Special Collections Department
Harry Fletcher
Brown
Collection
1881 - 1960
(bulk dates 1910 - 1952)
Manuscript Collection Number: 436
Accessioned: {Accessioned}
Extent: .3 linear ft.
Content: Correspondence, newspaper
clippings, speeches, business cards, legal documents,
printed material, a photograph, ephemera, military medal, scrapbook, and programs
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: Sally W. Donatello,
February 2002
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
Harry Fletcher Brown (1867-1944) left an enormous legacy to the state of Delaware. As a chemist and industrialist, most of his career was with the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company where he began as a technical director and rose to the position of vice president. After his retirement in 1930 he dedicated his personal fortune and time to public service and philanthropy. At his death in 1944, Harry Fletcher Brown left $4,500, 000, in eleven bequests, all benefiting public institutions.
He received an A.B. (1890) in chemistry and an A.M. (1892) in physics from Harvard College. Within a year of graduation he was appointed chief chemist at the United States Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island. It was in this position that he helped to develop a new formula for smokeless powder, which would forever secure him a place in the history of the chemical industry. By 1904 he began work at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, where he stayed for the rest of his career.
Brown’s accomplishments were extensive. His initial career at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company was centered on his work in smokeless powder, and then his managerial skills catapulted him into a high decision-making position in the company. Brown amassed enough money to become one of the great benefactors of education and social services in the state of Delaware in the first half of the twentieth century.
The highlights of Brown’s philanthropy included gifts to the University of Delaware for a chemistry building, a dormitory, and completion of other facilities; to the State of Delaware for a new vocational high school, which was named in Brown’s honor; to the YMCA and YWCA for a shared community building; and to the Delaware Hospital and School of Nursing (in Wilmington).
Brown was a trustee for the University of Delaware, and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the University in June 1930. Among his community service were his roles as a board member for the Wilmington Institute Free Library, a director for the Historical Society of Delaware, a director for Children’s Bureau of Delaware, the chairman of the advisory committee of the YWCA, a trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the Delaware Hospital, and a life member of the National Education Association. In addition, Brown was a president and member of the Delaware State Board of Education.
Brown was born on July 10, 1867, at Natick, Massachusetts. His parents were William H. and Maria F. (Osgood) Brown. On October 26, 1897 Brown married Florence Matilda Hammett (d. 1952) of Newport, Rhode Island. He died on February 28, 1944.
Source:
Perkins, John A. and Robeson Bailey. Harry Fletcher Brown, An Essay in Appreciation. Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, 1960.
Note: Historical and biographical information obtained from this collection.Scope and Content Note
The Harry Fletcher Brown Collection, spanning the years 1881-1960 (bulk dates 1910- 1952), contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, business cards, legal documents, printed material, ephemera, a photograph, World War I medal, and programs. The collection is small—ten folders and a scrapbook, yet the material gives an overview of his life from high school days in 1880s to his adulthood to his death in 1944. Much of the content focuses on Brown’s career at the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, his philanthropy, and the outpouring of response after his death.
The collection is housed in one box, which contains ten folders and a scrapbook. The folders contain biographical material (F1), which seems to be part of the research used by John A. Perkins (president of the University of Delaware from 1950-1967) and Robeson Bailey to write Harry Fletcher Brown, An Essay in Appreciation. According to Library records, the scrapbook was compiled by Mrs. Harry Fletcher Brown.
There are eight letters dated from 1910- 1930. Seven letters are to Brown from executives with the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company including Irénée du Pont and Pierre S. du Pont. One of the letters is handwritten by Brown to Pierre S. du Pont (F5).
The collection contains originals and copies of documents that Brown used in the application process for smokeless powder. His patent was an improvement on an existing smokeless powder (F6).
The scrapbook contains a range of items that highlight Brown’s career in the chemical industry and his years as a philanthropist. It includes announcements of gifts made during his life, obituaries and news clippings about the public bequests of Brown’s estate, and numerous tributes and resolutions in memory of Brown.
Contents List
Folder -- Contents
F1 Biographical Materials
Includes a Tentative Biographical and
Family History Sketch about Harry
Fletcher Brown; a compilation of
quotes by the Britannica Library
Research Service; a 3- page
biographical sketch, which is marked
“material from Crane” (two copies); a
two-page biographical sketch dated
February 28, 1944; a biographical and
family sketch, which is dated May 1935
(three pages); a biographical and
family history (four pages); a brief
résumé (two pages); and a sketch of
the Hammett Family along with a letter
(probably) to Brown’s cousin Marion
Brown from J. Allen.
F2 Photograph of Harry Fletcher Brown,
ca. 1920s
F3 Compositions, 1881-1902
Contains six handwritten compositions
by Brown during his high school days.
Included is an envelope dated 1902,
and mailed to Brown when he lived and
worked for the Du Pont Company in
Parlin, New Jersey.
F4 Announcement, 30 October 1897
Contains a handwritten announcement
from the Newport Mercury about the
marriage of Brown to Florence Hammett
of Newport, Rhode Island
F5 Correspondence, E.I. Du Pont de
Nemours Powder
Co., 1910-1930
Contains eight letters from Irénée du
Pont, Pierre
S. Du Pont, and a vice president of
E.I. Du Pont de Nemours Powder Co.
F6 Documents about Smokeless Powder, 1900
Contains copies of documents used by
Brown to apply for a patent on a new
smokeless powder; a seventeen-page
history of smokeless powder; an
article from the Patent Office on a
smokeless powder patented in 1897; and
an 1895 article on Smokeless Powder
from Pyrocollodion by M. Mendelcoff.
F7 Correspondence to Mrs. H. Fletcher
Brown, 1944-1952
Contains three letters of sympathy
written after Brown’s death; letters
are from Pierre S. Du Pont, A. Felix
du Pont, and Willis F. Harrington.
Also includes letters of appreciation
and thank you from Child Welfare
League of America, Inc.; George P.
Bissell; The Boy’s Club of Wilmington,
Inc.; and the YWCA and YMCA.
Additionally, there is a letter from
A.P. Colburn; he invited Mrs. Brown to
attend the dedication of the addition
to the H. Fletcher Brown Laboratory on
October 18, 1952.
F8 Documents about the H. Fletcher Brown
Vocational High School,1938-1952
Includes printed material and speeches;
handwritten and typewritten copies of
a speech by Brown for the re-opening
of the school building; two copies of
the school brochure; the program for
the dedication exercises on November
2, 1938; Bulletin from the school; and
Trade Winds, a copy of the school
paper, dated October 1952.
F9 Documents about the Dedication of the
Addition to the H. Fletcher Brown Laboratory,
October 18, 1952
Contains program;speech by Henry B. du Pont,
vice president, E.I. Du Pont de Nemours &
Company; a letter to Mrs. Brown from
Dr. John A. Perkins, president of the
University of Delaware; and speech by
Judge Hugh M. Morris.
F10 Correspondence Used for Harry Fletcher
Brown, An Essay in Appreciation
Letters from Irénée du Pont, Harvard
College Library, Newport Historical
Society, Judge Hugh M. Morris, and
Brown’s niece Miss Marion K. Brown.
Letters from Irénée du Pont, Harvard
College Library, Newport Historical
Society, Judge Hugh M. Morris, and
Brown’s niece Miss Marion K. Brown.
F11 Scrapbook, 1915-1952
Contains a variety of memorabilia that
highlights Brown’s career and years of
philanthropy as well as the response
to his death. Includes newspaper
clippings, business cards, printed
material, obituaries, correspondence,
ephemera, and a military medal. The
medal was given to Brown by the French
government during or after World War I
for powder production. The medal was
called “La Palme, Medaille
Militaire,” which was “brevetted before
the whole army.” Library records
state that Brown’s wife Florence made
the scrapbook. There is a typewritten
speech by Brown that was given in
1915 at his 25th reunion at Harvard
College; and there is a leather cover
from the reunion’s 25th anniversary
dinner, dated June 23, 1915.
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