Finding Aids

These photographs document the abandoned site where the Peoples Railway trolley car passed under the tracks of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad in Rockford Park near the Brandywine Creek. The Peoples Railway Company started in 1900 to bring visitors via electric trolley to the Brandywine Springs Amusement Park outside of Wlimington. The Wilmington and Northern Railroad Company was a branch of the Reading railroad system running in a north-south direction between Wilmington, Delware and Reading, Pennsylvania. Its object was to connect the various industrial plants located along Brandywine Creek with other railroads leading to the west and to the anthracite coal regions.

Louise Evelina du Pont (1877-1958) was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Algernon du Pont. In 1922 Henry A. du Pont purchased the original family home, Eleutherian Mills, for his daughter who, with her husband, began restoring the house and building a Renaissance garden adjoining it. This collection consists of twelve black and white photographs of Louise and Frank Crowninshield's garden at Eleutherian Mills, apparently taken by Horace Dugdale during a visit, circa 1938. Also two photographs of the abandon Hagley House which stood nearby.

Cinecraft Productions was founded in 1939 by Ray Culley (1904-1983) and Betty Culley (1914-2016) in Cleveland, Ohio. Ray Culley served as president of the company until his retirement in 1970. During his tenure, Cinecraft specialized in commercial productions for business, industry, trade organizations, and, in some cases, government agencies and social service organizations. Cinecraft was one among hundreds of production houses in the U.S. during the middle decades of the 20th century that specialized in motion pictures commonly referred to as non-theatrical, industrial, business and/or sponsored films. This collection documents the history of the company, the people that worked there, and some of the company's film and educational projects. The collection has been arranged into three series: Company and personnel history; Films; and Educational materials. The materials date from 1937 to 2016 with a bulk of the collection dating from 1937 to 1975.

For what appears a brief moment in early aviation history, the Wright Brothers competed their airplanes in public demonstrations. The Curtiss Exhibition Co.'s Glenn Curtiss piloted one of his biplanes, and Walter Brookins piloted a Wright biplane. Three photos show the Curtiss biplane on the beach before take-off with a Boardwalk crowd nearby. Two others show the Curtiss and Wright airplanes separately in flight.

The Dallin Aerial Surveys Company produced aerial photographs for newspapers, businesses, municipalities, and private individuals. The company was founded in 1924 by Colonel J. (John) Victor Dallin (1897-1991), a Royal Flying Corps-trained pilot who served in World War One. During WWI he became involved in aerial photography on a reconnaissance mission during the latter stages of the war. This collection consists of over 13,000 aerial photographs primarily of the Mid-Atlantic region taken between 1925 and 1941. The company made vertical and oblique aerial photographs of factories, private estates, schools, country clubs, towns, airports, rivers, and many other sites and some news events of the day. The subject with the largest number of views is the city of Philadelphia.

Dan Dee Pretzel and Potato Chip Company was an American snack food manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. This collection consists of nine short, silent film reels depicting select manufacturing and packaging processes at the company's factory and warehouse.

David Harrison Cope (1913-2001) held a lifelong interest in railroads and, in particular, steam locomotives. He began collecting photographs at an early age. This collection primarily consists of black and white photographs and negatives of steam locomotives from a variety of railroads, but it includes some other rolling stock, station photos, related railroad items such as coaling stations and some street railroads, interurbans, and trolley images.

The Dayton Display Fixture Company manufactured and sold grocery store display equipment. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, the firm operated between 1919 and World War II, selling metal shelving and refrigerated and electrified fruit and vegetable displays. This collection consists of a single album containing sales sample photographs that show product and floor displays for grocery store fruits and vegetables and dry goods in the 1930s.

The Chicago Railroad Fair was the first exposition after the Second World War and the last exposition that featured railroads as its theme. It marked the centennial of the arrival of railroads to Chicago and their role in westward expansion. This is a postcard of the narrow gauge Deadwood Central train that carried visitors around the fairground.

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.

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western (DL&W) Railroad was one of the largest and most prosperous anthracite transporting and mining companies in Pennsylvania. This collection consists of dated and undated views of a boiler, breakers, collieries, fan houses, hoist, mule barns, pumps, shafts, steam plant, tunnels and an electric power plant in the anthracite mining areas in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties of eastern Pennsylvania.

This collection is three photographs of the razing of Delaware Memorial Hospital. When originally founded in 1887, it was called Homeopathic Hospital since that was the branch of medicine that was practiced there. In 1940, it was renamed Memorial Hospital. It continued to serve the public also providing allopathic care until it was razed in 1985.

This item is a map of Delaware Park racetrack area showing property boundaries. Parking areas are identified. Buildings are numerically coded, but there is no corresponding key. William duPont, Jr. and Donald P. Ross designed and built Delaware Park Racetrack. Phillip T. Harris of Media, Pennsylvania was hired as the architectural engineer. The facility opened on June 26, 1937. Although the park closed briefly during the 1980s, over the years, it has expanded to include a full-service casino and other amenities

Pierre S. du Pont incorporated the Delaware School Auxiliary Association in 1919 to finance the construction of new school buildings throughout Delaware. Between 1918 and 1940 he donated $5,000,000 to build some 120 schools. This collection contains photographs, almost all exterior, of 114 public elementary and secondary schools in Delaware.

Aerial view showing crowded fairgrounds. The Delaware State Fair began as the Kent and Sussex County Fair in 1920, and is now known as the Delaware State Fair. 1928 was the last year the Delaware state fair was held at the Elsmere site.

Orlando Wootten (1909-1997) was the photographer for the Salisbury (Maryland) Daily Times and Wicomico Historical Society. Collection consists of documentary views of three flour and feeds mills from the Delmarva area

Delmarva Power and Light Company is a regulated energy company that provides electricity and natural gas services to customers in the Delmarva Peninsula. These 1926 images document the construction of gas towers and substations at the Christiana and Brandywine power plants in the Wilmington, Delaware.

The Disposor Corporation was the sales agent for the General Fan Corporation of New York City in the 1930s. This collection consists of fourteen photographs of the General Fan Corporation's various mechanical products (ventilation and cooling units) on display at exhibits or installed in businesses, including a ship and restaurants. The album was put together by the Disposor Corporation for sales purposes.

Victor Herbert (1859-1924) was a composer, conductor and cellist. This item is sheet music of the Dodge Brothers March which was composed in honor of Horace E. Dodge (1868-1920).

A match cover or a matchbook cover is a thin piece of cardboard that is folded around a set of match sticks. Chemist, John Walker (1781-1859) invented the match stick in 1827. Joshua Pusey (1842-1906?), an inventor and attorney patented matchbook covers in 1892. Within a short time hotels, restaurants, airlines, and all kinds of stores began advertising using matchbook covers. This is a small collection of matchbook covers consists advertising hotels, restaurants, banks, elections, products, and organizations. Most of the matchbook covers are from Texas and New Mexico with a few coming from other states.

Donald Fell Carpenter (1899-1985) was General Manager of the Film Department at the DuPont Company. The collection consists of photographs, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and a few letters relating to Donald Carpenter's personal life and career.

Donald Robert Hull (1911-1995) was a longtime employee at the DuPont Company mainly working with nylon and textile fibers. The collection consists of four scrapbook albums of material from Donald Hull's career with the Du Pont Company.

Edward G. Bradford, II (1848-1928) was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. He married Eleuthera Paulina du Pont in 1872. This collection consists of photographs of the du Pont family and estate, as well as numerous postcards.

The du Pont family is a prominent Delawarean family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), who founded E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), in 1802. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical research and manufacturing company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. This collection consists of placemats with images of exterior views of eight du Pont family homes.

Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) was proprieter of his family business, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, which began in the manufacture of gunpowder in 1802. He was the youngest child of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), the founder of the DuPont Company. This collection contains thirteen photographic items, mostly portraits of Alexis I. du Pont and other du Pont family members.

DuPont Motors, Inc. was a manufacturing company of luxury automobiles, founded by E. Paul du Pont (1887-1950) in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. These photographs show exterior views of the vacant DuPont Motors factory in Moore, Pennsylvania, where briefly (1922-1925) DuPont automobiles were assembled.

DuPont Motors, Inc. was a manufacturing company of luxury automobiles, founded by E. Paul du Pont (1887-1950) in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. This collection consists of thirty-eight photographs primarily showing the exteriors of DuPont Motor’s Models A, B, D, and G.

DuPont American Industries was formed in 1918 as a holding of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in order to purchase a substantial portion of General Motors and Chevrolet stock. This item is a portrait of a large group of male employees of DuPont American Industries.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The Chamber Works was constructed as a dyeworks at Deepwater Point, New Jersey in 1914. This item is a panoramic photograph shows the New Ponsol Colors Building under construction at DuPont's Chambers Works in Deepwater, New Jersey on July 13, 1936.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The DuPont Company's Carney's Point plant began manufacturing guncotton and smokeless powder in 1892. Francis “Frank” Pierre Gentieu (1876-1950) was a ballistic Engineer at Carney's Point from 1901 to 1941. On October 10 1925, a military, civic and industry party parade concluded a three-day celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Salem, New Jersey. This collection features two photographs of the DuPont Smokeless Powder Works float entered in the 250th Anniversary parade in Salem, New Jersey.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company. Originally established as a black powder manufactory in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, the company shifted its focus away from gunpowder production and towards chemistry innovations. This collection consists of five large poster boards which created displays of original magazine advertisements of various DuPont Company products such as Smokeless gunpowder, DUCO, Pyralin, synthetic fibers, Conoco oil, lucite, anti-freeze, cellophane and carpet fibers. This collection also contains one film.

The Advertising Department representatives in each of the industrial departments worked with the central staff in creating ad campaigns. The collection consists of miscellaneous DuPont Company advertising materials, including postcards, pictorial envelopes, lantern slides, advertisements, display cards, and illustrated pamphlets.

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. Throughout the 1900s and 1910s, the company shifted its focus away from gunpowder production and towards chemistry innovations. This collection contains twenty photographs of DuPont Company exhibits and exhibit areas in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, as well as exterior views in the vicinity of the Hall and views of the boardwalk at North Carolina Avenue. Chalfonte-Haddon Hall was a hotel and convention center that had its start as two Quaker boarding houses built in the 1860s.

The Savannah River Plant manufactured basic materials required in the production of nuclear weapons, specifically plutonium and tritium. The complex was comprised of five reactors, two chemical separation plants, a heavy water extraction plant, a nuclear fuel and target fabrication facility, a tritium extraction facility and waste management facilities. Additionally, the site included research laboratories, offices, worker housing, and other ancillary facilities. This collection contains photographs, glass plate negatives, lantern slides, negatives, transparencies and 16mm films that document the construction and development of the Savannah River Plant complex between 1951 and 1982, with a bulk of the materials created between 1951 and 1972. The collection is organized into seven series: Construction and progress; Technical photographs; Project photographs; Voorhees Walker Foley & Smith architectural renderings; Speeches and presentation lantern slides; Transparencies; and Films.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The Fabrics and Finishes Department produced DuPont's consumer lines of paints and finishes. Duco was a durable, quick-drying lacquer used for appliances. It was the standard finish for General Motors (GM) vehicles. Dulux was glossier, which made it more popular than Duco. This is a small collection of automotive color bulletins from the DuPont Company Finishes Division, Refinish Sales unit. The bulletins are arranged by model of vehicle. They were grouped together in binders over several years, presumably to show buyers or prospective buyers the color options available for each model car each year. The bulk of dates covered are 1935 to 1959 and 1968 to 1986.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). This collection of more than 1250 discrete photographs depicts the landscape and buildings at or near the company's explosives manufacturing plants along Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware. Approximately 900 images depict powder yard sites, including the DuPont Experimental Station, either during the mills' final decades of operation or prior to, during, and after excavation and restoration work on the site in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of the remaining images depict the worker communities which surrounded the powder yards.

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 Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834); the company began with the production of gunpowder. In 1919, the DuPont Company created a room dedicated to large charts showing important financial statistics for its explosives business and emerging chemical ventures. The Chart Room was located on the ninth floor of the DuPont Building in Wilmington, nearby the offices of Executive Committee members. This collection consists of four photographs, three of which are panoramic and mounted on cardboard. They consist of three undated views of the DuPont Company Chart Room, taken approximately between 1919 and 1930.

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 Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834); the company began with the production of gunpowder. In 1919, the DuPont Company created a room dedicated to large charts showing important financial statistics for its explosives business and emerging chemical ventures. The Chart Room was located on the ninth floor of the DuPont Building in Wilmington, near the offices of Executive Committee members. This item is a panoramic photograph showing a view of the Chart Room in around 1950.

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 and his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont the company began with the production of gunpowder. This item consists of two printed pieces: a Happy New Year 1993 greeting from Coley (P. Coleman) and Jake (James Coleman) du Pont and a reproduction of an Eagle gun powder label circa 1804.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Defender Photo Supply, an early leader in the manufacturing of black and white sheet film, plates, printing paper and instructional books, was purchased by the DuPont Company in 1945. The DuPont Imaging Systems Plant, in Rochester, New York, manufactured photographic film and chemicals and ceased operations in 1995. This collection contains four display photographic prints made on DuPont Defender photographic paper. The views are all scenic and also included is an aerial photograph of the Rochester, New York plant of the DuPont Company's Photo Products Department.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company, established in 1802. DuPont broke ground on the Louviers office building, located near Newark, Delaware, in June 1951 and was occupied by DuPont's Engineering Department beginning in August 1952. This collection consists mostly of photographs of DuPont's Louviers office building. There are some photographs showing the Engineering Department's move from Wilmington to the Louviers Building.

The E.I. du Pont de Nemours is a chemical company commonly known as the DuPont Company was established in 1802, and began by manufacturing gunpowder and later 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. The DuPont Engineering Department collection consists of photographic material documenting Twentieth century construction projects throughout the many different E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company work sites, including some outside construction projects within the explosives and chemical industry. There are 209 work sites which are arranged in alphabetical order.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours is a chemical company commonly known as the DuPont Company. It was established in 1802 and began by manufacturing gunpowder; later it moved 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. The collection consists of three mechanical drawings created by the DuPont Company's Engineering Department showing specifications for constructing and marking crates for gelatine dynamite.

The DuPont executive team holds top-line responsibility for driving DuPont’s vision and ensuring that its core values are upheld across the company.This collection consists of individual portraits of DuPont Company executives. It also includes group portraits of the Executive Committee, Finance Committee, and Board of Directors.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. This collection consists of images of the DuPont Company’s show windows between 1937 and 1957. The images are primarily of displays at the Wilmington, Delaware site, but also at other locations such as Atlantic City, New Jersey, New York City, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Canada.

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 Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The company began with the production of gunpowder. E.I. du Pont de Nemours' Explosives Manufacturing Department was created in May 1917 by the merger of the Black Powder Operating Department and the High Explosives Operating Department. This collection consists primarily of prints published by the DuPont Company's Sporting Powder Division and Explosives Department between 1917 and 1951.

The External Affairs Department was responsible for all company advertising, publicity, and public affairs for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection consists of departmental photograph reference files covering a wide array of the company's activities. It is a comprehensive resource for images showing manufacturing processes, DuPont Company industrial plants and office buildings, aerials and exteriors, employee group and individual executive portraits, and product shots. The bulk of the images date from the 1940s through the 1990s.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company, commonly referred to as the DuPont Company which was established in 1802. Today, the DuPont Company typically introduces more than 2,000 products and patent applications each year. This large collection of moving images documents the research, development, training, safety measures, products, and promotional aspects of DuPont Company history. The moving images include commercials, short films, feature films, and television programs.

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. This item is an 1851 advertisement for DuPont gunpowders, including Eagle gunpowder, gunpowder for ordnance, and gunpowder for blasting and shipping.