Abstract:

Better Living magazine was an E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont Company) employee magazine that features articles that highlight how the DuPont Company improved the lives of its employees and the American standards of living. Researchers can expect to find original photographs, proofs, contact sheets, and negatives taken for use in the Better Living magazine. The images included are both the ones used and unused in the publication and date from 1946 to 1972.

Scope and Content: Hagley's holdings of Schwab Library material are divided among the Vertical File, Manuscripts, Publications and Microfilm.The Vertical File (15.5 cubic feet) is that part of a much larger file that deals directly with the history of Bethlehem Steel and the iron and steel industries. The file consists of equal parts of news clippings, photostats, and tear sheets of trade journal articles: historical articles from scholarly journals and historical society publications; and public and internal Bethlehem reports.Of particular interest are a series of internal plant histories, data on Bethlehem's corporate family tree, and plant and product brochures. There is a series of reports, articles, and brochures on some of the large bridges built by Bethlehem and McClintic-Marshall, and also on the Holland Tunnel and Grand Coulee Dam. Other files contain brochures and mailings on the bonus controversy of 1931, the government armor plant project of 1916, the Employee Representation Plan, and the management training "Loop Course." There are also clippings on strikes, and copies of work rules and notices from Schwab's tenure with the Carnegie Steel Company. There are historical articles on early iron and steel works in the United States and Great Britain, including the Saugus Iron Works restoration, and obituaries and biographical sketches of persons associated with Bethlehem and its predecessors.As might be expected, a large portion of the Vertical File is devoted to the life of Charles M. Schwab, including copies of his writings and speeches, cartoons, and obituaries. There is a collection of menus for testimonial dinners that Schwab attended, some autographed with the names of other famous guests. There is a similar, but smaller, collection pertaining to Eugene Grace.The Schwab Library Manuscripts consist of typescript histories of Bethlehem, a small body of non-Bethlehem original manuscripts collected by or donated to the Schwab Library.The most important item is the "Notes on Mr. Charles M. Schwab's Life," prepared by Sidney B. Whipple around 1936. Whipple, a writer for the New York World-Telegram, interviewed Schwab in 1935 for the purpose of collecting notes for a biography to be written at an unspecified time in the future. Whipple violated the terms of his arrangement by starting to write the biography himself and revealing some of the information he had collected through articles in his newspaper....

Scope and Contents:

Company correspondence includes photographs of officials and company dinners, advertising, and folksy homilies sent by Billy Heller to inspire his sales force. One file describes the company’s activities during World War II. There are runs of several employee newsletters and magazines, including the Milprint Communiquė (1942-1945) carrying news of employees serving in the armed forces.

Abstract:

DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company was a pharmaceutical research and manufacturing plant formed in 1991 through the joint venture of the DuPont Pharmaceutical Company and Merck & Co., a leading competitor in the pharmaceutical industry. The records consist of items taken from the files of Josephine K. Baker, clinical research coordinator. They are primarily the sort of materials issued to employees, including annual and quarterly reports and employee newsletters.

Abstract:

Edwin R. Manchester (1885-1954) was editor of DuPont Magazine for thirty years from December 1920 until his retirement in 1950. He joined the DuPont Company in 1918 on a special World War I assignment and became associate editor of DuPont Magazine in August 1919. Manchester's papers provide an indication of the role company magazines played in the advertising strategy of large companies in the first half of the twentieth century. The small collection primarily comprises office files from Manchester's decades as editor of DuPont Magazine within the Advertising Department, although there are a few publications from the Tippecanoe Securities Company, for which Manchester worked prior to joining DuPont.

Abstract:

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont Company. The DuPont Building was one of the first high-rises in Wilmington, Delaware; it occupied an entire block bound by 10th, 11th, Orange, and Market streets. Until early 2015 the building housed DuPont's headquarters. The collection documents the history of the DuPont Company, as well as its finances, corporate values, special events, and company communications.

Abstract:

The Textile Fibers Department of the DuPont Company was established in 1936 (known then as the Rayon Department) which specialized in researching and developing synthetic fibers for fabrics such as Rayon, Nylon, Teflon, Corian, and Kevlar. Lavoisier Library is the library at the DuPont Company's Experimental Station, a large industrial research facility focused on innovative advancements in chemistry located in Wilmington, Delaware. The records in this collection consists of files assembled to document various aspects of the company's history, its policies and products, and the writings and speeches of executives and researchers.

Abstract:

The Electric Hose and Rubber Company (EHRC) was a manufacturer of braided rubber hoses in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1900 to 1978. The company specialized in the manufacture of consumer-grade garden hoses, as well as industrial-grade hoses for pumping gas and military functions. This collection includes accounting ledgers, tax information, payroll books, advertisements, company newspapers, employee records, and stockholder information. The collection materials date from 1904 to 1978, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1920s to the 1960s. This collection would be useful to researchers interested in the history of manufacturing in Delaware, particularly in regard to rubber hoses.

Abstract:

Advertising, both print and radio, developed as a prominent industry in the early decades of the twentieth century as popular magazine circulation exploded and the radio became ubiquitous in American households. This collection consists of digital access copies of publications, including employee magazines, and magazine advertisements for radios and other related household electronics dating from 1912 to 1980.

Abstract:

KEMET Electronics Corporation specializes in passive electronic components, including getters (an essential element in vacuum tubes) and capacitors. The name "KEMET" was derived from the words "chemical" and "metallurgy." This small collection consists of employee newsletters and ephemeral publications from KEMET Electronics dating from the 1970s through the 2000s, with some related materials, including a small group of annual reports from Union Carbide from the 1950s.

Abstract:

The Maxim Silencer Company was the first company to manufacture gun silencers for commercial use. The company was founded in 1908 as the Maxim Silent Firearms Company by Hiram Percy Maxim (1869-1936) in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1912, Maxim incorporated his business as the Maxim Silencer Company. Maxim was an engineer and inventor. The records of the Maxim Silencer Company consist of directors' minute books from October 18, 1912, to October 19, 1956. There are a small payroll book showing payments; newsclippings and magazine articles on the company's history; issues of the company magazine from the World War II years; and good selection of the company's trade catalogs, both for the firearms silencers and snowplows and snow blowers.

Abstract:

The Pew Charitable Trusts are a major philanthropic organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Part of the Pew Charitable Trusts records in the Manuscripts and Archives Department, the digital archive consists primarily of eGrant products and Pew publications.

Abstract:

The Phoenix Steel Company began in the late 18th century as a manufacturer of cut nails. It later became a major producer of railroad rails and iron and steel structural members. Claymont Division of the Phoenix Steel Corporation was established in 1960 when the company purchased the Claymont, Delaware steel plant from the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. This small collection of materials originating from the Claymont steel plant includes miscellaneous plant announcements, catalogs, labor agreements, photographs, company-issued newsletters, and brief historical essays on the Phoenix Steel Corporation and its predecessors.

Scope and Contents: Series III. Promotions, Sales and External Affairs contains eleven subseries.Subseries A. Museum, Information Centre and Library; Museum materials pertain to the collections and collections management, administration, and exhibits of the Seagram Museum. Records include the “memorabilia collection” of the Museum's archives. This material, most of which appears to have been acquired by purchase, includes eighteenth and nineteenth century laws from Canada, U.K., U.S., and France (extracted from bound books); distilling instructions, procedures and recipes; correspondence; licenses; shipping documents; and eighteenth to twentieth century ephemera. Subseries B. Philanthropy and Sponsored Events; The materials in this subseries regard the events and organizations that were formed by or benefitted from the philanthropic endeavors of Seagram or the Bronfman family. Records include press kits, correspondence, photocopied photographs, speeches, telegrams, articles, pamphlets, reports, news releases, magazines, brochures, advertising, and programs. Subseries C. Advertising; Tearsheets and proofs (some photocopies) promote Aquavit; American whiskey; beer; brandy and Cognac; Canadian whisky; coolers; gin; institutional and family advertising, which publicize a “family” of products or the company as a whole; Irish whisky; liqueurs and cordials; rum; sake; scotch; tequila; vodka; wines; and miscellaneous other alcoholic beverages. Subseries D. Marketing; This subseries contains a 1966 manual for marketing representatives of The House of Seagram, Ltd.; and a few marketing studies mostly regarding Canada. Subseries E. Miscellaneous Promotions; This subseries contains company and product promotions in the form of bartending guides, brand indexes, broadsides, calendars, coasters, commemorative stamps, gift catalogs, hospitality and recipe guides, lithographs, matchbooks, point-of-purchase displays, posters, promotional price lists, public service books, songbooks, sporting guides, tent cards, and other miscellaneous items. Subseries F. Profiles; This subseries is based on vertical files created by the Seagram Museum Archives and contains profiles of brands; companies, including Seagram, its' subsidiaries and a few competitors; Seagram personnel; and products. The brand profiles contain advertisements; correspondence; press releases; newsletters; clippings; articles; promotional materials; and other...

Abstract:

Roberta S. Brown (dates private) is the president of Sassafras River Associates, LLC, an energy consulting and investment firm. She previously spent twenty-four years with Pepco Holdings, Inc. subsidiaries Delmarva Power, Pepco, and Conectiv, Inc., ultimately serving as vice president of transmission. Delmarva Power and Light Company is a regulated energy company that provides electricity and natural gas services to customers in the Delmarva Peninsula. Conectiv, Inc. is a holding company formed in 1998 by the merger of Atlantic Electric Incorporated and Delmarva Power and Light Company, two large regional power utilities that supplied southern New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula. In 2002, Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) acquired Conectiv, Inc. and created Pepco Holdings, Inc., a holding company that owned both Conectiv and Delmarva Power. This is a small collection of Brown's papers from her time as vice president at the Delmarva Power and Light Company and Conectiv, Inc. Most of the files are from Delmarva Power and Light Company, primarily original images from their employee newsletter. There are also many booklets about power-generating stations from various utility companies. The collection is arranged in three series: Delmarva Power and Light Company files; Conectiv files; and Electric industry trade publications.

Abstract:

Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, Inc. provided drilling services and equipment to the petroleum industry, first in Texas and the Gulf Coast and then world wide. This collection of historical miscellany was collected for a 65th anniversary celebration in 1995 and other materials from the company's public relations office. The principal series is the Historical file. It contains material assembled for the 1995 company history booklet. Many of the documents dealing with the Sun Oil Company, members of the Pew family, Elmer Sperry and the Sperry Gyroscope Company are photocopies purchased from other Hagley accessions.

Abstract:

Susan "Sue" Odell (1938-) worked in microbiology during the 1960s at Avon Products, Inc., a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. This small collection of Avon materials primarily documents Odell's retirement and benefits; there are some employee newsletters and two group portrait photographs: a 1946 Christmas party and a 1947 group outing.

Abstract:

The Westinghouse Machine Company manufactured gas and steam engines, turbines and mechanical stokers. This is one sixteen-page copy of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company magazine from the South Philadelphia plant.