Hagley Opens Records of Woodlawn Trustees for Research

Wilmington, Delaware – September 2011 – Hagley Museum and Library announces the records of the Woodlawn Trustees, Inc., are open for research. The Woodlawn Trustees have been influential in the development of Concord Pike, building the Wilmington neighborhood “The Flats,” and providing open space to the City of Wilmington, New Castle County, and the State of Delaware for the purpose of creating public parks. The collection includes ledgers and journals, correspondence, meeting minutes, maps, photographs, and promotional materials. A finding aid is available online at http://www.hagley.org/library/collections/manuscripts/woodlawn_abst.html. Access to the collection is onsite only.

            Hagley received the Woodlawn Trustees collection in 2008. The Woodlawn Trustees, Inc., dates to 1901 when it was formed by William Poole Bancroft and called “The Woodlawn Company.” Woodlawn’s mission has three initiatives: preserve green space, encourage planned development to benefit the community and support Woodlawn’s activities, and provide affordable rental housing to residents with modest means.

            William Poole Bancroft was born in 1835, son of Joseph Bancroft, the founder of Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company, and Sarah Poole, daughter of William Poole, the silversmith and miller.  When Bancroft was seven years old, he began working in his father’s cotton mills.  At age 14, he went to work full time and by 1865, at the age of 30, was made a partner in the business. It was through the successful operation of these mills that William Bancroft acquired the means to give of his time, money, and energy to housing, orderly development, and parks.

            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, 2 million visual items in the Pictorial Department, and more than 100,000 digital images and pages in the Digital Archives Department. 

            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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