Manuscript Group 1046, William B. Dickson (1864 – 1942), Businessman Papers, 1911 – 1976

Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 1046, William B. Dickson (1864 – 1942), Businessman
Papers, 1911 – 1976, 0.5 linear feet / 9 folders
Call Number: MG 1046

• Summary
• Biographical Note
• Provenance Note
• Scope and Content Note
• Folder List

Summary:

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, published poetry, and speeches of William B. Dickson, a businessman and civic leader who lived in Montclair, New Jersey. He was first vice-president of the United States Steel Corporation, chairman of the New Jersey Prison Inquiry Commission, 1917, an advocate of industrial democracy in labor-management relations, and a founder of the Montclair Art Museum. Includes a letter of Dwight W. Morrow, a certificate signed by Woodrow Wilson, and a copy of “They Shall Beat Their Swords into Plow-shares,” an anthem composed by the Montclair organist Mark Andrews and dedicated to Dickson.

Gift of Helen B. Ware, 1977.

Biographical Note:

William B. Dickson (1864-1942) was a businessman and civic leader who lived in Montclair, New Jersey. He began working for the Carnegie Steel Company at the age of fifteen. He later became a junior partner and managing director of the company. From 1901 to1911 he served as vice president of the United States Steel Corporation. In 1917 Dickson was a member of the Board of State Prison Inspectors in New Jersey. He was a founder of the Montclair Art Museum. William B. Dickson was also an abolitionist and an advocate of industrial democracy in labor-management relations. He was married to Mary Bruce Dickson (d. 1944) (Dickson was also her maiden name) and they had five children, Charles K., Emma Dickson Carswell, Susan Dickson Taylor, Eleanor Dickson Seidler, and Helen Dickson Ware. William B. Dickson died on January 28, 1942 at his summer home in New Hampshire after a four-month illness.

Provenance Note:

This collection was the gift of Helen B. Ware, daughter of William B. Dickinson, 1977.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of correspondence, published and unpublished writings and newspaper clippings belonging to William B. Dickson, as well as posthumous material. Included among his correspondence is a certificate signed by Woodrow Wilson which commissions Dickson as a representative of New Jersey at a meeting of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences in 1911. There are also letters regarding New Jersey prison inquiries, labor matters and letters to and from friends. Dickson’s commonplace book is a collection of typewritten copies of poems and Bible passages. His published and unpublished writings consist of booklets of his poems, articles and public addresses. The newspaper clippings folder contains typewritten copies of poems, poems clipped from newspapers, a steelworker’s magazine, pamphlets and clipped newspaper editorials. Also included are two copies of an anthem dedicated to Dickson and composed by Montclair organist Mark Andrews. The posthumous materials are obituaries, articles about a plaque dedicated to Dickson, a typewritten copy of his memorial service program and a clipped article regarding a portrait of Dickson that was donated to the Montclair Art Museum. The miscellaneous folder contains some of Dickson’s personal papers.

Folder List:

Processed by Alicia Santoliquido, June 2001

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