Finding Aids

E. Sachse & Company was a nineteenth century printing company located in Baltimore, Maryland. This item is a color lithograph of an overview of Wilmington, Delaware, looking north from south of the Christiana River.

The Brandywine Manufacturers Sunday School (BMSS) was organized in 1817 as a non-sectarian school for the children of the local factory workers, with instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. This collection contains eleven Kodachrome prints of exterior views of the school building taken by Nancy Wootten (of Wilmington), between 1963 and 1966.

Charles B. Murray (1872-1947) worked as a foreman in building construction and was a resident of Wilmington, Delaware with his wife Christina Green (1878-1961). The collection consists of sixty glass negatives taken by Charles Murray of Wilmington, Delaware, and Albany, New York. Many of the views are of families, children and other groups of people, some of which were taken in parks or other recreational areas such as beaches. There are also views of the Wilmington Malleable Iron Company showing both equipment and employees, including the "office group" and the workers in the carpenter shop. There is also a view of the Jessup & Moore Paper Company Mills on the Brandywine in Wilmington.

The Delaware Construction Company was a building company, constructing residential houses in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded in 1909 as a subsidiary of the National Real Estate Trust Company, which provided loans and financing for the properties. This small collection consists of five blueprints of houses by E. Olney Sherman, dated 1910 for Delaware Construction Co.

Horace Holden Thayer, Jr. (1878-1959) was a naval architect, mechinical engineer, and businessman. Between 1909 and 1914 Thayer worked for the Delaware Construction Company which was a building company, constructing residential homes in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. This collection contains photographs of fifteen homes taken between 1910 and 1914. The images are of exterior views only.

St. Andrew's congregation was founded in 1829 in Wilmington, Delaware. This collection contains two Delaware Engagement Calendars, "Historical Edition 1638-1840" and "Historical Edition 1840-1905" for calendar years 1958 and 1959 respectively.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company commonly known as the DuPont Company. It was established in 1802, and began by manufacturing gunpowder, later moving to chemical compounds. The foundations for the Engineering Department were laid in 1902. The department’s purpose was to design and construct high explosives plants, design powder machinery, and create extensions to existing plants. These records consist of seven large blueprint maps showing property lines, utilities, and buildings in the area of the company's Brandywine Works in Wilmington, Delaware.

Edward James Shimer Seal (1896-1955) was a farmer and photographer in Chester County, Pennsylvania. This collection contains over 300 photograph prints taken primarily by Seal of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, during the first half of the twentieth century. Many of these images offer a glimpse into family and town life in Chadds Ford and Wilmington, Delaware, during the 1920s and 1930s, featuring Seal family members, friends, neighbors, and employees. Other subjects include the 1939 World's Fair in New York, the artists N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, and local bridges and roads.

The Electric Hose and Rubber Company (EHRC) was a manufacturer of braided rubber hoses in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1900 to 1978. The company specialized in the manufacture of consumer-grade garden hoses, as well as industrial-grade hoses for pumping gas and military functions. This collection includes accounting ledgers, tax information, payroll books, advertisements, company newspapers, employee records, and stockholder information. The collection materials date from 1904 to 1978, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1920s to the 1960s. This collection would be useful to researchers interested in the history of manufacturing in Delaware, particularly in regard to rubber hoses.

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 and began with the production of gunpowder. Collection consists of five photographs, four of which are exterior views of historic structures in Wilmington. Two fire companies are pictured, the Friendship Firehouse in the late 1800s and the fire station of Company No. 1

Based in Wilmington, Delaware, Frank Earle Schoonover (1877-1972) was a prolific commercial illustrator, artist, and avid photographer. Over the course of a six-decade career, he completed more than twenty-five hundred works, primarily illustrations for magazines and books but also landscapes, portraits, murals, book plates, sculpture, and stained-glass windows. This collection consists of negatives taken by Schoonover, largely for use as source material for his artwork. There are also images of his artwork, restoration projects, and him, his family, and friends.

Homes on Breck's Lane were owned by William Winder "Chick” Laird Jr. (1910-1989), and served as workers' housing. Laird was the director of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The record is a single sheet listing the houses on Breck's Lane near Wilmington, Delaware, that were originally workers' housing attached to the Brandywine Works of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.

Irénée du Pont (1876-1963) was a chemical engineer. He began work for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in 1903 in the Construction Division of the Black Powder Operating Department. After holding several positions within the company he went on to be the president of the DuPont Company. He served in this capacity from 1919 until 1926. The collection consists of photographs related to Irénée du Pont's family, personal interests, and involvement with organizations such as the Delaware Safety Council.

James W. Flaherty Inc. was a general contractor company in Wilmington, Delaware that operated between 1949 and 1983. Consists of drawings and plans for various local properties, including du Pont family estates.

John W. Macklem (1867-1948) began working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as an errand boy at a young age and remained with the company his entire career. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. This collection comprises photographs of buildings and scenes in DuPont Company explosives manufacturing plants along the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, including the Eleutherian Mills (or Upper) yard, the Upper Hagley yard, and the Lower Hagley yard.

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).

This collection contains photographs of the LeCarpentier, Green and Baker families who were farmers and merchants in the Delaware valley area. The majority of the collection consists of formal portraits of family members, a small number of which are identified, as well as views of various locations around Wilmington, Delaware.

This collection consists of photographs and maps depicting the property of the Brandywine Works of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The maps and blueprints show how the property of the Brandywine Works was divided among du Pont family members for estates after the works closed. A small series of large-format photographs depict various scenes and events from the Brandywine Works and the city of Wilmington in general.

Pierre Gentieu (1842-1930) was an artist, photographer, and an employee of the DuPont Company for thirty-four years. Pierre Gentieu and his wife, Sarah Albina "Binie" Gentieu (1846-1925) had six children. Although three children had no issue, they had nine grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren. All six children worked for the DuPont Co. and several grandchildren did as well. This collection consists of nine albums that document the Gentieu family history, primarily the life of the patriarch of the family Pierre Gentieu (1842-1930). The albums contain originals and reproductions of correspondence, family trees, documents, photographs, and ephemera.

The Pusey & Jones Corporation were shipbuilders, founders, and machinists of Wilmington, Delaware, which later expanded into papermaking machinery manufacturing. The collection is a plat of the property around Pusey and Jones Company plant in Wilmington, Delaware.

Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware located on the Christiana and Brandywine Rivers. This collection is a souvenir album containing fourteen views of notable buildings and places in Wilmington, Delaware.

Wawaset Park was a planned residential community built by the DuPont Company around 1918 for its executives in Wilmington, Delaware. These panoramic photographs depict construction of homes and overall views of area, street scenes, and pictures of individual houses.

Wawaset Park was a planned community, commissioned by the DuPont Company for its company executives. The records describe the park, its residents, and history through corporate records, maps and deeds of the property, lists of corporate officers and residents, as well as histories of the park, the City of Wilmington, and the state of Delaware.

Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892-1944) was an American lawyer and utilities executive who served as the Republican Party nominee in the 1940 presidential election. This item is an amateur silent film by an unidentified filmmaker depicting scenes of Willkie's presidential campaign parade in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

Willard S. Wilson (1897-1979) was a pioneer radio broadcaster and entrepreneur. He was founder of the first commercial radio station in Delaware. This small collection of newspaper clippings, articles, notes, and ephemera document Wilson's knowledge about the history of radio and some of his accomplishments related to the radio station WHAV/WDEL. There are also three reels of film, two related to aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) and one documenting the arrival of a monument at Wilmington, Delaware marine terminal.

William Ferris, II (1822-1909) was, along with Philip Garrett (1814-1896), a senior partner in the firm of the Ferris & Garrett company, a supplier of plumbing fixtures for gas, steam, and water service in Wilmington, Delaware. This collection consists of thirty-eight glass plate negatives, mostly of unidentified people and interiors, photographed by William Ferris, II.

Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware located on the Christiana and Brandywine Rivers. Postcard views of miscellaneous sights in and around Wilmington, Delaware.

Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware located on the Christiana and Brandywine Rivers. This collection consists of three reproduction photographs of diverse subjects: an A5A steam locomotive #1167 of Reading Railroad crossing the road at Greenville, Delaware; a unoccupied trolley car in Wilmington, Delaware, originally built by the Peoples Railway Company in 1904; a postcard illustration of the Delaware Trust Building, Wilmington, Delaware.

Wilmington is Delaware’s largest city and can be found where the Christina River and the Brandywine Creek meet near the Delaware River. This panoramic color photograph shows office buildings in the city center.

Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware located on the Christiana and Brandywine Rivers. These are sixteen small, gummed, and perforated stamps showing sepia photographic views of Wilmington, Delaware.

Wilmington is the largest city in Delaware located on the Christiana and Brandywine Rivers. The collection consists of eight postcards featuring scenes in and around Wilmington, Delaware. The postcards were published by Julian B. Robinson, a Wilmington printer.

Wilmington is Delaware’s largest city and can be found where the Christina River and the Brandywine Creek meet near the Delaware River. The city prospered throughout the Industrial Revolution, but the period of rapid economic growth came with the Civil War. By 1920, the population had reached over 110,000 residents. Wilmington experienced significant population loss after World War II as the suburban areas grew and I-95 dissected some of the city’s more stable neighborhoods. These items are postcards are of miscellaneous views of Wilmington, Delaware sites.

The Wilmington Savings Fund Society was established in 1831 as a "safe depository for the earnings of working people" which also promoted the opportunity for homebuilding and lending money for home mortgages. Their records consist primarily of minutes and account books.

The Woodlawn Trustees, Incorporated, is a real estate development firm incorporated in Delaware on December 12, 1918, by textile manufacturer William Poole Bancroft (1835-1928). Their records include charters, minutes, officer lists, directors' correspondence, real estate records, property maps, reports, drawings and specifications and newspaper and journal articles on the history of the Trustees and of the Bancroft family.

The Woodlawn Trustees, Incorporated, is a real estate development firm incorporated in Delaware on December 12, 1918, by textile manufacturer William Poole Bancroft (1835-1928). Records consist primarily of 35mm slides, mostly dating from 1989 to 2002, documenting Woodlawn Trustees properties throughout Wilmington and Brandywine Hundred, including low-income city housing, preserved farmland, greenways along the Brandywine Creek, and commercial properties on Concord Pike and the Wilmington waterfront.

William Winder ‘Chick” Laird, Jr. (1910-1989) was a director of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and a financial advisor, starting his own brokerage firm in Wilmington, Delaware. This collection includes photographs of interiors and exteriors of du Pont family estates and homes in Delaware, as well as portraits and snapshots of du Pont and Laird family members. The collection also contains a large number of lantern slides, blueprints, maps, and film reels of home movies and family skits.