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American Plastics History Association Collection

An inventory of its collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: KD
Date: 14 Jan 2019

Biographical History

The American Plastics History Association (APHA) was founded by George Marshall Naul and Keith Lauer in 1997 and operated until 2000.

George Marshall Naul was a chemical engineer who worked for General Electric, Celanese, Owens Corning, and a number of other organizations. Naul also authored and edited a couple of books on automobiles, especially related to their history.

Keith Lauer was a curator at the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, MA. He also published a book on celluloid, served as Leominster's Ward 3 Counselor for 14 years, and was the president of the Leominster Historical Society for 6 years.

The two men recognized a need to document the history of the plastics industry pioneers and started the American Plastics History Association to collect member stories. The association was based off of the British Plastics Historical Society, of which both men were members. Though members were loyal to APHA, they could not be persuaded to submit their stories to the newsletter, APHA Notes, and without enough material to continue efforts, the association was subsequently disbanded in 2000.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The American Plastics History Association Collection consists of newsletters and miscellaneous.

Newsletters contains APHA Notes.

Miscellaneous contains biographical information, membership lists, etc.

Arrangement of the Collection

Newsletters are arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous is in no particular order.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Lauer, Keith.
Naul, George Marshall, 1919-2015.

Corporate Bodies

American Plastics History Association.

Subjects

Plastics -- History.
Plastics -- Societies, etc.

Genres and Forms

Newsletters.
Obituaries.

Occupations

Chemical engineers.
Historians.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

American Plastics History Association Collection
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Glenn Beall, 2018.

Table of Contents

APHA Records

Inventory