Summer is just around the corner! We're starting our June with a ca. 1887 glass plate image from Cape May, New Jersey. This item is part of the Hagley Library’s P.S. du Pont photographs (Longwood) collection (Accession 1969.002), and comes from a series of photographs associated with the summer home of Lammot du Pont (1831-1884) and family.
Pierre Samuel "P.S." du Pont (1870-1954) was an industrialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He was president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. from 1915 to 1919 and chairman of the board from 1919 to 1940. P.S. du Pont was the great grandson of Eleuthere Irenee du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and the great-great-grandson and namesake of the French economist, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817).
P.S. du Pont's personal life is well documented by the photographic collection he left, and it followed certain themes. The greatest of these may be horticultural interests which developed during his creation of the celebrated Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, where he lived. du Pont made many foreign and domestic journeys and recorded his travels. His large extended family is included in this collection.
To view a selection of nearly 7,000 images from this collection online now, click here to visit its page in our Digital Archives.