Charles Copeland (1867-1944) was Secretary of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company from 1921 to 1935. He was closely associated with the Historical Society of Delaware and the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts (now the Delaware Art Museum.) He was the founder of the DuPont Museum, which eventually formed the core of the present Hagley Museum and Library. He also served as Treasurer of the Society of Colonial Wars from 1925 to 1942.

James McBey, the artist, was born in Scotland. He had his first exhibition at the Royal Academy in London and achieved international fame as a painter and etcher. He traveled extensively in the Middle East, Europe and the United States, settling in Philadelphia, where he became a U.S. citizen in 1942. McBey exhibited at the Print Club of Philadelphia.