Two maps of Positive Feeder Cables, Circa 1916

The Dayton Electric Railway Collection is divided into three series that cover the time span from 1907 to about 1930. Series 1 is composed of official documents dated from 1918 and continuing to circa 1930.

Series 2 is made up of file ten containing miscellaneous items such as time cards and schedules, a newsletter, pamphlets as well as advertisements. Series three comprises file eleven that consists of two maps of positive feeder lines.

The series and files that may be considered important are file eight, file nine, series two, and series three. File eight indicates that as far back as 1929 a company was organized that would bring together all of the extant city and inter-urban railways into one corporation. File nine constitutes a study that discusses the problems of the Dayton railway system as well as the inter-urban lines. It proposes solutions and suggests a transit plan for 1950.

Of special historical significance is Series 2. Among other documents, it includes a history of the 1918 arbitration proceedings between the management of the streetcar lines and its employees' union. Involved in the arbitration were both the governor's office and the National War Labor Board. Also important is a reprint of a speech by a Dr. John Wesley Hill indicating the nature of labor and management conflicts in the early 1920s.

Series 3 shows the street names of Dayton and their layout in 1916.