Oral history interviews on 1994.311

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 Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Biographical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 5 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 5 Interview with John and Elizabeth Miles ...... 5 Interview with William "Bill" Mapel ...... 6 Interview with John "Jack" Raven Johnson ...... 7 Interview with Gerard Bérchet ...... 8 Interview with Martin E. Cupery and Harry B. Dykstra ...... 9

- Page 2 - Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

Summary Information

Repository: Audiovisual Collections Creator - ivr: Strange, Adeline Bassett Cook, 1917-2004 Title: Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers ID: 1994.311 Date: 1978 Physical Description: 5 item(s) Language of the English . Material: Abstract: Wallace Hume Carothers (1896-1937) was chemist and inventor of artificial rubber and . He worked as a chemist in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company's Fundamental Research Program from 1928 until his death in 1937. This collection contains five interviews conducted in July and August of 1978 with Wallace Carothers's friends and colleagues. The interviewees primarily share stories and focus on their feelings surrounding Carothers's personality, work, and suicide.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Biographical Note

Wallace Hume Carothers (1896-1937) was chemist and inventor of Neoprene artificial rubber and Nylon synthetic fiber. He worked as a chemist in E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company's Fundamental Research Program from 1928 until his death in 1937. Carothers was educated in the public schools of Des Moines, Iowa; received his Bachelors at Tarkio College in and a Doctorate in organic chemistry at the University of Illinois. In 1926 he was appointed instructor of organic chemistry at . Two years later Carothers was selected to head the research unit in organic chemistry at the DuPont Company.

At DuPont, Carothers work focused on polymerization and the ways in which structurally analogous to cellulose and silk could be prepared. In early 1930 the chemists in Carothers' laboratory produced neoprene () and the first laboratory-synthesized fiber. In 1934, still working on polymerization theory, Carothers produced the first fiber which was later to become known as Nylon. During the next two years, Carothers suffered frequent bouts of depression. On April 29, 1937, three weeks after the basic Nylon patent application was filed, he committed suicide.

- Page 3- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

^ Return to Table of Contents

Scope and Content

This collection contains five interviews conducted in July and August of 1978 with Wallace Carothers's friends and colleagues. The interviewees primarily share stories and focus on their feelings surrounding Carothers's personality, work, and suicide. Helen Sweetman, Carothers's wife, is also a common subject. Other topics include the DuPont Experimental Station, life in mid-twentieth century Wilmington, Delaware, and Carothers's election to the National Academy of Sciences.

The interviews were conducted by Adeline Bassett Cook Strange.

Adeline Bassett Cook Strange (also known as A.B.C Strange or Cookie) (1917-2004) was a teacher, researcher, and volunteer who spent her life dedicated to various charitable projects around Wilmington, Delaware. She taught at the Tatnall School from 1939 to 1942 and was active in the organization of The Green Show, Hagley Associates, and the annual Point-to-Point races at Winterthur.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Publication Statement Audiovisual Collections

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

Access Restrictions This collection is open for research.

^ Return to Table of Contents

- Page 4- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

Related Materials

Separated Material Oral history project notes on Wallace Carothers (Accession 1985), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Controlled Access Headings

• Oral histories • Inventors • Nylon • Rubber, Artificial • Industrial chemists • Social history • Domestic relations • Carothers, Wallace Hume, 1896-1937 • E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Experimental Station • Academy of Natural Sciences of

Collection Inventory

Interview with John and Elizabeth Miles, box 1 1978 July Physical Description: 1 audio cassette tape. ID: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID01]; [Transcript available.] Scope and Contents

Interviewer: Adeline Bassett Cook Strange

Interview Location: Bronxville, New York

John and Elizabeth "Lib" Miles discuss Wallace Carothers, primarily focusing on his marriage to Helen Sweetman (1911-2000). Both John and Lib express their disapproval of Ms. Sweetman and believe the marriage was a mistake, recounting several stories to support their opinions. They talk - Page 5- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

about Carothers's general personality, including his love of drinking, music, and cheese, his insecurities, and his focus, intelligence, and kindness. Carothers's work with DuPont and Nylon, his battle with depression, and his eventual suicide are also discussed. Mentioned in the interview are Lee Williams and William Mapel.

Biographical Note

John "Johnnie" Blanchard Miles, Jr. (1902-1990) was a Princeton-trained physicist who worked on many groundbreaking projects throughout his career. While employed at DuPont, he conducted fundamental tests on Wallace Carothers's new Nylon fibers at the Experimental Station.He was among the DuPont representatives working at the University of Chicago as part of the during the second world war. He also worked at the DuPont facility that produced plutonium for the first atomic bomb at Hanford, Washington Later in his career, he taught physics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He married Elizabeth "Lib" Colles Lankford (1907-1995) in 1930 and the couple had one son and one daughter.

Elizabeth "Lib" Colles Lankford Miles (1907-1995) was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She graduated from Sweet Briar College in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1929, and married John Miles in 1930. While living in Wilmington, Delaware, Mrs. Miles was a volunteer for Travelers Aid and a member of Grace Episcopal Church and Vicmead Hunt Club.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Interview with William "Bill" Mapel, 1978 box 1 July Physical Description: 1 audio cassette tape. ID: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID02]; [Transcript available.] Scope and Contents

Interviewer: Adeline Bassett Cook Strange

Interview Location: telephone and in person, Bronxville, New York

Strange recounts her conversations with William "Bill" Mapel and his wife, Evelyn Raines Mapel. Strange says Mr. Mapel was hesitant to talk about Carothers, and she believes he thought he would be breaking Carothers's confidence. He did provide Strange with a handful of details and anecdotes, however. Mapel described Carothers as the closest friend he ever had. Despite Carothers's reserved demeanor, there was an "aura" around him at DuPont and in Wilmington society. He had an interest in music and loved singing with Lee Williams,

- Page 6- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

enjoyed racket sports and was a skilled tennis player, and liked throwing parties at his Wawaset Place apartment for (1889-1971). Mapel discussed Carothers's election to the National Academy of Sciences. Mapel also mentioned Carothers's wife, Helen Sweetman (1911-2000), their wedding day (which Mapel planned), and how she was never included in the social activities of the other scientists' wives. Mapel believed Carothers was lonely and said he thought there was more in Carothers's brain than his skull could hold. Overall, Strange believes that much of Carothers's life was controlled by Mapel's "aggressive interests and kindness," and that Carothers's was amenable to this because of his insecurities.

Biographical Note

William "Bill" Mapel (1902-1984) was a writer, editor, and journalist. He attended Northwest Missouri State University, where he played football. He served as the editor of the Edina Sentinel (in Edina, Missouri), the Wilmington Morning News, and the Anglers' Club Bulletin. He was a professor of journalism at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and eventually became the director of the journalism department. He was awarded the medal for distinguished service to journalism from the University of Missouri. He married Evelyn Edith Raines in 1925 and the couple had three children.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Interview with John "Jack" Raven Johnson, box 1 1978 July Physical Description: 1 audio cassette tape. Part 1: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID06]; Part 2: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID07] Scope and Contents

Interviewer: Adeline Bassett Cook Strange

Interview Location: Brattleburg (?), Vermont [likely Brattleboro]

Jack Johnson discusses Wallace Carothers with Cookie Strange. He talks about Carothers's academic career, both as a student and teacher at the University of Illinois, the University of South Dakota, and Harvard University. He remembers that Carothers was called "Doc" both at the University of Illinois and later at DuPont. Johnson says he and Carothers's spent a lot of time together while in Illinois, mainly working in the chemistry lab. He talks about his and Carothers's trip to Europe in 1926, where they attended a conference in Oxford, England and heard a lecture by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and worked on research projects in Paris. While in Paris, they met fellow chemist Gerard Bérchet

- Page 7- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

(1902-1990) and convinced him to immigrate to the United States. Johnson says Carothers was a voracious reader and a lover of music. He discusses three letters that that Carothers sent him while at Harvard and reads excepts to demonstrate Carothers's personality, particularly his sense of humor. He and Strange also talk about Carothers's friends in Wilmington, a place called Wispy Acres, and Carothers's marriage to Helen Sweetman (1911-2000).

Biographical Note

John Raven Johnson (1900-1983) was an American chemist. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and received his Doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois in 1922. During his career, Johnson was a chemical consultant for the DuPont Company, Todd Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Chair of the Chemistry department at Cornell University, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He married Hope Evangeline Anderson and the couple had two children.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Interview with Gerard Bérchet, 1978 August box 1 1 Physical Description: 1 audio cassette tape. ID: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID05]; [Transcript available.] Scope and Contents

Interviewer: Adeline Bassett Cook Strange

Interview Location: unknown

Gerard Bérchet talks about Wallace Carothers with Cookie Strange. He discusses Nylon and its various versions, including 66 and 6, 10, as well as other projects that he and Carothers were involved with at DuPont's Experimental Station. He remembers how he and fellow chemist (1910-1985) were distraught when they heard the news of Carothers's death. Bérchet and Strange also look at pictures of Carothers and other scientists published in DuPont Magazine. The recording begins well into the conversation. When Strange asks if Bérchet saw Carothers socially, he says yes but asks for the recorder to be turned off.

Biographical Note

Gerard "Jerry" Bérchet (1902-1990) was a French-American chemist. Born in Lyon, France, he was encouraged to emigrate to the United States by Wallace Carothers and Jack Johnson in 1926. Bérchet received his Doctorate from the University

- Page 8- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

of Colorado in 1929 and moved to Wilmington, Delaware to work with Carothers at DuPont's Experimental Station.

^ Return to Table of Contents

Interview with Martin E. Cupery and Harry box 1 B. Dykstra, 1978 August 2 Physical Description: 1 audio cassette tape. Part 1: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID03]; Part 2: [AUD_1994311_B01_ID04]; [Transcript available.] Scope and Contents

Interviewer: Adeline Bassett Cook Strange

Interview Location: unknown

Martin E. Cupery and Harry B. Dykstra have a conversation with Cookie Strange. They primarily discuss their research with synthetic polymers, the discovery of Nylon, and "Purity Hall" at the DuPont Experimental Station. They also talk about Wallace Carothers's overall demeanor and how his kindness made him easy to be around. Both Cupery and Dykstra felt like they were working with him, not for him. They mention Carothers's wife, visiting his house in Arden, Delaware, and that he worried about his sister, Isobel. Twice in the interview one or both interviewees ask for the recorder to be turned off.

Biographical Note

Harold "Harry" Ben Dykstra (1902-1986) was an organic chemist born in Illinois. He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and received his Doctorate in chemistry from Ohio State University. He began working at the DuPont Experimental Station in 1927 and remained at the company for his entire career, retiring as assistant supervisor of the patent division in 1964. He married Anna Julia Newavelc (1898-1994) in 1928 and they had two daughters. Dykstra was a member of the DuPont Country Club and the American Chemical Society, and he loved to golf and garden.

Martin Eli Cupery (1901-1996) was also an organic chemist who was educated at Hope College and worked at DuPont. Born in Friesland, Wisconsin, he received his Masters in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1930. He moved to Wilmington in 1932 to work with Wallace Carothers as a research chemist at the Experimental Station. He was a lifelong member of the Fort Delaware Society, elected president in 1970, and was instrumental in forming the Fort's

- Page 9- Oral history interviews on Wallace Carothers 1994.311

library and archives. He married Susanna Harriet Ouweneel (1904–1982) in 1930 and the couple had two sons.

^ Return to Table of Contents

- Page 10-