DuPont

Lore & Background

He started the company at the Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, two years after du Pont and his family left France to escape the French Revolution and religious persecution against Huguenot Protestants. The company began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, and by the mid-19th century had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the United States military, supplying one-third to one-half the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, viton, Corfam and Lycra. Its scientists also developed Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry. During World War II, DuPont played a major role in the Manhattan Project, designing, building and operating the Hanford Site plutonium producing plant in Hanford, Washington.

Reader's Guide

DuPont's significance lies in its transformation from a gunpowder manufacturer to a leading chemical and materials science company. Its development of synthetic polymers and chemicals, including nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, and Freon, had widespread impact on consumer goods, industrial applications, and the refrigerant industry. The company also contributed to the U.S. military, supplying gunpowder during the Civil War and participating in the Manhattan Project. DuPont's legacy includes its role in the development of Delaware and its influence on the automotive industry through investments in General Motors, though antitrust actions later forced divestment. The company's research laboratories, such as the DuPont Experimental Station, were among the first industrial research labs in the United States.

Did You Know?

• DuPont supplied one-third to one-half of the gunpowder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War.
• DuPont scientists invented Freon (chlorofluorocarbons) for the refrigerant industry.
• DuPont designed, built, and operated the Hanford Site plutonium producing plant for the Manhattan Project.
• DuPont developed Kevlar in the 1960s, leading to bulletproof vests and body armor.

Early Life and Education

His parents were Mary Belin and Lammot du Pont I, and his lineage traced directly back to Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, the man who had founded the company generations earlier. That family connection, however, came at a brutal cost. When Irénée was just eight years old, his father was killed in a catastrophic explosion at the DuPont works in Repauno, New Jersey, leaving a young boy to grow up in the shadow of the very industry that had taken his parent. His education followed a path typical of the era's elite. A year later he added a master's degree in chemical engineering from the same institution. During his time at MIT, he joined the Phi Beta Epsilon fraternity, a small but notable part of his formative years.

Rise Through DuPont's Ranks

Before ever setting foot in a DuPont facility, Irénée spent several years working for Fenn's Manufacturing Contracting Company, gaining practical experience outside the family business. From there his career climbed steadily: he served as assistant treasurer, then as assistant to the general manager, and eventually took the helm of the developmental department. By the time World War I began, he had reached the rank of vice president, and just a year after that he was named chairman of the executive committee. Historians credit him with steering DuPont away from its narrow dependence on explosives and toward a far broader industrial portfolio. Yet his presidency was not without dark chapters: during his watch, three workers were fatally poisoned by tetraethyl lead, and in the 1920s and 1930s the company supported German rearmament and collaborated with the chemicals giant IG Farben.

Family, Fortune, and the Xanadu Estate

Irénée du Pont I married his second cousin, Irene Sophie du Pont, and together they raised a large family of nine children—eight daughters and a single son. The family's social standing was matched by extraordinary personal wealth. That wealth found dramatic physical expression in Varadero, Cuba, where he built a grand mansion he named Xanadu, a name evoking the fantastical palace from Tennyson's poetry and signaling his taste for the grandiose. The estate became a symbol of the old-money extravagance that characterized the Du Pont family at its peak. His personal papers, including letters exchanged with his older sister Louisa d'Andelot du Pont Copeland, are preserved in the Sophie du Pont May collection at the Hagley Museum and Library, offering a rare glimpse into the private world of one of America's most powerful industrial families.

Political Convictions and Controversy

A registered Republican throughout his adult life, Irénée du Pont I carved out a distinct political identity that ran counter to the prevailing liberal currents of the twentieth century. He was a vocal advocate for the repeal of Prohibition and a fierce opponent of the New Deal programs championed by President Franklin Roosevelt, viewing the left-leaning agenda as an unacceptable expansion of government into the economy. His opposition was not merely rhetorical; he was a founding member of the American Liberty League, the organization created to rally business interests against Roosevelt's policies. Whether or not he played a direct role, the association cemented his reputation as a figure willing to operate in murky spaces between corporate power and political ambition. Beyond politics, he also served as head of the Du Pont trust, a role that gave him influence over the family's vast holdings well beyond the company's boardroom. His political and business legacies remain intertwined in the public memory of the Du Pont name.

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