1. Document 1: “The Manny Reaper”
Jon W. Lundin, Rockford, An Illustrated History (Chatsworth, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1989), 44,46.
“Manny’s move to the Water Power District was the most important event in the early history of Rockford manufacturing. Because of him, the new hydraulic became an credible enterprise, and a number of jobbers were attracted to the city to produce parts for his reaper.”

2. Document 2: “Of Swedes and Industry”
Federal Writers Program of Illinois, Rockford, Illinois (Rockford, IL: Graphic Arts Corp., 1941),

3. Document 3: “The Co-operative Idea”
Eugene Brown and Ford Rowe. Industrial and Picturesque Rockford. (Rockford, IL: Forest City
Publishing Company, 1891), 65.

4. Document 4: “What Rockford Makes”
Eugene Brown and Ford Rowe. Industrial and Picturesque Rockford. (Rockford, IL: Forest City Publishing Company, 1891), 65.

5. Document 5: Industrial Statistics Chart (1899-1941)
Philip Ritzlin, “Rockford, Illinois: A Study of the Growth and Development of a City.” 1942, 9.

6. Document 6: A short list of Rockford Businesses from 1912 and their pictures.
Rockford Morning Star. Rockford, (Rockford, IL: The Rockford Morning Star, 1912), 38.

7. Document 7: “Employment”
Philip Ritzlin, “Rockford, Illinois: A Study of the Growth and Development of a City.” 1942, 12.
[Document 5 is figure III, page 9.]
Right: A Tarkington Automobile, the only Rockford-built Automobile. (1920s)
Jon W. Lundin, Rockford, An Illustrated History (Chatsworth, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1989), 107.

8. Document 8: “Rockford Standard Furniture Phonebook Advertisement”
Winnebago County, Illinois Farm Directory. (G.F Engston: Cherry Valley, 1949).

9. Document 9: “$125 Million Trade Links Community, Auto Industry.”
Robert Monahan, “$125 Million Trade Links Community, Auto Industry.” Register-Republic, 11 May 1959.

10. Document 10: “Business and Industry…Home Town Genius at Work”
Hal C. Nelson, Sinnissippi Saga: a History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois (Rockford, IL::
Winnebago County Sesquicentennial Committee, 1968), 137, 147.
“ Often the tools they [Rockfordians] invented helped to make the job easier, the output more plentiful and provided job opportunities for others. For money they used their savings, mortgaged their homes or persuaded others to invest in their business. Rockford has its industrial giants. There are small companies, too, where people with vision, faith, talent and productivity have contributed to the community’s economic progress…. With more than 600 factories, producing thousands upon thousands of different products, Rockford is one of the most diversified manufacturing centers in the nation. It has a reputation for machine tools, hardware, farm implements, appliances, Automotive accessories, aircraft parts, furniture, fasteners, paint and containers…. Although designated the “Forest City” by a correspondent of the New York Tribune who visited Rockford in 1853, the community could have easily worn the nickname “Reaper City,” “Furniture City” or “Machine Tool City” had it allowed one industry to dominate its destiny. Instead, Rockford and Winnebago County constitute a progressive, diversified manufacturing area whose resources and achievements in research, engineering and productivity make it one of the nation’s industrial stalwarts.”
Right: “Cideo Mill Gang, photographed in 1893…. Manufactured steel center neck yokes for two horse carriages and wagons” Nelson, 147.

11. Document 11a: “Percentage of Total Reported Employment” Graph
Office of Economic Opportunity Information Center, Community Profile (Winnebago County, IL:
City Council Planning Commission, 1970), 15.
Above: Bergstrom Manufacturing’s fabrication department.
Jon W. Lundin, Rockford, An Illustrated History (Chatsworth, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1989), 186.
(*) On the chart denotes a 0-1 Percent of Rockford’s economy.

12. Document 11b: “Distribution of Employment in Winnebago County Report
Office of Economic Opportunity Information Center, Community Profile (Winnebago County, IL:
City Council Planning Commission, 1970), 17.

13. Document 12: “New York Times article about Rockford’s economy in 1982”
N. A., “Rockford and Its 19% Jobless Struggling to Survive.” New York Times, 30 August 1982, sec. A, 10.