Bessie Gardner du Pont

{{Short description|American historian (1864–1949)}}

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| image = Bessie (Gardner) du Pont, 1864-1949.jpg

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| birth_name = Elizabeth Gardner

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1864|09|11}}

| birth_place = Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|12|12|1864|09|11}}

| death_place = Greenville, Delaware, U.S.

| known_for = {{hlist|Author|historian|translator}}

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| spouse = Alfred I. (A.I.) du Pont

| children = 4

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}}

Bessie Gardner du Pont (1864–1949) was an American author and historian who wrote on the du Pont family and the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company.

She was the daughter of Margaretta Potts Gardner and Dorsey Gardner, an etymologist, Yale professor, editor, and author.{{cite web |title=Bessie G. du Pont's 'Notes for History' |url=https://findingaids.hagley.org/repositories/3/resources/1624 |website=Hagley Museum and Library |publisher=Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library}} Bessie spent her formative years in New Haven, Connecticut before relocating to the Brandywine Valley of Delaware. On January 4, 1887, she wed her cousin, Alfred I. (A.I.) du Pont, at Church of St. James the Less in Philadelphia. Bessie's deep interest in her family's history led her to begin translating and compiling historical documents related to the du Pont family and their business in 1900. She and her husband lived at their Nemours estate.

As the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company began to expand at the start of the twentieth century, Alfred's union with Bessie deteriorated. For numerous reasons, what had started out as a pleasant marriage had grown difficult and strained. Bessie became increasingly estranged from Alfred and their children, creating friction within the du Pont family.{{cite web |title=Photographs Written Historical And Descriptive Data |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/de/de0300/de0387/data/de0387data.pdf |website=Library of Congress |publisher=Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service |ref=HABS No. DE-283}} Bessie and her husband had four children before divorcing Alfred in 1906: Bessie, Madeline, Victor, and Victorine du Pont.{{cite news |title=Obituary for Bessie du Gardner Pont (Aged 85) |url=https://delawareonline.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-obituary-for-bessie-du/68446993/?locale=en-US |newspaper=Wilmington Morning News |date=13 December 1949}}

Encouraged by Pierre S. du Pont, she authored the notable history E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company: A History, 1802-1902, published in 1920. After her divorce from Alfred, Bessie lived at her home, Chevannes.{{cite book |last1=Colby Zilg |first1=Gerard |title=Dupont Dynasty: Behind The Nylon Curatin |date=1974 |publisher=Prentice Hall |location=New York |page=253 |edition=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/DupontDynasty/mode/2up?q=Gardner}}