Guide to the United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh Records 1911-2000
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh Records
- Creator
- United Mercantile Company (Pittsburgh, Pa)
- Collection Number
- MSS 927
- Extent
- 0.75 linear feet (1 box)
- Date
- 1911-2000
- Abstract
- The United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh, a commercial debt collection agency was founded in 1911 by William Meyer. The United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh Records contains advertisements, correspondence, photographs, and bound materials including a scrapbook, and binders containing legal documents and meeting minutes documenting the history of the company.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The United Mercantile Company (U.M.C.) of Pittsburgh specializes in commercial debt collection. U.M.C. was founded in 1911 when William Meyer borrowed money from his wife and left his job at another collecting firm to open the new company. The company thrived, taking over smaller companies and opening a second office in Butler, Pa. Meyer ran the company until his retirement in 1967, when Robert S. Armstrong took over the day to day operation until his retirement in 2000. The company, now located in Allison Park Pa. celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2011.
Scope and Content Notes
The United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh Records contain advertisements, correspondence, newspaper articles, photographs, and bound materials documenting the United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh. Included in the collection are mailings, cards, posters, and other supplements advertising the United Mercantile Company (U.M.C.). The collection also contains correspondence including a letter of thanks from a customer, letters from the company's accountants, and a collection of U.M.C.'s Confidence newsletter. Also included in the collection are several photographs of U.M.C.'s offices and staff from the 1970s and 1980s. Two newspaper articles are also present; one regarding a probable staff member, the second is an obituary for William A. Meyer, son of founder William Meyer. Included in the bound materials of the collection are bank and accounting books, a blank book of stock shares, a loose- leaf minute book including the company by-laws, certificate of incorporation, and shareholder meeting minutes. Other bound materials present include a binder of advertising letters from William Meyer and a scrapbook titled "This is Our Life: United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh" commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the company in 1961.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transfer from Butler Public Library in 2013.
Archives accession # 2013.0028
Preferred Citation
United Mercantile Company of Pittsburgh Records, 1911-2000, MSS 927 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Stephanie Johnson on 03/01/2013.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
An oversized item, the 50th Anniversary scrapbook, has been stored separately.
A wooden gavel has been separated to the museum division.
Subjects
- United Mercantile Company (Pittsburgh, Pa)
- Sarver and Ames Collections and Adjustments (Pittsburgh, Pa)
- Richter and Company (Pittsburgh, Pa)
- Meyer, William (1882-1973)
- Collection agencies --Pennsylvania --Pittsburgh