The records span from 1883 to 2004 and are divided into three series: Administrative (1883-2003), Publications (1968-1988), and News (1958-2004). The bulk of the records are dated 1968 to 2004. The Publications series is divided into two subseries: Employee and General. Many published newsletters and business catalogs are located in the Missouri Historical Society Library.

The Administrative series is arranged alphabetically by topic and spans from 1883 to 2003. The files contain small amounts of information on a variety of topics in paper and electronic formats (noted on the folder list). The earliest documents, 1883 and 1887, are diplomas awarded to former company president, Redmond Colnon, as a college student. Other topics found in the series are highlights from the annual stockholder meetings, conference presentations, a tour brochure for the company’s headquarters built in 1982, and the files from the Fru-Con Corporation web site in 2001-2002. There is only a small amount of correspondence, most of which either relates to the production of a comprehensive company brochure in 1987 or is from the company’s communication specialist in 2001 and 2002. News releases in this series are also from the early 2000s and might be referenced in the communication specialist’s correspondence.

Information on company projects are located in the Administrative series. Files for the Insane Asylum (St. Louis) project in 1910 include names of workers and their compensation due to a dispute with the construction company that preceded Fruin-Colnon on the job. There is a large list of projects in job number order which spans from 1918 to 1976. The list includes only the names of clients and type of project (such as cooling tower, alterations, or new build, B1/f.17-20). Project profiles and narrative descriptions are located on CD #6, dating from 1996 to 2000 (B1/f.23). It is unclear if either of these job list compilations includes all projects undertaken by the company for the time periods represented.

For more on specific projects, see the circa 1975 Fruin-Colnon Corporation limited distribution prospectus in the Publications-General subseries (B2/f.13-15 thru B3/f.1-4). The prospectus is in four sections, section 4 is missing, and includes a brief company history along with project photographs divided by type of project (e.g. Refinery, Food). Please also consult the News series for information on specific projects.

The Employee subseries is arranged chronologically, dates from 1968 to 1988, and includes bulletins and newsletters produced in-house for distribution to employees by Fruin-Colnon. There are no issues of Newsletter for the years 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, and 1984. The newsletters include information about moving into the company’s new headquarters; policies and procedures; events; employee accomplishments, promotions, and transfers; and benefits. The 1988 newsletters are the only files in this series that are in electronic format (5” floppy disk). There are a few newsletters dated 1979 to 1981, Fruco News and FrucoFocus, from Fruco Engineers, Inc. (B2/f.9).

The General subseries is arranged alphabetically by company name. It dates from circa 1975 to circa 1987 and contains brochures and business catalogs used to inform current and prospective clients about the companies’ services. Companies represented in this subseries include: Fru-Con Corporation, Fruin-Colnon Corporation, Fruco & Associates, Fruco Engineers, Process Piping Co., and Voss International.

The News series is arranged chronologically, dates from 1958 to 2004, and is comprised primarily of photocopies of newspaper and magazine clippings gathered by a news service. The bulk of the clippings date from 1997 to 2004; there are no clippings from February 2000 through 2001. There are only three files that pre-date 1997: the Nike Missile Base in Grafton, Illinois (B3/f.10), a 1972 company profile (B3/f.11), and a 1981 article about the General Portland Cement Plant in Texas (B3/f.12). The clippings pertain to projects, employees, and to the company’s standing in the American construction industry.