Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Box and Folder List
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Paul Brockman
18 August 1989
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 3 manuscript boxes
COLLECTION DATES: 1920-1956
PROVENANCE: Purchased from William Rasdell, Indianapolis, IN, 15 March 1988
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 88.0322
NOTES:
Hanswerner Speyer (1902-1986) was born in Freiberg, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1921 because of the political and financial conditions in his native country. His father owned a book and publishing business dealing almost exclusively with medical, chemical and mathematical books. Speyer desired a career in mechanical and electrical engineering and began working in a machineshop as a student upon graduation from the Gymnasium (the American equivalent of high school). He later worked for the largest German electrical concern, AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizit aetsgesellschaft), working on electrical installations.
Upon his arrival in New York, Speyer worked for the Kleinschmidt Typewriter Company. A short time later he went to Providence, Rhode Island where he worked as a toolmaker for several firms including the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company. From there he went to Cleveland then to Detroit where he worked for Ford Motor Company from around 1923 to 1928 as a toolmaker in several departments. He then came to Indianapolis as a representative of the Dual Duty Company, a truck transport firm based in Alma, Michigan. He acquired his own truck freight business in Indianapolis around 1931. The company was first known as Contract Carriers, Inc., then apparently became Transportation Fuel and Supplies, Inc., then the Cincinnati, Eastern Indiana, and Indianapolis Motor Express Company, and finally AAA Transportation, Inc. The business continued into the middle 1950s.
Speyer also patented several inventions in several areas and wrote and translated articles for magazines in the United States and Germany.
The collection contains Speyer's personal correspondence, business and financial information, and articles and translations. Included in his personal correspondence are letters from his father and other relatives and friends in Freiberg and Berlin, Germany describing home life, business, and general conditions in the country, 1920-1941. There are also letters from his sister, Grete Hubler, and her family in Freital, East Germany, 1946-1947, describing life in the country and family conditions. There are also letters from friends and relatives in West Germany (Freiberg and Wuppertal) and Forbach, Moselle, France regarding family news and post-war conditions, 1945-1948. These letters are in German and most are written in German script.
There is also correspondence to Speyer from friends in the United States dealing with activities and general topics of conversation; correspondence with individuals requesting his help in obtaining visas for friends and relatives in Germany,
1938-1941; advice to recent German immigrants on surviving in the United States; letters to U.S. Government officials on developments in Germany; and letters from relatives in the United States regarding family in Germany. There are also copies of correspondence by Speyer and some responses to friends and authorities and agencies in the United States and Europe in attempt to locate his sister and her family (the Hublers) after World War II, 1945-1946. Approximately half of these letters are in German.
Also included are Speyer's business and financial papers dealing with attempts at employment and promotion, his trucking business, and personal finances. Among his truck business papers are letters regarding his employees and book keeping, a legal suit against the Indiana Public Service Commission (1941), and charges by the Divisional Code Authority regarding the sale of coal below the minimum price (1934). There are also drawings of his patents and other related information. In addition, there are copies of his literary writings and translations for magazines.
BOX 1: Correspondence from Germany, 1920-1948 & n.d.
Folder
1: Correspondence, 1920-May, 1921.
2: Correspondence, Jun-Oct, 1921.
3: Correspondence, Nov-Dec, 1921.
4: Correspondence, Jan-April, 1922.
5: Correspondence, May-Jul, 1922.
6: Correspondence, Aug-Oct, 1922.
7: Correspondence, Nov-Dec, 1922.
8: Correspondence, Jan-Feb, 1923.
9: Correspondence, Mar-Jul, 1923.
10: Correspondence, 1924-1925.
11: Correspondence, Jan-May, 1926.
12: Correspondence, Jun-Oct, 1926 & 1929.
13: Correspondence, 1934-1938.
14: Correspondence, 1939 & 1941.
15: Correspondence, 1945-Aug, 1946.
16: Correspondence, Sept.-Dec., 1946.
17: Correspondence, 1947-1948.
18: Correspondence, with Hubler family, 1946-1947.
19: Correspondence, n.d.
BOX 2: Correspondence, 1921-1956 & n.d.; Business & Financial Records 1921-1955
Folder
1: Correspondence, 1921.
2: Correspondence, Jan-Apr, 1922.
3: Correspondence, May-Dec, 1922.
4: Correspondence, Jan-Apr, 1923.
5: Correspondence, May-Dec, 1923.
6: Correspondence, 1924.
7: Correspondence, 1925.
8: Correspondence, 1926-1928.
9: Correspondence, 1931-1937.
10: Correspondence, 1938.
11: Correspondence, 1939.
12: Correspondence, 1940.
13: Correspondence, 1941-1942.
14: Correspondence, 1945-Jun, 1946.
15: Correspondence, Jul-Sep, 1946.
16: Correspondence, Oct-Dec, 1946.
17: Correspondence, 1947 & 1954-1956.
18: Correspondence, n.d.
19: Business, financial, & legal papers, 1921-1939.
20: Business, financial, & legal papers, 1940-1955 & n.d.
21: Business Correspondence (carbon copies), 1922.
22: Inventions, 1921-1928.
BOX 3: Writings & Translations, 1923-1940 & n.d.
Folder
1: Articles & Publications, 1923-1940.
2: Articles & Publications, 1924.
3: Articles & Publications, 1926.
4-11: Miscellaneous Writings & Translations, n.d.
MAIN ENTRY: Speyer, Hanswerner, 1902-1986
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Speyer, Hanswerner, 1902-1986
Ford Motor Company
AAA Transportation Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Transportation Fuel and Supplies, Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Contract Carriers, Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Cincinnati, Eastern Indiana, and Indianapolis Motor Express Co.
Indiana. Public Service Commission
Immigrants--Indiana--Indianapolis
Immigrants--United States
Emigration and immigration
Immigrants--Indiana--Indianapolis--Family relationships
Germans--Indiana--Indianapolis
German Americans--Indiana--Indianapolis
Business records--Indiana--Indianapolis
Tool and die makers--Ohio--Cleveland
Tool and die makers--Rhode Island--Providence
Trucking--Indiana--Indianapolis
Trucking--Michigan--Alma
Automobile industry workers--Michigan--Detroit
Translators--Indiana--Indianapolis
Patents--Indiana--Indianapolis
Immigrants' writings, German--Indiana--Indianapolis
Freiberg (Germany)
Berlin (Germany)
Freital (Germany)
Forbach (France)
Indianapolis (Ind.)--Emigration and immigration
Providence (R.I.)
END