Part of the current exhibition Beckett: More Than A Business, is a 36-page booklet with a detailed history of the company, published for the company’s 125th anniversary in 1973. Much of it had been written by Bill Beckett 25 years earlier for the 100th anniversary.
About the Exhibition
Beckett: More Than A Business, a new Butler County Historical Society exhibition opening June 9, showcases the 164-year history of Hamilton’s Beckett Paper Company.
The company began operations in 1848 when William Beckett, Adam Laurie, Francis D. Rigdon, John Martin, and Frank Martin started the Miami Paper Mill.The company went through several name changes until it was incorporated as the Beckett Paper Company in 1887. A member of the Beckett family managed the company for 126 years, from 1848 to 1974. More than 550 employees worked at the Beckett mill to manufacture the company’s line of high-quality colored cover paper and other products that were exported to as many as 35 countries. The mill was the third oldest paper mill in America when it was closed in 2012.
The exhibition has been designed and organized by Dave Belew, president of Beckett Paper from 1974 to 1992, assisted by Mike Dobias of Miami University Hamilton. It will run through November 30 and is free to the public.
It is the largest exhibit ever presented by the Butler County Historical Society and fills three rooms with hundreds of photographs of Beckett employees going back to the 1860s, “Life at Beckett” employee newsletters, samples of company advertising, marketing materials prepared for customers, historic company documents and items saved from the company’s community activities.
Personal memorabilia of the Beckett family including founder William Beckett’s desk, the piano from Thomas Beckett’s home, and the door from a company chapel are also featured in the exhibit.
The Beckett Paper Company exhibit is housed in the Butler County Historical Society, 327 North 2nd Street, Hamilton. It is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Free parking is provided at the society.