expressed distaste for their friend Roosevelt's New Deal programs. Du Pont died on April 11, 1969. He was buried in Du Pont de Nemours Cemetery. Legacy Established by du Pont in 1951, the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is the premier collection of American decorative arts in the world. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy invited du Pont to chair the Fine Arts Committee that advised on the renovation of the White House between 1961 and 1963. Du Pont used his contacts and expertise to acquire donations of fine art and furniture so that the renovation would reflect the best in American design. His insistence on historical accuracy and authenticity sometimes clashed with the French-inspired aesthetic of Kennedy's interior designer, Stéphane Boudin. Once, when du Pont objected to a design, Kennedy wrote to chief usher J. B. West, "Please enclose this humble letter soliciting his approval. If we don't get it he will have the shock of me doing it anyway!" At du Pont's recommendation, Kennedy hired Lorraine Waxman Pearce, a graduate of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, as the first White House curator. Du Pont organized and chaired A Committee to Save the Cooper Union Museum, which had closed in 1963. In response to the public outcry and the du Pont-led lobbying campaign, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the museum in 1968, relocated its collections to the Andrew Carnegie Mansion, and reopened it to the public in 1976. At the behest of nephew John du Pont, he donated land for the site of the Delaware Museum of Natural History across the street from Winterthur. It opened in 1972. References Further reading External links Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Henry Francis du Pont Papers at Winterthur: Series 1–5 and Series 6–11 1880 births 1969 deaths Henry Francis du Pont People from New Castle County, Delaware Bussey Institution alumni Members of the Philadelphia Club Henry Francis du Pont American horticulturists American cattlemen Museum founders Philanthropists from Delaware Groton School alumni American collectors American book and manuscript collectors American art collectors American Antiquarian Society members People associated with Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Members of the American Philosophical Society