Finding Aids

Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856) was the eldest son of E.I. du Pont (1771-1834) and a senior partner of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The collection contains three letters he wrote to William Kemble (1795-1881), operator of the West Point Foundry and DuPont powder sales agent in New York City, about sales and shipments of gunpowder and credits.

Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856) was a senior partner in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a gunpowder manufacturer. This collection of papers documents Alfred V. du Pont’s business affiliations, relations with other family members, and relationship with du Pont workers. The bulk is comprised of correspondence, and the collection also includes a small number of advertising circulars.

Arthur H. MacLeod (1914-2003) was an employee of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Entitled "Washburn and Wilmington: a tale of two cities," the item is a paper read by MacLeod before the Washburn Historical Society, which covers the history of the Barksdale Works of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in Washburn, Wisconsin, from its construction in 1904 to its abandonment in 1971.

Incorporated in 1912, Atlas Powder Company functioned as an independent explosives and chemicals company until 1971, when it was purchased by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited (U.K.) and became its American affiliate under the name ICI Americas, Inc. The collection consists of minutes, reports, and correspondence from Atlas in addition to both predecessor and subsidiary companies.

Bessie Gardner du Pont (1864-1949) wrote several publications on the du Pont family and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co's history. This collection contains photocopies and microfilm of "Notes for History," notes she compiled for her study E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., a history, 1802-1902 (Boston, 1920).

Bill Mackey (1906-1996) was a chemical engineer and the plant manager of the Technical Division of the Explosives Department of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. His papers consist of a mix of personal and DuPont Company materials documenting his career as an explosives expert.

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. Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of the DuPont Company, was one of its chief subscribers, and the school building was located on his property. Primarily generated and maintained by the du Pont women, the BMSS records include the school's constitution, and financial records such as bills, receipts, and accounts. Most of the records pertain to students with information about premiums which were given as rewards for attendance and scholarly excellence.

Bruce A. Bydal (1937-) worked as a research engineer at the DuPont Company for over twenty years, is an expert in gun primers and chemicals, and an avid gun collector. He also worked with the Remington Arms Company, a subsidiary of the DuPont Company, to develop a new shotgun. The papers include descriptions of Bydal's work in DuPont's food and packaging division and his work at the Nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. However, approximately one-half of the records pertaining to his work in applied mathematics at Remington Arms, a gun manufacturing company acquired by DuPont during the great depression.

Charles Brelsford McCoy (1909-1995) served as the president of the DuPont Company from 1967 to 1973 and as chairman of its board of directors from 1971 to 1973. The collection documents McCoy's tenure in these positions, and they reflect the public role that McCoy played while chief executive officer at DuPont. The files document his involvement in the Business Roundtable, interchanges between DuPont and the federal government, and the role that the DuPont Company played in easing tensions and facilitating the integration of Wilmington, Delaware, in the aftermath of the 1968 riots.

Charles H. DeMirjian (1925-) was a packaging design manager with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The record consists of a thirteen-page transcript of a taped interview of DeMirjian conducted by then-director of the Hagley Museum and Library Glenn Porter. In his reminiscences, DeMirjian recounts his training and career history, plus some observations on his mode of work.

Charles H. DeMirjian (1925-) was a packaging design manager with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Accompanied by creative marketing with the assistance of DeMirjian and his team, DuPont launched the largest advertising and promotion campaign in the history of the carpeting industry. This collection consists of materials related to the marketing and success of DuPont STAINMASTER® carpet fiber.

Charles H. DeMirjian (1925-) was a packaging design manager with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Records are primarily related to the marketing success and issues realted to Corian, DuPont Car Care products, Zerex, as well as Duco and Lucite paints.

Charles H. DeMirjian (1925-) was a packaging design manager with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. This collection consists of texts of two speeches given by DeMirjian on package design at National Packaging Week in 1975 and 1976.

Charles J. Pedersen (1904-1989) was a research chemist with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company who spent most of his career at the Jackson Laboratory in Deepwater, New Jersey, and the Elastomer Chemicals Department at Wilmington, Delaware. This notebook consists of notes in Pedersen's own hand, with extensive chemical formulas and diagrams of molecules, interspersed with copies of journal articles.

Charles Lee Reese Sr. (1862-1940) was a chemist and scientist at the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1902 to 1931. Until 1900 he taught chemistry in several American schools, and then began his career in industrial research with the New Jersey Zinc Company. The collection consists of nineteen volumes of Reese's laboratory notebooks, most dating from his tenure at New Jersey Zinc. A minority of the notebooks cover some of his early work for DuPont.

Charles Lee Reese, Sr. (1862-1940) was a chemist and scientist at the E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1902 to 1931. The Charles L. Reese papers are a group of material from his student days, the texts of lectures and articles, biographical materials and genealogical notes.

Charles Milton Cooper (1900-1971) was a chemical engineer and an executive at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. His papers primarily include notes and photographs produced during his time conducting bubble formation experiments at the DuPont Company’s Belle Plant, in Charleston, West Virginia.

Charles M.A. Stine (1882-1954) was one of the leading research chemists employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The collection contains Stine's published articles and speeches in which he advocated the importance of fundamental chemical research.

Charles M.A. Stine (1882-1954) was one of the leading research chemists employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The collection a small sample of Stine's papers preserved by his family, primarily some of his awards with copies of acceptance speeches, biographical information, and a bibliography of his books and articles.

Clinton H. Blackburn (1916-1993) was a mechanical engineer with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Blackburn's papers are a sample of work-related materials he retained upon retirement.

The Craven-McDade family had several family members working in the gunpowder and explosives industry for the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and later the Hercules Powder Company. These papers related to the Craven and McDade family of Henry Clay village in Delaware.

Crawford H. Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an executive with the DuPont Company and president of the firm from 1948 to 1962. This collection consists of Greenewalt's papers from his time as president and chairman of the board. There is a broad range of external correspondence, internal company communications and reports, presidential working papers, transcripts of speeches, and published articles that make up the collection.

Crawford H. Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an executive with the DuPont Company and president of the firm from 1948 to 1962. He had a passion for the natural sciences, and combined his love of ornithology with photography. He was especially known for his high-speed photographs of hummingbirds. His ornithological interests included bird songs, the radiance of hummingbird feathers, and the evolution of shapes and sizes of birds in relation to their flight abilities. Greenewalt's personal papers are primarily focused on his retirement years and his avocational interests. The papers document Greenewalt's political activities in the Republican National Committee and include exchanges with many of the leading political and business figures of the day. Of particular significance are the papers describing Greenewalt's work in photography and ornithology, beginning in 1948. These materials trace his research interests in the hummingbird and bird flight and his trips to places like Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, the Antilles, New Guinea, and the Galapagos Islands in order to observe and photograph birds in their natural habitats. Other files describe Greenewalt's work on the visiting committee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1965-1987), which evaluated the school's academic programs.

Crawford H. Greenewalt (1902-1993) was an executive with the DuPont Company and president of the firm from 1948 to 1962. In 1942, when the DuPont Company agreed to participate in the Manhattan Project, Greenewalt was named chief liaison, working with the physicists at the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, including Arthur Compton (1892-1962) and Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), who were developing techniques for plutonium separation. The collection consists of eight volumes of Greenewalt's diaries, which describe the history of the Manhattan Project and the development of the United States' first atomic bombs that were used to end the Second World War. The diaries describe the technical history of the project, as well as the relationships that developed between scientists.

Daniel Cauffiel (1867-1930) was a merchant, real estate developer, and entrepreneur of Johnstown, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. The Daniel Cauffiel papers depict his career as a small business entrepreneur and as an agent or employee of the du Pont family and in their various businesses.

Science and Corporate Strategy is a scholarly history of Research and Development at the DuPont Company authored by David A. Hounshell (1950-) and John Kenly Smith (1951-). The collection consists of research files compiled by Hounshell Smith for the purpose of writing the book. Research files include copies of correspondence, articles, reports, patents, chronologies, organizational charts, and contracts from the DuPont Company from 1903 though 1980.

David H. Dawson (1908-1976) was a chemist, senior vice president, and Executive Committee member at the DuPont Company, where he worked for forty years. Dawson's papers consist of speeches and published papers related to his professional life. They also include materials related to his undergraduate education at Drexel University and The Ohio State University, including his doctoral dissertation on heavy water, which probably relates to the hydrogen bomb's development during World War II. There are also some early engineering publications.

Donaldson Brown (1885-1965) was an industrialist and business executive with E.I. du Pont de Nemours and the General Motors Corporation. These papers relate to Brown's association with GM, and reflect his concern with financial policy, organization and operation, and employee relations. They are especially concerned with the period of World War II. Files from the 1920s and 1930s describe Brown's effort to relate pricing policies to financial control.

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. Françoise (Robin) Poivre (1748-1841) was the second wife of Pierre Samuel. Françoise Julienne Ile de France (Poivre) Bureaux de Pusy (1770-1845) was a daughter from Poivre's first marriage. This collection includes a small selection of correspondence, including details on the family's immigration to the United States from France and Bureaux de Pusy's financial problems.

The Du Pont descendants and allied families are the children of brothers Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771–1834), as well as their grandchildren and relatives through marriage. Victor Marie du Pont and E.I. du Pont were the sons of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. This collection consists of the papers of the descendants of Victor Marie and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont and members of allied families. The principal holdings are for Amelia Elizabeth du Pont (1796-1869) and Charles Irénée du Pont (1797-1869), children of Victor du Pont, and Charles's wife, Dorcas Van Dyke (1806-1838), as well as for Victorine du Pont Bauduy (1792-1861), Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856), and Eleuthera du Pont Smith (1806-1876), children of E.I. du Pont.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company's Agricultural Products Department was responsible for the research, development, and manufacturing of organic fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and other agricultural chemicals. The records include a history of the department, chronology of the benzimidazole fungicide development, history of the technical development of Benomyl, and a small collection of papers from Ralph K. Iler (1909-1985) describing the department's fundamental research program on inorganic chemistry.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. Established in 1802, the company began with the production of gunpowder. The collection consists of seven photocopied letters between DuPont and Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801-1872) regarding the purchase of saltpetre (saltpeter) during the Civil War.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company, commonly referred to as the DuPont Company, which was established in 1802. The company began establishing plants all over the United States and began to manufacture other products in addition to gunpowder and explosives. The company manufactured paints, dyes, and photographic products, and focused on applied research. This collection consists of two binders of historical information about the DuPont Company. The binders were assembled in 1986. Topics include Conoco, DuPont of Canada, new acquisitions, company departments and divisions, and company organization.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company, commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. It manufactured paints, dyes, and photographic products, and focused on applied research. This collection consists of materials related to patents and patent research. It includes patent proposal logs and patent search files from several DuPont Company departments related to photographic film and electronic products. The departments include: Photo Products, Electrochemical (Elchem), Electronics, Imaging Systems, and Photosystems and Electronics Department. This collection would be useful for examining research trends and patented product development.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. It was organized in Paris in 1801 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont and originally produced gunpowder. The collection consists of a binder containing miscellaneous memoranda and tables describing DuPont's manufacture of ordnance between 1914 and 1919.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. Established in 1802, the company began with the production of gunpowder. The collection contains a typescript of newspaper notice entitled "Powder explosion of three wagon loads of powder at Wilmington, Del." from the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on June 1, 1854. Also, a photocopy of a later transcript on the same subject.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Originally established as a black powder manufactory in 1802, the company eventually ventured into explosives, creating the Explosives Department in 1903. This small collection contains six reports on black powder and other accidental explosions at DuPont facilities. Additional materials are related to the DuPont Company's activities in the explosives industry. These include a history of explosions at the Brandywine Works from 1815 to 1898 and the Carney's Point Works from 1893 to 1903.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. In 1952, the DuPont Company celebrated its 150th anniversary. The collection contains miscellany issued as part of the celebration, including invitations, programs, and newsletters. There are some materials related to the planning of the event, the ceremony, and policies for employee attendance.

In the summer of 1981, a four-way bidding war errupted over the control of Conoco Inc., the world's ninth-largest oil company. These records consist of the various formal tender offers made for Conoco Inc.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The DuPont Corporate Plans Department is primarily responsible for coordinating all of the company’s strategic business planning activities. The records of DuPont Corporate Plans are fragmentary in nature and document only a small segment of the department’s responsibilities. These records are arranged into two series: Multi-client reports and Silverstone tracking study. The bulk of the material is contained in Series I and consists of multi-client reports, which are marketing studies prepared by outside consulting firms.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. DuPont Information Systems is a department of the DuPont Company that facilitates the adaptation of increasingly complex equipment and improved programming techniques, selects those with the greatest applicability to the company’s business, and guides other departments in their use. The records of DuPont Information Systems are incomplete and reflect only a portion of the department’s activities. These records are arranged in three series: Central Information Services Division; Planning and Development Division; and Telecommunications and network technology.

DuPont Performance Coatings, Inc. produces and researches advanced automotive coatings and finishes products. In 1993, capitalizing on the growing popularity of NASCAR racing, DuPont sponsored famed driver Jeff Gordon (1971-), whose #24 was adorned with the DuPont logo. The collection consists of advertisements and memorabilia collected by a DuPont employee who followed Jeff Gordon on the NASCAR circuit.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company commonly known as the DuPont Company. DuPont introduced its first reverse osmosis permeators for water desalination in 1969 under the trade name "Permasep" as a result of its contusion research in polymer chemistry and synthetic fibers. This collection documents the marketing and patenting efforts of DuPont on behalf of their Permasep® product line.

DuPont, Washington, was built by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company for the purpose of housing employees of its dynamite plant. The collection includes papers on the history of DuPont, specifically the nomination to the National Register, along with copies of newspaper clippings, maps, and reports related to the nomination.

Peter Bauduy (1769?-1833) and E.I. du Pont (1771-1834) were partners in several business ventures together, including Du Pont, Bauduy, & Co., a textile manufacturing firm and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The collection includes an official certified copy of the articles of agreement between Bauduy and du Pont, forming a partnership for the powder manufacturing company that would become E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.

What became known as the Yerkes plant in Buffalo, New York of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company began as the DuPont Fibersilk Company in 1920, a joint venture between DuPont and a French textile company, Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels, created to produce artificial silk. In 1923, the two companies formed a second joint venture to produce cellophane at the site. DuPont bought the French interests in both companies in March 1928. This collection from the Yerkes plant consists of various publications, cellophane samples, employee magazines, and a scrapbook about the live broadcast from Buffalo of an episode of the radio program Cavalcade of America, entitled The Oath, based on the life of Millard Fillmore.

Edward Graham Jefferson (1921-2006) was a research chemist and chief executive officer of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Jefferson's papers consist of his "personal" business files, and do not include his official correspondence as CEO of the DuPont Company. The papers primarily reflect Jefferson's "Head of State" role at DuPont and his membership on the boards of numerous business, trade, and educational organizations. The papers have been arranged in three series: DuPont Company and personal activities, Outside board memberships, and Speeches.

Peter Bauduy (1769?-1833) and E.I. du Pont (1771-1834) were partners in several business ventures together, including Du Pont, Bauduy, & Co. (a textile manufacturing firm) and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The collection contains photocopied notes from Judge Jacob Stout (1765-1855) made during an appeal in the case of E.I. du Pont and Victor du Pont v. Peter Bauduy, et al., cocnerning the sale of certain mill seats on the Brandywine River near Wilmington.

The Foreign Relations Department of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was first organized on August 1, 1930, for the purpose of improving the exchange of scientific and technical information with DuPont's British counterpart, Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. These materials consist of records of the International Finance Division within DuPont International, and more particularly the Division's Vital Records Program and Nylon de Mexico reorganization.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. Established in 1802, the company began with the production of gunpowder. This collection consists of two copies of items, a letter and a receipt, from the DuPont Company to John Mason (1766-1849), superintendent of the Office of Indian Trade.