Guide to the Ronald T. “Rocky” Sorrentino Papers 1957-1999 MG 1540

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Access Points
Administrative Information

Container List

New Jersey Turnpike Authority Documents and Personal Documents, 1957-1999


Guide to the Ronald T. “Rocky” Sorrentino Papers
1957-1999
MG 1540
The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Contact: NJHS Library
Phone: (973) 596-8500 x249
Email: library@jerseyhistory.org
URL: https://www.jerseyhistory.org
© 2004 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by Stephen Yautz.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. February 2005. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Sorrentino, Ronald T.
Title: Ronald T. “Rocky” Sorrentino Papers
Dates 1957-1999
Quantity: .50 linear feet
Collection Number: MG 1540

Biographical Note

Ronald Sorrentino, a resident of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, was employed as a toll collector for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority from 1957 to 1988. During his tenure with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, he served as Grievance Chairman for the New Jersey Turnpike Employees’ Union, Local 194. Additionally, Sorrentino was Safety Representative for the Northern Division of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. He also owned a business, Art ‘N’ Things by Sorrentino, located in Fairview, New Jersey.

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Scope and Content Note

The papers consist largely of Ronald Sorrentino’s personal documents, artifacts, and photographs. The items are of various dates, covering approximately the years 1957 to 1999.

The documents pertain mostly to Sorrentino’s employment and subsequent retirement from his position as a toll collector for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Included are citations for his thirty years of service to the Turnpike Authority, and two issues of Pike Interchange, an internal newsletter, which mention Sorrentino’s retirement in February 1988. Also included is a life membership certificate (with letter) to the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Home, dated July 13, 1990.

The collection also contains a 1999 catalogue from Sorrentino’s collectibles business, “Art ‘N’ Things by Sorrentino”. The catalogue mainly lists products for sale such as antique and reproduction model kits, lead soldiers, Aurora repro boxes, action figures, and war memorabilia. Of particular interest in the catalogue is an article from Kitbuilder. magazine, which highlights Sorrentino’s handmade diorama of the George Washington Bridge (which, incidentally, is listed for sale in the same catalogue for the sum of $25,000.00).

There are also photo albums containing personal photographs, which for the most part are unidentified. Some photographs are stamped with dates such as “November 1969” and “February 1972”.

Items and photographs from Sorrentino’s retirement celebration in May 1988, as well as additional loose miscellaneous photographs are also included in the collection.
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Access Points

The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, forms, and occupations documented in this collection.
Subject Names:
Sorrentino, Ronald T.
Subject Organizations:
New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
Subject Topics:
Express highways–New Jersey
Italian Americans.
Labor unions–New Jersey.
Parties–New Jersey.
Subject Places:
New Jersey Turnpike (N.J.)
Document Types:
Catalogs.
Certificates.
Forms (Documents).
Letters (Correspondence).
Photographs.

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Administrative Information

Custodial History

This collection is the gift of Ronald T. “Rocky” Sorrentino, September, 1999.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 1540, Ronald T. Sorrentino Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.

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Container List

New Jersey Turnpike Authority Documents and Personal Documents, 1957-1999

Box Folder Title Date
1 1 New
Jersey Turnpike Authority related documents, inlcuding New Jersey Turnpike
Authority Blood Drive
letter and sticker, Turnpike Employee Safety Committee Resolution, New Jersey Turnpike Service Awards banquet
invitation and program,
New Jersey Turnpike Authority Certificate of Merit,
Pike Interchange Newsletters.
1986-1988
1 2 New
Jersey Turnpike Authority blank forms and envelopes, including Inter-Office Correspondence
Envelopes, Collector’s Report Forms, Official Suggestion Forms, and Inter-Office Memorandum
Forms.
n.d
1 3 Union related documents (New Jersey
Turnpike Employees’ Union
Local 194, Highland Park, NJ) including letter referring to
Sorrentino’s appointment
as grievance chairman, an internal
telephone directory, and driving directions to
the union headquarters.
ca. 1978
1 4 New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Northern Division Safety
Policy Committee documents, including newsletter from Sorrentino to New Jersey Turnpike
Authority employees
and a notebook containing a log of safety issues
concerning employees.
ca. 1978-1988
1 5 New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Minutes of Safety Commitee Meeting
1978-1981
1 6 New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Minutes of Safety Commitee Meeting
1982-1984
1 7 New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Minutes of Safety Commitee Meeting
1985-1987
1 8 New Jersey Turnpike Interoffice Memoranda and Inspection Reports 1978-1985
Box Folder Title Date
2 1 New Jersey Turnpike Authority
Employee Safety Manual
ca. 1974 (with revised documents dated 1984)
2 2 “Art ‘N’ Things By Sorrentino” documents, including blank stationery and collectibles catalog ca. 1999
2 3 Veterans of Foreign Wars documents,
issued to Ronald Sorrentino
1990 July 13
2 4 Small photo album labeled “Rocky Sorrentino-1957”, contains 24 photographs 1957-1970
2 5 Sorrentino retirement party
invitation, banner and photographs
1988
2 6 Miscellaneous loose
photographs
n.d.
2 7 Large photograph,
30th Officers Training
Institute, Department of
New Jersey
ca. 1991
2 8 Newspaper clippings (copies and originals) 1950s-1960s

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