The Du Pont family is a prominent Delawarean family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817), a French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator who immigrated to America with his sons, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), in 1800. In 1802, he founded E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company with his younger son, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical research and manufacturing company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. This small set of materials contains business and personal papers. The collection is organized into three series: Correspondence, business, and personal documents; Copies and extracts of correspondence and other documents; and Illustrative materials.

Francoise Robin du Pont (1748-1841) was the second wife of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) a promienent French political economist, writer, publisher, and public administrator. The letters are from du Pont to Madame Clarice Aublay (nee Hortode) and cousin Albert.

Henry Algernon du Pont (1838-1926) was a military officer, a politician from Delaware, and vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The leather-bound scrapbook serves as a testimonial to the memory of du Pont. It includes records of the West Point class of 1861, the military record of du Pont, his award for gallantry in action, his obituary from the DuPont Company annual report, and photographs of H. A. du Pont and scenes of West Point in 1861 and 1961.

Henry du Pont (1812-1889) was an American military officer and son of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828). The collection consists of photocopied letters from Henry du Pont (1812-1889) and typescript of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) autobiography he wrote in 1792. The letters are from sisters Eleuthera du Pont Smith (1806-1876) and Sophie Madeleine du Pont (1810-1888), as well as William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) and M. Saito of the Japanese Navy.

Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904) was the youngest son of Alexis I. du Pont (1816-1857) and Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), and grandson of Éleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection contains a carbon typescript of "History of Explosions at Brandywine Mills" compiled from records by du Pont and also reported from his own experiences.

Lavinia Dimmick Rée (1874-1946) was a descendant of the founders of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical research and manufacturing company. She was the daughter of Irene du Pont (1845-1877) and Edward Dimmick (1843-1895), and a great-niece of Sophie M. du Pont (1810-1888). The records consist of two copies of a typewritten transcription of "Memories of Aunt Sophie" written by Rée about du Pont's home, Lower Louviers, during the late 1870s and 1880s.

Gertrude Ruhnka (1891-1981) was a research librarian at the Huntington Library in California. The collection contains her unpublished manuscript, "Love for life: a self-portrait of the first three generations of du Ponts in America, 1791-1834," and two letters from Ruhnka to J.B. Lippincott Company and Dr. Walter J. Heacock of the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation.

Victorine du Pont Foster (1849-1934) was the granddaughter of Eleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834) who founded the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a chemical company which began with the production of gunpowder. Her husband was Antoine Foster (1847-1928). The collection contains a typescript of Foster's memoir, "A Lost Garden" which describes the former garden at Eleutherian Mills.