Brandywine Valley oral history interviewees' photographs

About this collection

    The Oral histories on work and daily life in the Brandywine Valley (Accession 1970.370) collection contains oral history interviews conducted by Hagley staff between 1954 and 1990 with individuals who had worked at the DuPont Company powder yards on Brandywine Creek during the yards’ final decades of operation, or who had lived near the yards as spouses or children of DuPont Company workers. Click here to visit the digital collection for these recordings and transcripts.
    Some of the interviewees donated, lent for copying, or provided information about photographs depicting the workers' communities and powder yards. These photographs now form the Brandywine Valley oral history interviewees' photographs (Accession 2017.255) collection.
    Image: DuPont Co. workers enjoying a drink near the Club House at Thompson's Bridge. Click to view.

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Fred Evans near former cannon house in front of Christ Church
Old cannon house in front of Christ Church, where powder was tested.
Fred Evans near former cannon house in front of Christ Church
Old cannon house in front of Christ Church, where powder was tested.
Testing area for powder, DuPont Experimental Station
View through doorway and down hall showing apparatus to test powder.
Saltpeter refinery at Eleutherian Mills (Upper Yard)
Note by Macklem dated 1928 March 9: "In the background can be seen the residence of E.I. du Pont de Nemours, erected by him early in the last century and occupied by him as a home until the time of his death, after which his second son Henry du Pont lived here until his death in August 1889. The property now belongs to the estate of Col. Henry A. du Pont, the oldest son of Henry du Pont."
Saltpeter refinery at Eleutherian Mills (Upper Yard)
Note by Macklem dated 1928 March 9: "In the background can be seen the residence of E.I. du Pont de Nemours, erected by him early in the last century and occupied by him as a home until the time of his death, after which his second son Henry du Pont lived here until his death in August 1889. The property now belongs to the estate of Col. Henry A. du Pont, the oldest son of Henry du Pont."
Coal car in Hagley Yard
Race-way track and new dam at lower end Hagley Yard, showing coal tar and upper race waste-way to the left.
Horse-drawn gunpowder wagon Deadwood, South Dakota
Man at left, on horseback, identified as Arthur Simpson (brother of W.S. Simpson, DuPont employee). Man at right with gun cradled in arms is identified as Robert Divinnell.