E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly known as the DuPont Company. It was established in 1802 and began by manufacturing gunpowder, later moving into chemical compounds. At the beginning of the twentieth century, DuPont had the need for more advertising as the company began expanding its product line beyond gunpowders and explosives. Between 1907 and 1909, an Advertising Division was formed within the Sales Department; a separate Advertising Department was established in 1921. This collection consists of background research files on ad campaigns run in individual industrial departments for various products and to promote the company as a whole.

This collection consists of the business records of Ernest Dichter and the several consulting firms through which he operated fully document his role as a pioneer of motivational research, from the beginnings of his career in the United States until a few months before his death.

Ernest Dichter (1907-1991) was one of the pioneers in consumer motivational research. He started his own consulting business in 1946. It was incorporated in New York as the Institute for Research in Mass Motivations, Inc. in 1952 and renamed the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc. in 1955. This collection consists of photographs, negatives, slides, contact sheets, and audio cassettes.

Irv Koons (1922-2017) was a graphic artist, designer, and illustrator who became one of the leading consumer package designers of the twentieth century. The Irv Koons papers include marketing research studies, business correspondence, public relations files, and materials from the designer's packaging courses. In addition to this textual component, the archive contains original artwork, sketches, comprehensives, mock-ups, and final product packaging. These materials document not only the career of Irv Koons, but also the growth and development of the packaging industry in the second half of the twentieth century.