# Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation is a Foundation based in Wilmington, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Foundation - **Headquarters:** Wilmington, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Wilmington, DE, United States - **Founded:** 1952 - **Assets under management:** $200M – $250M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** hagley.org ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About The Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation was established in 1952 on the ancestral grounds of the du Pont family, the site where Éleuthère Irénée du Pont founded his black-powder works in 1802. The foundation operates the Hagley Museum and Library, preserving the Georgian-style family home, restored mills, and a machine shop. Henry B. duPont IV, a descendant of the founder, leads the Board of Trustees, while Jill MacKenzie serves as Executive Director. The wealth that endows the institution stems directly from the industrial fortune created by the DuPont Company, one of America's first manufacturing giants. The foundation deploys its $207 million endowment (Altss estimate) through a concentrated buyout strategy. Investment oversight is chaired by Yong Zhu, a Trustee who is also a Senior Portfolio Manager at DuPont Capital Management. The endowment's returns fund the operations of a research library that holds 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives, including the records of the DuPont Company and the U.S. Patent Model Collection housed in the Nation of Inventors Gallery. The campus itself — 298 Buck Road in Wilmington — functions as both a historical site and the foundation's primary real asset. Beyond the museum and library, the foundation maintains a portfolio of physical assets tied to its mission, including the Eleutherian Mills residence, Breck's Mill, and a collection of rare automobiles such as a 1928 DuPont Motors Model G Phaeton. It holds accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, a designation maintained since 1972, and operates as a Level II Arboretum under ArbNet. The foundation is also a member of the Independent Research Libraries Association and was Delaware's first Smithsonian Affiliate. The foundation's structural differentiator is its dual identity: it is simultaneously an operating museum with admission gates, a scholarly research library, and a buyout-oriented endowment. This means the investment committee — chaired by a professional allocator embedded at DuPont Capital Management — runs a traditional private-market mandate while answering to a board that must weigh capital preservation against the operational budget of a public-facing educational institution on a National Historic Landmark site. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Education ## People - Henry B. duPont IV — President of the Board of Trustees - Jill MacKenzie — Executive Director - Yong Zhu — Chairman of the Investment Committee and Trustee ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation? Yong Zhu chairs the Investment Committee and serves as a Trustee. Zhu is concurrently a Senior Portfolio Manager at DuPont Capital Management, giving the foundation a direct line to institutional-grade investment operations. The Board of Trustees, led by President Henry B. duPont IV, retains ultimate fiduciary authority. ### Is the foundation structured purely as a grantmaker or does it operate its own programs? The foundation is overwhelmingly an operating entity, not a grantmaker. It directly runs the Hagley Museum and Library on 235 acres in Wilmington, Delaware. The endowment funds salaries, conservation, acquisitions, and public programming — not external grant distributions to other nonprofits. ### What is the foundation's investment strategy for its endowment? The endowment pursues a buyout-focused strategy. The Investment Committee, with professional expertise from DuPont Capital Management, allocates across private-market buyout funds. The objective is long-term capital appreciation to support the museum's operating budget and preserve the historical campus. ### What physical assets does the foundation own beyond its financial portfolio? The foundation's campus spans 235 acres and includes the Eleutherian Mills residence, the restored powder yards, a 19th-century machine shop, Breck's Mill, and the Hagley Library archives. It also holds museum collections such as the U.S. Patent Model Collection, the Z. Taylor Vinson Automotive Collection, and a 1928 DuPont Motors Model G Phaeton. ### How does the foundation's relationship with the DuPont Company function today? The DuPont Company remains a long-standing corporate partner. The foundation sits on the original company land and preserves the corporate archives. Yong Zhu, the investment chair, is a Senior Portfolio Manager at DuPont Capital Management, creating an institutional bridge between the foundation's endowment and the asset-management arm of its corporate ancestor. ### Is the Hagley Museum a collecting institution, and what are its research strengths? Yes, the Hagley Library is a major independent research library with 37,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives. Its strengths are the history of American business, technology, and industrialization. Collections include DuPont Company records, the U.S. Patent Model Collection, and extensive materials on the Brandywine Valley's industrial heritage. It is a member of the Independent Research Libraries Association. ## Related profiles - [Heifer International Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/heifer-international-foundation) - [The Dunhill Medical Trust](https://altss.com/profile/the-dunhill-medical-trust) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/eleutherian-mills-hagley-foundation Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology