peter Newton, "Harmony and prosperity are here," Forbes magazine 1920 - incomplete
Box 19 George Mortimer, "George F. Johnson and his 'square-deal towns'," American magazine January 1921
Box 19 Rose C. Feld, "Keep close to your men!" Trained men November-December 1925
Box 19 John Kelly, "Mr. George F.: another portrait in the industrial gallery," Rotarian November 1927
Box 19 "Rubbing the worker the right way," Advertising & selling June 13, 1928
Box 19 "$185,000,000.00 in ten years," American shoemaking October 9, 1929
Box 19 Roy Dickinson, "Bigger than balance sheets," Printers' ink, 152 no. 5 July 31, 1930
Box 19 Rose C. Feld, "An industrial democrat points the way," New York times magazine June 3, 1934
Box 19 "With labor troubles the world over...," Boot and shoe recorder July 28, 1934
Box 19 Rose C. Feld, "Industrialist who shares his wealth," New York times magazine August 11, 1935
Box 19 James E. Hill, "A shoe story," Woman republican, 12 no. 25 September 1935
Box 19 Frederick Tisdale, "George F.," Reader's digest June 1937
Box 19 James S. Gibbons, "Has George F. Johnson found key to industrial problems?" Manufacturers' journal July 1937
Box 19 S. J. Woolf, "Honors at eighty for great industrialist," Think October 1937
Box 19 U. S. Greene, "Capital, labor and the 'square deal plan'," Kiwanis magazine February 1938
Box 19 "George F.--maker of shoes and men," Eagle magazine February 1938
Box 19 S. J. Woolf, "Honors at eighty for a pathfinder in industry," New York times magazine October 10, 1937
Box 19 "Frank conversations on rebuilding the world," Christian advocate January 20, 1938
Box 19 B. C. Forbes, "George F. Johnson: humanizer," Forbes magazine April 15, 1939
Box 19 "The homecoming of George F. Johnson," Ogontz mosaic May 1939
Box 19 "First jobs," Victorian March 1940
Box 19 Mabel Barth Ray, "There's magic in the golden rule," Good business June 1949
Box 19 "Half a century of shoemaking" November 29, 1955 - unidentified typescript
Box 19 Typescript, chapter of an unidentified work, probably from William O. Inglis, George F. Johnson and his industrial democracy
Box 19 "Hand-to-mouth buying cannot be overcome and should not be attempted," unidentified
Magazine articles about Endicott-Johnson 1924-1967
Box 19 "The valley of fair play," Building trades council September 1920
Box 19 Daniel C. O'Neil, "The Endicott-Johnson medical service," Industrial doctor, 1 no. 10 October 1923
Box 19 "Ambitious industrial service," Nation's health October 10, 1923
Box 19 "Helping 16,000 employees keep well," Hospital management November 1923
Box 19 Daniel C. O'Neil, "The Endicott-Johnson medical service," Journal of industrial hygiene January 1924
Box 19 Daniel C. O'Neil, "Where industrial service becomes community service," Nation's health January 15, 1924
Box 19 Eli G. White, "The awakening of a company: the story of Endicott-Johnson Corporation," New York 1967 - pamphlet
Box 19 "Employment by cities" April 1934 - unidentified separate
Miscellaneous writings
Box 19 Miscellaneous typescript or mimeograph ca. 1930 - titles such as "Control of relief efforts," "Making shoes at the rate of 375 pairs a minute," "Assisting employees," "Turn on the light," "If youth but knew," "The community service shoe," and "Installment buying."
Speeches
Box 19 Speeches by George F. Johnson 1923
Box 19 Speech about George F. Johnson, by William N. Doak, United States Secretary of Labor, at Binghamton August 27, 1931
Box 19 Speech about Johnson City Day, by E. M. Tierney
Pamphlets, broadsides and posters
Box 19 Advertising pamphlets, Endicott-Johnson 1910-1924
Includes a score of leaflets and large pamphlets with titles such as "Better shoes for men and women too," "The world at play," "Hide to retailer," "Shoes in stock," and "Square deal shoes."
Box 19 Advertising pamphlets, other companies 1913-1926
Includes American Leather Producers, Inc., the J. R. Burns Shoe Company, and United Shoe Machinery Company
Box 19 Pamphlets, Endicott-Johnson, policies and by-laws 1928-1936
Includes "The Endicott-Johnson idea," "The Endicott-Johnson family," "The labor policy of Endicott-Johnson and workers," "An E-J worker's first lesson in the square deal," "The Endicott-Johnson medical service," and the corporation "By-laws."
Box 19 Miscellaneous pamphlets 1927-1953
Includes "Booster week, " and "70 years of mutual respect and confidence," April 18-22, 1927
Broadsides
Box 19 Advertising and public relations of the Endicott-Johnson firm 1921-1936
Package 2 "The E-J Spirit"
Package 2 "The Old Oaken Desk" - of George F. Johnson
Tube 1013-1014 Posters 1920-1940
most are titled "To the Workers:" and offer inspirational messages or statements of company policy and philosophy
Financial records
Box 20 Appraisals 1912-1918
Box 20 Audits 1914-1920
Box 20 Bills & receipts, memorial arch for Endicott-Johnson workers, Johnson City 1922
Box 20 Cancelled checks 1899-1919
Box 20 Cash books 1892-1913
Box 20 Cost accounts: equipment, production and maintenance 1902-1918
Box 20 Cost accounts, shoe production 1925-1931
Box 20 Income taxes: federal and state, working papers 1916-1918
Box 20 Inventories: leased machinery
Box 20 Inventories: merchandise 1910-1917
Box 20 Ledger, general 1892-1914
Box 21 Liberty Bond sales 1918
Box 21 Notebook, financial conditions 1911-1920
Reports
Box 21 Census of manufacturers, U.S. Dept. of Commerce 1919
Box 21 Production 1907-1918
Box 21 Profits 1921-1924
Box 21 Profits 1925-1929
Box 21 Profits 1930-1934
Box 21 Profits 1935-1938
Box 21 Sales 1904-1925
Box 21 Miscellaneous
Box 22 Schedules, inventory reserves 1918-1919
Box 22 Shares, stockholders and earnings 1912-1921
Statements
Box 22 Monthly 1902-1903
Box 22 Monthly 1904-1911
Box 22 Monthly 1912-1915
Box 22 Monthly 1916-1917
Box 22 Monthly 1918
Box 22 Monthly 1919
Box 23 Monthly 1920
Box 23 Monthly 1921-1922
Box 23 Quarterly 1913-1920
Box 23 Semi-annual 1904-1915
Box 23 Annual 1913-1949
Box 23 Annual 1950-60
Box 23 Semi-annual & annual 1961-66
Box 23 Annual, comparative 1897-1918
Box 23 Statements of condition 1909-1919
Box 23 Tax receipts 1912-1918
Box 23 Trial balances, profit & loss 1914-1920
Box 23 Trial balances, profit & loss 1920-1924
Box 23 Trial balances, profit & loss 1925-1934
Box 24 Bids & contracts, U.S. government 1914-1917
Box 24 Wage schedules 1904
Box 24 Miscellaneous
Subsidiary companies
Box 24 Endicott Water Works Company 1911-1920
Box 24 Endicott-Johnson Realty Company 1909-1924
Box 24 First National Bank, Lestershire 1905-1915
Box 24 International Shoe Company 1904-1938
Box 24 Ontario Pipe Line Company 1907-1910
Box 24 Ontario Pipe Line Company 1911
Box 24 Ontario Pipe Line Company 1912-1914
Legal documents
Box 25 Articles of incorporation 1909-1922
Box 25 By-laws, Endicott-Johnson Realty Company
Box 25 Leases 1896-1909
Box 25 Manager contracts 1902-1907
Box 25 Manufacturing and utility contracts and sub-contracts 1901-1919
Box 25 Partnership and stock agreements 1907-1934
Box 25 Power of attorney 1902-1918
Box 25 Mortgages, real estate sales 1899-1936
Box 25 Right of way license 1905
Box 25 Trade marks 1901-1910
Box 25 Miscellaneous
Serial publications and clippings
A Magazine, and E-J Workers Review
Box 26 1919, March-December (3 folders)
Box 26 1920, January-December (3 folders)
Box 26 1921, January-April
E-J Workers Magazine
Box 26 1922 Oct.-Dec.
Box 26 1923, February-May, July, September, December
Box 26 1924 February-March, June-Sept.
Box 26 1924 Oct.-Dec.
Box 26 1925 January-April
Box 26 1925 May-October
Endicott-Johnson Workers Monthly Review
Box 26 April 1933
Fragments
Box 26 Miscellaneous
"Endicott-Johnson Workers Daily Page," Binghamton Sun
Box 27 1928, May-December (8 folders)
Box 27 1929, January-April (4 folders)
Box 28 1929, May-December (8 folders)
Box 28 1930, January-February (2 folders)
Box 29 1930, March-December (10 folders)
Clippings
Box 30 About Henry B. Endicott 1897
About George F. Johnson 1914-1923
Box 30 1924-1927
Box 30 1931, August-September
Box 30 1933
Box 30 1934
Box 30 1935-1936
Box 31 1937-1938
Box 31 1939-1947
Box 31 Obituaries of George F. Johnson 1948
Box 31 About Mrs. George F. Johnson 1927
Box 31 About the Endicott-Johnson Corporation 1914-1933
Package 1 Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings 1904-1936 (2 vols. and 1 folder)
Memorabilia
Box 32 Awards and decorations 1928-1938
Tube 1015 Blueprints of En-Joie Park clubhouse addition, 1932; Seabreeze Casino; Railroad crossing elimination, 1921; Highway revision, 1919
Box 32 Printed material about Binghamton, New York 1892
Box 32 Mementos of celebrations honoring George F. Johnson 1914-1931
Box 32 Drawings of George F. Johnson 1937
Box 32 Engraving plates (2 folders)
Box 32 Biographical data about Mrs. George F. Johnson
Box 32 Lot maps of Lestershire and the Lester Shoe Company factory 1888
Box 32 Mat proofs and printing cuts
Box 32 Petition for a bank in Endicott 1919
Package 2 Photographic collages of George F. Johnson with Endicott-Johnson employees (4 items)
Box 32 Photographic portraits, autographed, of Rudy Vallee and Max Schmelling
Box 32 Photographs of Endicott-Johnson factories
Box 33 Photographs of Endicott-Johnson workers
Box 33 Photographs, Johnson family and friends 1909-1946, 1956 (3 folders)
Box 33 Photographs, miscellaneous 1890-1900
Box 34 Photographs of sports events, celebrations, and views of Binghamton, N.Y., and vicinity 1902-1944 (2 folders)
Box 34 Printing plates
Box 34 Programs 1925-1936
Box 34 Sheet music 1919
Box 34 Verse and cartoons
Box 35 Medals 1919-1950 (10 items, 2 ribbons, 3 boxed medals)
Box 35 Seminar Papers May, 1970 - Polf, William "George F. Johnson and his Welfare Capitalism"
Films and phonotapes
Box 37 Film 1931 - "George F. Johnson is honored: all Binghamton turns out to celebrate 50th anniversary of popular manufacturer in a a mammoth parade" 16mm, VHS and DVD copies
Phonotapes
Box 36 "George F. Johnson funeral" December 1, 1948 (2 reels)
Box 36 "Dedication of monument to George F. Johnson" October 14, 1951 (1 reel)

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