This collection contains personal and business documents, photographs, and artifacts of Ransom Eli Olds (1864-1950). The materials resulted from a relationship established between RE Olds Anderson (the grandson of Ransom Eli Olds) and B. L. "Bill" Porterfield that began in 1998. At that time, Mr. Porterfield was seeking funding for an Oldsmobile/GM Heritage Center. Subsequently, they collaborated on a book based on Mr. Anderson's life experiences and his relationship with his grandfather. In one meeting, Mr. Anderson invited Mr. Porterfield to go through some file cabinets and storage boxes found in Ransom Eli Olds' office after he passed away in 1950. The materials had been moved from Olds' personal office on the tenth floor of the Olds Tower (later renamed Boji Tower), to the Ransom Fidelity Company office on the seventh floor. The materials that Olds had kept stored in his office were the last known cache of documents, photographs, and artifacts pertaining to Ransom Eli Olds, the Olds Motor Vehicle Company, the Olds Motor Works, REO, and several other companies formed by him. Mr. Porterfield wrote, "Most of the materials looked like they had been hastily boxed up with little organization or protection." Mr. Anderson allowed Mr. Porterfield to remove the materials from his office in order to sort, organize, and research them for possible inclusion in a second book based on the materials. Mr. Anderson granted Mr. Porterfield ownership of a small portion of the materials in return for his time and expenses. The remainder were returned to Mr. Anderson's family. Mr. Porterfield donated some of what he received to the Forest Parke Library and Archives to form this collection. The remainder were donated to the RE Olds Transportation Museum.
Date Created:
[1892 TO 1952]
Data Provider:
Capital Area District Library (Lansing, MI). Forest Parke Library and Archives
