Samuel E. Dyke was a noted authority on the Pennsylvania rifle and wrote on this subject. Collection consists of articles, correspondence, photographs, research notes, and working papers on firearms. Also included is information on gunsmiths, the Rockford Foundation, the Heritage Center, cabinetmakers, grandfather clocks, and the Armstrong Cork Company. 1670-1985
"Rosie the Riveters" like Eleanor Flora helped in the war effort at Armstrong's Floor Plant in the 1940s. Taken in 1943 when Eleanor was 19. The picture was used as "Help Wanted" ad for Armstrong Floor Plant on Liberty Street and read "You Can Do It Too." Flora enlisted in the Navy in 1944 as a WAVE (Women Accepted as Volunteer Emergency Service) and was stationed at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. Because of her work at Armstrong, she was not required to take further training in aircraft repair. At Pensacola she served as an Aviation Metalsmith Mate and repaired PBY Catalinas, the patrol bombers that patrolled the coast. These planes were painted black for night patrol and were called "Black Cats." An example of one hangs in the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola.
