John W. Macklem collection of DuPont Company powder yards photographs
Creation: 1889-1936Abstract
John W. Macklem (1867-1948) began working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as an errand boy at a young age and remained with the company his entire career. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. This collection comprises photographs of buildings and scenes in DuPont Company explosives manufacturing plants along the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, including the Eleutherian Mills (or Upper) yard, the Upper Hagley yard, and the Lower Hagley yard.
Dates
- Creation: 1889-1936
Creator
- Macklem , John W., 1867-1948 (Person)
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
General Physical Description
40 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 3 albumen silver prints ; 8 x 10 in. 1 print : b&w lithograph ; 7 x 8 in.
Biographical Note
John W. Macklem (1867-1948) began working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as an errand boy at a young age and remained with the company his entire career. 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.
Three of the photographs in this collection were taken by Pierre A. Gentieu (1842-1930), a long-term employee of the DuPont Company who took extensive photographs of the company's Brandywine Works at the turn of the twentieth century.
Scope and Content
The photographs depict buildings and scenes in DuPont Company explosives manufacturing plants along the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, including the Eleutherian Mills (or Upper) yard, the Upper Hagley yard, and the Lower Hagley yard. Most pictures were taken after the yards ceased operation in 1921 and the buildings were abandoned. The collection also includes views of private residences near the yards, workers housing, a press house being demolished, Breck's Mill, and Henry Clay Village. Three albumen photographs taken by Pierre Gentieu in 1889 depict the aftermath of an explosion.
Most of the photographs have extensive captions handwritten and signed by Macklem on reverse.
Existence and Location of Copies
View this collection online in the Hagley Digital Archives.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
Related Names
Subject
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (Organization)
- Eleutherian Mills (Greenville, Del. : Estate) (Organization)
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- John W. Macklem collection of DuPont Company powder yards photographs
- Author:
- Mary M. Day
- Date:
- 1974
- 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
