Waterbury's Industrial History: A Bibliography
A list of resources which can be found at the Silas Bronson Library. For additional information about our local history collection, please visit bronsonlibrary.org/genealogy
American Brass Co., A Century of Brass Making (1922)
An overview of the brass industry published by Waterbury's American Brass Company.
Includes photographs of their facilities.
Joseph Anderson, ed., The Town and City of Waterbury, Volume II (1896)
The second volume of this essential history of Waterbury includes numerous company histories.
Also available online at Hathitrust and the Internet Archive.
Homer F. Bassett, Waterbury and Her Industries (1889)
An illustrated guide to Waterbury in the 1880s, highlighting numerous factories.
Also available online at Hathitrust and the Internet Archive.
Jeremy Brecher, Brass Valley: The Story of Working People's Lives and Struggles (1982)
A history of the brass industry workers based on an oral history project conducted by the Mattatuck Museum.
Donald Brian-Johnson, Chase Complete (1999)
A collector's guide to art deco housewares produced by the Chase Companies during the Great Depression.
Cecelia Bucki, Metal, Minds, and Machines: Waterbury at Work (1980)
A very readable overview of the brass industry and its importance to Waterbury.
Eduardo Canedo, What Is More Enduring Than Brass? (1999)
A Columbia University senior thesis giving an overview of the process of deindustrialization in Waterbury from 1952 to 1976.
Betsy Kearns, Scovill Brass: Buttons, Cameras, and Cartridge Cases (1997)
A commemorative booklet giving an overview of Scovill's history.
Published in conjunction with the opening of the Brass Mill Mall at the former Scovill factory site.
William G. Lathrop, The Brass Industry in Connecticut (1909)
The original early publication detailing the Naugatuck Valley origins of Connecticut's brass industry.
Also available online at Hathitrust and the Internet Archive.
William G. Lathrop, The Brass Industry in the United States (1926)
An expanded edition of Lathrop's Brass Industry in Connecticut.
Also available online at Hathitrust.
Kathleen McDermott, Timex: A Company and Its Community (1998)
An illustrated history of the Waterbury Watch Co., the Waterbury Clock Co., Ingersoll, and Timex.
Kate Moore, Radium Girls (1997)
A biographical account of the women who worked in radium-dial factories and the struggle for workers' rights.
Also available in large print and audiobook.
William J. Pape, History of Waterbury, Volume I (1918)
The first volume includes histories of Waterbury industries.
Also available online at Hathitrust and the Internet Archive.
Emery Roth II, Brass Valley: Limited Edition (2013)
A preview publication of Roth's larger collection of photographs of brass valley industrial architecture.
Published in conjunction with an exhibit held at the Silas Bronson Library in July 2013.
Scovill Foreman's Assoc., Scovill Bulletin (1930s-1970s)
The company newsletter, highlighting employees and their activities.
Copies are available online at The Scovill Bulletin.
Scovill Manufacturing Co., Brass Roots: 150 Years of Craftsmanship in Metals (1952)
A slim volume celebrating Scovill's 150th anniversary.
Fiction
Howard Clark, The Mill on the Mad River (1948)
A romanticized retelling of the origins of Waterbury's brass industry.
Music
Scovill's Rolling Mill
Folk song telling the story of Irish immigrants who came here to work in the brass mills.
The lyrics are printed in Brecher's Brass Valley, page 9.
A recording is available on Irish in America (2001).
A 2009 recording can be heard on YouTube.
Video
Brass Valley (1984)
VHS documentary presenting the history of the brass valley, based on the Brass Workers oral history project.
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