Fetters, Thomas T. 1938-

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FETTERS, Thomas T. 1938-

PERSONAL:

Born January 7, 1938, in Neenah, WI; son of James (an architectural engineer) and Constance (a homemaker; maiden name, Torrence) Fetters; married Gloria Beckway (a homemaker), May 11, 1968; children: Jean Fetters Conner. Ethnicity: "USA." Education: Clemson University, B.S., 1961. Politics: Independent. Religion: Episcopalian. Hobbies and other interests: Railroad history, Lustron research, video production.

ADDRESSES:

Home—545 South Elizabeth Dr., Lombard, IL 60148. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Crown Cork and Seal, Alsip, IL, consultant in packaging performance, 1961—.

MEMBER:

International Society of Beverage Technologists, American Society of Brewing Chemists, China Stamp Society (past president of Chicago chapter), Dupage Genealogical Society (past president), Lombard Historical Society (president, 2001—).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Commendation from South Carolina House of Representatives, 1985, for Logging Railroads of South Carolina.

WRITINGS:

(With Peter Swanson) Piedmont & Northern, Golden West (New York, NY), 1968.

Palmetto Traction, Harold E. Cox (Forty Fort, PA), 1975.

Logging Railroads of South Carolina, Heimberger House (Forest Park, IL), 1985.

The Lustron Home: The History of a Postwar Prefabricated Housing Experiment, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2001.

Bears, Balds, and Sidewinders, Timber Times, in press.

Author (with Vince Kohler; also director and narrator) of the video script Logs, Bogs, and Cabbagestacks, broadcast by a local-access television station in 2001; also author of The Independent Republic, 1984, and Logging Railroads of Horry Country, South Carolina.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Lancaster & Chester Railroad, completion expected c. 2004; continuing research on Lustron houses.

SIDELIGHTS:

Thomas T. Fetters told CA: "The primary motivation for my work has always been to write material that I want to read. I begin by collecting as much historical information as I can and then building a network of people who share the same interest and provide additional information from areas I am unable to reach.

"I have written manuscript material on every one of the South Carolina railroads, including main lines, short lines, logging lines, industrial railways, and others. As publishers show interest, I can convert a manuscript into a working and more complete article or book. My inspiration was the complete lack of interest in the railroad history of South Carolina by the public, and my own intense interest in finding where all the track ran and who had built it.

"The Lustron book was inspired by my daughter's high school history fair project back in 1988. She worked on the thirty-six Lustron houses of Lombard, Illinois, and I went on to find 2,200 of the 2,500 houses that were built in a short two-year period of postwar America. The book has become the definitive history of the corporation, how it began, and how it failed. A list in the appendix cites each of the houses I found by town, address, model, and color, as well as the serial number where that is known."