Montgomery Mal (1 results)

Condition: Good. Archive of correspondence, ephemera, and newspaper clippings from the collection of Mal T. (Melchades Thomas) Montgomery. Overall Good condition with some soiling, staining, and toning. Born in Pennsylvania in 1878, Montgomery became a railroad traffic expert and worked in Pittsburgh, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Puerto Rico. This collection dates mainly from the late 1920s and early 1930s and includes the following: -1928 scrapbook, mottled and stained on the front board, containing Chilean newspaper clippings relating to transit. Also tipped in is a carbon copy of a letter to Senor Montgomery noting that an "unfair" complaint printed in a Lima newspaper had been instigated by an army officer annoyed that his stop wasn't more conveniently located. Other articles are more complimentary; one scrapbook entry heaps praise upon Montgomery for his skillful management of the challenges of running buses through a densely populated city with narrow streets. - 6 small leatherette notebooks dated 1923-1932, including 4 pocket diaries and 2 booklets filled with ruled or graph paper. Entries are minimal and consist mainly of names, addresses, and appointments. The 1932 diary was issued by the Westinghouse International Electric Company and features Spanish-language information about the company and a foldout map of South America. Moderate to heavy wear to notebooks; one lacking covers. - 2 group photographs in which Montgomery appears. The larger, creased and somewhat stained, is annotated in red ink and features two ambassadors as well as "yours truly." - 24 pieces of ephemera from South America, including bus and tram ticket books, annotated business cards, and a pamphlet about the influence of communism on Chile. - Correspondence and memoranda. Includes a study of a proposed bus service between Santiago and San Bernardo, an opinion piece on scheduling, a proposal for Green Bus Lines in Queens, and an analysis of service improvements in Argentina. The last notes at the end that "the men are impossible in Tucaman, but the manner in which they are controlled is the cause of most of the trouble." Workers were discharged before an investigation, then recalled when exonerated with a mea culpa from the Manager -- a manner of proceeding not likely to inspire respect. An interesting collection that sheds light on the challenges of transportation planning in the Americas.