Finding Aids

Abstract:

Sophie du Pont Ford (1871-1957) was the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904) and the wife of Bruce Ford (1873-1931). The letter indicates Ford is giving a lacquered Chinese-work box to her niece, Greta du Pont Barksdale Brown (1924-2014).

Abstract:

Sophie du Pont Ford (1871-1957) was the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904) and the wife of Bruce Ford (1873-1931). Her papers consist primarily of her diaries but also include a scrapbook with news clippings relating to the DuPont Company, an address book with family birth dates, and a book with watercolor and text entitled "Life of Branch H. Giles."

Abstract:

Irene "Sophie" Sophie du Pont May (1900-2001) was a churchwoman, a philanthropist, and 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. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The collection consists of Sophie du Pont May's family correspondence and financial correspondence as well as correspondence between her father Irénée du Pont (1876-1963) and his older sister Louisa d'Andelot du Pont Copeland (1868-1926).

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection contains twelve letters and documents regarding the du Pont family, discussing family and church news, as well as a letter from Samuel B. Brown regarding the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter to Eliza Gardner (Henderson) Jones (1826-1877) concerns family matters and the Civil War.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter from du Pont to Lammot du Pont (1831-1884) concerns the disposal of a book of her husband's on marine artillery.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). In the letter to Mary Ann (Hogg) Brunot (1822-1899), du Pont thanks her for a sermon Brunot sent and reflects du Pont's concern with religious and domestic matters.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The letter from du Pont to Theophilus Parsons Chandler (1807-1887) concerns her trip to White Sulphur Springs, Virginia, with her husband Eliza J. Schlatter (1809-1892).

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The two letters to Henry Ferris (1855-1941), a printer in Wilmington, Delaware, concern a religious tract and a subscription to the Wilmington Weekly.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection contains notes from du Pont on the Ten Commandments prepared for her niece, Victorine Elizabeth du Pont (1849-1934), with a scripture lesson.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The miscellaneous personal papers include her drawings and poems, a list of the trousseau, an essay that gives a detailed description of items in the parlor at Eleutherian Mills, letters she wrote to her niece Sophie du Pont Chandler (1851-1931), and her obituary.

Abstract:

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The collection consists of a photocopy of du Pont's will, dated October 21, 1882, and codicil of June 22, 1883.

Abstract:

The Special Court was created under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 (signed January 2, 1974) for the purpose of adjudicating conflicting claims arising out of the act-mandated transfer of viable properties of six bankrupt railroad systems to a new government-funded entity to be called the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). The Special Court Reporter constitutes a step-by-step account of its proceedings and the playing out of the final stages of railroad reorganization in the Northeast, but it is heavily weighted towards procedural matters concerning what constitutes a fair valuation. It does not contain actual testimony or exhibits.

Abstract:

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860-1930) for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. Their card file documents over sixty years of the company's history.

Abstract:

The Sperry Gyroscope Company researched, developed, and manufactured navigation equipment; three of the premiere products were the marine gyrostabilizer, the gyrocompass, and the high-intensity searchlight. The company was founded by Elmer A. Sperry (1860-1930) in 1910. After Elmer Sperry's death in 1930, the engineers at Sperry Gyroscope continued to develop increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft devices, fire control, and automatic pilot systems. Directors were developed to operate anti-aircraft weapons systems and utilized observational data to calculate firing solutions. The collection comprises a drawing for an anti-aircraft fire director and a graduation certificate issued to James A. Wittie (1918-2010) for completing a four-week training course in the principles and use of the M-4 and M-7 directors.

Abstract:

The Sperry Gyroscope Company was originally organized by electrical inventor Elmer Ambrose Sperry for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing his ship gyrostabilizer, gyrocompass, and high-intensity searchlight. The records describe the development and marketing of the marine and airplane stabilizer, the high-intensity searchlight, fire control systems, the gyrocompass, airplane automatic pilot, bombsights, and the aerial torpedo. They trace the evolving relationship between Sperry and the military and the impact of World Wars I and II.

Abstract:

Engineering Research Associates (ERA) origins can be traced to the classified World War II-era Navy project to break the German secret codes by using electronic data processing. After the war, ERA became a private sector company that did pioneering work in computer development. In 1952, it was purchased by Remington Rand. The records include the correspondence of ERA's founding engineers including William Norris and Arnold Cohen. Also included is business and technical correspondence, legal records, patents, and oral histories.

Abstract:

Remington Rand, Inc. was a business machines manufacturer, most well-known for its typewriters and operated between 1927 and 1955. In 1955, Remington Rand merged with a major electronics company, the Sperry Corporation to form the Sperry Rand Corporation. The collection contains a large quantity of advertising literature, trade catalogs, and public relations material which the company used to promote its major products, including typewriters, typewriter supplies, record control and storage systems, fire-proof safes, duplicator supplies, punch-card tabulating machines, adding and bookkeping machines.

Abstract:

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980). In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly sold their firm to Remington Rand, Inc, a major manufacturer of business machines, who continued development of the UNIVAC system. The collection documents most of Sperry-Univac's major company functions and includes a large body of materials generated by the Sperry-Honeywell lawsuit that revolved around the question about who invented the first electronic-digital computer.

Abstract:

Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, Inc. provided drilling services and equipment to the petroleum industry, first in Texas and the Gulf Coast and then world wide. This collection of historical miscellany was collected for a 65th anniversary celebration in 1995 and other materials from the company's public relations office. The principal series is the Historical file. It contains material assembled for the 1995 company history booklet. Many of the documents dealing with the Sun Oil Company, members of the Pew family, Elmer Sperry and the Sperry Gyroscope Company are photocopies purchased from other Hagley accessions.

Abstract:

The Sperry Corporation was an electronics company and the UNIVAC Division manufactured the first commercial digital computer. The Sperry UNIVAC division has its origins in the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), founded in 1946 by J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907-1980), the developers of ENIAC, the first electronic digital computer. This collection consists of the administrative, financial, marketing, personnel, and legal records of Sperry UNIVAC and its predecessor companies. Also included are manuals, reports, and publications on hardware and software developed by Sperry UNIVAC; task force reports and studies for developing new products; printed materials from the Systems Programming Library Service; and biographical and historical data.

Abstract:

The Spreckels Sugar Refining Company was the Philadelphia branch of the Spreckels family sugar refining combine. The records are primarily accounts for the construction and operation of the Philadelphia refinery under Claus Spreckels Jr. (1858-1946) between 1888 and 1895.

Abstract:

William Corbit Spruance (1873-1935) was an electrical engineer and Vice President in Charge of Production at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. His wife, Alice Moore Lea Spruance (1876-1967), was a member of a Wilmington, Delaware, flour-milling dynasty. Spruance family miscellany contains threes letters, two regarding a forestry bill and one a thank you letter. Additionally, there are two copies of a newspaper article titled "This was the Civil War".

Abstract:

The Spruance family was a well-known family in Delaware. The family includes Senator Presley Spruance (1785-1863), Judge William C. Spruance (1831-1913), William Spruance (1873-1935), among many others. The collection includes material related to the genealogy of the Spruance family of Delaware, particularly correspondence from and to members of the Spruance family regarding their genealogy and the book compiled by William Spruance, The Spruance family in Delaware, 1733-1933.

Abstract:

The records of the Steel Industry Wage Bureau document the process of establishing wage rates and job descriptions in the U.S. steel industry.

Abstract:

Stephanie Louise Kwolek (1923-2014) was an American chemist known for inventing Kevlar. The papers of Stephanie L. Kwolek chronicle her work over a forty year span at the DuPont Company. The collection includes patents, journal articles, awards, subject files, and speeches that were either produced by or aided Kwolek in her work.

Abstract:

The Stevens family played a leading role in the political and economic life of New Jersey throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Stevens Family papers consist of 16 reels of microfilm. This selected portion of the collection focuses on the activities of John Stevens (ca. 1682-1737), the founder of the family, and his sons in the development of steamboat and railroad transportation. Included are materials on the controversies with relatives, the operation of stagecoach and steamboat lines, and the early railroad promotions. Official records of the Camden & Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company are not included. The materials are dated from 1669 up until 1959.

Abstract:

The Stockly/Stockley family were merchants and bankers in Smyrna, Delaware, during the nineteenth century. The family papers consist primarily of account books for various Stockly enterprises, recording shipments of grain, barley, and hides between Delaware and Philadelphia.

Scope and Content: The Strawbridge & Clothier records are not a complete corporate archive but rather a mix of corporate and legal documents and materials collected for a two-volume anniversary history. Nevertheless, they give a good overall picture of the evolution of retailing in the Philadelphia area, particularly in the twentieth century.The Corporate records include incorporation papers, board and committee minutes, and annual reports, which give an overall view of the firm's operations.The Management records are limited to very fragmentary correspondence of the corporate secretaries and president Herbert J. Tily. Much of it concerns bank financing, authorizations, and accounts. There are also executive payrolls (1931-1950), employment contracts for top executives, and notes on executive development programs.Financial and accounting records include fragmentary runs of journals and ledgers, including a sales ledger (1881) and a sales & salaries ledger (1903-1906); financial statements for S&C and the rival Lit Brothers chain; and tax papers.Legal records include trial records relative to the failed hostile takeover attempt made by Ronald Baron in 1985-1986. There are transcripts of testimony from the major parties on both sides. This subgroup also contains a variety of miscellaneous legal papers, including settlements with S&C's foreign offices and various suppliers in London, Paris, and Berlin (1921-1926); merchandising agreements with domestic and foreign manufacturers (1896-1907); and claims case files (1906 and 1911).Real estate records include title papers for the company's flagship store at 8th & Market Streets (1793-1922); contracts for store construction; and some plans for twentieth century construction. Four linear feet of store appraisals for the flagship store are detailed lists for insurance purposes of the store, its fixtures, and contents (1948-1970).Branch store records include plans, publicity articles, brochures, and scrapbooks, plus leases, mortgages, contracts, and insurance appraisals of store and contents for the following branch stores beginning in 1930: Ardmore, Jenkintown, Springfield, Neshaminy, Plymouth Meeting, and Exton, Pennsylvania; Cherry Hill and Echelon, New Jersey; and Wilmington and Christiana, Delaware. This subgroup documents the growth of suburban shopping strips and shopping malls during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, including malls...

Abstract:

The Sugar Apparatus Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia was typical of many of the small specialty manufacturers of the region. S. Morris Lillie, the company president, patented his single and multiple effect evaporators and began marketing them in 1893. The evaporators were primarily used to recover crystallized sugar from solutions made from sugar cane or sugar beets. The bulk of the records cease in 1933, leaving no indication of the firm's fate. By 1964, the records and drawings were in the possession of Ford Bros. & Co., coppersmiths and machinists of Philadelphia., which apparently had been building Lillie evaporators for a number of years.

Abstract:

Sun Company is a petroleum processor and distributor incorporated by Joseph Newton Pew, Sr. (1848–1912), with his eldest son Arthur E. Pew (1875-1917), under the laws of New Jersey in 1901. In 1902, the company built a refinery in southeastern Pennsylvania on the Delaware River at Marcus Hook to process crude oil sent from Texas by ship. This collection contains plant and production records for the Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, refinery of the Sun Oil Company. These records provide insight into the plants' finances, primarily through material and labor costs dating from 1903 to 1929.

Abstract:

William Young (1755-1829) was a Philadelphia bookseller and later a manufacturer at Rockland, Delaware. Three surveyor's plats marking the route of canal through White-Hall estate, William Young's property in Philadelphia.

Abstract:

Susan "Sue" Odell (1938-) worked in microbiology during the 1960s at Avon Products, Inc., a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. This small collection of Avon materials primarily documents Odell's retirement and benefits; there are some employee newsletters and two group portrait photographs: a 1946 Christmas party and a 1947 group outing.

Abstract:

Susan Pearson Horne Appleton (1825-1877) was a dressmaker in Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. This volume is a detailed account of how Appleton ran her shop, managed local labor, and maintained her business viability in the community after the Civil War. The account book documents the later years of her dressmaking business. She earned additional money by selling tomatoes and soap. The account records contain detailed entries from 1866 to 1873, covering her work and the wide range of materials used in the final years of her life.

Abstract:

T. Coleman (Thomas Coleman) du Pont (1863-1930) was President of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1902 to 1915, and a U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1921 to 1928. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The company began with the production of gunpowder. Du Pont married Alice du Pont (1863-1937) in 1891; the couple had five children. This is a small collection of microfilm copies documenting select heirlooms of the T. Coleman and Alice du Pont family.

Abstract:

Thomas Peter Brody (1920-2011) was a theoretical physicist whose work in tunnel diodes and semiconductor device theory resulted in numerous electronic uses for thin film technology, eventually leading to his invention of active matrix flat panel display technology, or liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. The collection describes Dr. Brody's education, personal and professional character, scientific achievements, business successes and disappointments, as well as personal praise. Included are lecture notes, private and professional correspondence, research studies, patents, contracts, business records, and other documents related to Dr. Brody's career and the development of LCD technology.

Abstract:

The collection consists of correspondence, legal papers, notebooks, and memorabilia relating to the Tallman family, although the bulk of materials pertain to Frank Gifford Tallman.

Abstract:

Tazewell Lamar McCorkle Sr. was regarded as a leading authority in the field of commercial explosives. Trained as a chemical engineer, McCorkle spent more than thirty years as a sales representative with the Explosives Department of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The papers are composed entirely of copies of official DuPont Company materials that McCorkle retained after his retirement. These files provide extensive documentation of departmental policies and procedures governing the storage and delivery of DuPont explosives.

Abstract:

The Textile Machine Works began as a braiding machines repair and replacement company for German imported equipment, but they began building their own braiding machines in late 1892. During the 1900s, the company assembled the first American full-fashioned knitting machine. Production increased from about 100 per year in 1912 to more than 1,000 per year by 1926, as the market for full-fashioned hosiery expanded. The Textile Machine Works was founded by Henry Janssen (1866-1948) and Ferdinand Thun (1866-1949) on July 5, 1892, in Reading, Pennsylvania. This small collection consists of two publications, both related to the "Reading" knitting machine. One is titled The "Reading" Full-Fashioned Knitting Machine parts catalog and the other is titled T.M.W. Erector's Bulletin. The materials in the collection date from 1929 to 1956, with the majority of the items dating from the 1930s and 1940s.

Abstract:

The Textile Machine Works began as a braiding machines repair and replacement company for German imported equipment, but they began building their own braiding machines in late 1892. The Textile Machine Works was founded by Henry Janssen (1866-1948) and Ferdinand Thun (1866-1949) on July 5, 1892, in Reading, Pennsylvania. This collection includes administrative and financial records of the parent company and major subsidiaries from 1900 to 1968. There is additional material relating to employee relations and the establishment and operation of the Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute.

Abstract:

The Hoyt Group, Inc. was an industrial design and marketing consultancy firm established by Earl E. Hoyt, Jr. (1936-2024). Hoyt was introduced to design at an early age. His mother was a talented textile designer who worked at her drawing board at home for additional income. At a very young age, Hoyt wrote to General Motors to explain his interest in designing cars. He received a return letter and was introduced to the term "Industrial Designer." After graduating from Pratt Institute, he began his career in Donald Deskey's New York office. Hoyt's career is well documented in this small collection. The collection is divided into four series: Series I. Clients and Projects; Series II. Sketches; Series III. Design Models; Series IV. Products/Packaging.

Abstract:

Watson C. Warriner Sr. (1917-2015) was a chemical engineer with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company during World War II. He worked on the Manahatten Project. This item is a typescript of a personal memoir of Warriner's work at the Hanford Engineer Works and the DuPont Works in connection with the Manhattan Project, including maps and photographs.

Abstract:

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was the largest railroad in the United States in terms of corporate assets and traffic from the last quarter of the nineteenth century until the decline of the Northeast's and Midwest's dominance in manufacturing. This unpublished report is a survey containing an analysis of seven large tracts near the company's lines in western New York State that were available for factory sites, including labor availability, population, climate, energy, and water supply.

Abstract:

Commonly referred to as simply "Seagram" or "Seagram's," the Seagram Company, Ltd. was for a time the largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits in the world. The records of Seagram and its subsidiaries trace the company's transformation from a small business run by Samuel Bronfman to a diversified multi-national corporation.

Abstract:

Theophilus Miles Smith (1757-1850) was a Connecticut shoemaker and leather worker. The ledger is a record of Smith's careers as a shoemaker and leatherworker and other business endeavors selling deer skin, calf skin, pig skin, veal, packaged pork, working the docks, slaughtering hogs, and packaging hay.

Abstract:

The Thiokol Chemical Corporation was formed in 1929 for the production of synthetic rubber and other related chemicals. Headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey, the company moved into defense contracting in the 1940s and, after the Second World War, their product further evolved as both a rocket fuel and a binding agent in one. Thiokol eventually began the manufacture of rocket engines and grew into one of the world’s largest producers of solid rocket motors for the aerospace and defense industries. The records largely consist of documents related to the history and development of Thiokol, annual reports, information on the development of rockets, as well as publications relating to the aerospace industry.

Abstract:

Thomas Ellwood Gillingham, Jr. (1912-2004) was a geologist, he worked as an independet consultant and for the Atomic Energy Commission and the W.R. Grace & Company. The collection documents Gillingham's career as a geological consultant. The collection is arranged into six series: W.R. Grace & Co.; Uranium Mining; Phosphate Mining; Reports; Education; and Reference cards.

Abstract:

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a shipbuilder and papermaking machinery manufacturer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This collection consists of two checkbook stubs dating from 1892 to 1896.

Scope and Contents:

Personal and business diaries of Thomas Savery documenting his career from 1864 to 1910 that include technical drawings and experimental data used in developing his patented papermaking machinery. Savery's career as machine shop foreman and general manager at Pusey & Jones is also described. The day to day activities of the shops in which he worked are detailed as well as his income, expenses, and investments. Among projects noted is the construction of Machinery Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. There are also discussions of his involvement in the Harper Ferry Electric Light & Power Company, York Haven Water & Power Company and York Haven Paper Company. There is a volume detailing his involvement in the Denver pulp and paper industry. Savery's involvement with the Wilmington Board of Trade and the Society of Friends are described in these volumes. There are also numerous notations on his personal and cultural life.

Abstract:

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a ship builder and manufacturer of papermaking machinery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thomas H. Savery, Jr. (1871-1930), the second son of Savery, followed in his father's footsteps in the pulp and paper industry. The records consist of two private journals from the youth of Thomas H. Savery and his son, Thomas H. Savery, Jr.