Take A Walk On the Wild Side (May 2011)

CONTACT:  Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

Skunk Cabbage Blooming at Hagley

(302) 658-2400, ext. 238         mmarcozzi@hagley.org

Wilmington, Delaware – May 2011 – Join Hagley for its third annual May Day Walk honoring the du Pont family’s tradition of searching for wildlife on the first of May. On Sunday, May 1, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Hagley visitors may join a team of intrepid explorers searching for the myriad forms of life that call Hagley, a “Certified Wildlife Habitat,” their home.  Local experts will point out the different habitats and discuss the plants and animals that live there. The program is included in the cost of general museum admission: $11 for adults, $9 for students and seniors, $4 for children ages six through fourteen, and free for children five and under and Hagley members.

            New this year: Hagley will have nature-based activities for kids from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. In addition, Hagley’s “Easy Does It!” exhibit will be open for exploration. “Easy Does It!” is a hands-on exhibit of simple machines.

            Visitors may choose to attend one walk or two. Each will begin with an introduction from Geoff Halfpenny about the property. Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate attire.  The schedule is below:

 1:00-1:45  Wildlife and Habitats Along the River (Executive Director Geoff Halfpenny)

 1:00-1:45  Plants and Wildflowers at Hagley (Amateur Botanist Extraordinaire Stephan de la Veaux)

 1:45-2:00  Break at the “Easy Does It!” exhibit

 2:00-2:45  The Trees of Hagley (Hagley Gardens and Grounds Supervisor Richard Pratt)

 2:00-2:45   Birding at Hagley (Delmarva Ornithological Society President Sally O’Byrne)

            “I love the May Day walks,” says Executive Director Geoff Halfpenny. “There is always a sense of adventure. Just as in Sophie’s day, we never know what surprises Mother Nature may have in store!”

            Sophie du Pont (1810-1888) was E. I. du Pont’s youngest daughter and took great pleasure in documenting her life along the Brandywine in sketches and watercolors.  In May 1828, she describes one of her explorations in a letter to her sister: “The Dogwood and hawthorn are in bloom all around it [a meadow], and their white blossoms contrast beautifully with the varied green of the young leaves, that just begin to throw a shadow over the thousand flowers that bloom beneath them.”  Hagley’s May Day event is held in her honor.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.

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Enron Board Minutes Available Online at Hagley

CONTACT:  Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                  (302) 658-2400, ext. 238   mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Wilmington, Delaware – March 2011 –  Hagley Museum and Library has digitized its Herbert S. Winokur, Jr., Enron Board Records collection. This collection spans from 1997 through 2001 and documents the landmark corporate bankruptcy. To access these records, visit www.hagley.org/library/enron.

            Herbert “Pug” Winokur donated his Enron board minutes to Hagley in 2010. This collection includes board minutes; records of the executive, finance, and audit committees; and memoranda and emails. Mr. Winokur also funded the digitization of these records.

            “This is one of the most complete collections of Enron board records in existence,” according to Lynn Catanese, curator of manuscripts and archives at Hagley. 

            The Hagley Digital Archives allows online access to digitized versions of selections from our library collections.  The Archives includes images, documents, and publications related to the history of business, technology, and society accessible online through Hagley’s web site. It currently holds more than 100,000 digital images and pages from Hagley’s library collections. 

            Researchers and other interested parties may also access the records at Hagley Library. The library is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the second Saturday of each Month, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

            The Hagley Library is the nation’s leading business history library, archives, and research center. Current holdings comprise 36,000 linear feet in the Manuscripts and Archives Department, 290,000 printed volumes in the Imprints Department, and 2 million visual items in the Pictorial Department.  The Library operates a research grant program, and offers conferences, research seminars, and a public lecture series. 

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.

Save America’s Treasures Grant to Help Hagley Preserve Drawings and Images of the PSFS Building

CONTACT:    Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                       (302) 658-2400, ext. 238  mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Wilmington, Delaware – February 2011 – Hagley Museum and Library was awarded a Save America’s Treasures Grant for the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS) – Howe and Lescaze Design Archives. The PSFS Building in Philadelphia, built in 1932, was the first International-style skyscraper. Architects George Howe and William Lescaze designed the “shell” in addition to its furniture, lighting, famed signage, and all other appointments. The grant will fund the conservation and preservation of the PSFS Building architectural drawings and important historical images that document this treasure.

            The PSFS collection was gifted to Hagley in 1993 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The collection measures more than 1,000 linear feet and includes publications, manuscripts, photographs, negatives, architectural drawings, and artifacts. Visit digital.hagley.org to view digitized items from the collection.

            “I am proud to acknowledge receipt of this Save America’s Treasures grant, which focuses on conserving one of Hagley’s and the nation’s true treasures,” said Hagley Executive Director Geoff Halfpenny.

            The National Park Service and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities awarded $14.3 million in federal competitive Save America’s Treasures grants. Hagley was one of sixty-one recipients of this prestigious award.

            "Each project is a thread in the great tapestry that is the history and culture of our country and our people. The Save America's Treasures program is a source of pride and a lesson in how a modest investment and a broad public-private partnership can make a vital and valuable contribution to telling the story of our nation" said Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service.   

            The Save America’s Treasures grants are made in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Save America’s Treasures’ private partner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. Call (302) 658-2400 weekdays for more information or visit www.hagley.org.

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du Pont Wedding exhibit to Open Saturday!

CONTACT: Meg Marcozzi, Hagley Museum and Library Marketing Manager

                     (302) 658-2400, ext. 238    mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hagley Exhibit Highlights du Pont Family Weddings

            Wilmington, Delaware – March through December 2011 – A new exhibit opening in Eleutherian Mills at Hagley, “Wedding Traditions of the du Pont Family, 1813-1915,” will highlight treasured artifacts such as heirloom jewelry worn at weddings, portraits of brides, and two wedding gowns. This exhibit will open Saturday, March 12, 2011, and will be on display through Sunday, January 15, 2012, in the second floor exhibit gallery of Eleutherian Mills Residence, the du Pont family ancestral home at Hagley. The exhibit is included in regular admission and tour and free for members. 

            “Wedding Traditions of the du Pont Family, 1813-1915” illustrates how du Pont family weddings changed over the course of a hundred years from small family celebrations into larger, elaborate, and formal events.  Featured items worn by the du Pont brides include elaborate seed pearl jewelry sets worn by Julia Sophie du Pont and Margaretta Lammot in 1824, artificial orange blossom hair decorations worn by Sophie du Pont in 1833 and Eleuthera du Pont in 1834, and other wedding-related memorabilia. 

            “Something borrowed, something blue... have you ever wondered where wedding traditions began and what they represent?  Visit Hagley to explore what traditions the du Pont family cherished,” says Curator of Collections and Exhibits Debra Hughes.

The exhibit is included in the tour of Eleutherian Mills, which is accessible by bus. Buses run daily, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. For more information, call (302) 658-2400 weekdays or visit www.hagley.org.

Caption: Margaretta Elizabeth Lammot wore these earrings at her wedding to Alfred Victor du Pont on the evening of October 28, 1824