Midland-Ross Company Records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MSS-295

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection is not divided into series. Each folder contains a different portion of the Midland-Ross Company Records. The collection is not a complete record of the company’s history, although it provides insight into its organization and work from 1965-1985.

The first folder contains annual reports from the company for the years 1965, 1966, 1969 and 1976. These reports are complete and bound. The second folder contains articles written about the company or connected to the company for another reason. The only dated article is from 1983. The third folder contains a single award night pamphlet for the company’s 1978 award night.

The fourth folder contains company manuals from the years 1970 and 1980. The fifth folder contains multiple organizational charts which detail the hierarchy of the company’s management and employees. The sixth fold contains patents from the company from the years 1968 and 1970

The seventh and eight folders contain policy and procedure paperwork. Specifically the seventh folder holds the company’s commandments, definitions, and other paperwork for employees dating to the year 1974. The eight folder contains an element chart, vacuum information, power control unit information and furnace system information for employees.

The ninth and final folder contains proposals for the company from March to May of the year 1985.

Dates

Creation: 1965-1985

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials may be accessed by request at the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections on the fifth floor of the William S. Carlson Library on the main campus of the University of Toledo. Materials do not circulate.

Conditions Governing Use

In most cases, the Canaday Center does not own the copyright and literary rights to items in its collections; it is the responsibility of the researcher to adhere to U.S. Copyright and Fair Use laws, including seeking permission from the copyright holder and payment of any royalty fees, in the reproduction and use of archival materials. Providing copies or scans does not constitute a license to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.

Biographical / Historical

The Midland Ross Company originated in the Cleveland area in the year 1894 as the Parish & Bingham Company. The company manufactured steel materials such as automobile frames. The company officially became known as the Midland-Ross Co. in the mid-1950s. In the year 1959, Midland Ross Co. bought the Surface Combustion Company of Toledo Ohio for $23 million. Surface Combustion became a division of Midland-Ross, containing nearly three hundred hourly workers in the year 1980. The entire company of Midland-Ross including Surface Combustion, was bought by Forstmann Little & Company in 1986. By the year 1988 many of the divisions within Midland-Ross had been sold to other corporations including Surface Combustion Co. The steel manufacturing company Midland-Ross officially closed in 2003.