Finding Aids

Chartered in 1871, Reading Company was the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The collection consists of the corporate records of the Reading Company (1871-1976), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (1833-1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company (1896-1923), and 159 predecessors and subsidiaries.

The Reading Stove Works manufactured stoves, furnaces, and heaters. The collection includes Board of Directors minutes and sales and financial statements document the history of the company.

The Radio Corporation of America (renamed RCA Corporation in 1969) was best known for its pioneering radio and television development and manufacturing. In addition to consumer electronics, RCA was a major player in the development of electronics for industrial and military applications. The Records of other RCA divisions include documentation of RCA's research and development before the Second World War, as well material from the famous patent dispute case Armstrong v. Radio Corporation of America and National Broadcasting Company.

This collection reflects material from a small amount of manufacturers operating in the Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, largely in the early-to-mid 19th century. The records primarily include correspondence, bills, receipts, and accounts. There are also various legal papers and testimonies concerning suits involving land and water rights in Burlington County, New Jersey, with descriptions of miscellaneous dams, saw, grist, woolen, and fulling mills.

"Rencourt" was the Wilmington, Delaware, home of Alexis Irénée du Pont (1843-1904) and his family. Pennsylvania architect Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr. (1845-1928) designed the house; it was built in 1890 and demolished in the 1950s. This collection includes plans of the main and second floors (ink on linen), plans and elevation of the stables (white-line blueprints), and plans of the gate (white-line blueprint).

Irene "Renee" Carpenter (1911-1991) was a descendant of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) in 1802. She was the second child of R.R.M. Carpenter (1877-1949) and Margaretta Lammot du Pont (1884-1973) and a granddaughter of Lammot du Pont (1831-1884). The collection contains miscellaneous letters and memorabilia collected by Draper from her ancestors and collateral relatives in the du Pont and Carpenter families.

Resources for Women (RFW) was a consulting company founded by Sarah W. Risher (1941-2019) that provided training programs to government agencies through the Federal Women's Program (FWP), as well as clients in the private sector. This small collection consists of a binder containing materials documenting training workshops offered by Resources for Women. The binder was divided into four sections: Assertive Training, Speech Communication, Human Resource Development: Racial and Cultural Awareness, and Career Development.

Founded in 1841 by Lewis Tappan, the Mercantile Agency — later known as R.G. Dun & Co. — was the first commercial reporting agency in America and dominated the field well into the twentieth century. The microfilmed credit ledgers contain volumes of handwritten credit reports on individuals and firms from the Mid-Atlantic region.

This collection includes materials related to Richard C. du Pont (1911-1943), pioneer in early aircraft and gliders and includes news clippings, official governmental documents related to his work as well as the logbook of his yacht, Nahma.

Richard E. Heckert (1924-2010) was chairman and CEO of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1986 to 1989. His papers consist of his "personal" business files, most of which were generated by his membership on the boards of businesses and non-profit organizations.

Richard Hollerith, Jr. (1926-), spent his professional career working as an industrial designer of office products, computers, printers, office space, and household products. His papers include correspondence, meeting minutes, conference and working group reports, and blueprints reflecting his work as a designer and as an advocate of universal design and barrier-free environments.

Richard Imlay (1784-1867) was a railroad car manufacturer and inventor. The papers document his marketing of his patent for an improvement in the mode of supporting the bodies of railroad cars and carriages.

The IBM antitrust suit records are a collection assembled by Richard Thomas DeLamarter, a senior economist working for the Department of Justice on the case from 1974 to 1982. He is the author of Big Blue: IBM's Use and Abuse of Power (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1986).

The collection consists of materials documenting Watson's work for PRR, particularly mechanical engineering and rolling stock. Records largely focus on the development of PRR locomotives and passenger cars in the mid-twentieth century.

Professional career files of mechanical engineer Robert B. Watson (1931-) documenting his work on the development of high-speed trains in the years between 1966 and 1998, especially his involvement in the Northeast Corridor Demonstration Project and the development of the first generation "Metroliners."

Dr. Robert C. Forney was a chemical engineer and served as a senior vice president for the DuPont Company. His papers largely document his career with the DuPont Company, his private and public life, artifacts, reports, and include various awards from his career in chemical engineering. Forney's work on redesigning the shuttle rocket booster following the space shuttle Challenger incident is included among his papers.

Robert Coleman (1748-1825) was one of the most important ironmasters in Pennsylvania and acquired Elizabeth Furnance near Manheim, Pennsylvania. His papers consists of correspondence, receipts, and miscellany, mostly involving land purchase.

Robert E. Holeton (1911-1962) was an organic chemist at the DuPont Company from 1933 to 1962. He was the District Manager of the Petroleum Chemicals Division from 1954 until his death. From 1947 to 1953, Holeton perfomed "Chemical Magic" shows with a colleague in which they would demonstrate the unusual chemical reactions that can occur in the laboratory. These demonstrations were intentended to promote industrial safety. This small collection of Holeton's papers provides insight into his career as an industrial chemist, and then later as a sales represenative and district manager of the Petroleum Chemical Division. The collection strengths are the documentation related to industrial safety and Holeton's work performing the "Chemical Magic" shows and his time working at the Petroleum Chemical Division. There is a small but interesting set of material related to the Woodstown Civil Defense Council.

Robert Lenox Belknap (1848-1896) was a capitalist and financier of New York City. The Robert Lenox Belknap papers are a fragment saved by his descendants. The papers include Belknap's private letterbooks for the final years of his career (1892-1895), although 33 earlier volumes have been lost. They include both business and personal correspondence and give a good picture of the life of a New York financier of the second rank.

Robert "Bob" Allan Olodort (1946-2019) was an inventor, industrial designer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his invention of the "Stowaway," a portable, full-size keyboard that folds up to be pocket-size. It was used for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) like the Palm Pilot. Olodort invented the first computer label printer, the Smart Label Printer, among many other wireless mobile products. He holds dozens of U.S. and foreign utility and design patents. The Robert Olodort archive documents the industrial design process from both an inventor's and an entrepreneurial standpoint. The collection shows the development of a concept into a final product through product research, notes, correspondence, sketches, mechanical drawings, and prototypes. It provides valuable insight into how proprietary technology can be monetized by patenting and maintaining company relationships through development, licensing, and purchase agreements. The records also document business operations with financial files, board of directors files, and investor files. While none of the record sets are complete, there is a large enough sampling for a researcher to comprehend the complexity of design and business practices.

Robert R. Radcliff (1916-2006) joined E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. as a chemist in 1945. As later division head for new products development at the Rubber Laboratory, later the Elastomers Laboratory at Chestnut Run, his principal achievement was developing the maleimide curing system for making "Hypalon" artificial rubber. The papers in this collection are a small selection of professional materials preserved by Dr. Radcliff and his family.

Rockland is an unincorporated old mill village in New Castle County, Delaware, and was later surrounded by du Pont family estates. The collection contains twelve edited oral history transcripts by Mary Laird Silvia (1938-2013) with people who lived in Rockland.

Rolf Dessauer (1926-) was a research chemist who specialized in dyes. He began a lengthy career with E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in 1952 as a research chemist at Jackson Laboratory, DuPont’s center for dye research. Dessauer invented chemistry in which exposure to visible light stabilized the background enabling dark and light areas to retain their contrast. Intense research and patent studies led Dessauer and his colleagues to a new technology, UVI – Ultraviolet Imaging. Dessauer's papers document his career as a noted scientist and chemist.

The collection consists of official documents produced or used by Ronald DeGraw during his career as a public transit official and transit consultant, materials from pre-SEPTA operators of the Philadelphia transit system that he preserved from loss or destruction, research materials that he amassed for writing his published and projected books, and photographs and ephemera collected out of his interest in the history of transit systems, particularly electric traction lines or what came to be called light rail transit.

Established in 1915, the Rotary Club of Wilmington was dedicated to community service, and one of its most important functions was to provide educational support. Their records consist primarily of minutes, newsletters, and documentation on the club's student loan and scholarship programs.

Roy J. Plunkett (1910-1994) was the discoverer of Teflon, while working as a chemist at the DuPont Company. Plunkett's laboratory notebook documents the discovery of Teflon at DuPont's Jackson Laboratory in 1938. The notebook documents the experiments that led to the effective control of the rapid and explosive polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene gas into a solid polymer.

Royal Earl House (1814-1895) was an American inventor who patented an electic telegraph that could print Roman character letters and an electro-phonetic receiver for use in telegraphy. The collection is comprised of twenty-nine letters to House regarding his suit against the Bell monopoly for the phonetic telegraph, from 1885 to 1891.

R.R. Wright (1913-2009) was an employee of the RCA Corporation, one of the country's leading manufacturers and vendors of radios, televisions, and consumer electronics products. This is a small collection of ephemera Wright preserved throughout his thirty-three year long career with the company. Included are sample publications, manuals, stationery and small artifacts with RCA logos or advertising.

Rubbermaid Incorporated is an American manufacturer and distributor of many household items. The collection is comprised of a public relations file consisting mostly of clippings and tear sheets, generally notices of the company in local papers and the trade press. Most deal with company performance, organizational culture, and personnel changes, with particular notices of Stanley C. Gault (1926-2016), CEO from 1980 to 1991.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The collection contains two membership certificates from the U.S. Naval Lyceum and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter is writing to inform an unidentified captain of Naval surgeon John S. Wiley's death.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). These two items are related to his service in the Navy, one a letter concerning his business interests in California, and one report regarding rotten gun breechings.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). Letter, with envelope, from John G. Lawton to du Pont transmitting model of a ship rudder.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a RearAdmiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The three page letter written to an unidentified colonel discusses the opening of the Crystal Palace in New York as part of the "Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations" World's Fair.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter to Andrew Hull Foote (1806-1863) says du Pont is enclosing autographs of members of the Japanese Embassy, although the enclosures are missing.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The letter from du Pont to John E. Hoey (1837-1896) concerns the transport of invalid seamen northfrom from the South Atlantic Bloackade Squadron.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter from du Pont to Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) expresses regret over news of Wilkes being court-martialed.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The letter from du Pont to George H. Stuart (1816-1890) is declining an invitation to speak as a Navy representative at an anniversary celebration of the Christian Commission.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The letter from du Pont to Navy Officer, Gustavus Vasa Fox (1821-1883) discusses the possibility of saltpeter shortage in the Union in the early years of the Civil War.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter to John A. Dahlgren (1809-1870) is seeking his opinion in regard to a small steam cutter, Altheron, available for purchase.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. The letter to Major General David Hunter (1802-1886) asks for permission to see three deserters from the Confederate States Navy.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter from du Pont to R.C. Winthrop (1809-1894) includes an invitation to visit.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter to Senator James A. Bayard (1799-1880) is upon arrival of the USS Minnesota, which was commanded by du Pont, in Hong Kong.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The letter from du Pont to Theodore Sedwick (1811-1859) concerning administrative arrangements for an exhibit du Pont was superintendent at the World's Fair in New York.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The collection contains two letters written to Oscar B. Sawyer (1838-1887) and Ben Perley Poore (1820-1887).

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). These five photocopied letters are related to his term in the Navy, four from his time in the Pacific, and one dealing with the South Atlantic blockade during the Civil War.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. Andrew Hull Foote (1806-1863) was a Rear-Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Civil War and contributed to several naval reforms prior to the war. This collection consists of two letters, one from Samuel Francis du Pont to Foote in regards forwarding misdirected mail, as both were commanding ships in the China Sea. The second letter is from du Pont's father to a Naval Officer about Samuel Francis du Pont's experience aboard a ship.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). These three photocopy letters are related to his term in the Navy, one from his early career in 1820 and two letters from 1863 during the Civil War.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The collection contains an original letter and photocopies of letters regarding cost for Abraham Hart (1810-1885) publishing an essay by Henry Winter Davis (1817-1865) on the doctrine of intervention and non-intervention in diplomacy and international affairs.

Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy and fought in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. He was the fourth child and second surviving son of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and his wife, Gabrielle Joséphine de la Fite de Pelleport (1770-1837). The two letters from du Pont to Charles G. Halpine (1829-1868) are written during the Civil War and relate to ironclads and the evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina.