Skip to main content

Percival Farquhar papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 205

Scope and Contents

The papers consist of the business files and correspondence of Percival Farquhar. They document his role in the economic development of Brazil, in particular the Itabira Iron Ore Company. Correspondents include mining engineer Alexander Malozemoff, businessmen J. F. Trippet and Alexander MacKenzie, and aide J. Armstrong Read. Also included in the papers are the research materials used by Charles Gauld, Farquhar's biographer, in the writing of The Last Titan: Percival Farquhar, American Entrepreneur in Latin America.

Dates

  • 1893-1967
  • Majority of material found within 1919 - 1945

Creator

Language of Materials

The papers are in English and Portuguese.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Charles Gauld, 1962, 1965-1967.

Arrangement

Arranged by topic.

Extent

7.5 Linear Feet

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0205

Abstract

The papers consist of the business files and correspondence of Percival Farquhar. They document his role in the economic development of Brazil, in particular the Itabira Iron Ore Company. Correspondents include mining engineer Alexander Malozemoff, businessmen J. F. Trippet and Alexander MacKenzie, and aide J. Armstrong Read. Also included in the papers are the research materials used by Charles Gauld, Farquhar's biographer, in the writing of The Last Titan: Percival Farquhar, American Entrepreneur in Latin America.

Biographical / Historical

Percival Farquhar was born in York, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1864. He graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1884 and joined his father's New York based export company, which shipped machinery to Latin America. In 1885, Farquhar studied law briefly at Columbia Law School. After serving as an assemblyman in the New York state legislature from 1890 to 1892, he joined a friend's company developing electric railroads and real estate in New Jersey. In 1898, Farquhar began a long career of financial operations in Latin America to modernize tramways. From 1907 to 1914, he directed his attention and resources to the improvement of the ports and railroads of Brazil, in particular, the Madeira-Mamoré Railway and the Port of Para. He also established the Brazil Railway Company. From 1919 to 1941, Farquhar managed the Itabira project, designed to revive the Itabira Iron Ore Company and to build a railway to a new port near Vitória. Thwarted by nationalistic opposition and financial losses, the Itabira project did not succeed in his lifetime. Farquhar died in New York City on August 4, 1953.

Title
Guide to the Percival Farquhar Papers
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by Manuscripts and Archives Staff
Date
December 1999
Description rules
Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours