Finding Aids

The Chamber of Commerce of the United States is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. This collection contains photographs, negatives, slides, digital images, sound recordings, videos, and films that document the history of the Chamber from its founding to the twenty-first century. The materials provide a record not only of the activities of the Chamber but also of the political landscape surrounding key issues related to business. The collection focuses on the legislation, regulations, and litigation impacting the economy, immigration reform, pensions, health care, trade, Social Security, air quality, global warming, workplace safety, and taxes, as well as major industries such as energy, aviation, automobiles, agriculture, transportation,mining, shipping, and technology.

E.B. (Edward Barnes) “Ted” Leisenring Jr. (1926-2011) was the CEO of a fourth-generation family coal-mining business. He was president of Westmoreland Coal from 1961 to 1988, and remained as chairman of the board until 1992. This small collection of photographs is from Leisenring’s personal office files, which date between 1954 and 1994. The photographs consist of group and individual portraits, snapshots. The bulk of the material centers around two events: the 1964 Westmoreland Coal Company expansion and the 1970 delegation to the USSR.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is “the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all fifty states,” and “is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States.” This collection contains photographs, negatives, slides, digital images, sound recordings, objects, videos, and films that document the history of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) from the mid-twentieth century through the early twenty-first century. The materials provide a visual and audible documentation of the organization’s programs and activities.

Over half the mushrooms in the United States are grown in and around the town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, which proudly calls itself the mushroom capital of the world. This oral history collection brings together interviews with individuals whose experiences capture the many different kinds of work and knowledge involved in mushroom cultivation, harvesting, packing, distribution, and marketing, and how those processes have changed over time.

Based in Wilmington, Delaware, the Wilmington Public Library has been serving the public since it was established in 1754. This collection consists of eighty eight films, dating from 1914 to 1984, donated by the Wilmington Public Library. These films were de-accessioned from the library’s non-circulating collection. This collection is organized into nine series based on the film’s subject or type of production: American History, Archaeological, Business, Commercial films/television, Educational, Environmental, Experimental, Political Science and Urban/Rural Studies.