Perhaps no two persons would agree who has the best claim to the honor of having been the first American (English colonial) business man. So far as the records go, a strong claim can be made for Thomas Studley, of Virginia.

In these days of world-wide economic distress and intense nationalism the leading efforts in revival and recovery have been directed towards the rejuvenation of domestic economy. The United States stands today as one of the best examples of this tendency. Only a relatively few voices crying in the wilderness plead for balanced recovery through commensurate attention to foreign trade.

It is a curious fact that many American business men of the past are known more for their charities or philanthropies or for their cultural or political interests and activities than for the very significant work they may have done in business. The biographers of business men, with the exception of those who have deliberately set out to berate the man about whom they were writing, have generally had very little to say about their subject's business. It is as if business were something not worthy of record. It is well to remember that business is important not only because it makes profits for the individual or builds fortunes; it also has a wide social importance. As we have lately experienced, an active, successful business system very likely means greater social well-being; and a depressed business, widespread misery. In so far as the business man is responsible for one or the other, the responsibility should be recognized in studies of his life. Thus through the experience of others would be widened immeasurably our knowledge of how business functions.

Thanks to the efforts of several officers of the Business Historical Society and members of the Faculty of the Harvard Business School, Baker Library has been given ten cases of records relating to the Hamilton Woolen Company of Southbridge, Massachusetts.

Several officers of the Society recently interviewed members of the Faculty of the Harvard Business School in order to ascertain to what extent historical material would be of special value in the course work of the School. This inquiry had a two-fold purpose: (1) to discover wherein those working in the field of Business History might be of greatest immediate service to current teaching and research in business subjects; and (2) to obtain guidance in the collection and preservation of documentary material pertaining to Business History. It was, in short, an attempt to survey some of the current needs of Business History.