The collection documents the career of a professional engineer during the second quarter of the twentieth century, as well as his earlier education and teaching career. Steuber's papers briefly illustrate the problems of a young professional who lost a business and joined the federal civil service during the Depression. The files have been arranged in chronological order.
Steuber's high school papers consist of report cards, compositions, physics and history notes, book reports, and a “History of the Class of 1905.” The file on his school teaching career includes his certificates to teach in Wisconsin common schools, contracts, recommendations, and correspondence, including letters indicating that he taught for a few months in 1911 at Kewanee Business College, Kewanee, Illinois, and concerning his position with the Madison Continuation School. In 1909, Steuber took federal civil service examinations through the National Correspondence Institute; copies of the examination papers, instructions, and a certificate are also present in the collection. Records of Steuber's work at Gem City Business College include samples of penmanship and shorthand, grade reports, and letters of recommendation. Throughout his career, Steuber applied for various positions with the federal and state governments. This is documented in the civil service file through applications for engineering positions, resumes, letters, and records of examinations. His career at the University of Wisconsin is illustrated by a project report from the 1915 summer surveying camp at Devil's Lake, a hydrological investigation of the Menominee River, a senior civil engineer's trip report, grade reports, and a 1916 class directory.
Records of Steuber's work with McClintic-Marshall Construction Co. include his letter of appointment and employment agreement, and a drafting department banquet program, 1921. Illustrating Steuber's service in the U.S. Army are his discharge certificate and a transport order. His American Society of Civil Engineers records consist of a printed code of ethics, a letter informing Steuber of his selection as a life member of the society, and other papers. Steuber's business, National Engineering Services, Inc., is represented in the collection only by a certificate of incorporation and stationery. Following the failure of his business, Steuber used the Engineering Societies Employment Service, for which there are his vitae. Regarding his employment with the Wisconsin Highway Commission's Bridge Department, there are letters and telegrams. From Steuber's tenure with the Defense Plant Corporation are copies of letters, form letters, project reports, and other papers, while from his service with the Wisconsin Bureau of Public Roads are letters, personnel documents, position descriptions, performance reports, and an application for retirement.
Steuber's project to develop an automobile automatic transmission is illustrated by graphs, engineering designs and technical drawings, correspondence and specifications regarding patents and attempts to market the product, letters of patent, and copies of patents of other designs. Steuber also designed other products and entered them in contests; these are also represented in the collection.
