Skip to main content
Notice: The Library is open for research by appointment only, please visit our research services page for more information.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. Guncotton plant panoramic photographs

Creation: 1918-circa 1920
 Collection
Accession: 1969-145

Abstract

The DuPont Company purchased a site near City Point, Virginia on the James River in 1912 in order to build a dynamite plant located closer to the southern market. The panoramic photographs show exteriors of the plant, views of the workers' housing, the town (including the African American section), and a photograph of the Hopewell China Corporation, a post-war reuse of one of the facilities.

Dates

  • Creation: 1918-circa 1920

Creator

Extent

22 item(s)

General Physical Description

12 photographic prints : panoramic photographs ; 15 x 14 in. or smaller. 10 photographic prints : silver gelatin ; 16 x 20 in. or smaller.

Historical Note

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The du Pont’s 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 towards sportsmen and hunters. Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, the company shifted its focus away from gunpowder production and towards chemistry innovations.

The DuPont Company purchased a site near City Point, Virginia on the James River in 1912 in order to build a dynamite plant located closer to the southern market. The onset of World War I, however, created a great demand for guncotton, and the Hopewell Works was converted to that purpose, starting in 1915. It became the largest guncotton plant in the world, employing at its heighth some 28,000 people. After the war, the plant was sold off for other uses, including the making of ceramics by the Hopewell China Corporation.

John A. Dick (1879-1972), the first full-time photographer hired by the DuPont Company, documented the growth of the plant during World War I in these photographs.

Scope and Content

Views of the guncotton plant built during World War I by the DuPont Company in Hopewell, Virginia. In addition to exteriors of the plant, there are views of the workers' housing, the town (including the African American section), and a photograph of the Hopewell China Corporation, a post-war reuse of one of the facilities.

Location

OO 1-3; N-3; DF Box 1001; Drawer A-25.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc. Guncotton plant panoramic photographs
Date:
2014
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