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

Eugene du Pont Jr. papers

Creation: 1811-1957
 Collection
Accession: 2656

Abstract

Eugene du Pont Jr. (1873-1954) was a director of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1917 until 1954, and a great grandson of company founder, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The papers of Eugene du Pont Jr. include reports to the DuPont Company Board of Directors by the executive committee and the treasurer of the DuPont Company. In addition, there are several copies of letters to du Pont family members.

Dates

  • Creation: 1811-1957

Creator

Extent

1 Linear Foot

Biographical

Eugene du Pont Jr. (1873-1954) was a director of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1917 until 1954, and a great grandson of company founder, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). Eugene du Pont Jr. was born July 7, 1873 in Wilmington, Delaware. He was the son of Eugene E. du Pont (1840-1902) and Amelia Elizabeth du Pont (1842-1917). Eugene E. du Pont was the president of the DuPont Company from 1889 until his death in 1902.

Eugene du Pont Jr. attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1888 until 1892, and later Brown and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1892 to 1893. In 1897, he received a degree from Harvard University. Not long after graduation, du Pont joined the DuPont Company as assistant to the president in the administrative office. After the death of his father and company president in 1902, he was named assistant director of sales for the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company in January 1903, a subsidiary of the DuPont Company. As assistant director of sales, du Pont traveled extensively for fifteen years to increase the sales of explosives in the central west. In February 1913, he took a leave of absence from the company and resigned five months later. He was elected a director of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company on March 12, 1917, a position in which he remained until his death.

He was also a director of the Equitable Security Trust Company in Wilmington, and held memberships in various societies and clubs, including the Sons of the American Revolution, Wilmington Club, DuPont Country Club, Aurora Gun Club, Woodmont Rod and Gun Club, and several others. In January 1913, he married Ethel Pyle (1881-1954) of Wilmington and had four children, one of whom, Ethel du Pont Roosevelt-Warren (1916–1965), married Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. (1914–1988) in 1937. Eugene E. du Pont Jr. died December 15, 1954.

Arrangement

Records among Eugene du Pont Jr.'s papers are arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content

The Eugene du Pont Jr. papers consist mainly of reports to the Board of Directors of the DuPont Company from the years 1919 through 1925. The reports were delivered to Eugene du Pont by the Executive Committee and Treasurer of the Board. Of note is a file on DuPont Co. executive committee compensation and a file discussing the DuPont Co. pension and benefit plan. Also included in the collection are copies of several  letters to Henry du Pont from relative Catherine, as well as reference to Eugene's board position with Phillips Petroleum. There are also some article reprints from the American Dyes Institute, and a undated Wilmington train schedule from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Related Material

Euegene du Pont Jr. family miscellany (Accession 0207), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Eugene du Pont Jr. papers (Accession 1599), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Language of Materials

English

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Eugene du Pont Jr. papers
Author:
Dave Burdash
Date:
2017.
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

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