Ruth Wales du Pont was an American socialite, philanthropist, amateur classical composer, and spouse of Henry Francis du Pont, who founded Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library.

Henry Francis du Pont was an American horticulturist, collector of early American furniture and decorative arts, breeder of Holstein Friesian cattle, and scion of the powerful du Pont family. Converted into a museum in 1951, his estate of Winterthur in Delaware is the world's premier museum of American furniture and decorative arts.