Collection Full View
Theodore Vrana Papers (ca. 1783 - 1960s)
RepositoryNew Jersey Historical Society
Collection IDMG 1305
Size3 linear feet (6 boxes)
Collection Description
The collection consists of research materials compiled by "fire buff" Theodore (Ted) Vrana (b. 1906) of Morristown, NJ, for a comprehensive history of the Newark Fire department. Beginning ca. 1947 Vrana made weekly visits to Newark firehouses to gather data, and by the 1960s became friendly with Captain Wittick, who had been designated official historian of the Newark Fire Department. Vrana became a board member of the Newark Fire Museum (opened in 1967) and was a volunteer at the Newark Museum. He moved to Florida in 1974.
Collection Contents
Box 1, Folder 1 contains a typescript copy of Vrana's history, "Through the Years with the Newark Fire Department." The remainder of the collection consists of research materials, including original documents (manuals, rules, notices, programs, etc.); typewritten biographies of firemen; histories of individual firehouses and companies; membership rolls, 1889-1930; information on equipment used by the Department; clippings from the Newark Evening News on major local fires, 1930s-1950s; typescript copies of minutes and reports of individual Newark engine companies; a chronological history of the formation of the Newark Fire Association, 1797; notebooks with research notes; a card file listing members of the department; and several files of photographs (mostly of Newark fires (1919-1964).
NOTE: Many dates listed in the NJHS online finding-aid refer to dates of the information in the collection rather dates of the documents themselves. Most of the original documents apparently date from the early twentieth century to the 1960s, but some items are earlier.
NOTE: Many dates listed in the NJHS online finding-aid refer to dates of the information in the collection rather dates of the documents themselves. Most of the original documents apparently date from the early twentieth century to the 1960s, but some items are earlier.
FormatsPhotographic materials; Textual materials
SubjectFirefighting
Time Periods18th Century; 19th Century; 20th Century
LanguageEnglish
Access policyOpen for research
ProcessedYes