Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from 1888 to 1972 (bulk dates 1940-1964) and reflects the history and operations of Columbia Records while providing insight into the professional activities of A. F. R. Lawrence.
Material in this collection concerns the history, products, and manufacturing facilities of the company; and its relationship to other industry players, including its rivals (namely RCA Victor), affiliates, and overseas subsidiaries during the first half of the 20th Century.
A large portion of the collection comprises listings of matrix numbers. These numbers indicate which stamper was used to press which record and distinguish particular sides of a disc; they can also indicate which take was used for the final pressing, and the factory where it was made. Some of these lists were created during the 1950s and 1960s by Helene Chmura, the Company's librarian, and noted compiler and circulator of matrix lists. These files and others in the Corporate Documents section include comprehensive discographical information on production from Columbia Records.
The history and developments of the company from the early decades through the 1960s is traced in Corporate Documents via internal memoranda, meeting minutes, legal documents, financial records, and technical papers. Contracts and agreements with performers, partners, and subsidiaries are also present. The company's marketing strategies are reflected in material in these files, and can be found scattered throughout the collection.
The preponderance of files on Columbia's rival company RCA Victor demonstrate close competition within the industry, further highlighted by the Court Document files that concern a lawsuit filed by RCA Victor for trademark infringement surrounding the "red seal" label in the early 1940s. The Court Exhibits in this section include a range of Victor promotional material.
The Engineering files contain reports on research into different technologies, internal correspondence and memoranda that detail new projects and developments, and are concentrated on the 1940s. Correspondence and reports trace the development of technologies in production of discs, recording, and playback; such as wire recording, variable pitch, needle design, and long playing records. Also present is a detailed overview of manufacturing facilities (1949), and plans for their expansion and development. The effect of raw material restrictions during World War II is documented in the company's research into alternatives.
Historical Research provides further background to the corporation through originals and copies of correspondence and memoranda, catalogs, press material, and other printed matter. Business functions are recorded through stockholder correspondence, stock plans, and articles of association. The history of the early recording industry in the United States is represented in transcribed excerpts summarizing record companies active prior to the electric era.
Lawrence's development of the Columbia Records archives, and efforts to preserve metal parts from the record pressing process is outlined in the Projects section. His independent research and writing activities are also represented, and include notes, clippings, office memoranda, catalogs, and other printed matter.