Conditions Concerning Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Concerning Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], H. H. Skinner Papers, Ms1988-061, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The H. H. Skinner Papers were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1988.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the H. H. Skinner Papers commenced in May, 2022 and was completed in June, 2022.

Biographical Note

Herbert Harold Skinner, son of Herbert and Martha Montgomery Skinner, was born in Rome, New York on September 16, 1886. The 1900 federal census lists the Skinner family as residents of Bristol, Massachusetts. By August 10, 1909, when the younger Herbert Skinner married Marguerite Merrill Gorham in Bristol, Rhode Island, he was employed as an "expert illuminating engineer" for the Narragansett Electric Lighting Company. The Skinners appear in the 1910 federal census as residents of Providence, Rhode Island. He continued to work for the same company as late as 1917, according to his 1917 World War I draft registration card, and in the 1920 census, Skinner is listed as an electric company manager. By 1925, Skinner was living in Poughkeepsie, New York with second wife Beulah Doolittle Skinner (1898-1996) and working for the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Company. The Skinners appear to have moved a few times during in the next two decades, with Herbert Skinner working in utility sales for different companies. City directories list the couple in Dayton, Ohio in 1929, and in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1933. By 1941, the Skinners were living in Newtonville, Massachusetts, while Herbert owned a business--perhaps an appliance store--in Boston. References to Skinner & Company can be found as late as 1960. Herbert H. Skinner died in Newton, Massacusetts on August 2, 1971, and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River (Bristol County), Massachusetts.

Scope and Content

This collection contains the papers of H. H. Skinner, an engineer/salesman with the Narragansett Electric Lighting Company of Providence, Rhode Island during the early 20th century. The collection contains reports, correspondence, photographs, and printed materials, relating largely to the company's venture into the marketing of electric vehicles.

Included in the collection are three salesman's handbooks, containing notes on pricing and technical specifications of electricity and electrical goods, as well as photographs of electric vehicles. Documenting the company's marketing of electrics are a number of reports and studies relating to the performance of the vehicles, their history, operation, and cost-effectiveness. Promotional materials in the collection include addresses made by Skinner and others, photographs of electric vehicles, and printed material (trade journals and pamphlets) relating to electric vehicles and the power industry. (The July 1913 edition of Board of Trade Journal (Providence) contains an article by Skinner, The Field of the Electric Vehicle."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Electric vehicles
• Science and Technology

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the H. H. Skinner Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).