One of the most rich and detailed historical collections about Middletown steel producer Armco is now available for viewing online via MidPointe Library’s “Digital Archives.”

“The Armco Publications,” a collection of more than 300 issues of various company publications throughout the decades, debuted on the MidPointe website this morning, announced Adam Wanter, Digital and Special Collections Archivist.

The journals detail “activities at different Armco plants and include general updates and feature articles,” Wanter said.

Their debut coincides with “American Archives Month,” promoted by the National Archives.

MidPointe’s latest collection is a “great historical and genealogical resource for the public,” Wanter said. “At the same time, it’s a fantastic look into Armco and Middletown, and is a demonstration of the Armco Spirit that founder George M. Verity so strongly advocated.”

The entire collection is “full text-searchable" and includes:

154 issues of the “Armco Bulletin” from April 1914 to May 1930. Wanter describes that amount as a “complete run” with each issue including a table of contents.

146 “Arm-Co-Operators" (74 in newspaper format and 72 magazine-style). Included is an incomplete run of issues published from 1929 to 1935, from 1953, 1957 to 1960, and 1961 to 1963. A table of contents is currently being added to each issue, Wanter said.

The very first item in the collection is the “inaugural” “Armco Bulletin,’ Vol.I, No. I,” published in April 1914. The front cover reveals its theme, a can’t-miss statement printed in red letters :

‘Vigilance and Watchfulness Insure Safety.”

Accompanying the statement is a box containing just one word -- “THINK.”

Making the Armco memorabilia accessible to the public was a labor of love of local history. It’s a popular subject among the community.

"Everything we scanned for public viewing came from in-house,” Wanter noted. “The library already had these items in its collection.”

The entire digitization process took about eight months – six months to curate and two months to scan a total of 6,959 pages, Wanter said.

Curation continues, he added. “Tables of contents for the Arm-Co-Operators are still being created and more publications will be added.”

Wanter said the actual items that appear in the Digital Archives “are in storage for preservation purposes.” However, “they can be accessed upon request.”

MidPointe has long distinguished itself as an easily accessible source of local and area history. Its Middletown branch includes the “Ohio History Room” consisting of valuable items that do not circulate and “The Local History and Genealogy Gallery” containing items that can be checked out on a MidPointe library card.

Nestled between the two rooms is a cabinet full of microfilmed copies of Middletown newspapers dating from June 1814 to May 2019, with more on the way. A computer desk for reading microfilm is located nearby.

To access MidPointe’s Digital Archives and the Armco publications, go to: www.midpointelibrary.org > eLibrary > Digital Archives > Armco Publications Collection.

To obtain a free MidPointe Library card, contact any MidPointe location : Middletown, West Chester, Trenton, Monroe, Liberty Township (2nd floor, Liberty Center) or step aboard our “Library On Wheels” bookmobile.

Enjoy 300-plus total issues of historical “Armco Bulletins” and “Arm-Co-operators” debuting today on MidPointe’s Digital Archives!