Oral history interviews with George H. Love, September-October 1988
- Repository
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Title
- George H. Love Interviews
- Creator
- Love, George H.
- Creator
- Amatucci, Frances M.
- Creator
- University of Pittsburgh. Press
- Collection Number
- AIS.1991.05
- Extent
- 0.31 Linear Feet (plus 12 audio cassettes)
- Date
- September-October 1988
- Abstract
- Mr. George H. Love was interviewed eleven times between September 19 and October 24, 1988 at the request of Wesley W. Posvar, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, in recognition of Love's contribution to American business. The collection contains a complete transcript of the interviews and 12 cassette tapes (19 hrs 46 mins). A digital reproduction of the transcript is available online.
- Language
- English .
- Publisher
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Address
- University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
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Scope and Content Notes
Eleven interviews were conducted in George Love's home in Pittsburgh between September 19 and October 24, 1988, by Frances M. Amatucci at the request of Wesley W. Posvar, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, in recognition of Love's contribution to American business. At the time, Ms. Amatucci was a doctoral candidate in strategic planning and policy at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. The 12 cassette tapes (19 hrs 46 mins) were transcribed by Christine Boyer (University of Pittsburgh Press staff) and edited by Catherine Marshall (University of Pittsburgh Press managing editor). Mr. Love, Mrs. Lois O-Connor (secretary to Mr. Love), and Ms. Amatucci reviewed and corrected the transcripts. Frederick A. Hetzel, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Press at the time, supervised the project.
The interviews are bound in a book-like binding that comprises 386 pages. It also contains an Index of Names which is meant to be a rough guide to the places in the interviews where Love mentions certain figures well known in the corporate world. The page number is generally the beginning of a passage where that person is discussed.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Biography
George Hutchinson Love was born on September 4, 1900 in Johnstown, Pa., where he spent his boyhood years. After graduation from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire (1918), Princeton University (1922) and Harvard Business School (1924), he worked for Lee-Higginson Company, an investment banking concern, as a salesman in Chicago. He went on to manage the office in St. Louis. He moved to Pittsburgh in 1926 when he entered his uncle's coal business, Union Collieries Company, as assistant to the president. He shortly became president in 1933, serving until 1943.
For some fifty years, Love was deeply involved in the coal industry. He became executive vice president and chairman of the executive committee of Consolidation Coal Company in New York in 1943. A year later, Consolidation took over Union Collieries' properties, and in 1945, it merged with Pittsburgh Coal Company to become Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Company with Love as president. When the name was later changed to Consolidation Coal Company, Love became chairman serving in this capacity until 1972. He was the coal industry's chief negotiator with John L. Lewis and his United Mine Workers union in the 1940s and 1950s. Together they formed the National Coal Policy Conference to deal with the federal government on matters relating to the industry.
Love served as vice chairman of National Steel Corporation (1959-1961) and chairman of M.A. Hanna Company of Cleveland (1956-1961). He also served on the boards of Mellon Bank, General Electric, Union Carbide, and Chrysler. When Chrysler encountered a management crisis in the 1960s, Love was elected chairman on the board (1961-1966). He was responsible for the financial turnaround of the company and placed it once again in the black. Love died at age 90 in Pittsburgh on July 25, 1991 from complications from emphysema.
Acquisition Information
Gift executed by agreement dated December 6, 1989 and signed by Mrs. Lois O'Connor (Mr. Love's secretary) with power of attorney. Received by the Archives Service Center in 1991 from the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Previous Citation
George H. Love Interviews, September-October 1988, AIS.1991.05, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
George H. Love Interviews, September-October 1988, AIS.1991.05, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Copyright
All rights reserved. University of Pittsburgh.
Existence and Location of Copies
A digital reproduction of the transcript is available online.
Subjects
- Pittsburgh Coal Company
- National Coal Policy Conference (U.S.)
- M.A. Hanna Company
- Consolidation Coal Company
- Chrysler Corporation
- Bituminous Coal Operators' Association
- National Steel Corporation
- Love, George H. -- Interviews
- Lewis, John L. (John Llewellyn)
- Oral histories (Literary genre)
- Audiocassettes
- Interviews
- Transcripts
- Labor unions -- United States
- Personal papers
- Business and Industry
- Chief executive officers -- Interviews
- Coal mines and mining -- Management
- Coal mines and mining -- Pennsylvania
- Coal mines and mining -- History
- Industrial management