Brown, Harry Fletcher. Harry Fletcher Brown collection (bulk dates )

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1 Brown, Harry Fletcher. Harry Fletcher Brown collection (bulk dates ) Abstract: The Harry Fletcher Brown collection, spanning the years (bulk dates ), contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, business cards, legal documents, printed material, ephemera, a photograph, World War I medal, programs, and blueprints of his Wilmington, Delaware, residence.

2 Descriptive Summary Identification: MSS 436 Creator: Brown, Harry Fletcher. Title: Harry Fletcher Brown collection Inclusive Dates: Bulk Dates: Extent:.3 linear feet and oversized files (1 box) Language: Materials entirely in English. Administrative Information Citation: Shelving Summary: Location: Source: Processing: Access Restrictions: Terms Governing Use and Reproduction: MSS 436, Harry Fletcher Brown collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware. Box 1: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes; Box 1, F12a-F12c: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize mapcases Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library Newark, Delaware Phone: Fax: URL: Unknown. Processed by Sally W. Donatello, February Encoded by Thomas Pulhamus, March Updated by E. Evan Echols, October The collection is open for research. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, University of Delaware Library MSS 436 Page 2

3 Biographical Note Harry Fletcher Brown ( ) left an enormous legacy to the state of Delaware. As a chemist and industrialist, most of his career was with the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company where he began as a technical director and rose to the position of vice president. After his retirement in 1930 he dedicated his personal fortune and time to public service and philanthropy. At his death in 1944, Harry Fletcher Brown left $4,500, 000, in eleven bequests, all benefiting public institutions. He received an A.B. (1890) in chemistry and an A.M. (1892) in physics from Harvard College. Within a year of graduation he was appointed chief chemist at the United States Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island. It was in this position that he helped to develop a new formula for smokeless powder, which would forever secure him a place in the history of the chemical industry. By 1904 he began work at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, where he stayed for the rest of his career. Brown s accomplishments were extensive. His initial career at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was centered on his work in smokeless powder, and then his managerial skills catapulted him into a high decision-making position in the company. Brown amassed enough money to become one of the great benefactors of education and social services in the state of Delaware in the first half of the twentieth century. The highlights of Brown s philanthropy included gifts to the University of Delaware for a chemistry building, a dormitory, and completion of other facilities; to the State of Delaware for a new vocational high school, which was named in Brown s honor; to the YMCA and YWCA for a shared community building; and to the Delaware Hospital and School of Nursing (in Wilmington). Brown was a trustee for the University of Delaware, and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University in June Among his community service were his roles as a board member for the Wilmington Institute Free Library, a director for the Historical Society of Delaware, a director for Children s Bureau of Delaware, the chairman of the advisory committee of the YWCA, a trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the Delaware Hospital, and a life member of the National Education Association. In addition, Brown was a president and member of the Delaware State Board of Education. Brown was born on July 10, 1867, at Natick, Massachusetts. His parents were William H. and Maria F. (Osgood) Brown. On October 26, 1897 Brown married Florence Matilda Hammett (d. 1952) of Newport, Rhode Island. He died on February 28, Sources: Perkins, John A. and Robeson Bailey. Harry Fletcher Brown, An Essay in Appreciation. Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, Historical and biographical information obtained from this collection. Page 3 University of Delaware Library MSS 436

4 Scope and Content Note The Harry Fletcher Brown Collection, spanning the years (bulk dates ), contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, business cards, legal documents, printed material, ephemera, a photograph, World War I medal, programs, and blueprints of his Wilmington, Delaware, residence. This small collection contains material that gives an overview of his life from high school days in 1880s to his adulthood to his death in Much of the content focuses on Brown s career at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, his philanthropy, and the outpouring of response after his death. The collection is housed in one box, which contains ten folders and a scrapbook, and an oversize folder. The folders contain biographical material (F1), which seems to be part of the research used by John A. Perkins (president of the University of Delaware from ) and Robeson Bailey to write Harry Fletcher Brown, An Essay in Appreciation. According to Library records, the scrapbook was compiled by Mrs. Harry Fletcher Brown. There are eight letters dated from Seven letters are to Brown from executives with the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company including Irénée du Pont and Pierre S. du Pont. One of the letters is handwritten by Brown to Pierre S. du Pont (F5). The collection contains originals and copies of documents that Brown used in the application process for smokeless powder. His patent was an improvement on an existing smokeless powder (F6). The scrapbook contains a range of items that highlight Brown s career in the chemical industry and his years as a philanthropist. It includes announcements of gifts made during his life, obituaries and news clippings about the public bequests of Brown s estate, and numerous tributes and resolutions in memory of Brown. The collection also contains a number of blueprints for the Wilmington, Delaware, home of Harry Fletcher Brown, built in There is a 1918 blueprint of billiard room mantel produced by architect Charles Barton Keen of Philadelphia, a 1919 blueprint of a pavilion lattice and summer home by architect Charles Wellford Leavitt of New York, New York, and three 1921 blueprints for a Tea House, also created by Leavitt. There are four 1963 blueprints related to the proposed development of what would become the Ingleside Homes (which share a property with the Brown mansion) produced by architects Victorine and Samuel Homsey and 1981 plans for an Ingleside Annex building produced by Carew Associates Inc. University of Delaware Library MSS 436 Page 4

5 Selected Search Terms Personal Names Brown, Harry Fletcher. Du Pont, Pierre S. (Pierre Samuel), Du Pont, Alice Belin, Corporate Names E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. Topical Terms Chemical industry--history--19th century. Chemical industry--history--20th century. Philanthropists--United States--History--19th century. Philanthropists--United States--History--20th century. Social service--history--19th century. Social service--history--20th century. Geographic Names Wilmington (Del.) Form/Genre Terms Artifacts (object genre) Blueprints (reprographic copies) Business cards. Clippings (information artifacts) Correspondence. Ephemera (general) Legal documents. Photographs. Page 5 University of Delaware Library MSS 436

6 Scrapbooks. Occupation Chemists (scientists) Industrialists. Philanthropists. University of Delaware Library MSS 436 Page 6

7 Detailed Description of the Collection Biographical materials, [Box 1 F1] Photograph of Harry Fletcher Brown, circa 1920s [Box 1 F2] Compositions, [Box 1 F3] Announcement, 1897 October 30 [Box 1 F4] Correspondence, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Powder Co., [Box 1 F5] Documents about Smokeless Powder, 1900 [Box 1 F6] Correspondence to Mrs. H. Fletcher Brown, [Box 1 F7] Documents about the H. Fletcher Brown Vocational High School, [Box 1 F8] Documents about the dedication of the addition to the H. Fletcher Brown Laboratory, 1952 October 18 [Box 1 F9] Correspondence Used for Harry Fletcher Brown, An Essay in Appreciation, undated [Box 1 F10] Scrapbook, [Box 1 F11] Blueprints of billiard room mantel and pavilion lattice and summer home, [Box 1 F12a] (Removed to SPEC MSS oversize mapcases) Blueprints of Tea House, 1921 [Box 1 F12b] (Removed to SPEC MSS oversize mapcases) Site plans for Ingleside Homes and Ingleside Annex, 1963, 1981 [Box 1 F12c] (Removed to SPEC MSS oversize mapcases) Page 7 University of Delaware Library MSS 436