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

Crawford H. Greenewalt personal papers

Creation: 1948-1992
 Collection
Accession: 2016

Abstract

Crawford H. Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an executive with the DuPont Company and president of the firm from 1948 to 1962. He had a passion for the natural sciences, and combined his love of ornithology with photography. He was especially known for his high-speed photographs of hummingbirds. His ornithological interests included bird songs, the radiance of hummingbird feathers, and the evolution of shapes and sizes of birds in relation to their flight abilities. Greenewalt's personal papers are primarily focused on his retirement years and his avocational interests. The papers document Greenewalt's political activities in the Republican National Committee and include exchanges with many of the leading political and business figures of the day. Of particular significance are the papers describing Greenewalt's work in photography and ornithology, beginning in 1948. These materials trace his research interests in the hummingbird and bird flight and his trips to places like Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, the Antilles, New Guinea, and the Galapagos Islands in order to observe and photograph birds in their natural habitats. Other files describe Greenewalt's work on the visiting committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1965-1987), which evaluated the school's academic programs.

Dates

  • Creation: 1948-1992

Creator

Extent

44 Linear Feet

Biographical Note

Crawford H. Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an executive with the DuPont Company and president of the firm from 1948 to 1962. He had a passion for the natural sciences, and combined his love of ornithology with photography. He was especially known for his high-speed photographs of hummingbirds. His ornithological interests included bird songs, the radiance of hummingbird feathers, and the evolution of shapes and sizes of birds in relation to their flight abilities.

Born on August 16, 1902 in Cummington, Massachusetts, Crawford H. Greenewalt was the son of Frank Lindsay Greenewalt (1865-1942) and Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenewalt (1871-1950). He graduated from William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1922. Immediately after graduating from MIT, Greenewalt began a lifelong career with the DuPont Company.

He began as a control chemist in the Philadelphia chemical works. He was soon promoted to group leader, research supervisor, and assistant director of research. As assistant director of the Chemical Department from 1939 to 1942, he set up the pilot plant for the production of Nylon.

In 1942, when the DuPont Company agreed to participate in the Manhattan Project, Greenewalt was named chief liaison, working with the physicists at the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, including Arthur Compton (1892-1962) and Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), who were developing techniques for plutonium separation. In December 1942, the DuPont Company signed an agreement with the U.S. government to design and construct a pilot plant-size reactor and to operate a plutonium production and separation facility. The site for this facility was to be in the desert of eastern Washington State, and the plant became known as the Hanford Engineer Works. By the spring of 1945, Hanford was the site of a full-scale plant producing plutonium that would be used in the atomic bombs exploded in New Mexico on July 16 and over Nagaski, Japan, on August 9, 1945.

In June 1946, Greenewa1t became vice president of the DuPont Company and vice chairman of the executive committee; in January 1948, he becamse president of the company, chairman of the executive committee, and member of the finance committee. He was the tenth president, succeeding Walter S. Carpenter Jr. (1888-1976).

Greenewalt made significant contributions to stop-action and time-lapse photography. He authored three monograph works: The Uncommon Man: the Individual in the Organization, published in 1959; Hummingbirds, published in 1960; and Birdsong: Acoustics and Physiology, published in 1968. He also wrote numerous articles in a variety of publications, such as National Geographic and the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society.

In 1926, Greenewalt married Margaretta Lammot DuPont (1902-1991), and they were the parents of three children.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject.

This collection includes the correspondence and personal papers of Crawford H. Greenewalt during the period beginning with his presidency of the DuPont Company and continuing for the rest of his life, or from 1948 to 1992. The papers are organized according to the filing system installed by Mr. Greenewalt at his office. Major file divisions were given numbers in a P-series (personal), and are arranged alphabetically. Within these divisions, new sub-topics were added chronologically. The major divisions are shown in an file index.

P: 11 - Bermuda 12 - Biography 15 - Business Council 16 - Boeing Co. 23 - Contributions 24 - Development 35 - du Pont (Pierre S.) 41 - Edie (Lionel D.) 43 - England 50 - Family Society 55 - Chile 60 - General 62 - Greenewalt Awards 70 - Health, Welfare and Consumer Interest Commission 90 - Kutz Foundation 100 - Longwood Gardens 110 - Magmatic Minerals Corp. 111 - Memberships 113 - Music 114 - Moths 115 - Ornithology 120 - Orchids 131 - Patents 132 - Penn Charter 134 - Photographs 135 - Photography 136 - Publications 137 - Princeton 138 - Radio Free Europe 165 - Translations 170 - Vacations 181 - Wilmington General Hospital 182 - Wilmington Medical Center 184 - Winterthur Corp. 186 - Woodwinds

Scope and Contents

Crawford H. Greenewalt's personal papers are primarily focused on his retirement years and his avocational interests.

The papers document Greenewalt's political activities in the Republican National Committee, and include exchanges with many of the leading political and business figures of the day. Greenewalt was a member of the Business Council and its predecessors, and was the chairman of its liason groups with the U.S. Interior and Defense departments. Copies of Business Council minutes and correspondence documents the influence of this group on public policy during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The files include a brief history of the Business Council. The file on Greenewalt's chairmanship of Radio Free Europe (1963-1966) includes a recording of a broadcast interview with ex-president Eisenhower.

Greenewalt's most important corporate directorships were with the Boeing Company (1963-1974) and the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company (1963-1973). The Boeing files include copies of minutes that document the financing of the Boeing 747; publicity for the 727, 737, and 747; the abortive American supersonic transport program; and projects for STOL aircraft and hydrofoils.

Of particular significance are the papers describing Greenewalt's work in photography and ornithology, beginning in 1948. These materials trace his research interests in the hummingbird and bird flight and his trips to places like Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, the Antilles, New Guinea, and the Galapagos Islands in order to observe and photograph birds in their natural habitats. The papers also describe the writing and publication of his hummingbird book, as well as Greenewalt's involvement with the American Museum of Natural History, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Geographic Society. The papers include Greenewalt's copies of minutes of committees of the American Philosophical Society, the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents (including the establishment of Smithsonian magazine) and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, particularly regarding its plans for a large telescope in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other files describe Greenewalt's work on the visiting committee at MIT (1965-1987), which evaluated the school's academic programs. Similar files on his work with the University of Chicago, particularly its program on nuclear studies, include an essay on Arthur H. Compton and describe the 40th anniversary celebration of the first nuclear chain reaction. Greenewalt's involvement in local affairs includes the Committee on Regional Development, which unsuccessfully sought to consolidate regional port authorities and airports, and the Greater Wilmington Development Council.

Miscellaneous items of interest include a study of the history of DuPont's oval trademark; Greenewalt's opinions on the qualifications for DuPont directors; studies of woodwinds, obesity in women, and Alzheimer's disease; dedication ceremonies for the Greenewalt Laboratory at DuPont's Experimental Station; scrapbooks; honorary degrees; awards; and speeches.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Related Materials

Crawford H. Greenewalt papers (Accession 1814), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Crawford H. Greenewalt collection of DuPont Company photographs (Accession 1983.267), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Crawford H. Greenewalt’s Manhattan Project diaries (Accession 1889), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Crawford H. Greenewalt films and sound recordings (Accession 2014.225), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives, Hagley Museum and Library.

DuPont Company President Crawford H. Greenewalt’s office transparencies (Accession 1968.026), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

Crawford H. Greenewalt papers, 1951-1993 (Collection number 2010.010), Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Separated Materials

Crawford H. Greenewalt photographs (Accession 1994.333), Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives, Hagley Museum and Library.

Related Names

Subject

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Crawford H. Greenewalt personal papers
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2020: Laurie Sather

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

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