Finding Aids

Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company began operation in 1831 as a cotton cloth manufacturer in Rockford, Delaware. After the Civil War the company concentrated on finishing cotton cloth. In later years it became famous for its Ban-lon artificial fiber but eventually withdrew from manufacturing in favor of licensing its processes and trademarks to other companies. This portion of the Bancroft records documents Bancroft's efforts to license and defend the Ban-lon, Everglaze and other trademarks in the United States, the British Commonwealth, Europe, Japan, and Latin America.

The records consist of a small batch of company documents preserved by an individual after the end of operations by the Wilmington Finishing Company. They include copies of the company's charter and supplements, bylaws and amendments, and files of agreements covering water rights, easements for sewer, gas and water lines, and plant access for the Wilmington and Northern Railroad Company.

Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company began operation in 1831 as a cotton cloth manufacturer in Rockford, Delaware. After the American Civil War, the company concentrated on finishing cotton cloth, purchasing the Kentmere Mills adjoining their original site in 1895 and a third plant for manufacturing at Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1910. The company acquired another textile firm, the Eddystone Manufacturing Company, in 1925. This collection comprises records from both the Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company and the Eddystone Manufacturing Company, along with records from several predecessors and subsidiaries. The Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company records trace the firm's history from 1831 through 1961, with the Managing Director's letter books, in particular, giving a very detailed picture of the company's operations. The records of the Eddystone Manufacturing Company and its predecessors are relatively complete and offer a good picture of a medium-sized textile firm that was typical of the mid-Atlantic states.

Joseph Dugan (1766-1845) was a Philadelphia merchant of the early nineteenth century. The collection is a receipt book of Dugan's household expenses, including fuel (cordwood), specialty foodstuffs such as wine, and furniture.

Joseph H. Hanson (1820-1858) was a farmer in St. Georges Hundred near Delaware City, Delaware. The volume is a combined ledger and memorandum book covering the operation of Hanson's farm and the employment of tenants and/or farm laborers. There are pages for the accounts of individuals employed, mostly boys and young white men but also some women and some African Americans, with lists of chores performed.

Joseph Horn (1861-1941) and Frank Hardart (1850-1918) founded Horn & Hardart, a food service company, in 1888. In 1902, Horn and Hardart opened their first Automat in Philadelphia. The first New York City Automat opened in 1912, and other locations followed in both cities. The Automat became a huge success in Philadelphia and New York City, daily serving hundreds of thousands of people in its heyday. This item is a framed portrait photograph of Joseph Horn from around the 1930s.

Joseph Lawrence Kochka (1892-1952) and Mary Murray Kochka (1893-1984) were high school teachers in the Washington, D.C., area from the 1920s through the 1940s. Mary Kochka continued teaching through the 1950s. The couple was married in 1926. This collection consists of a travelogue photograph album detailing the Kochkas' two-week tour through Syracuse and Palmyra, New York, with Holman Rides Inc., an outdoor amusement ride and carnival business, in August 1950. The Kochkas were hosted by company owners Lucy Holman Sprague (1894-1954) and Leonard "Speed" Sprague (1902-1970). There are images of the Spragues' home, their neighbors' homes, ride erection/disassembly crews, ticket booths, crew quarters, transport trucks, and views of the fairgrounds. Rides pictured include the Tilt-a-Whirl, Merry-go-Round, Ferris Wheel, and Baby Tug. Lucy and Speed Holman are often seen along with their dog, Dundee. Most images have extensive captions.

Joseph Lincoln Gillson (1895-1964) was the chief geologist for the DuPont Company's Development Department from 1929 to 1960. As chief geologist he traveled all over the world making explorations in search of sulfur, ilmenite, fluorspar, barytes, celestite, and other raw materials, as well as conducting investigations in search of ground water supplies, foundations, and general site studies. This is a small collection that consists of a set of notebooks and related documents from Gillson's time working for the DuPont Company, as well as a set of papers and related documents from consulting projects he did during his retirement.

Joseph N. Borglin (1899-1976) was a chemical engineer in the Agricultural Chemicals Division at Hercules Powder Company. The records include typescripts for two works by Borglin: "Treatise on Vinsol Resin" and "Treatise on Rosin" both from the 1940s.

Joseph P. Hornor (1785-1845) was a merchant in Philadelphia in the early nineteenth century. The collection is comprised of a letter book of Hornor's outbound letters, describing mercantile business spreading throughout the Philadelphia hinterlands.

Joseph M. Rule (1922-2017) was a chemist and industrial marketing analyst in the Marketing Research Division of the Development Department at the DuPont Company. Later he became senior community affairs consultant in the Public Affairs Department. This small collection consists of materials from Rule's work for the Marketing Research Department. The materials include market research reports, DuPont Elastomers architectural files, and advertisements.

Joseph T. Richards (1845-1933) was a career civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company who participated in several of their large construction projects in the first decade of the twentieth century. The records consist of the contents of a small portfolio of documents relating to the construction of Pennsylvania Station and its associated yards and terminals.

Joseph W. Lynch was a textile chemist at the DuPont Company from 1954 to 1994. Lynch's papers document his forty-year career at DuPont. Some company records in Lynch's possession antedate his employment, while others describe his job searches from 1952 to 1954. The bulk of the records deal with customer relations, including identifying and resolving problems concerning DuPont's textile fiber products and providing technical assistance to customers.

Josephine Anderson du Pont (1853-1943) was a suffragist and the wife of Victor du Pont Jr. (1852-1911), vice president and general manager of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The memoirs, written between 1928 and 1932, contain a record of her life in mid-19th century Philadelphia, including details of the Civil War years.

The leather manufacturing firm of Joshua Conner & Son was founded in 1848 by James Conner (1813-1880). This collection consists of five photographs of the storefront, store interiors and portraits of the proprietors.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a merchant and paper manufacturer. Thomas Gilpin (1776-1853) went into business with his brother, Joshua, establishing Delaware's first paper mill on the Brandywine Creek. James Riddle (1802-1873) owned James Riddle Son & Co., a cotton mill along the Brandywine. This collection contains miscellaneous papers from the three men, including deeds, property agreements, and a copy of Riddle's will.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a merchant and paper manufacturer. Article written by historians Harold B. Hancock and Norman B. Wilkinson, "Joshua Gilpin: an American manufacturer in England and Wales, 1895-1801," based on Gilpin's journals.

Merchant and paper manufacturer Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) established the first paper mill in Delaware near Wilmington in partnership with his brother, Thomas (1776-1853), and uncle, Miers Fisher. Gilpin traveled extensively abroad from 1795 to 1801. The collection consists of 62 pocket journals and notebooks, the bulk of which date from Gilpin's European tour from 1795 to 1801.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a merchant and paper manufacturer in Delaware. This collection is a microfilm of letters in a scrapbook, including correspondence from Gilpin, Thomas Gilpin (1776-1853), and others.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a merchant and paper manufacturer. The papers consist of copies of four typescript letters written to Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), a British engineer from Joshua Gilpin.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a Philadelphia merchant and paper manufacturer. His notebook describes the process of chlorine bleaching, with drawings and formulae.

Joshua Gilpin (1765-1841) was a Philadelphia merchant and paper manufacturer. The collection includes microfilm copies of Gilpin's notes on the bleaching of pulp in the manufacture of paper, with others on the same subject by Lawrence Greatrake (manager of the Gilpin mills) and William Stidolph.

The Joy Manufacturing Company was a major manufacturer of mining and materials handling machinery built upon the invention of the first practical coal loading machine by Joseph F. Joy (1883-1957). It is a somewhat random collection of documents assembled and preserved by the former corporate secretary James Packer (1920-2008) for the purpose of writing a never-completed company history. They include the sorts of documents normally in possession of a corporate secretary, such as copies of meeting minutes, corporate family tree information, historical notes, and promotional publications.

Jules Guex (1833-1918) was a Swiss national who was caught in the German siege of Paris from September 1870 to January 1871. He and his wife, Louise Adele Begue Guex (1839-1884) helped to organize a Swiss ambulance in the Collège Chaptal (now the Lycée Chaptal). His activities in rescuing the wounded enabled him to view the movements of both French and Prussian troops. In this 250-page journal Guex describes the siege of Paris from September 19, 1870 to January 28, 1871 during the war between France and the German states (North German Confederation led by Prussia) which began in July 1870. It reports on the establishment of the Paris Commune, a socialist government, which lasted from March to May of 1871.

Kenneth A. Browne (1905-1985) was the research director attached to the president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway system. This collection consists of his files and documents the history of the development of Train "X" from its beginnings in 1945 to the point at which the New York Central's "Xplorer" was introduced in 1956.

The Kaehni brothers, William "Bill" L. Kaehni (1895-1950) and Francis "Frank" J. Kaehni (1897-1986) were electronics engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The brothers invented radio transmitters, navigational devices for airplanes and ships, transistorized car ignitions, and heat control systems. They also built and installed public address systems. This small collection primarily consists of the Kaehni brothers' class notes from courses taken at the Case School of Applied Science (now folded into Case Western Reserve University). The notes are most likely Bill Kaehni's, but could also be Frank Kaehni's, as they are mostly undated. Of significance is a bound biography written in 1998 by David C. Barnett using documents from the Kaehni family and firsthand accounts from their sister, Marie Kaehni, who provides her own memories in the afterword.

Karen du Pont Farquhar (1947-) is the great-granddaughter of T. Coleman du Pont (1863-1930), president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in the early 20th century. This collection of photographs is part of a larger group of du Pont family papers, which are housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Department. The photograph collection includes many photographs of the du Pont family from 1882 to 1960.

Karl Gabosch (1932-2008) was an employee of Pennsylvania Railroad Company and its successors, Penn Central and Conrail. The collection consists of a sample of company manuals, internal publications, and maps that were issued to him over the course of his career.

Peter Arnold Karthaus (1765-1840) immigrated to the United States from Hamburg, Germany in 1796 and established a mercantile business in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River Valley. The collection documents Karthaus' mercantile business, land development in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and his partnership with fellow German immigrant, Frederick W. Geissenhainer, a pioneer in using coal to smelt iron.

Stephen Onion (d. 1754) was an important ironmaster in the Chesapeake colonies during the early 18th century. The document is a three-page biographical sketch of Stephen Onion, copied from more extensive genealogical notes. The sketch includes several quotations from Onion's letters, which are not otherwise identified.

Kay Brownlee (1912-1971) was employed at the Philadelphia department store B.F. Dewees. She was originally a buyer for women's fashions, but later rose to be personnel director, a post she held until the store closed in the late 1960s. This collection contains personal and family items from Kay Brownlee, records from Brownlee's work as personnel director of B.F. Dewees department store, and documents regarding the operations of the store and its female employees.

Keith Reeves Rodney (1875-1956) was a metallurgist at the Fairmount Steel Company in Philadelphia. His diaries document his 1905 European tour of a number of steel mills and machine shops. He visited Italy, France, Germany, and England.

Kelvinator was founded in Detroit in 1916. Nathaniel B. Wales (1883-1974) was the founding engineer, and he had been developing home refrigeration units. By 1923, Kelvinator had the lion’s share of the electric refrigerator market at eighty percent. This album appears to be a wholesaler's catalog showing sketched illustrations of the exteriors and interiors of Kelvinator refrigerator models.

KEMET Electronics Corporation specializes in passive electronic components, including getters (an essential element in vacuum tubes) and capacitors. The name "KEMET" was derived from the words "chemical" and "metallurgy." This small collection consists of employee newsletters and ephemeral publications from KEMET Electronics dating from the 1970s through the 2000s, with some related materials, including a small group of annual reports from Union Carbide from the 1950s.

Ken White Associates, Inc., formed by industrial designer Ken White in 1947, was a design firm that developed plans and designs for thousands of independent and academic bookstores throughout the United States, as well as many other types of retail businesses. The company also played a leading role in introducing convenience stores and innovative food service options on college campuses. The records of the company include organizational files documenting the corporate organization; financial papers; project files; publications by White and his son, as well as the records of the partnerships and other companies White formed as he expanded his business and services. The collection also contains files on White's professional activities, including papers related to conferences, conventions, and trade shows, memberships in various organizations, and seminars and talks.

Kennard-Pyle Company was a department store known for its women's clothing, and in the late-twentieth century it was one of Delaware's oldest independent clothing retailer. The collection consists of photographs relating to the Kennard's Department Store centennial celebration (1846-1946).

Kennard-Pyle Company was a department store known for its women's clothing. By the late twentieth century, it was one of Delaware's oldest independent clothing retailers.

The Kennett Turnpike (Delaware Route 52) was built between 1811 and 1814 intended to provide a connection between Wilmington, Delaware and nearby areas in southeastern Pennsylvania, where it would connect to other turnpike leading to western Pennsylvania. The scale map shows the road and properties east of it including Mary Belin du Pont's (1839-1913) and Rising Sun Lane. The map was done by W.S. [William Smith] Morison (1866-1905).

Lurelle Guild (1898-1985) was an architect, industrial designer, and interior designer. The collection contains a three-piece "Mayfair" coffee set designed by Guild, a coffee pot, creamer, and sugar bowl, manufactured by Wear-Ever Aluminum, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America as part of its Kensington Ware line.

Richard L. Bushman (1931-) is an American historian and professor. Anna L. Hawley (1948-) is a historian and author of numerous works on early American personal property. This item is a manuscript titled, "Random Sample of Kent County, Delaware, Estate Inventories, 1727-1775," by Bushman and Hawley in 1987.

Keys & Miller Lumber Company were dealers in lumber, grain, hay, lime, fertilizers, and coal. Located in Elkton, Maryland, the company incorporated in 1892. The records consist of inbound correspondence regarding orders received primarily between the years 1892 and 1895.

Keystone Mushroom Farms, Inc. was a producer, canner, and distributer of mushrooms in Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was the successor of two previous businesses, L.F. Lambert Spawn Co. and Keystone Mushroom Company, Inc., which were formed in the early 1920s with complementary functions of spawn research; production and sales; and mushroom propagation, canning, and distribution. These records document the L.F. Lambert Spawn Co. and the Keystone Mushroom Company, Inc. The collection includes financial records, correspondence, payroll, reports, and shipment and inventory information. Of special interest are the records documenting Lambert's work with the War Production Board to produce penicillin.

The Keystone View Company was a major distributor of stereographic images. The company was founded by amateur photographer, B. L. (Benjamin Lloyd) Singley (1864-1938) in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 1892. There are two stereographs in this collection, the first card shows "The Most Costly Docks in the Western Hemisphere, Buenos Aires, Argentina" and the second shows "Market Scene in Berkovitza, Bulgaria."

Kim Burdick is a public historian, preservationist and former advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Louise du Pont Crowninshield (1877-1958) was an early leader in the field of historic preservation. The collection includes photocopies of all known surviving Crowninshield letters and Burdick's notes.

The Klots Throwing Company was one of the largest silk manufacturers in the United States, incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1894. The collection consists of only fragmentary records from the Mills at Scranton, Carbondale, Archbald, and Forest City in the Lackawanna Valley.

Organized in Philadelphia in 1869 as a general labor organization to protect and promote American laborers, the Knights of Labor began a strike against the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company in December 1887 after members were fired for refusing to switch cars to a non-union grain elevator in Philadelphia. The handbill, "An appeal to the wage-workers and businessmen of New York," appeals for donations to aid the striking Coal and Iron Company miners and appeals to the public to attend a sympathy and fundraising meeting on February 12, 1888.

L. Gerard Smith (1871-1940), born Louis W. Schmidt, was a business executive for the Vapor Car Heating Company based in Brooklyn, New York, and the Vapor Car Heating Company of Canada, Limited, in Montreal, Quebec. Smith worked at E.W. Curtis's print shop in New York City until 1886. Between 1893 and 1905, he worked as a mailman in Brooklyn, joining the National Association of Letter Carriers, an affiliate of the Knights of Labor. Smith left the Post Office for a clerical career in 1905. He worked with the Saftey Car Heating and Lighting Company, railroad hardware manufacturers, and 1913 was made general manager of Spindler & Deringer of Jersey City. Smith later became the general manager of the Vapor Car Heating Company, and in 1922 when the company was required to create a separate subsidiary to enter the Canadian market, Smith was named general manager of the Vapor Car Heating Company of Canada, Limited in Montreal, Quebec. These personal papers cover the period between 1893 and 1939 of the life of L. Gerard Smith. The letters are personal and candid, depicting Smith's large extended (and adoptive) family and the methods by which they helped support each other. The letters also provide insight into Smith's professional life, with correspondence between his business connections, particularly those he connected with through the Masons and the YMCA.

The L. & R. Organic Products Co., Inc. records consist of invoices for imports as well as business and personal correspondence.

L. Robert Oaks (1906-1981) worked for the National Association of Manufacturers for eighteen years, directing its audiovisual programs. This collection contains some of his papers from his tenure and includes NAM News, films, speeches, motion picture bulletins, pamphlets, scripts, and more general information about NAM.

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. This is a printed copy of the third edition of La philosophie de l'univers (The Philosophy of the Universe), written by du Pont de Nemours in 1799, redated to 1814, with numerous revisions and additions in the form of annotations and interleavings. It is much more introspective than earlier editions and reveals a good deal about du Pont de Nemours' worldview as he was approaching the end of his life. The revised text is part philosophy and part memoir and includes long sections about death, religion, gender, and reincarnation that were not present in earlier editions.