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.
Among the objects donated to the museum last September was a large steamer trunk. This trunk (see below) was used at the Granogue Estate to store a collection of 19th century prints, paintings, and artists’ materials historically connected to Elise Wigfall (Simons) du Pont (1849-1919). Granogue served as a place of residence for the family of Irene Sophie du Pont, daughter of Elise and her husband, former DuPont Company vice president Francis Gurney du Pont (1850-1904).
While I am writing this on a rainy spring day, I look forward to the upcoming dry, warm and sunny days at the Delaware beaches. One of my favorite “beachy” patent models is this one for a Surf Hut.
Picture yourself as an American livestock worker at the turn of the 20th century. What would success look like?
Oops! This Hagley Vault post is a bit belated. In our defense, time moves differently when you're living on the surface of the sun. This week's heatwave has inspired this post; a love letter to air conditioning.
Excessive heat has presented a problem for public health officials in New York City since the mid-nineteenth century building boom that covered the island of Manhattan in bricks, concrete, and other heat-storing materials. Prior to that, however, Americans had noticed that cities were warmer than their surrounding countryside as early as the 1790s. The phenomenon now known as the “urban heat island” has shaped the bodily experiences and collective destinies of millions.
Gregory Hargreaves interviews Brian Sarginger about his dissertation project “The Shareholder Movement: Shareholder Activism & Activists in the Twentieth Century.”