While the Crawford H. Greenewalt papers span the period from 1928 to 1962, most of the material dates from the years between 1942 and 1968 and is primarily concerned with Greenewalt's fourteen-year presidency of the DuPont Company. Administrative files document the work of the president and his staff and, for the most part, were generated in anticipation of annual meetings and major policy initiatives. These records document major structural changes and strategic issues. Departmental files document the work of the major operating departments. This series includes annual and quarterly reports, financial statements, and related correspondence. The subject files document a wide variety of areas in which Greenewalt was interested, but primarily relate to his work in atomic energy, as they describe his involvement with both the Hanford and Savannah River projects. Included are letters from Arthur Compton, General Leslie Groves, and David Lilienthal describing the relationship between nuclear technology and public policy that evolved during the post-war years.

Series I - Administrative files, are working papers of the president and his assistants in preparation for annual meetings, annual reports, and other situations requiring significant information and policy statements. Occasional management reports are included, with comments attached, or are referred to in communications with the various departments and committees. Rather than duplicating routine records of the auxiliary offices and departments, these files relate to central administrative concerns or to highlights of organizational changes.

Series II - Departmental files, are also administrative in nature, rather than routine departmental activities. (The Public Relations Department is the exception, due to its function as a mouthpiece for the president and the company.) Many departmental items pertain to visits by the president to operating locations or research facilities, and to his participation in seminars and training sessions. Ceremonial occasions, such as dedications, anniversaries, or safety awards, and visitors from other industries, account for many of these papers. Personnel changes at management level and other organizational details are noted in special memoranda.

Series III - Subject files, consists of twenty-one alphabetical headings. Two subjects account for half of the series, and are also the most significant, "Atomic energy" and "United States government" (described at length in Scope and Content notes). Correspondents under "Atomic energy" include Commission chairmen Gordon Dean, David Lilienthal, John McCone, Glenn Seaborg, Lewis L. Strauss, and Robert E. Wilson, as well as many congressional leaders and scientists. Topics include peacetime adaptation of the Hanford facilities by the General Electric Company and (mainly) the new Savannah River plant for manufacturing the hydrogen bomb and for research into peacetime uses; also memoirs in progress by Arthur Holly Compton and General Leslie R. Groves, regarding the original Chicago experiments and development of the early atomic bomb. The "United States government" files contain further correspondence relating to atomic energy, but also deal with a number of additional topics, mainly economy-related. A sizeable amount of material in this file was generated by the government's call for managerial skills and insights from industry, by Greenewalt' s consequent participation in advisory committees and congressional hearings, and in the loan of many DuPont executives to the federal government. The remaining nineteen subject files are of relatively small quantity. A "Competitors" file contains dialogue with a variety of other leading corporation officials; and the files on "Growth of DuPont" and "History of Du Pont" contain information gathered for l50th anniversary celebrations. A final small file of "Topics" (following "U.S. government") contains further government-related miscellany. Arrangement is chronological within the subject headings.

Series IV - Organizations file, has nine organizations represented. The Business Council (formerly the Business Advisory Council) accounts for more than half of this series. Arrangement is alphabetical/chronological.

Series V - Personal correspondence, contains messages of personal presidential recognition of employees--on landmark anniversaries of service, retirement, and for special achievements; condolences in illness or loss of family members; and year-end messages to department heads and company officers. The remaining files are made up of letters to/from individuals other than DuPont Company personnel, including hundreds of invitations received as president and chairman, and many notes of condolence in the deaths of Lammot du Pont and P.S. du Pont. Arrangement is chronological within each of the above groups. Replies typically have been attached to the initial letter.

Series VI - Speeches, includes texts (in various drafts and forms) of 155 speeches given by Greenewalt, accompanied by working papers and correspondence. The content of the speeches typically is based on information about the DuPont Company; on policy relating to current issues; or on philosophy of industrial management, education, or government/industry relations. Personal interests also contributed to speech topics, such as the observation of the flight of hunnningbirds and photography.

Many of the speeches were made on ceremonial occasions within the DuPont Company; others addressed audiences of scientists or industrial exeuctives at annual meetings, award dinners, or other special gatherings. Many were requested by academic groups of various levels, and several were official testimony before Congress. Arrangement is chronological, by speech date.

The series also contains speeches by DuPont personnel other than Crawford Greenewalt and speeches by individuals other than DuPont personnel. The first group includes other DuPont Company presidents and officers. The latter group includes leaders in government, industry, science, and education. There are about twenty speeches in each section. Arrangement is chronological.