TY - MANSCPT DB - Science History Institute DP - Science History Institute M2 - Courtesy of Science History Institute. Rights: No Known Copyright TI - Employee washing chemical cotton at Hercules Hopewell plant ID - cj82k806t AU - Hercules Incorporated DA - 1957/03/12/ YR - 1957 AV - Photographs from the Records & Ephemera of Hercules Incorporated, Box 1, Folder 37 VL - Photographs from the Records & Ephemera of Hercules Incorporated, Box 1, Folder 37 AN - Photographs from the Records & Ephemera of Hercules Incorporated, Box 1, Folder 37 UR - https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/cj82k806t AB - General view of an unidentified employee washing so-called "chemical cotton" as part of the continuous bleaching process at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Hopewell, Virginia. Chemical cotton, a type of purified cellulose obtained from raw cotton linters, is commonly used for the manufacture of cellulose ethers, i.e. water-soluble polymers that have a variety of uses as thickeners, binders, and water-retention agents in products ranging from ceramics and paints to food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Formed in 1912 as part of an anti-trust settlement with DuPont, the Hercules Powder Company (later Hercules Inc.) initially specialized in the manufacture of explosives and smokeless powders and subsequently diversified its business to encompass a variety of industrial products, including pine and paper chemicals, synthetics, pigments, polymers, and cellulose. KW - Employees KW - Chemical industry KW - Cotton KW - Hercules Incorporated KW - Corporations KW - Cellulose KW - Machinery LA - ER -