Tracor Records

An Inventory of the Collection

Administrative History

Tracor was founded in Austin, Texas in 1955 as Associated Consultants and Engineers. The organization was the concept of the three physicists, Richard Lane, Chester McKinney, and Jess Stanbrough and the University of Texas mechanical engineering professor, Frank W. McBee. These men would serve as the founders as well as leading administrators of the organization. The company was began as a research and development organization that quickly expanded to engage in various other activities including; engineering, manufacturing, and marketing of defense and commercial electronics. Their commercial product line included electrical components for radios, televisions, stereos, home appliances, autos, trucks, computers, and aircraft. Tracor became heavily involved in the defense industry and secured contracts with the United States Navy for the manufacture of instruments and components for their fleet and equipment.

The organization changed its name to Texas Research Associates in 1960. It would become known as Tracor in 1962 after a merger with Textran Corporation and Rudmore Associates, Inc. The firm made its first public stock offering in 1964 and became Austin's first company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1976. Frank McBee became president and chief executive officer of the company in 1970. By 1984 Tracor had become one of Austin's largest employers reaching $700 million in company sales and 11,000 employees worldwide. However shortly after, as a result of declining profits in 1985, Tracor was acquired by Westmark Systems, Inc. in a 1986 leveraged buyout. The oil crash of 1987 had an unfavorable impact on Westmark Systems' financial success. The instruments division was sold in 1990 to reduce their debt, but by 1991 the company had filed for reorganization in bankruptcy court.

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Scope and Contents

The Tracor Records collection is made up of a variety of records including; photographs, slides, artifacts, correspondence, marketing material, audiovisual material, financial records, records of incorporation, awards and certificates, and press releases. The records span the dates of 1960-1999, though the bulk of the collection is from 1978-1989. Together the records reflect the history of the business, showcasing the products and personnel that comprised it while also documenting its impression in the media with a large number of press releases and clippings.

The Press Clippings (1962-1988), series is made up entirely of press clippings documenting media coverage of Tracor throughout its history. There are 23 boxes within this series making up 9.2 linear feet. The clips vary in subject from the business overall to individual members of the organization to its products and services. Information within the series about many of the business' facilities, its financial affairs, and its subsidiaries can be found. The researcher will discover that the clippings are organized chronologically and then topically, topics are often the departments of the business. For example by Components, Science and Systems, Instruments, etc...

The Press Releases (1964-1989), series is similar to the Press Clippings series in its organization. First records are organized chronologically followed by topic. The series is made up of 9 boxes. The releases document the significant events and achievements of the organization and how they wished to be communicated to the public through the media.

The Organization Records (1966-1991), series is made up of 5 boxes of financial records, correspondence, marketing and advertising records, corporate branding documentation, and other records about the personnel that ran Tracor. The financial records include earnings reports, shareholder information, financial presentations and statements, and correspondence surrounding the production of the annual reports. Beyond these records are advertising and marketing material promoting Tracor's products, like GPS, and documenting its branding with examples of the corporate logo and letterhead and other trademarked material.

The Photographic Material (1967-1998), series consists of 4634 photographs, slides, transparencies and negatives. The photographs (#P001-P1130 and #OS001-OS079) are both black-and-white and color and ranging in size from 3x5" to 16x20". Negatives (#N001-N152) are primarily 35mm in both black-and-white and color, and the color transparencies (#T001-T342) are a variety of medium format sizes. The images are primarily professional photographs featuring products and personnel from Tracor and the many facilities and business locations of the organization. There are also some candid snapshots of staff, events, and locations. Prints, negatives, and transparencies are listed alphabetically in the container list by subject though the negatives and transparencies have been physically separated from the prints for preservation purposes. The oversize box includes the remnants of presentation binders for a Tracor salesman and on the Data system work group. Oversize item numbers OS011, OS013, OS050, OS058, OS068 and OS075 are not present. The slides (#S001-S2937) were organized mostly in 1979 as part of a corporate presentation on Tracor's facilities, products, and Tracor's departments and their work areas.

The Oversized Material (1960-1999), series is a single oversized box of various awards and certificates and memberships given Tracor. The recognition provided Tracor illustrate the various areas the organization was invested for both philanthropy and as business members. The awards range from the local to the national and include expressions of gratitude from schools, defense and industry memberships, and business accomplishments.

The Audiovisual Material (1970-1990), series includes two boxes and three film reels. The boxes are recordings on formats including vhs, umatic, and betacam. The majority of the recordings are from a series conducted by Tracor called "Reflections". Reflections appears to have been a series of interviews with Tracor's employees about the organization and about Frank McBee perhaps surrounding his retirement. In addition to these interviews are some Tracor advertisement spots for television, recordings of speeches and presentations, and demonstrations of Tracor products.

The Artifacts, series is s single case. The case itself was actually a Tracor salesman case that could be opened up to serve as a display for the products of the company. As such it includes a large number of Tracor products with labels. There have been three additional products included with original Tracor packaging.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users.

Restrictions on Use

The Austin History Center (AHC) is the owner of the physical materials in the AHC collections and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the AHC before any publication use. The AHC does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.

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Related Material

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Separated Material

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Administrative Information

Custodial History

Collection was transferred to the Austin History Center from Bae Systems in 2001 following the buyout of Tracor by Marconi, during which an agreement stipulated that Tracor archival materials were to be donated to the Austin History Center.

Preferred Citation

Tracor Records (AR.1998.017). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.

Acquisition Information

Donor #:DO/1999/001

Donation Date:12/21/1998 through 4/3/2001

Processing Information

Final processing and finding aid created and encoded by Rusty Heckaman/2015.

Initial inventory and preliminary processing by RB, JC, KB ET, VK, and JR.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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