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William Sharman papers

Call Number

MS 3068

Date

1916-1965, inclusive

Creator

Sharman, William, 1894-1978

Extent

0.417 Linear feet (in 1 document box and 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

A small collection documenting the military service and banking career of native New Yorker William Sharman. In 1916–17 Sharman served with the 71st New York Infantry, National Guard, in Texas during the border skirmishes spawned by the Mexican Revolution. He subsequently enlisted in the 106th Regiment Field Artillery, United States Army, 27th Infantry Division, and saw action in France during World War I. Back in New York, Sharman worked for a number of banks, rising from messenger to cashier to officer. Most notably he managed the world's first airport bank, a branch of the Empire Trust Company that was later controlled by Manufacturers Trust Company, at La Guardia Airport, between 1941 and 1949.

Biographical Note

Banker and World War I veteran William Sharman was born to British immigrant parents in New York City on 30 June 1894. He began working in banks from a young age—the 1910 United States federal census records him, just sixteen, employed as a bank messenger—but a stint in the armed forces put his career on hold.

On 7 March 1916 Sharman enlisted as Private 1st Class, Company K, in the 71st New York Infantry, National Guard, and between June and October of that year was stationed at the Texas border during the so-called Border War, the series of skirmishes between U.S. troops and Mexican revolutionaries. Discharged from National Guard service on 5 August 1917, he enlisted the same day as Corporal, Headquarters Company, 106th Regiment Field Artillery, United States Army, 27th Infantry Division. Sharman saw action in France: at the Battle of Verdun (9 and 25 September 1918), Battle of Saint-Mihiel (12 September 1918), and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (26 September, 21 and 28 October, and 11 November 1918). He was honorably discharged on 31 March 1919, and approved for a victory medal on 1 July 1920.

Once home Sharman resumed bank work. The 1920 United States federal census lists him as a "pay teller," and in 1929 he was appointed assistant cashier of the Colonial Bank, at the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 81st Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side (see letter of 6 February 1929 in folder 13). The Colonial Bank merged with the Bank of the United States in April 1929, and Sharman continued in his position of assistant cashier with the latter institution (see his name on the list of officers in folder 13) until 1931 or 1932, when he became executive assistant for the Empire Trust Company. In 1941 he assumed management of Empire Trust's office in the administration building at La Guardia Airport. Touted as the "world's first airport bank," the La Guardia branch promised services designed for the convenience of the traveling public. (See the brochure in folder 15.) Manufacturers Trust Company assumed control of the La Guardia office on 24 September 1945, and Sharman remained with them, continuing as manager of the airport bank until 1949. In June of that year he left to open and manage Manufacturers Trust's new Featherbed Lane office in the Bronx (see folder 17), and apparently worked there until retirement.

William Sharman married Margaret Anders in Manhattan in 1924, and by her had one son, architect William A. Sharman (1926–2015), whose estate donated the present collection to the New-York Historical Society. The elder Sharman died on 25 October 1978.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into four series:

Series I. Border War & World War I, 1916-1920 (8 folders + 4 oversize photographs)

Series II. World War II, 1942-1946 (3 folders + 1 oversize document)

Series III. Banking, 1929-1957 (6 folders + 3 oversize photographs)

Series IV. Ephemera & Photographs, 1930-1965 (6 folders)

Scope and Contents

This small, sometimes disparate collection includes material from William Sharman's military service, such as his National Guard and World War I U.S. Army discharge papers (folder 1), ephemera (folder 2), publications (folders 3 and 4), and brief, broken runs of four periodicals, including the Wadsworth Gas Attack and the Rio Grande Rattler (folder 5). Three panoramic photographs document Sharman's time at McAllen, Texas, in 1916, during the Border War (oversize folder), and another large-format photograph taken in 1919 shows 10,000 officers and enlisted men of the 27th New York Division posed to form the division's "living insignia" (oversize folder).

Material from the World War II era includes letters to Sharman from the Office of Price Administration thanking him for his rationing efforts, and three gasoline ration cards (folder 10 and oversize). USO ephemera includes membership cards and "A Spiritual Almanac for Service Men" (folder 11).

Sharman's long banking career is represented by scattered correspondence, photographs, clippings, and ephemera (folders 13–18 and oversize). Of note are the items from the Empire Trust Company's branch office at La Guardia Airport, touted as the world's first airport bank, which Sharman managed between 1941 and 1949. See, for instance, the guest register (folder 15), and the photographs of Sharman and the bank (folder 16). One photograph shows Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and banker David Rockefeller (1915–2017) at the opening.

The collection includes various pieces of unrelated ephemera. Of note are the "Program of Events, New York Municipal Airport Dedication" of 15 October 1939, and the contemporary promotional booklet, "New York Municipal Airport, North Beach" (both in folder 19). Also present are Sharman's licenses to carry a pistol in New York City (folder 21), and a 1943 postcard advertising the "Mailomat," an automated postage printing machine designed for installation in lobbies and transportation terminals (folder 23). Refer to the container list, below, for more complete descriptions.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to qualified researchers.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before 1 January 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the William Sharman Papers, MS 3068, The New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the Estate of William A. Sharman, 2017. [William A. Sharman (1926-2015) was the son of William Sharman (1894-1978).]

Related Materials

The New-York Historical Society museum division holds a helmet and flag that belonged to William Sharman, both bearing the 27th Division insignia. The helmet, a Model 1917 (or M1917 Helmet), is thought to have been created in conjunction with the return of the American Expeditionary Forces from World War I. Troops were ordered to paint their insignia on their helmets to render them easy to identify while on parade. For information, write to responses@nyhistory.org.

Sharman appears in photographs included in the Eric G. Lindquist Papers, 1915-1919, 1960-1961 (MS 3129). Like Sharman, Lindquist was a member of the 71st New York Infantry, National Guard, in Texas during the border skirmishes spawned by the Mexican Revolution. (See Lindquist, Box 1, Folder 4, preceding page 21, and following page 22.)

Collection processed by

Joseph Ditta

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:23 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

Archivist Joseph Ditta processed this collection in September 2018.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024