Finding Aids

This collection includes ephemera, postcards, films, advertisements, photographs, documents and objects relating to the history of salt. The collection was assembled by Carol Litchfield (1936-2012), a biologist and biochemist with an interest in halophiles and salt history. These items document the history and development of salt manufacturing throughout the world. Historic and modern methods of salt harvesting are depicted from various areas around the world.

Additionally, this collection includes documentation of Carol’s personal research and participation in salt related conferences and programs.

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.

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) for the production of gunpowder. The papers in this collection date from the lifetime of E.I. du Pont and document important aspects of the early history of the DuPont Company.

John Krider (1813-1886) was one of Philadelphia's most prominent gunsmiths during the nineteenth century. L. C. Siner & Co. was the successor company that continued Krider's business into the 1930s. This small collection of business papers documents Krider's and L. C. Siner & Co.'s gunsmith and sporting goods shop. It includes bills and receipts for guns, fishing equipment, ammunition, lumber, and other items sold in the store.

Peter Arnold Karthaus (1765-1840) immigrated to the United States from Hamburg, Germany in 1796 and established a mercantile business in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River Valley. The collection documents Karthaus' mercantile business, land development in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and his partnership with fellow German immigrant, Frederick W. Geissenhainer, a pioneer in using coal to smelt iron.

The New England Fireworks Manufacturing Co. manufactured fireworks and created displays for theatrical performances and civic celebrations throughout New England. The company was incorporated in 1925. Its headquarters were located on Union Street in Springfield, Massachusets. The company also had a plant in neighboring North Thompsonville, Connecticut. This collection documents the business transactions of New England Fireworks Manufacturing Co.

William H. Horstmann & Co. was a manufacturer and retailer of civilian and military equipment. The material is primarily receipts, a small amount of correspondence related to inspection of goods or contracts, and a newspaper clipping of an engraving of the Horstmann's Manufactory.

The Morris family of Philadelphia were brewers, merchants, land speculators, manufacturers, and prominent participants in public affairs. Their papers are primarily from Samuel and Isaac W. Morris. However, the collection includes papers from other family members from the first Anthony Morris to John Thompson Morris (1847-1915), the founder of the Morris Arboretum in Germantown. There are also papers from members of the Wistar, Paschall, and Mifflin families allied by marriage.