Abstract

Howard F. Baxter (1886-1969) and Robert T. Baxter (1913-1975) were the second and third generations of the Baxter family to head the Baxter Laundries Corporation in Grand Rapids, Mich. The collection contains business records and personal papers. The business records relate daily operations and finances and describe the laundry industry. The personal papers relate the state and local political career of Howard Baxter and the navy career of Robert Baxter.

Abstract Baxter Laundries Corporation was founded in 1876 by Alfred Baxter in the basement of the haberdashery firm of Gardner & Baxter on Monroe Ave. in Grand Rapids, Mich. Baxter Laundries, which by 1928 had become the largest corporation of its type in the world, owned 30 cleaning plants in 17 states. The bulk of the business records in this collection originate from the era in which Howard F. Baxter (1886-1969) and Robert T. Baxter (1913-1975) were in charge of the company's operations....