David A. Hounshell and John K. Smith research notes for "Science and Corporate Strategy"
Creation: 1903-1986Abstract
Science and Corporate Strategy is a scholarly history of Research and Development at the DuPont Company authored by David A. Hounshell (1950-) and John Kenly Smith (1951-). The collection consists of research files compiled by Hounshell Smith for the purpose of writing the book. Research files include copies of correspondence, articles, reports, patents, chronologies, organizational charts, and contracts from the DuPont Company from 1903 though 1980.
Dates
- Creation: 1903-1986
Creator
- Smith, John K. (John Kenly) (Person)
- Hounshell, David A. (Person)
Extent
8 Linear Feet
Historical Note
Science and Corporate Strategy is a scholarly history of Research and Development at the DuPont Company authored by David A. Hounshell (1950-) and John Kenly Smith (1951-).
Science and Corporate Strategy is the outgrowth of an idea of Edward G. Jefferson (1921-2006), chairman and chief executive officer of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1981 to 1986 and a former research chemist. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Jefferson felt that a history of the company's research and development programs would make an important contribution to U.S. historical scholarship and to current issues in public policy.
David A. Hounshell, a professor of the history of technology at the University of Delaware, and John Kenly Smith, one of his students in the Hagley Graduate Program with an undergraduate degree in chemistry, were asked to conduct the research and to write a scholarly history. They were given free access to the company's records and key personnel under the supervision of a committee of corporate officers. Their project was supported by DuPont through a grant dispensed through the Hagley Museum and Library.
Arrangement
Series I. Research files; Series II. Project files; Series III. Departmental and product histories.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of research files compiled by David A. Hounshell and John K. Smith for the purpose of writing Science and Corporate Strategy: DuPont R&D, 1902-1980. Research files include copies of correspondence, articles, reports, patents, chronologies, organizational charts, and contracts from the DuPont Company from 1903 though 1980. Most documents were copied from original documents found in other Hagley collections and are noted with their original accession number.
The collection also contains copies of selected DuPont official company histories, including ones for the Chambers Works, the paint business, and the Textile Fibers plants. The projects files comprise the internal records of the project, including Hounshell's project notes, project committee meeting minutes and correspondence from 1983 through 1986, the project contract, publication information, oral history interviewee correspondence, and annual and semi-annual project reports. There is also a "long version" of the manuscript that is lacking Chapter 3.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research. Litigators may not view the collection without approval.
Language of Materials
English
Additional Description
Provenance
On Deposit from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.
Subjects
Related Names
Subject
- Sparre, Fin, 1879-1944 (Person)
- Schupphaus, Robert C. (Person)
- Runge, Otto (Person)
- Greenewalt, Crawford H., 1902-1993 (Person)
- Jackson, Oscar R. (Oscar Raymond), 1855-1916 (Person)
- Krebs Pigment & Chemical Company (Organization)
- Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd (Organization)
- Carothers, Wallace Hume, 1896-1937 (Person)
- Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft (Organization)
- Hueper, Wilhelm (Person)
- Hercules Powder Company (Organization)
- General Motors Corporation (Organization)
- General Electric Company (Organization)
- Hayden, Oliver M. (Oliver Mills), 1893-1991 (Person)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Experimental Station (Organization)
- Maxim, Hudson, 1853-1927 (Person)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Executive Committee (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Organic Chemicals Department (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Grasselli Chemicals Department (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Central Research and Development Department (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Biochemicals Department (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Development Department (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Chemicals and Pigments Department (Organization)
- Directors of Industrial Research (U.S.) (Organization)
- E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (Organization)
- American Telephone and Telegraph Company (Organization)
- Beyer-Semsan Company (Organization)
- Du Pont, Irénée, 1876-1963 (Person)
- Atlas Powder Company (Organization)
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- David A. Hounshell and John K. Smith research notes for Science and Corporate Strategy
- 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
