About the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Archives
In the fall of 1986, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company developed a formal corporate archives program to document the development and diversity of its insurance businesses and to preserve the company's valuable records. Material retained in the collection are administrative, legal and fiscal records of Fireman's Fund, founded in 1863, and many of its acquired subsidiaries. Records in the Archives date from 1800 to the present.
The collection encompasses a wide range of biographical material on the company's founders, subsequent executives and employees. It also contains property files recording moves of the organizational headquarters and various departments. Of particular interest are the 50th, 75th, 100th and 125th anniversary files that highlight the company's successes.
The archives is composed of many of the company's internal publications, including The Fireman's Fund Record, The Visiting Fireman and The Leader. These publications chronicle the history of Fireman's Fund providing insight into company programs, new products and employee achievements. Other publications include sales manuals and the Sales Record, which was published between 1965 and 1983 for the producers of the Fireman's Fund American Insurance Companies. Advertisement files record the historical expansion and progress of the company into different fields of insurance.
Various subsidiaries and acquired institutions, particularly the American Insurance Company and Home Mutual (later known as Home, Fire and Marine), are well represented in the archives. Incorporation files, board minutes, annual reports and memorabilia of these companies both before and after the merger with Fireman's Fund have been preserved. Among the acquired institutions and subsidiaries whose records are included in the collection, are the American Automobile Insurance Company, Pacific Insurance Company, Associated Indemnity Insurance Company, National Surety Corporation and the San Francisco Reinsurance Company.
In addition to the business records of FFIC and its subsidiaries, the collection includes documentation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire; a large photographic collection of natural disasters and fires; and logbooks, code books and photographs providing insight into the development of the shipping industry in the late-nineteenth century. |