In Memoriam: Christopher T. Baer

We are saddened to announce the passing of Christopher T. "Chris" Baer, Curator Emeritus at Hagley Museum and Library, on June 11, 2025 at the age of 77.

Chris’s long association with Hagley began in 1976, when he left his job as an architect in New York and traveled to Wilmington to speak with Richard Erlich, then-coordinator of the University of Delaware-Hagley Fellowship Program (now the Hagley Program in the History of Capitalism, Technology, and Culture). He entered the program as a fellow in 1977. Fellows were expected to conduct research at Hagley using institutional collections and to contribute to industrial history surveys and acquisition projects. Chris's archival skills became quickly apparent, and he was hired as an Archival Specialist (see right), later rising to Assistant Curator for Manuscripts & Archives.

His passion for the evolution of industrial infrastructure in the United States, particularly in the mid-Atlantic region, is evident in his archival contributions to Hagley. Early on, Chris served as the principal researcher and cartographer on a project mapping transportation networks in the antebellum mid-Atlantic states. This led to the publication of "Canals and Railroads of the Mid-Atlantic States, 1800-1860” (1981) by Hagley. He then held a key role in Hagley’s acquisition of the records from the Penn Virginia Corporation and the Westmoreland Coal Company, solidifying Hagley’s reputation as a hub for energy history. Notably, Chris used one of the first personal computers at Hagley to type the Westmoreland Coal finding aid, the first computer-generated finding aid written at Hagley.

In 1984, Chris's involvement in Hagley’s railroad survey project set the stage for the acquisition of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Reading Company archives, establishing Hagley as a center for railroad history. Chris led the processing of both manuscript collections and became our resident railroad expert, though his own interests were much more varied. He was also central to the existence of other heavy industry collections at Hagley, including our steel collections. However, transportation infrastructure and its associated political economy remained a core interest for Chris. As recently as 2015, he participated in an international conference at Princeton University, presenting a paper titled, “Fluvial Hinterlands and the Metropoles: Water as a Transportation Medium in America’s Early Canal and Steamboat Age.” It was not published, but the Library has uploaded this paper and the accompanying slide deck to the Hagley Digital Archives for all to enjoy.

Aside from his own research, Chris’s greatest impact on scholarship came from serving reference for our archival collections, particularly those he helped secure. At Albert Churella's 2012 Author Talk on the first book in his comprehensive Pennsylvania Railroad trilogy, the auditorium was packed with hundreds of railroad enthusiasts and scholars. When Chris was brought onstage in recognition of his contributions to PRR research, the audience gave him a well-deserved standing ovation that lasted several minutes. Chris’s instant recall of even the most remote corners of our collections inspired new, and often career-making, research paths for our scholars and staff alike.

Other key projects Chris led or contributed to include: David Hounshell & John Smith's Science & Corporate Strategy: DuPont R&D, 1902-1980; Hagley's Works: Photographs of Enterprise; and the American Trust for the British Library's collection rebuilding efforts.

The number of books and articles crediting Chris’s work and support is too vast to list here. It suffices to say that searching for him on Google Books from 1977 to 2025 yields at least 10 pages-worth of works he authored or that acknowledge his input. A search on Google Scholar reveals numerous theses and dissertations on industrial and transportation history that cite Chris’s assistance and contributions.

Upon his retirement in 2018, Chris maintained an office in the Hagley Center where he continued to perform research and aid other researchers as requested. Even when his health prevented him from visiting in person, Chris answered email inquiries and remained a historian and mentor to the end.

Chris’s importance to the development of Hagley and our library cannot be overstated. Such knowledge and his willingness to share it are emblematic of Chris Baer, and we will miss him greatly.

This fall, on Thursday, September 18, we will be hosting a memorial for Chris in conjunction with Al Churella's Author Talk on the final volume in his Pennsylvania Railroad history trilogy. At this event, we will honor Chris, his memory, and his scholarship with comments from Hagley staff and scholars. We invite you to join us in celebration of our colleague's life and work. More information may be found at www.hagley.org/research/author-talk-al-churella.