Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) was proprieter of his family's business, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, which began in the manufacture of gunpowder in 1802. Betweeen 1829 and 1931, he attended the boarding school New Haven Gymnasium to prepare for his higher education at the University of Pennsylvania. The volume is an autograph book of mostly blank pages. Internal evidence suggests that it was begun by his older siblings as a memento for him when he first left home for school as he entered his teens. Later, Alexis du Pont used the same volume to collect samples of poetry verses on the theme of "friendship" as mementos of his schoolmates when he left preparatory school and entered college.

Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828) had four daughters: Victorine (1792-1861), Evelina (1796-1863), Eleuthera (1806-1876), and Sophie (1810-1888). The daughters maintained this album (in microfilm form) of prints, sketches, watercolor designs, selection of poetry, and autographs. It was returned to Victorine after the original recipient died in 1823, at which point she continued it.

Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822-1888) was an American illustrator known for his illustrations in works by well-known nineteenth century authors. The collection includes a microfilm copy of his 1853 account book which records his work for publishers.

Paulina du Pont (1827-1914) was a descendant of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his son Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) in 1802. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. Paulina du Pont was the daughter of Alfred Victor du Pont (1798-1856) and Margaretta Lammot du Pont (1807-1898). Her six-page sketchbook contains pencil sketches, probably produced in drawing class, depicts European rural scenes of cottages and country churches.

Penn Virginia Corporation was an oil and gas company, incorporated as the Virginia Coal & Iron Company on January 6, 1882. It was one of many firms established by a group of interrelated entrepreneurs headed by John Leisenring (1819-1884), a Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, civil and mining engineer. The name changed to Penn Virigina Corporation in 1967. The records of Penn Virginia Corporation cover the development and operations of the Virginia Coal & Iron Company, a large southern Appalachian land company, with some information on its immediate neighbors and local support facilities.

Chartered in 1871, Reading Company was the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The collection consists of the corporate records of the Reading Company (1871-1976), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (1833-1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company (1896-1923), and 159 predecessors and subsidiaries.

Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888) was the youngest daughter of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828), and the wife of Samuel Francis du Pont (1803-1865). The miscellaneous personal papers include her drawings and poems, a list of the trousseau, an essay that gives a detailed description of items in the parlor at Eleutherian Mills, letters she wrote to her niece Sophie du Pont Chandler (1851-1931), and her obituary.

Theophilus P. Chandler (1845-1928) was an architect, artist and professor. He designed churches, houses and bridges, trainstations and other structures, such as the bear pits at the Philadelphia Zoo. He married Sophie M. du Pont (1851-1931), daughter of Henry du Pont (1812-1889) and Louisa Gerhard (1816-1900), in March 1873. The collection consists of 4 wash drawings of various scenes at Eleutherian Mills, then the residence of Henry du Pont (1812-1889).