E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The company began with the production of gunpowder. The du Ponts purchased a mill site on the banks of the Brandywine River, just north of Wilmington, Delaware. During wartime the company was a major supplier for the United States government. During peacetime, the company marketed their product toward sportsmen and hunters. Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, the company shifted its focus away from gunpowder production and toward chemistry innovations.

The Grasselli Chemical Company was established by Eugene Ramiro Grasselli (1810-1882) in Cincinnati in 1839. During the First World War, Grasselli entered the explosives business, establishing the Grasselli Powder Company. In 1928, Grasselli was absorbed by the DuPont Company.

During World War I, the DuPont Company entered the market for dyes left vacant by Germany's absence. This was the DuPont Company's first major venture into organic chemistry fields. One purchase was the Newport Chemical Company of Carrollville, Wisconsin, to expand DuPont's position in the dye industry. Throughout the 1930s, DuPont concentrated its vat dye production in Carrollville.