Eugene S. Ferguson (1916-2004) was one of the founders of the discipline of the history of technology, both through teaching at Iowa State University and the University of Delaware and by working at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hagley Museum. This collection documents the first twenty years of the history of technology as an academic discipline, and networking among its practitioners.

Howard Ensign Simmons Jr. (1929-1997) was an industrial scientist and the Research Vice-President in the Central Research Department of the DuPont Company from 1979 until his retirement in 1991. His records document Simmons's role in overseeing the production of "Science and Corporate Stategy" by David A. Hounshell and John K. Smith, a scholarly history of Research and Development at the DuPont Company. Also included are reports on DuPont's diversification program in the late 1960s.

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) was a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. He was an advocate for a national educational system and promoted Franco-American trade relations. This is a printed copy of the third edition of La philosophie de l'univers (The Philosophy of the Universe), written by du Pont de Nemours in 1799, redated to 1814, with numerous revisions and additions in the form of annotations and interleavings. It is much more introspective than earlier editions and reveals a good deal about du Pont de Nemours' worldview as he was approaching the end of his life. The revised text is part philosophy and part memoir and includes long sections about death, religion, gender, and reincarnation that were not present in earlier editions.

Dr. Margaret (Meg) M. Mulrooney is Associate Professor of History and Associate Vice-Provost of University Studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The collection consists of research data supporting Mulrooney's doctoral dissertation "Labor at Home: The Domestic World of Workers at the du Pont Powder Mills, 1802-1902."