Busch-Sulzer Collection
This large collection from the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, features photographs and documents from the Busch-Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Company in St. Louis. The company was located at Utah and 2nd Street and produced submarine engines for the U.S. Navy during World War I. In 1894 Rudolf Diesel invented the internal combustion engine later patenting this invention the “Diesel engine.” Adolphus Busch obtained the rights from Rudolf Diesel to build his Diesel engines in the United States in 1897. Eventually, Busch helped found the Busch-Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Company in 1911 and the production of engines began. Busch continued to produce Diesel engines through the conclusion of World War II. After the war the company and its properties were sold to the Nordborg Manufacturing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This collection includes letters written between James Harris, the Vice President of the company, and prominent naval figures including Admiral Robert S. Griffin and Admiral W.S. Dyson. Correspondence between Busch-Sulzer and other companies such as the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, who contracted submarines to Busch-Sulzer, are also included within this collection. Numerous photographs of the interior of the factory as well as various engines manufactured by Busch-Sulzer are of special interest.
