Henry F. du Pont and Winterthur: A Daughter`s Portrait

Henry F. du Pont, or Harry, as he was commonly known, was something of a pack rat. Luckily, he had exacting taste and meticulously documented his vast collection of antiques, furniture, and beautiful things. The son of the wealthy senator and Civil War hero Henry Algernon du Pont, Harry spent his early years floundering around in school, struggling both with academics and athletics, and found few, if any, pursuits at which he excelled. After graduating from Harvard with a less-than-stellar academic record, Harry moved back home to Delaware. There, for lack of anything better to do, he began to manage the family's vast estate, which included sprawling gardens and even bigger cattle farms.

Soon du Pont found his métier. He and his wife established four majestic homes--one each in Manhattan; Southampton; Boca Grande, Florida; and, most famously, Winterthur, Delaware--which they filled with their ever-expanding collection of antiques, art, carpets, and sundry knickknacks. Du Pont took immense pleasure in every detail of domestic life--carrying on a decades-long correspondence with a linens purveyor, for example, in which the two discussed every possible minutia of stitching and quilting, and carefully overseeing the choice of flowers, china, and even doilies for household luncheons.

In 1931, du Pont decided to share his passion with the public and dedicated his beloved Winterthur as a museum. After doubling its size to house all of its holdings, the museum opened in 1951. Du Pont did not stop there. He chaired the committee to save the Cooper Union Museum (now the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design) and helped Jacqueline Kennedy redecorate the White House. This affectionate biography, written by the du Ponts' daughter, Ruth, offers an intimate view of one of the century's great cultural philanthropists. --Anna Baldwin