Finding Aids

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.

DuPont Company's Chestnut Run Laboratories first laboratory was the Textile Research Laboratory whose purpose was to test the effects of normal wear and tear on DuPont's line of synthetic fibers and fabrics, it opened in 1954 near Wilmington, Delaware. The Chestnut Run Technical Library is a branch of the DuPont Technical Libraries, which began in 1958. This collection consists of files related to the work of the scientists at the laboratory; their speeches, research articles, and some periodicals and scrapbooks related to textile design. There are also materials related to human resources polices and procedures; documents from a program about the future growth of the company; and a library subject file.

The Employee Relations Department of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company became a formal entity in 1951, but each industrial department was responsible for its own recruitment and personnel practices. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The records include reports, tables of hourly wages for production workers, benefits for employees, and personnel record cards for early twentieth century employees.

In the twenty-first century, the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, better known as the DuPont Company focused on science with a diverse set of interests and products. It operates in more than ninty countries with corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, and employs more than 60,000 people worldwide, including 10,000 scientists and engineers. This is a collection of websites owned by or affiliated with the DuPont Company, between 2011 and present. Complete web archive is available at https://archive-it.org/collections/2606.

Emile F. du Pont (1898-1974) was director of the Employee Relations Department for DuPont Company beginning in 1945. His papers largely consist of speeches he gave, most of which were given to DuPont employees, on the history of the company. There are also files related to his role in the National Safety Council and production of "The Du Pont Story" film.

Eugene du Pont Jr. (1873-1954) was a director of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1917 until 1954, and a great grandson of company founder, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834). The collection contains the personal papers of Eugene du Pont, Jr., and the records of the Kinloch Gun Club, a private shooting club which he founded. It also contains a separate collection of correspondence between his brother Alfred I. du Pont, vice president and general manager of the DuPont Company, with his assistant Frank L. Connable, which is an important source for the history of the company in the early 1900s.

Robert E. Holeton (1911-1962) was an organic chemist at the DuPont Company from 1933 to 1962. He was the District Manager of the Petroleum Chemicals Division from 1954 until his death. From 1947 to 1953, Holeton perfomed "Chemical Magic" shows with a colleague in which they would demonstrate the unusual chemical reactions that can occur in the laboratory. These demonstrations were intentended to promote industrial safety. This small collection of Holeton's papers provides insight into his career as an industrial chemist, and then later as a sales represenative and district manager of the Petroleum Chemical Division. The collection strengths are the documentation related to industrial safety and Holeton's work performing the "Chemical Magic" shows and his time working at the Petroleum Chemical Division. There is a small but interesting set of material related to the Woodstown Civil Defense Council.

The Industrial Research Unit of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania mission was to "study the economic and social problems of business." Herbert Roof Northrup (1918-2007) was chairman of the Department of Industry and director of the Industrial Research Unit. The records consist of surveys, notes, interviews and background materials for the studies produced by the Industrial Research Unit and its predecessor from 1941 to 1990 and collected and maintained by Northrup. The bulk of the files are from the 1970s and 1980s.