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Charles H. Rutledge papers

Creation: 1933-1971 Creation: Majority of material found within 1931-1977
 Collection
Accession: 1193

Abstract

Charles H. Rutledge (1901-1978) was the manager of the Product Information section for the Textile Fibers Department at the DuPont Company from 1944 to 1966. He authored numerous papers and was a contributor to textbooks and encyclopedias on textile fibers. This collection consists of two sets of files, those Rutledge maintained while at DuPont and those he compiled for a book he had planned to write following his retirement about the history of fibers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1933-1971
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1931-1977

Creator

Extent

5.5 Linear Feet

Biographical Note

Charles H. Rutledge (1901-1978) was the manager of the Product Information section for the Textile Fibers Department at the DuPont Company from 1944 to 1966. He authored numerous papers and was a contributor to textbooks and encyclopedias on textile fibers.

Rutledge was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Perryville, Maryland. He earned degrees from John Hopkins University and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University).

His first newspaper job was with the Baltimore Sun. Rutledge then went on to a sportswriting career in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia. Between 1933 and 1941, he worked as an editor, first for the Cecil Whig, then the Newark Post, and lastly the Morning News. In 1941, he became the director of the Puerto Rican News Bureau in San Juan. From 1942 to 1944, he was an account exectuive for a New York public relations firm.

When Rutledge first joined the DuPont Company in 1944, he was the public relations adivser to the Rayon Department. When the department was reorganzed as the Textile Fibers Department, he became the manager of the Product Information section for Textile Fibers. Product Information was considered a section within the Public Relations Department, and the public relations staff members in Product Information were assigned to specific operating departments. They reported jointly to the heads of Public Relations and the specific department. Rutledge's Product Information section's main purpose was to create news releases, accompanied by photographs that would be run editorially by trade journals and newspapers to create inexpensive publicity and indirect advertising. These were designed to establish and strengthen in the reader's mind the connection between DuPont, as a maker of fibers, and the garment and fashion industry.

Rutledge retired from the DuPont Company in 1966.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of two sets of files, those Rutledge maintained while at DuPont and those he compiled for a book he had planned to write following his retirement about the history of fibers.

The Product Information files series dates from the 1950s to the mid-1960s and contains research notes and correspondence on irons, washtubs, vacuums, laundry, and soap-making. There is one scrapbook related to a show about wash day called "I Remember Mama."

The History of fibers files series relates to the book Rutledge planned to write. The files include summaries in draft or final form, official reports from the DuPont Company or other companies, correspondence relating to his requests for information, magazine articles and newspaper clippings, brochures, testing bureau reports, and rough notes. Some files are minimal. Material ranges from popular news releases to professional, scientific papers.

The series is divided into five subseries: Fibers, ancient and modern, natural and man-made; Biographical sketches; Correspondence; DuPont Company and the Textile Fibers Department; and Speeches.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Separated Materials

Printed materials are cataloged by the Published Collections Department.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Charles H. Rutledge papers
Author:
John Beverley Riggs
Date:
1970
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2021: Laurie Sather

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

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