John W. Macklem Collection of Dupont Company Powder Yards Photographs 1968.010

John W. Macklem collection of DuPont Company powder yards photographs 1968.010

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library John W. Macklem collection of DuPont Company powder yards photographs 1968.010

Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Biographical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 5

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Summary Information

Repository: Audiovisual Collections Creator: Macklem , John W., 1867-1948 Title: John W. Macklem collection of DuPont Company powder yards photographs ID: 1968.010 Date [inclusive]: 1889-1936 Physical Description: 0.25 Linear Feet General Physical 40 photographic prints : b&w ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. 3 albumen silver Description: prints ; 8 x 10 in. 1 print : b&w lithograph ; 7 x 8 in. Language of the English . Material: Abstract: John W. Macklem (1867-1948) began working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as an errand boy at a young age and remained with the company his entire career. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. This collection comprises photographs of buildings and scenes in DuPont Company explosives manufacturing plants along the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, including the Eleutherian Mills (or Upper) yard, the Upper Hagley yard, and the Lower Hagley yard.

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Biographical Note

John W. Macklem (1867-1948) began working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company as an errand boy at a young age and remained with the company his entire career. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly referred to as the DuPont company. The company was established in 1802 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) and his son Éleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834) the company began with the production of gunpowder.

Three of the photographs in this collection were taken by Pierre A. Gentieu (1842-1930), a long-term employee of the DuPont Company who took extensive photographs of the company's Brandywine Works at the turn of the twentieth century.

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Scope and Content

The photographs depict buildings and scenes in DuPont Company explosives manufacturing plants along the Brandywine Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, including the Eleutherian Mills (or Upper) yard, the Upper Hagley yard, and the Lower Hagley yard. Most pictures were taken after the yards ceased operation in 1921 and the buildings were abandoned. The collection also includes views of private residences near the yards, workers housing, a press house being demolished, Breck's Mill, and Henry Clay Village. Three albumen photographs taken by Pierre Gentieu in 1889 depict the aftermath of an explosion.

Most of the photographs have extensive captions handwritten and signed by Macklem on reverse.

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Administrative Information

Publication Statement Audiovisual Collections

PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library

Existence and Location of Copies This collection has been digitized and may be viewed in Hagley's Digital Archives.

Access Restrictions This collection is open for research.

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Controlled Access Headings

• Powder mills • Explosives industry • Wilmington (Del.) • Gunpowder industry • E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company • Eleutherian Mills (Greenville, Del. : Estate)

Collection Inventory

Title/Description Instances Upper Yard acid house box 1 folder 1

Upper Yard old coal house box 1 folder 1

Eleutherian Mills charcoal houses box 1 folder 1

First residence of E. I. du Pont de Nemours box 1 folder 1

First office (old stone office) box 1 folder 1

Nemours, residence of Alfred Victor du Pont box 1 folder 1

Summer house at Nemours box 1 folder 1

Garden scene at Nemours box 1 folder 1

Soda House at Upper Yard box 1 folder 1

Specific Gravity House box 1 folder 1

Superintendent's Yard House (Belin House) box 1 folder 1

Spring House (Alexis I. du Pont home; Belin House) box 1 folder 1

Gate No. 10 (Blacksmith Gate) box 1 folder 1

"Hagley" - home of Alexis I. du Pont box 1 folder 1

Hagley Yard near Blacksmith Gate box 1 folder 1

Rumford Dawes House box 1 folder 1

Brandywine Manufacturers Sunday School Building box 1 folder 1

Lower Louviers - Brandywine Hundred side of Brandywine Creek box 1 folder 1

Summer House - Lower Louviers box 1 folder 1

Duck Street (workers' housing) - near Lower Louviers box 1 folder 1

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Press Room demolition box 1 folder 2

Eagle Dry House box 1 folder 2

Upper Corning Mill - Old Glazing Mill box 1 folder 2

Graining Mill (Corning Mill) - horizontal view box 1 folder 2

Graining Mill (Corning Mill) - vertical view box 1 folder 2

Eagle Packing House box 1 folder 2

Upper Press House box 1 folder 2

Lady Wheel Mill box 1 folder 2

Lower Yard rolling mills box 1 folder 2

Birkenhead Wheel Mill box 1 folder 2

Breck's Mill (Hagley Hall) box 1 folder 2

Sam Frizzell's Store - EIDPDNCo. Supply Card box 1 folder 2

Saltpetre refinery box 1 folder 2

Upper Yard with saltpetre refinery box 1 folder 2

Lower Yard rolling mills after 1889 explosion, 1889 July 5 box 1 folder 2 Scope and Contents

photograph by Pierre A. Gentieu

Lower Yard rolling mills after 1889 explosion, 1889 July 5 box 1 folder 2 Scope and Contents

photograph by Pierre A. Gentieu

Upright press - Brandywine Hundred side of Yard box 1 folder 2

Upper Hagley Yard rolling mills box 1 folder 2

Rising Sun Lane wooden covered bridge box 1 folder 2

Looking downstream from Barley Mill Lane area, Walker's Banks box 1 folder 2 (left), Breck's Mill (right)

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