Seeking personnel records & photos of workers at Springfield Armory

Hi Julie,

WOW that's a magnificent building, looks like a medieval castle.  Here's the web page. very interesting     https://www.springfield-ma.gov/planning/fileadmin/Planning_files/Historic/Historic_Background_Final.pdf

Would your like to share your great-grandfather's name? and anything else you may want to know about him

Alice

Hello again,

This is information about the Springfield Armory Museum. There is a photo at the top of the page, do you see him there? https://www.nps.gov/spar/siteindex.htm

Alice

Dear Ms. Bennett,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

If he was a civilian employee of the War Department, there may be an Official Personnel File (OPF) for him, depending on exactly when he was employed. OPFs and medical information for individuals who worked for the U.S. government in a civilian capacity prior to 1952 are in the custody of the National Archives at St. Louis (RL-SL), P.O. Box 38757, St. Louis, MO 63138. Please include the full name used during Federal employment, date of birth, name and location of employing Federal agency, beginning and ending dates of Federal Service. If you do not know any of this information, you may omit it or give estimates, however the more information you provide, the easier it will be for NARA staff to locate the correct files. For more information, the web site is https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/civilian-personnel.

Also, we searched the National Archives Catalog and located Monthly Payrolls of Civilian Employees, 1802 - 1911 in the Records of the Office of the Chief of Ordnance (Record Group 156) that consists of monthly payroll records of civilian employees at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. This series and other records of the Springfield Army are in the custody of the National Archives at Boston (RE-BO).  For more information, please email RE-BO at boston.archives@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RL-SL and RE-BO. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Also, the National Park Service’s  Springfield Armory National Historic Site has collections that may be of interest, however they do not have records of each individual employee.

Because you are uncertain about who employed him, you may also wish to contact Smith & Wesson that also is based out of Springfield, Massachusetts. There were also numerous other firearms manufacturers in the Connecticut River Valley.

We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!