General view of the upper level of the salt kettle used in the production of nylon 66 during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During the…

General view of a 250-pound autoclave and polymer casting equipment used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. During production, a…

General view of a 50-pound autoclave first used for the production of "Fiber V," later branded as Dacron polyester fiber, at a DuPont semiworks facility. During production, a partially-evaporated salt solution was fed…

Assorted apparatus and component parts, including a magnetic switch, mercury plunger, and rupture diaphragm, used during the early stages of nylon production and research at DuPont.

General view of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of the cold-drawing process, drawtwisters were used to…

Group photograph of staff from DuPont's nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. Caroline Cooper, the first forewoman promoted to shift supervisor, is visible in the front row, fourth from right. The rest of the…

Detail view of a coiler head assembly mechanism used at DuPont during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research. Typically, this type of apparatus was used to coil tow, an untwisted bundle of…

General view of a coiler mechanism used at DuPont during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research. Typically, this type of apparatus was used to coil tow, an untwisted bundle of continuous filaments,…

Close-up view of a continuous shaft drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at DuPont. As part of the cold-drawing process, drawtwisters were used to stretch the nylon filaments…

Detail view of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware. As part of the cold-drawing process, drawtwisters were used to stretch…

Two detail views of the BJ-4 Drawtwister used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware showing the relocation of the draw pin string-up. The photographs…

Detail view of a glass spinning cell used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. In this design, the nylon polymer was melted in the glass…

Close-up view of an electric immersion heater used during the early stages of synthetic fiber production and research at DuPont. The photographs is captioned "Figure 3," indicating that it appeared in a report or…

Close-up view of DuPont employee Mike McCall feeding nylon chips into the hopper of a five-position spinning machine used at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and…

General view of Fiber W crimping machine and relaxer used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Fiber W was a wool-like version of nylon…

General view of a five-position windup machine located on the ground floor of the Spinning Room at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research.

Hand-drawn floor plan of DuPont nylon pilot plant. DuPont operated pilot plants in both Wilmington and Seaford, Delaware, but it is unknown which pilot plant this diagram depicts.

Close-up view of a DuPont employee adjusting a gas cylinder on a five-position windup machine at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research. The employee is…

Close-up view of a DuPont employee adjusting a gas cylinder on a five-position windup machine at the DuPont pilot plant in Wilmington, Delaware during the early stages of nylon production and research. The employee is…

Close-up view of a gear crimping machine used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine was likely used for the testing and…

General view of a glass spinning cell used during the early stages of nylon production and research at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. In this design, the nylon polymer was melted in the glass…

Group photograph of DuPont shift supervisors and foremen responsible for the development of the "Type 9" textile at the DuPont plant in Martinsville, Virginia. Team supervisor Joseph X. Labovsky is seated on the far…

Group photograph of technical staff working at the DuPont nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. An identification key accompanies the photograph.

Group photograph of staff from DuPont's nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. Supervisor C.P. White is visible in the front row, far left side. The rest of the individuals depicted in the photograph are unidentified.

Group photograph of DuPont shift supervisors and foremen at the nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia. This photograph was taken on the occasion of team supervisor Joseph X. Labovsky receiving his 20-year service pin…