Stephanie Kwolek was a chemist and an inventor who worked at DuPont for forty years. She was awarded the DuPont company’s Lavoisier Medal for outstanding technical achievement. In 1995, she became the fourth woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1946, she graduated from Margaret Morrison College of Carnegie Mellon University with a BS with a chemistry major. In 1946, she was offered a position at DuPont’s Buffalo, NY facility and moved to Wilmington, DE in 1950. When Kwolek invented Kevlar, although she did not know what it would be used for, she knew that being five times stronger than steel it could have many uses. In 1980, Kwolek received the Chemical Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Chemists, and an Award for Creative Invention from the American Chemical Society. In 1986, she retired but maintained a passion for chemistry for the rest of her life.

Pauline Young was an African American teacher, librarian, historian, lecturer, community activist, and humanitarian. She was a devoted lifelong member of her local and the national chapter of the NAACP. Born in Massachusetts, Young grew up near an underground railroad point before moving to Delaware. Young joined the NAACP at the age of 12, and she served nine years as the secretary. Later, she became the president of the Wilmington, Delaware branch. Young was honored by the Wilmington Branch of the National Association of University Women, she was recognized for outstanding service to the Home, the Community, the State, and the Nation and was thereby inducted to the Hall of Fame of Delaware Women. Young received a Certificate of Honorary Membership from Delaware State College’s Black Studies Program. The University of Delaware Library renamed the residency program in honor of Young.