The history of Delaware and the greater Delaware Valley is a collecting focus in Special Collections, where researchers will find primary and comprehensive secondary sources on this topic.
To search DELCAT for the history of the Brandywine Parcel:
- Select ADVANCED search
- Limit your searches to SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
- Use keywords such as (soil, Lenape, environment, family or place names as cited on atlases, authors from bibliographies, etc.), or DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (as author) with additional keywords, etc.
- Check FACETS on the left of search results if results are extensive (limit by format or dates, etc.)
The list below indicates just some of the authors and works held in Special Collections. Please search DELCAT for additional authors and titles.
The Beaver Valley Rock Shelter near Wilmington, Delaware by Call Number: DEL F161 .A73 v.4 no.5Publication Date: 1949Article in Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Delaware.Vol. 4, no. 5 (Jan. 1949)- The Brandywine Valley, rich and beautiful : an agricultural area of 330 square miles, tempered with industries, where 200,000 persons live, work, and play by Call Number: DEL S942 .B73Publication Date: 1948
- The Brandywine Valley Scenic River and Highway Study. by Call Number: DEL FOLIO HD211.D3 N493x 1987Publication Date: 1987Prepared by Elizabeth B Clarke,, Brandywine Conservancy. Environmental Management Center, Turtle Creek Design, Wilmington Metropolitan Area Planning Coordinating Council, Forward Lands, Inc.
Buildings of Delaware by Call Number: CIRC & DEL NA730.D3 M39 2008ISBN: 9780813927022Publication Date: 2008Documents the state's architectural history from all periods, illustrated with photographs and maps, and supplemented by a glossary and bibliography.- Delaware Federal Writers' Project. Delaware records by Call Number: DEL FOLIO F164 .F47Publication Date: 1936-1941Consult the index; 48 volumes include reports, articles, photographs, and notes about the First State from the 1930s . Submitted by WPA writers and researchers, topics include historical, economic, agricultural, sociological, and cultural commentaries about Delaware and its residents.
- Delaware souvenir sketchbook : 10 scenic and historic views on fine drawing paper by Call Number: DEL FOLIO F165 .M87x 1961Publication Date: 1961
- Final Archaeological Investigations of the Replacements of Bridges #17 and #18 on New Castle #221 (Beaver Valley Road) by Call Number: DEL FOLIO F166 .D3 no. 62Publication Date: 1988DelDot Archaeology Series, No. 62.
- Man and nature in Delaware: an environmental history of the First State, 1631-2000 by Call Number: CIRC & DEL FOLIO GF504.D3 W55 2008ISBN: 9780924117367Publication Date: 2008
- A Small History of the Forgotten and the Never Known by Call Number: DEL F166 .D3 no.84Publication Date: 1990Delaware Department of Transportation Archeology Series, No. 84
- William Penn's own account of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians by Call Number: DEL F152 .P293 1970Publication Date: 1970Reprint of a portion of A letter from William Penn, originally published in 1683.
Manuscript and archival collections in Special Collections contain a range of materials--such as documents, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, business records, reports, ephemera, audio, video, and born-digital content--from individuals, families, businesses, and organizations. The guides to these collections are called finding aids and they can be browsed and searched here: https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/search. Not all finding aids or collection descriptions are online, so please contact Special Collections if you need help with your search.
Tips on searching archival finding aids:
- Use keywords, place names, or personal/family names in the search box
- Evaluate abstracts and NOTES
- Review collection series outline in the CONTENTS
- Use “CTRL F” to FIND search words in the Contents List (the collection inventory)
Here is a short list of possible resources:
- MSS 0355, Grubb family papersThe Grubb family were prominent owners of agricultural and mining lands in the Delaware River valley of Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The Grubb family papers concern the business, legal, and personal affairs of the Grubb family and consist of one linear foot of material comprising correspondence, wills, estate records, account ledgers, receipts and discharges, funeral notices, certification notices, legal items, newspaper clippings, and ephemera.
- MSS 0588, Donald Callender papersThis collection documents the for-profit and nonprofit work of Donald W. Callender, Jr., an industrial archaeologist whose career in the greater Delaware-Pennsylvania-New Jersey area has involved maintenance and restoration of railroads and rail cars. In addition, Callender was involved in the establishment of a regional living history museum, the leadership of historic preservation organizations, and efforts to restore the Wilmington Waterfront and increase tourism to the city.
- MSS 0635, Armistead W. Browning, Jr. papersBorn in 1938, Armistead Willis Browning, Jr., was a landscape architect, environmentalist and teacher who dedicated his life to environmental preservation and education. The papers chronicle Browning's experience at three architectural firms, two main centers of education, and with numerous independent projects, symposia, and workshops.
- MSS 0684, Shipley–Bringhurst–Hargraves family papersShipley, Bringhurst, and Hargraves are the family names associated with Rockwood, a Victorian Rural Gothic Revival mansion and estate that was built in north Wilmington, Delaware, between 1851 and 1854. The Hargraves were the last family to privately own Rockwood before its donation to New Castle County in the mid-1970s as a historic house museum and public park. The Shipley-Bringhurst-Hargraves family papers document the personal and professional lives, as well as the ancestry and legacy, of several generations of Delawareans associated with Rockwood.