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Moredock, Alfred E.

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1903-1987

Biography

Albert E. Moredock was born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania in 1903 and died in Greene, Pennsylvania in 1987. He graduated from Waynesburg High School and attended Waynesburg College for two years. He transferred to Carnegie Tech [Carnegie Mellon University] and graduated in Metallurgical Engineering in 1929. He became a non-ferrous metallurgist and recognized expert on the production and industrial use of copper and copper alloys. For 13 years he worked with Chase Brass and Copper Company, Waterbury, Connecticut and was Chief metallurgist of the Allegany Ordnance Plant at Cumberland, Maryland during World War II. Following the war he was a Senior Metallurgist at the Research and Development Center at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Alfred Moredock retired in 1969. During the summers of 1923-1927, Moredock was a crewman and eventually Captain of the Tent Crew for Swarthmore Chautauqua. He wrote in a letter addressed to Robert McCown, then Head of Special Collections, dated July 9, 1973, "I had a very good and happy boyhood and our family loved good music. I was shy, however, and couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do. Chautauqua altered all that. I learned how to travel, how to meet and get along with people--I saw all of the Northeastern part of the U.S. and Canada on Chautauqua. I learned I could do things as well as and maybe a little better than other people of my age. I learned to love and appreciate even more good music and the theatre - how to travel and meet and get along with people even before I was out of college and into industry. Chautauqua crew jobs were not easy to get. Fred High was with the Billboard in Chicago as head of the Lyceum and Chautauqua section - he was a friend of my father - and it was through him I got the tent crew job. I have benefited from my experiences on Chautauqua all my life." According to other correspondence from Moredock, Fred High was a native of West Virginia and primarily a newspaperman. He was active in Chautauqua in early days as an entertainer and married Nora Summersgill, a singer and Chautauqua entertainer. Fred and Nora High are represented in the Talent series of MSC0 150, the Redpath Chautauqua Collection.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Alfred E. Moredock Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MsC0150.04
Abstract

Postcards, newsletters, talent brochures, programs, and other material relating to Chautauqua, with the majority dealing with the Swarthmore Chautauqua system.

Dates: 1884-1947