Eugene S. Ferguson (1916-2004) was one of the founders of the discipline of the history of technology, both through teaching at Iowa State University and the University of Delaware and by working at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hagley Museum. This collection documents the first twenty years of the history of technology as an academic discipline, and networking among its practitioners.

Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. (1888-1976) was an industrialist, philanthropist, and former President and Chairman of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. This collection of personal papers of Carpenter, Jr. consists primarily of letters to family, friends, and business associates, as well as financial information records. The papers date from 1916 to 1976.