Summary Information
Conrad Werra Papers
1896-1939
Green Bay Mss 162; PH Green Bay Mss 162
2.0 c.f. (1 record center carton, 1 archives box, and two flat boxes) and 8 photographs (1 folder)
UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Business and biographical papers of Werra, a pioneer in the aluminum industry in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, including clippings; biographical information; and two patents; a day book of the Two Rivers Iron Works, 1896-1899; and ledgers, journals, day books, employee records, and other business records, 1900-1913, of the Aluminum Foundry Co. The photographs depict the Two Rivers Iron Works and various items manufactured by Werra's Manitowoc firm.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0162 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Conrad Werra, a pioneer in the cast of aluminum and its alloys, was born in Germany on August 5, 1868. He was employed for seven years as an apprentice at the Krupp works in Essen. Soon after his arrival in America from Germany in 1888 he began the experiments in aluminum that were to continue until his death and that were to make him one of the national leaders in the field. Werra located first in Milwaukee where he was associated with the Reliance Works of the E. P. Allis Company. He was then employed by metal works in Beloit and Holland, Michigan, and he later established his own steel foundry in Two Rivers. This firm produced iron, brass, and bronze.
At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 Werra noticed aluminum, then used solely for souvenirs and advertising items. He became interested in the metal and in 1895 made the first cast of pure aluminum. In 1900 he launched the Aluminum Foundry Company, leasing a shed from the Aluminum Novelty Company and buying their scrap. Werra found a market for his product in the automotive industry, and in 1902 his company produced the first aluminum crankcase. He incorporated as the Aluminum Foundry Company in 1906.
In 1910 Werra's firm was purchased by the Aluminum Castings Co., later Alcoa Aluminum, with Werra remaining as Wisconsin representative of the company. In 1913 Werra again established his own company, the Werra Aluminum Foundry Company in Waukesha. This company soon produced over 12 million pounds of aluminum annually, and until 1923 a large part of its production went to the automotive industry. Werra's experiments with aluminum casting made it possible for his foundry to turn out castings of great size and intricacy and one of these large castings made during this period was a 3000-pound single casting for the tower of the Steuben Junior High School in Milwaukee. He also manufactured the grille work for the Milwaukee County Courthouse. The Werra company was sold to General Malleable Corp. in 1937.
Werra died at his home in Waukesha on May 14, 1939 and was buried in an aluminum casket manufactured by his company. He was survived by his wife, Julia Kappes Werra, and ten children.
Scope and Content Note
Werra's biographical papers include clippings; biographical notes that were probably collected by Werra's daughter, Mrs. John T. Watry, the donor of the collection; a brief typewritten autobiography; and two patents for piston improvements. The autobiography disputes the frequently printed statement that Werra was influenced by aluminum souvenirs he saw at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Werra himself states instead that he came into contact with aluminum as an employee of the Berlin Machine Works in Beloit in 1892 that produced grille work for elevator doors. This autobiography also lists a number of the companies for which Werra produced aluminum. The biographical papers section of the collection also includes 1910 minutes of the Ferromatic Tire Manufacturing Company, a Werra company not mentioned elsewhere in the collection.
The business papers primarily document the Aluminum Foundry Co., with one day book documenting the Two Rivers Iron Works, 1896-1899. There are no records for the Werra Aluminum Foundry Company of Waukesha. The records of the Aluminum Foundry Co. are arranged alphabetically by type. It is unlikely that the financial records are complete, although they provide good documentation of the company's clients, employees, and the general nature of its operations.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Mrs. John Watry, Elm Grove, Wisconsin, 1969. Accession Number: M69-289
Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 2001.
Contents List
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Green Bay Mss 162
Box
1
Folder
1
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Biographical miscellany, clippings, 1910-1939
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Photographs
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Xerox copies
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PH Green Bay Mss 162
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Original prints
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Green Bay Mss 162
Box
1
Folder
3
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Minutes of stockholders meetings, 1906-1910
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Day books
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Two Rivers Iron Works, 1896-1899
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Box
2
Folder
1-7
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Aluminum Foundry Company, 1902-1910, 1913
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Box
3
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Journal, 1906-1910
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Ledgers
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Box
2
Folder
8-9
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1902-1904
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Box
4
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1906-1909
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Orders, 1906
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Box
2
Folder
11-12
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Time books of employees, 1906-1911
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Trial balances, 1913
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