Scipio, Lynn A. Papers

Industrial Rehabilitation Specialist and Industrial Engineer, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1945-1947.

The papers of Lynn A. Scipio include technical information, correspondence, and other materials concerning locomotives and related equipment acquired by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) for China, Greece, Turkey, and other nations after World War II.

Size: Less than 1 linear foot (about 800 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection. Documents created by officials of the U.S. Government in the course of their duties are in the public domain.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2026).

Lynn Adolphus Scipio was born in White County, Indiana, on October 20, 1876. He received a B.A. degree from Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana in 1902, and a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1908. He continued his studies at Purdue, earning an M.E. degree in 1911 and a Ph.D. in 1930. Scipio married Margaret Booher in 1908, and their daughter, Elizabeth Scipio, was born in 1914. In 1912, Scipio emigrated to Turkey and became dean of the Robert College School of Engineering in that country. After returning to the United States, he served as Head Engineer of the War Production Board from 1943 to 1944. From 1945 to 1947, Scipio served as an Industrial Rehabilitation Specialist and an Industrial Engineer for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Scipio died in Columbus, Ohio on June 10, 1963.

The papers of Lynn A. Scipio include technical information, correspondence, and other materials concerning locomotives and related equipment acquired by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) for China, Greece, Turkey, and other nations after World War II.

The technical information in the collection includes specifications, lists of parts and prices, and diagrams. Most of the correspondence is between manufacturers and UNRRA officials, but there is some correspondence between officials of the agency, and with other government officials. The collection also includes a transcript of a 1944 conference dealing with locomotives in postwar Europe, and several personal and administrative documents. A few photographs from the papers have been transferred to the Truman Library’s audiovisual collection.

The papers were donated to the Truman Library by Scipio’s son-in-law, Professor Sydney Nettleton Fisher of Ohio State University. They were originally opened for research as part of the General Historical Documents Collection (GHDC), as GHDC Nos. 47-49 and 58-59.

Other collections at the Truman Library relating to UNRRA include the papers of Robert E. Asher, John O. Coppock, Anne Laughlin, and Daniel E. Wright.