Records, 1858-1955 (bulk 1903-1926) | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:The administrative papers of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Company are from the office of president T. Coleman du Pont who presided over the firm from 1903 until 1915. These records document the transformation of the Du Pont Powder Company into a modern centrally administered corporation that would do its own marketing and purchasing and would sell large quantities of all three of the industry's products, black powder, smokeless powder, and dynamite. In order to achieve this goal the company modernized its existing administrative organization. The records describe the establishment of clear-cut functional departments for sales, purchasing, traffic, engineering, personnel and accounting. The records also document all aspects of the powder companies' operations during these years: production, sales, personnel, accounting, and the importation of nitrate from Chile. There is also considerable information on the government's investigations leading to the antitrust suit (including correspondence with company attorneys)