IHA Archives

Two categories of archives are held and/or managed by the IHA:

archival documents from head offices, factories, or subsidiaries of aluminium companies, which have been preserved by former employees of these companies or by IHA volunteers, following reorganizations or site closures.
These may be complete archives, retracing the entire activity of the entity or part(s) of the archival collections;
archival documents retracing the professional, as well as non-profit work, etc., individual activities, (whether they worked at an aluminium company and/or in other related organizations) and which are transferred to the IHA as a coherent whole.

These archives represent, in 2024, a set of about 280 linear meters of which about half has been the subject of extensive conservation and cataloguing efforts.

Online Research Tools

Archives that are accessible on Culturalu.org :

- Fonds Jean-Albert Grégoire et ses entreprises (24 ml, 1905-1994)
Work to integrate the original photographs and plans is underway in 2024, leading to changes in research tools.

- Fonds Jacques Marchandise (8,84 ml, 1938-2003)

- Fonds Alumaf (L’Aluminium Africain) (3,6 ml, 1948-1981)

- Fonds Henri Morsel, Professeur d'histoire économique contemporaine (8,23 ml, 1855-1996)

- Fonds Aluminium Bâtiment (6,63 ml, 1947-1996)

Collections whose inventories are available on request

"Closed" collections where research tools are in the process, or “open” collections where donations are made on a regular basis.
Inventories are accessible on request made to the address histalu(at)histalu.org

"Aluminium Factories",(502 PRIM) (16 ml)

This collection is essentially made up of archives from the head offices, factories or subsidiaries of aluminium companies, preserved by former employees from these companies or by volunteers from the IHA, following reorganizations or closures of different industrial and administrative sites.

Henry Gall's collection (1862-1932) – Société d’électrochimie, d'électrométallurgie et des aciéries électriques d'Ugine (SECEMAEU) (4 ml, 1826-1967) (closed collection)

This collection includes Henry Gall's personal archives, and archives associated to the various industrial companies involved in the history of SECEMAEU, from its origins to propserity.

"Transformation factories" (502 TRAN) (1 ml, 1924-1997) (open collection)
This collection consists of a few archives relating to two transformation sites in France (Froges in Isère) and Couzon (Rive-de-Gier, Loire), as well as reports of visits abroad by the management of Cegédur Pechiney, which have been saved or donated to IHA.
Jean-Claude Béguin's collection (1922-2000) (17 ml, 1923-1999) (fund currently under reprocessing)
During his 37-year career with the Pechiney group (from 1946 to 1983), Jean-Claude Béguin had to deal with virtually all issues relating to the processing of aluminium and its alloys:
- all aspects (scientific, technical and commercial) of industrial problems, from the foundry to the products manufactured in the various plants attached to or linked with Cegédur-Pechiney;
- technical and commercial problems concerning products used in the production of aluminium alloys, in particular foundry equipment, lubricants and fluxes;
- quality control, methods and standards, safety, pollution and anti-pollution.
J.-C. Béguin having kept almost all the information he received or issued, this collection constitutes a very complete archival and documentary source on activities relating to the transformation of aluminium and aluminium alloys during the period in question.
Jean-Sébastien Letourneur's collection (6,12 ml, 1990-2004)
On the occasion of his retirement in 2004, Jean-Sébastien Letourneur donated to IHA his archives relating to environmental issues, produced during his career at Pechiney, Eurométaux, Federation of non-ferrous metal and ore trade unions (Fédération des chambres syndicales des minerais et métaux non-ferreux), Union of energy-using industries (Union des industries utilisatrices d'énergie, UNIDEN) and IFIEC-Europe.
André Jacomet's collection (1919-1998) (0,9 ml, 1962-1992)
This fund comprises a small part of André Jacomet's business archives relating to the Pechiney Group's American activities. In particular, it contains information on the Howmet subsidiary, of which he was director from 1969.
Tréfimétaux, Centre de recherche d’Argenteuil (11,7 ml, 1951-1980)
Archives relating to aluminium research projects carried out by the Argenteuil Research Centre