The Hagley Museum has a new collection of materials from former governor Pierre “Pete” du Pont.
Pete du Pont was Delaware’s Congressman from 1971 to 1977 and the state’s 68th governor, serving two terms from 1977 to 1985. He also ran for President unsuccessfully in 1988.
As governor, du Pont, a Republican, led an economic turnaround of then-debt-ridden Delaware and positioned the state as a hub for the credit card industry.
Hagley Museum’s Director of Library Services Erik Rau says du Pon’ts overall record fits with Hagley’s goal to preserve the history of American enterprise.
“And certainly, because he was a very pro-business governor, and congressman and presidential candidate, what he thought, wrote and communicated matters in that space," Rau says.
Rau adds Dupont’s conservative perspective was well sought-after in the ‘90s.
“It’s interesting to listen to him in the 1990s and see how it compares, like what happened to conservatism in the intervening 30 years," Rau says. "So that’s interesting and I think that in and of itself is worthwhile noting.”
Rau notes much of the video and audio has been digitized for preservation, but they won’t digitize all of it.
“We are very mindful of the carbon footprint of doing that," Rau says. "A lot of people think that there’s no such thing as pollution if you put it online, the problem of course is that takes electricity and storage and all that, and so there is a carbon consequence for digitization and maintenance.”
Digitized material can be found at digital.hagley.org. Viewing the collection in person can be done by reservation by emailing askhagley@hagley.org.
