MG-274. LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD COMPANY RECORDS, 1849-1962 and undated.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company was originally incorporated under the name of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna Railroad Company by an act of the Assembly passed on April 21, 1846. The name of the company was changed to Lehigh Valley Railroad Company in 1853 and, although the railroad carried passengers, the company depended primarily on the transportation of coal. After ten years of financial difficulties occasioned by the decline of the anthracite coal industry, the railroad was taken over by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1960. The collection contains several boxes of employee records and Applications for Employment, 1937-1969, including two applications for employment completed by African Americans. They provide considerable personal information such as the applicant’s name, address, age, height, weight, hair and eye color, race and nationality, as well as information on parents, spouse, and children. Information concerning education and previous work experience are also found. Most applications document a physical examination record of the prospective employee.