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Samuel Russell collection of DuPont Company photographs

Creation: 1912-1940
 Collection
Accession: 2009-201

Abstract

Samuel R. Russell (1880-1943) was the senior dynamite technician for the DuPont Company from 1907 to 1943. This collection consists primarily of photographs taken at various sites around the United States and South America where Samuel Russell rigged and supervised dynamite blasts.

Dates

  • Creation: 1912-1940

Creator

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

General Physical Description note

431 photographic prints : b&w : 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 6 negatives : b&w : 4 x 4 in. 4 postcards : 4 x 6 in

Biographical note

Samuel R. Russell (1880-1943) was the senior dynamite technician for the DuPont Company from 1907 to 1943. He was born in Belfast, Ireland and came to America at an early age. He received a degree in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1904, and in 1907 he began working for the Explosives Department of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as a dynamite technician. During a long career with the DuPont Company, Russell became an expert on precision use of dynamite, supervising blasts in the United States, Canada, and South America, and developing new methods of blasting. Russell was called in as a consultant on a number of government and commercial projects, including the deepening of Honolulu Harbor. At the time of his death, Russell was senior dynamite technician for the DuPont Company, and his Wilmington obituary notes that he "shot more dynamite than any other man in the country."

Scope and Content

This collection consists primarily of photographs taken at various sites around the United States and South America where Samuel Russell rigged and supervised dynamite blasts. Many of the blasts occurred at quarries in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and West Virginia. Photographs also document, among other things, dynamite blasts at pit mines in Chuquicamata, Chile, deepening of the harbor at Honolulu, Hawaii, and demolition of a smoke stack in Michigan. In addition, the collection contains a number of photographs of an unidentified DuPont dynamite plant.

Location

Nitrate negatives are located in cold storage.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Related Material

S.R. Russell's pocket diaries (Accession 2444), Manuscripts and Archives Dept., Hagley Museum and Library

Language of Materials

English

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Samuel Russell collection of DuPont Company photographs
Author:
Judy Stevenson and encoded by Chase Markee
Date:
2013
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400