Finding Aids

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.

Corfam® was a synthetic substitute for leather. Collection consists of photographs related to the development and manufacture of DuPont's Corfam® synthetic leather at the Newburgh, New York Corfam® pilot plant and research facility.

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.

Chemists at DuPont’s Parlin, New Jersey laboratory produced a pyroxylin lacquer in 1920 called Viscolac and improved upon it in the following years and renamed it Duco. In the late 1920s Dulux was developed, which was an alkyd finish and had a higher gloss finish; a matte version of Dulux was also developed. This collection is a packet of advertising and sales aids for dealers of DuPont Duco and Dulux paints and finishes.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The External Affairs Department of the DuPont Company was created on January 1, 1986 by the merger of the Marketing Communications and Public Affairs departments. The records of DuPont External Affairs are divided into two series that reflect the department's principal functions--advertising and public affairs. A large portion of the collection consists of retail sales profiles and trend reports that include background information, research proposals, cost estimates, survey questionnaires, and related correspondence.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company. In 1910, the DuPont Company purchased the Fabrikoid Company of Newburgh, New York, which had developed a textile coating process. This item is a portfolio of separate pages with two photographs per page placed in a folder made of blue Fabrikoid. The photographs illustrate Fabrikoid, a DuPont Company artificial leather material, used as upholstery and in a variety of commercial and residential interior applications.

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 Merck Pharmaceutical Company was a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing plant formed in 1991 through the joint venture of the DuPont Pharmaceutical Company and Merck & Co., a leading competitor in the pharmaceutical industry. The records consist of items taken from the files of Josephine K. Baker, clinical research coordinator. They are primarily the sort of materials issued to employees, including annual and quarterly reports and employee newsletters.

Du Pont Motors, Inc. was a manufacturing company of luxury automobiles, founded by E. Paul du Pont (1887-1950) in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. The company originally produced marine engines during World War I. These photographs show exterior views of the vacant Du Pont Motors factory in Moore, Pennsylvania, where briefly (1922-1925) Du Pont automobiles were assembled.

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 is an outdoor group portrait of DuPont Company employees, apparently posed on the front porch and steps of the company office in the Hagley 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 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. During the 1910s, the DuPont Company decided to enter the film and photographic supply market. In 1924, it entered into a joint venture with Pathé Exchange, called DuPont-Pathé Film Manufacturing Corporation. This collection consists of a booklet with seven short strips of tinted 35mm motion picture film stock.

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.

DuPont Performance Elastomers, LLC manufactures and supplies general purpose and specialty elastomer products. Neoprene is the generic name of an artificial rubber developed by the DuPont Company in 1930 to 1931. The records consist of a mix of historical and contemporary documents assembled to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of neoprene in 1981, enlarged to cover the seventieth anniversary in 2001, and kept up with subsequent additions.

Records, mostly employee newspapers, relating to the history and operation of DuPont's Louisville Works, which was established in 1941 for the manufacture of "Neoprene" artificial rubber.

DuPont Performance Elastomers, LLC manufactures and supplies general purpose and specialty elastomer products. Viton, the first fluoroelastomer, grew out of Dr. Dean R. Rexford's (1915-1997) research of DuPont's Organic Chemicals Department in 1954. The material proved remarkably stable when exposed to chemicals, oils, solvents, and high temperatures, making it ideal for seals, gaskets, O-rings, and similar components in the aerospace and automotive industries. This collection contains materials relating to the history of Viton fluoroelastomer assembled for its 50th anniversary in 2007. They include advertisements, trade catalogs, a copy of the original patent, and a company chronology of developments with Viton between 1954 and 1975.

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. The collection documents the manufacture and operational use of the Permasep® product line. The collection consists of photographs, slides, videocassettes, and marketing materials that document the DuPont Company's involvement in the Permasep® product line. The bulk of the collection are slides of desalination plant views, including interior and exterior views. This collection includes slide presentations, brochures, and videocassettes promoting Permasep®. Researchers interested in industrial reverse osmosis systems may find this collection useful.

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.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was established as a black powder manufactory in 1802. The DuPont Company purchased a site near City Point, Virginia on the James River in 1912 in order to build a dynamite plant located closer to the southern market. The onset of World War I, however, created a great demand for guncotton, and the Hopewell Works was converted to that purpose, starting in 1915. This item is a 1916 panoramic photograph of the repair shop.

DuPont Street was one of the oldest streets in San Francisco's Chinatown district, it was named in honor of Commodore Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865) of the United States Navy. Dupont Street was changed to Grant Avenue in 1886. This print is a view of Dupont Street, in the Chinatown area of San Francisco, with an insert image of a "Chinese Vegetable Pedler."

The DuPont Theatre, originally called The Playhouse, presents professional theatrical productions from Broadway and other notable venues in downtown Wilmington, Delaware since 1913. The Playhouse was the concept of three top executives of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DuPont Company) who realized that Wilmington needed a facility for cultural as well as business purposes. The DuPont Theatre records consist primarily of public relations and advertising materials related to the theater's operation. As such, they present a sequence of changing tastes in popular entertainment in a medium-sized American city.

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.

The Butterick Company produced sewing patterns used to make clothing, as well as numerous publications focused on fashion and home clothing design. The company began in 1863 with Ebenezer Butterick (1826–1903) a tailor from Sterling, Massachusetts and his wife Ellen August Pollard Butterick (1831-1871) when they invented the graded sewing pattern, which revolutionized the practice of home sewing. This item is a colorful print showing ladies and girls dresses along with two insets showing several types of hats. The fashions in the print reflect the winter 1876-1877 season.

Ervin George "E. G." Bailey (1880-1974) was a combustion engineer, inventor, and businessman. His personal papers include correspondence and articles on subjects relating to combustion engineering, and information about awards and honors Bailey received and conferences he participated in. Bailey's papers include copies of numerous speeches and publications on combustion engineering and engineering education.

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.

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). DuPont Luxembourg was founded in 1962 and is one of the largest investments the DuPont Company has made in Europe. These photographs document interior and exterior views of construction at a DuPont Tyvek plant in Luxembourg.

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, nuclear fuel, and target fabrication facility, a tritium extraction facility, and waste management facilities. The E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Atomic Energy Division records are an expansive and rich collection of materials that document the DuPont Company’s involvement in the Manhattan Project and the company’s continued role in the United States government’s exploration of atomic power and weaponry.

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). In 1903 the DuPont Company's Executive Committee established the Experimental Station, a research facility located on the banks of the Brandywine Creek across from DuPont's first black powder works. This collection contains photographs of general views of the Experimental Station showing its growth over time.

The Hanford Engineer Works in Hanford, Washington, was constructed between 1943 and 1945 to create the plutonium 239 and uranium 235 used in the atomic weapons needed for World War II. Sponsored by the Army Corps of Engineers, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company acted as the prime contractor. This collection contains two captioned albums, one of the Medical Division between 1943 and 1945, and the other of Hanford Yuletide Carnival in 1943. The films are various format copies of "War construction in the desert", created to document the building and running of the Hanford Engineer Works. Also included is a film of African American workers dancing in one of the mess halls and a farewell party of DuPont executives in 1948.

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 collection consists of photographs that document two separate activities. First grouping shows a nyalite (and explosive) outdoor safety demonstration (1905) probably conducted in the Hagley powder yards.

The Wilmington Shops were preceded by the first DuPont Company machine shop facilities on the Brandywine River. This is a collection of photographs from the DuPont's Company Wilmington Shops, a large machine shop that produced specialized equipment which was used in DuPont Company plants. A few of the images show the interior of the shops, but the majority picture individual machines

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.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company was incorporated on May 19, 1903. It was organized as an operating company to consolidate approximately 100 explosives manufacturers controlled by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. This collection is a series of six advertising cards for E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company's smokeless powders for shotguns (DuPont smokeless; Hazard smokeless; New E.C. Improved; New Schultze; Infallible smokeless) and black sporting powders (DuPont Rifle; Hazard Kentucky Rifle; L. & R. Orange Extra Sporting).

E. Paul du Pont (1887-1950) established Du Pont Motors, Inc., a manufacturing company of luxury automobiles, in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked for a short time at the family business, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company which manufactured gunpowder. He was one of ten children of Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) and Eliza Wigfa Simons du Pont (1849-1919). This small collection contains photographs of DuPont powder yards; family photographs; home exteriors; and postcard views of Longwood Gardens.

Eleuthère Paul du Pont (1887-1950) was the founder of the luxury automobile company DuPont Motors, Incorporated in 1919. In 1930, E. Paul du Pont also became the president of the Indian Motorcycle Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. Throughout his life, E. Paul du Pont developed numerous patents and wrote articles for various trade publications in the automobile industry. DuPont Motors, Incorporated was a manufacturing company of luxury automobiles, founded by E. Paul du Pont in 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. Indian Motorcycle Company is a manufacturer of a wide variety of motorcycles. In 1930, after selling DuPont Motors, Incorporated stock, E. Paul du Pont bought a large share of Indian Motorcycle Company stock and became the company president. This collection documents both the professional and personal history of Eleuthère Paul du Pont and his family. The material spans from the end of the nineteenth century through the twentieth century. The collection is predominantly textual material and photographic prints having to do with both DuPont Motors, Incorporated and Indian Motorcycle Company administrative and financial correspondence and advertising and publications. Besides business material, the collection includes personal letters between E. Paul du Pont and his siblings and children, and family snapshots and portraits usually taken at their home in Delaware.

E. Paul du Pont (1887-1950), the son of Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1905) and Elise Simons du Pont (1849-1919), is best known as the manufacturer of the Du Pont automobile. He owned the house Squirrel Run Hill, the former Second Office of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and the surrounding grounds. This small collection includes papers relating to additions and alterations to Squirrel Run Hill and papers relating to the estates of his parents.

Hercules Inc. was a manufacturer of chemicals and munitions based in Wilmington, Delaware. Earl R. Fenstermacher (1894-1984) was the superintendent of the Columbus plant in Kansas. This item is a bound volume containing two typescripts written by Fenstermacher describing the manufacture and operating procedures at the company.

Earle E. Coleman (1925-2009) was the head of imprints cataloguing at Eleutherian Mills Historical Library. The typescript bibliogrpahy includes collaborative works, English translations, and items in published compilations of papers. Most of the titles and information are in French.

The Eastern Advertising Company installed and maintained advertising cards in streetcars in the major cities of New England, particularly on behalf of local merchants carrying national or regional brands. The report contains an analysis of sales of Laco castile soap versus competing brands in drugstores in New England cities.

Eastern Air Lines operated from 1927 to 1991 and was one of the Big Four airlines (others included United, Delta, and American) that for almost fifty years dominated commercial airline travel in the United States. This item is a postcard with the illustration of Eastern's Modern DC-4 Silverliner airplane.

The Eastern Store Fixtures Corporation was a manufacturer, supplier, and designer of fixtures and interiors for commercial establishments. The company was founded in or around 1953 by Louis Deitz (1919-2007) and was located at 19-21 South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. This collection consists of fifty one photographic prints showing soda fountains and store interiors presumably installed or supplied by the corporation.

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 collection consists of the Philadelphia corporate executive's business and personal papers and his immediate family, with estate papers of his father, mother and paternal grandfather.

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 firm of E.C. Beetem & Co. was established in 1901, incorporated as E.C. Beetem & Son, Inc. in 1923, and for a time was one of the leading carpet manufacturers in the United States. The company employed women in the finishing and materials departments, in the office, and at home assembling rag rugs; men were employed as weavers. This collection includes administrative records, correspondence with customers, selling agents, and rag dealers which document marketing strategies and pricing. Also included in this collection are some samples and drawings of rug patterns.

Longwood Gardens is a series of formal display gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, that was developed by Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) after he purchased the site from the Peirce family in 1906. The collection is comprised of two oral history interview projects. The first is with Eddie Dowling (1889-1976), an actor, screenwriter, playwright, director, producer, songwriter, and composer. The second project is commissioned oral histories with people with remembrances of du Pont and the development of Longwood Gardens.

Eddie W. Foote (1858-1932) was a correspondent for Hartford and Springfield newspapers. In 1876, he visited the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, after which he wrote a memoir about it as well as a visit to Newport.

The Edge Moor Iron Company engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel bridges at a plant located on the Delaware River north of Wilmington. The collection is comprised of a limited selection of documents, primarily connected to the liquidation of the company in 1936. It includes plant and property maps, clippings, and deeds and titles covering the property.

The Edison Electric Institute is the trade association of the electric utility industry. The minutes of the Institute's Transmission and Distributing Committee (1935, 1941-1970) include both business transactions of the committee and professional papers of representatives of member utility companies on a variety of subjects related to the transmission and distribution of electricty.

Edith Marion DeBlois (1920-2000) was a native Canadian with an interest in foreign travel and a season pass to the Expo 67. Expo 67 was an international exposition that took place in in Montréal, Québec from April 27 to October 29, 1967 to celebrate Canada's centennial. The theme was "Man and his World." These materials were collected by DeBlois while attending Expo 67. This small collection includes many of the official guides and maps issued by the fair, as well as specialized pamphlets dealing with particular themes or exhibits. DeBlois also compiled a series of scrapbooks documenting her attendance at various exhibits and performances.

Edith N. McConnell (1880-1968) was a confectioner and caterer in Wilmington, Delaware from the 1920s through the 1950s. The records consist of a three ledgers, containing business expenses and customer account books dating from 1937 to 1945, and from 1955 to 1956.

This collection consists of a single mimeographed copy of a letter from consumer Edna R. White (1901-1965) of Houston, Texas, to the Aughinbaugh Canning Co. of Biloxi, Mississippi. It includes extensive racist content.