Abstract:

The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they compete in the National League. The team was founded in 1883 by Alfred J. Reach (1840-1928), who purchased the Worcester, Massachusetts, professional baseball club and moved it to Philadelphia. The records of the Philadelphia National League Club document the Philadelphia Phillies professional baseball organization, and includes various papers and records from the National League and Major League Baseball in general, primarily dating from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Scope and Contents: The papers of William du Pont, Jr. document areas of his activities predominantly concerned with land development in Wilmington, Delaware; farming, animal breeding and foxhunting in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia; and promotion of horse racing in the United States, especially in Delaware.Papers pertaining to the companies operated by William du Pont, Jr., and those in which he had significant participation, are organized in Series VII. Business Papers. Series I - VI are concerned with similar materials related directly to William du Pont, Jr.'s personal activity. Nevertheless, because William du Pont, Jr. was dynamically involved in those companies' activities, the division into private and business papers is sometimes blurred. For instance, Series I. Correspondence, together with William du Pont, Jr.'s personal correspondence with family members, friends, and acquaintances, contains correspondence with business partners, which are often the same individuals and companies as in the Correspondence portions of the subseries of Series VII: Business Papers. The same is true for Series II. Invoices and Receipts and Series III: Banking Papers.Documents of an entirely personal nature are in Series IV. Personal Financial Papers. Papers consist of William du Pont, Jr.'s individual tax returns for 1917-1964; financial and legal papers related to the inheritance of properties by William du Pont, Jr. and his sister Marion in Wilmington, Delaware and Montpelier, Virginia; the divorce agreements of William du Pont, Jr. with his two wives, J. L. Austin du Pont and Margaret Osborn du Pont (along with the papers for the second divorce are included William du Pont, Jr.'s birth, baptism, and marriage certificates). This series also contains various rental, payroll, and expense records for the estates and farms of William du Pont, Jr. Also, there are papers pertaining to Marion du Pont Somerville and her first husband T. H. Somerville, consisting of insurance policies and correspondence.Additional personal papers include William du Pont, Jr.'s early family correspondence with his mother, father, aunt, and uncle, which constitute Subseries A. Personal Correspondence of Series I. Personal letters of William du Pont, Jr. also occasionally appear in the chronological file of Subseries B: General Correspondence and include correspondence with his sister Marion du Pont Scott (letters discuss family matters, but predominantly...