Theodore Boettger Collection

Summary Information

Repository
SCW Library Special Collections
Creator
Boettger, Theodore, 1876-1975
Title
Theodore Boettger Collection
ID
SCW.022
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1922-1930
Date [inclusive]
1900-1958
Extent
5.0 Linear feet
Digital Photographs
Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the online image database
Language
English
Mixed materials [shelf]
Cabinet 21

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Biographical/Historical Note

Theodore Boettger (b. 13 July 1876, d. 10 October 1975), a New Jersey industrialist and one-time resident of West Hoboken, New Jersey, was prominent in the development of major public works projects in New Jersey: the Holland Tunnel, the Camden-Delaware Bridge, and the Palisades Interstate Park. At the time of his death he lived in Hackensack, New Jersey, where he had lived for many years with his wife and four daughters.

Born in Union (now Union City), New Jersey, he grew up in West Hoboken, graduating from the Hoboken Academy in 1892 at age 16. Although the dates are uncertain, he is said to have attended Stevens Preparatory School, likely during the time when it was still located on the campus of Stevens Institute. Years later, in 1945, Boettger would serve as a commissioner of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission for which Colonel Edwin A. Stevens, Jr. had served as New Jersey president, including when the Palisades Interstate Parkway was dedicated in 1909.

After studying at textile schools in Germany and France, in 1899 Boettger became manager of Boettger Piece Dye Works, the silk dying and finishing company his father had founded in Lodi, New Jersey. In 1903 the company merged with another one to form the United Piece Dye Works. Boettger served as United's vice president (1903), president (1922), and chairman of the board of directors (beginning in 1936). He resigned as director and honorary chairman in 1969.

The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials related to Boettger's public service activities rather than about his private life and interests. He was appointed as a member of the New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission by New Jersey Governor Edge in 1918, and served as its charman from 1922 until he resigned in 1930. During that time he oversaw construction of the Holland Tunnel (1922-1927), and the Delaware River Bridge between Camden and Philadelphia (1922-1926) (also known as the Benjamin Franklin Bridge from 1956).

Boettger was appointed to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in 1945. During that time, John D. Rockefeller, who had quietly purchased -- then in 1933 had donated -- 700 acres for construction of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, was actively working to gain support for the road. Rockefeller recruited Robert Moses to design the parkway. Construction began in New York in 1947 and in New Jersey in 1948.

Boettger also served as a director of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, now Public Service Gas and Electric Company (PSE&G), but the collection contains no materials about his service there.

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Scope and Contents

The collection is arranged into four series. Series 1 contains the bulk of material in the collection: scrapbooks, photographs, publications, a few records, commemorative paraphernalia, and one artifact related to the New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission. Series 2 contains correspondence, newspaper articles, two sound recordings, and miscellaneous publications related to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Series 3 contains commemorative paraphernalia and a monograph related to the Port Authoriy of New York. Series 4 contains a publication related to the Walt Whitman Bridge whose construction was overseen by the Delaware River Port Authority.

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Arrangement

Arranged in 4 series by format: 1. Mixed materials related to the New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission, which was responsible for the construction of the Holland Tunnel and the Delaware River Bridge. 2. Mixed materials related to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. 3. Mixed materials related to The Port of New York Authority. 4. A publication of the Delaware River Port Authority about the Walt Whitman Bridge.

The materials are arranged in four series, and all except Series 4 are further arranged in subseries by format. The contents of each series are arranged chronologically with the exception of Series 1, Subseries 1, which lists Holland Tunnel photograph albums first, Delaware River Bridge photograph albums second, followed by two folders containing a small number of photographs.

The series and subseries arrangement of the collection is as follows: Series 1, New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission Subseries 1, Scrapbooks Subseries 2, Newspaper Articles, Opening of Holland Tunnel 1927 November 12 Subseries 3, Photographs Subseries 4, Publications Subseries 5, Records Subseries 6, Commemorative Paraphernalia Subseries 7, Artifacts

Series 2, Palisades Interstate Park Commission Subseries 1, Correspondence Subseries 2, Newspaper Articles Subseries 3, Sound Recordings Subseries 4, Publications

Series 3, The Port of New York Authority Subseries 1, Commemorative Paraphernalia Subseries 2, Publications

Series 4, Delaware River Port Authority Publication

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

SCW Library Special Collections

Provenance

Louise Boettger, daughter of Theodore Boettger, donated the collection to the Stevens Institute of Technology on April 20, 1983.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

  • correspondence
  • monographs
  • newspaper clippings
  • photographs
  • Scrapbooks

Occupation(s)

  • industrialist

Subject(s)

  • Delaware Bridge Joint Commission of the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey
  • Holland Tunnel (Jersey City, N.J. and New York, N.Y.)
  • New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission
  • Palisades Interstate Park (N.Y. and N.J.)
  • Urban Transportation

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Collection Inventory

Series I: New Jersey Interstate Bridge and Tunnel Commission 1921-1928  (Bulk, 1922-1927)

Subseries 1: Scrapbooks 1921-1930  (Bulk, 1925-1930)

Scrapbook 1. Holland Tunnel and Delaware River Bridge. Vol. 1. Vehicular Tunnel. 1921-1925 

Scrapbook 2. Holland Tunnel and Delaware River Bridge. Vol. 2. 1925-1926 

Scrapbook 3. Holland Tunnel and Delaware River Bridge. Vol. 3. 

Scrapbook 4 .Holland Tunnel and Delaware River Bridge. Vol. 4. 1927-1929 

Scrapbook 5. Holland Tunnel and Delaware River Bridge. Vol. 5. 1929-1930 

Scrapbook. Holland Vehicular Tunnel Commission. 1927 

Subseries 2: Newspaper Articles, Opening of Holland Tunnel. 1917 November 12. 1923-1927  (Bulk, 1927)

The Evening World. 1927 November 12-13. 

New York Times. 1927 October 9-1969 December 9. 

New York Evening Post. 1927 November 12. 

New York Herald Tribune. 1927 November 11-1935 September 5. 

New York American. 1927 November 13. 

Jersey Journal. 1927 November 12. 

Jersey Observer. 1927 November 12. 

Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles. 1923-1927. 

Subseries 3: Photographs 1922-1927 

Holland Tunnel. 54 photographs. 1922 January 14-1928 January 16. 

Holland Tunnel. 59 photographs, 1 drawing. 1922 November 18-1924 December 2. 

Holland Tunnel. 47 photographs. 1924 July 16-1926 December 9 

Delaware River Bridge. 84 photographs, 1 commemorative sheet. 1922 January 6-1925 June 11. 

Delaware River Bridge. 107 photographs, 1 commemorative sheet. 1922 January 18-1925 April 1. 

Delaware River Bridge. 90 photographs. 1924 December 4-1926 April 28. 

Holland Tunnel. 2 photographs and correspondence, 1926 December 27-1927 February 21. 

Holland Tunnel. 5 photographs. 1927 November 12. 

Subseries 4: Publications 1921-1927 

Delaware River Bridge. Acts and Ordinances.1921. 

Delaware River Bridge. 1922. 

Problem of Bridging the Hudson River. 1924. 

Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel. 1924. 

Building of the Delaware River Bridge. 1926. 

Holland Tunnel Toll Rates. 1927. 

Delaware River Bridge. 1926 July 1. 

Holland Tunnel. 1927 November 12. 

Subseries 5: Records 1921-1923 

Summary of Bids. 1921 December 19. 

Monthly Progress Profiles. 1923 September 7. 

Subseries 6: Commemorative Paraphernalia 1926-1927 

Delaware River Bridge. 1926 July 1. 1926 

Holland Tunnel. 1927 November 12. 

Subseries 7: Artifacts 1924 

Commemorative Trowel. Laying of Corner Stones. 1924 December 12. 

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Series 2: Palisades Interstate Park Commission 1958-1983 

Subseries 1: Correspondence. 1959-1967. 

Subseries 2: Newspaper Articles. 1963-1967. 

Subseries 3: 33 1/3 R.P.M. Sound Recordings. 

Palisade Interstate Parkway New Jersey Section. Completion Dedication Ceremony. 1957 June 22. 

Palisade Interstate Parkway New York Section. Completion Dedication Ceremony. 1958 August 28. 

Publications 

Subseries 4: Miscellaneous Publications. 1958-1983. 

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Series 3: The Port of New York Authority 

Subseries 1: Commemorative Paraphernalia 

The Midtown Hudson Tunnel. 1934 May 17. 

Subseries 2: Publications 

The Port Authority of New York. A Monograph. 1936. 

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Series 4: Delaware River Port Authority Publication. The Walt Whitman Bridge over the Delaware River. 1958. 

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