The C.W. Parker Amusement Company produced various amusement devices, such as shooting galleries and ferris wheels, but was best known for its carousels named "Carry-Us-Alls." When the company was founded in 1894 by C.W. Parker (1864-1932) in Abilene, Kansas, it was the only carousel manufacturer not on the east coast. This small collection of records documents the professional life of C.W. Parker, the "Amusement King" and his company. The collection comprised of textual material, including financial records, correspondence with other manufacturing vendors, and publications regarding the company's progress.

Oskar Eduard Heinrich Held (1904-1981) married into the du Pont family, a prominent and historically wealthy American family of French descent, known for founding the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in 1802. The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical research and manufacturing company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The collection features images related to the Crofton, du Pont, and Shubrick families between the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Researchers interested in genealogical, Civil War-era photography, and late nineteenth-century military installations would find this collection useful.