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Beaumert H. Whitton diary and photographs of Thorne-Loomis Trip through Industrial America

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MC-0111

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Beaumert H. Whitton collections consists of photographs and a diary by Whitton of a trip taken with other Massachusetts Institute of Technology students from Boston to Minneapolis, Birmingham, Ala., and back to Boston during which they visited manufacturing plants and military facilities. This trip occured from June 13, 1932 to July 24, 1932, covered 5,500 miles, 23 states in the United States, and visits to 30 plants. Site visits are described in the diary, and photographs complement the written description.

Their trip is called the "Thorne-Loomis trip" in the diary, which refers to trips sponsored by the Thorne-Loomis Foundation, Inc., funded in part by Alfred L. Loomis, a member of the Institute Corporation. Summer trips were sponsored by the foundation and organized through the department of Business and Engineering Administration. A specialized bus equipped with a kitchen and sleeping accomodations for 10 was provided by the foundation for the trip. The first Thorne-Loomis trip at MIT was held in 1931, and included site visits in the United States and Canada. The 1932 trip was the second and final tour of the United States. Subsequent Thorne-Loomis trips toured sites in Europe.

Dates

  • Creation: 1932, 1959

Creator

Access note

This collection is open.

Conditions Governing Use

Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.

Biography

Beaumert Harrison Whitton, 1910- 1990, S.B. 1933 in building engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), went to work for his family's business, the Southeastern Construction Company, in Charlotte, N.C., and ultimately became president of the company. In 1932, as an MIT student, he took part in what was known as the "Thorne-Loomis" industrial trip, which in that year covered part of the industrial United States, covering 5,500 miles in 42 days.

Extent

0.3 Cubic Feet (1 manuscript box)

Language of Materials

English

Related Materials

Related Materials in the Institute Archvies and Special Collections

AC 4
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President, records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian
AC 114
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Business and Engineering Administration records
MC 264
Alfred L. Loomis Papers
MC 270
Irving Lohman Films of Thorne-Loomis Tour of Europe

Processing Information note

Some collection descriptions are based on legacy data and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. Description may change pending verification. Please contact the MIT Department of Distinctive Collections if you notice any errors or discrepancies.

Title
Guide to the Travel Log of Beaumert Harrison Whitton
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository

Contact:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US