Finding Aids

The Columbus Inn is a restaurant located at 2216 Pennsylvania Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware. The Columbus Inn began as a bakery in the late 1790s and was converted to a tavern as early as 1812. This collection consists of a single album of photographs of the exterior and interior of the Columbus Inn during its brief closure in 2007.

Eileen Gray (1878-1976) is considered one of the most important and influential furniture designers and architects of the early twentieth century, inspiring both modernism and Art Deco movements. She was among the vanguard of the International Style in her use and interpretation of geometric forms and industrially produced materials. This collection is a boxed set of postcard-size reproductions of black and white photographs of houses, rooms, and objects designed by her.

Eleutherian Mills is the house built by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), above his gunpowder mills, the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. It served as a home to the du Pont family for generations, the last being Louise du Pont Crowninshield (1877-1958). The collection contains material related to the restoration of the home prior to Crowninshield occupying it. Also included are materials related to a road to the Eleutherian Mills and Nemours residences, repairs to the iron bridge across the Brandywine, and description of E.I. du Pont's garden.

The Paris Colonial Exposition was a six month exhibit held outside of Paris, France in 1931 displaying the culture and resources of the colonial possessions of France. Opening May 6, 1931, the exhibition was visited by an estimated crowd of seven to nine million people. This collection includes twenty eight photographs of architectural renderings of buildings at the exposition, two photographs of models of buildings, six photographs of the actual buildings (some under construction), and one portrait photograph of M. Marcel Oliver (circa 1880s-1940s), an organizer of the event and former Governor-General of Madagascar. Each photograph is stamped on the back and has the name of the architect responsible.

David Jayne (1798-1866) purchased a drug store in Philadelphia in 1836. His patent medicine business grew quickly and he built this new building in 1850. The building was designed by American architects, William J. Johnston (1811-1849) and Thomas U. Walter (1804-1887) and was located at 242 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The firm of Dr. D. Jayne and Son was one of the largest patent medicine firms in the United States, and this building was "the most conspicuous building of the time" in Philadelphia. Engraved on wood and printed by William B. Gihon (dates unknown), an illustrator and engraver.

John Raskob (1879-1950) was a financial executive for the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and General Motors, and builder of the Empire State Building. The collection primarily consists of construction progress photographs of the Durant Building in Detroit, Michighan in 1919 and 1920. There is a small set of images of a renovation at Raskob's Archmere estate in 1916, and a few portraits and snapshots of Raskob.

John Margolies (1940-2016) was an American photographer and architecture critic with a fondness for novelty architecture. This is his personal collection of postcards and photographs from across North America. These materials primarily cover the United States’ most popular tourist spots along with various businesses. There is heavy coverage of the Northeast region of the United States, where Margolies lived most of his life. Postcards are primarily from the first half of the twentieth century, and photographs primarily span circa 1890-1920s. Postcards cover a wide range of subjects from famous attractions to local businesses, and photographs are almost entirely local businesses, many being interior views of family owned businesses with their owners. Few objects are contained within the collection, including signs from local businesses and a scrapbook from the honeymoon of an unidentified couple. A small amount of transparencies and negatives conclude the collection, which were used for the planning of some of Margolies books. It is important to note that this collection does not contain John Margolies original photography, except for the few postcards that advertise his exhibits.

The Lake Mohonk Mountain House was a noted summer resort hotel located on Lake Mohonk in the Shawangunk Mountains of Ulster County, northwest of New York City. The collection consists of tear sheets from the trade press, advertisements, trade literature, trade catalogs and other publications collected by Daniel Smiley (1796-1878), former manager of the Lake Mohonk Mountain House, in the course of planning and executing new projects, maintaining the building and grounds, and purchasing new furnishings and equipments. This material is accompanied by fairly routine letters of request and replies from sales representatives. There are also some copies of hotel menus and programmes for social events.

The Seagram Company was one of the world's largest alcoholic beverage firms. Completed in 1958 and designed according to the minimalist principles of International Style, the Seagram Building was built of glass and metal, foregoing the stone and brick ornamental facades of preceding buildings. This collection consists of photographs of the Seagram Building in New York City.