The Hagley Museum opened on May 24, 1957 on the site of the DuPont Company's early powder mill on the banks of the Brandywine River outside of Wilmington, Delaware. At a corporate celebration of the company's 150th anniversary in 1952 a plan emerged to preserve the historical industrial site. Through the efforts of Pierre S. du Pont, Lammot du Pont Copeland, and Crawford H. Greenewalt the idea to give lasting meaning to the celebration led to the formation of the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation. The original plan was to have the foundation administer the 181 acre site as a public park. By 1954 the creators had decided to establish a museum of industrial history concentrating on the Brandywine area's water-powered industry as an example of the broader development of industry and technology in America.

Today the foundation includes a research library in American business and industrial history, a center for the study of business technology, and society, which supports post-doctoral study at the research library, and the foundation continues it's association with the Hagley Fellowship program in conjunction with the University of Delaware. The site now encompasses about 240 acres, and the museum attracts 85 to 90,000 visitors yearly.
The foundation in all but legal matters uses the name The Hagley Museum and Library. It has 80 full-time employees, 93 part-time, and approximately 350 volunteers.
 
 
 

Hagley Museum and Library

http://hagley.lib.de.us