In 1959 Harvard University, for the first time, appointed a woman to a full professorship at its Graduate School of Business Administration. The new Professor of Business History, Henrietta Melia Larson, was no stranger to her colleagues at the institution where she had worked since 1928 nor to the business historians of the United States. She was known as an outstanding scholar in her field and widely respected for her attainments. At this period of her semi-retirement from Harvard it seems appropriate to honor her by dedicating to her this issue of the Business History Review and by evaluating the contributions which she has already made to her profession.

This article establishes the contributions of a pioneer American thinker to the theory of administration, scientific management, and the theory (and practice) of human relations. Barksdale did not publish his ideas widely, and his contributions are best known through the men he trained and his own managerial success at Du Pont and General Motors.

The disposition of the estate of the merchant A. T. Stewart, and the interplay of personalities, social mores, and the changing structure of merchandising in America provide the focus for this fascinating and neglected story.

Once a flourishing transportation agency, the Great Lakes package-freight carriers passed through a period of decay and disappeared during World War II. This article analyzes the economic factors causing the diversion of traffic that was the primary reason for the decline of the package freighters.

On October 27–28, 1961, the Harvard Business History Group sponsored a conference devoted to the theme “Business History as a Teaching Challenge.” The purpose was simple enough — get experienced, active practitioners in business history together with newcomers to the field in the expectation that interaction between the two groups would be mutually beneficial. This hope was realized, though the specific results were somewhat different — and perhaps more valuable — than those originally anticipated. The 50 participants found themselves more involved with a discussion of the appropriate subject matter of business history, past accomplishments, and future possibilities, than with current teaching problems and techniques. This development was not totally unanticipated, but the enthusiasm with which it was embraced came as a pleasant surprise. It therefore seems appropriate to precede the papers given at the conference with a brief summary of the present status and future prospects of business history in the light of the discussion and the written comments later submitted by participants.

Merely by existing, the United States and the Western world as a whole bring to bear … a constant cultural pressure. But even though the idea of industrialization, expanded consumption, and political egalitarianism may pour forth equally for all … countries, what is absorbed varies widely from one to another. How and why and toward what ends each nation moves is conditioned by its own traditions and appreciations as well as by the historical course of its particular set of involvements with the industrially advanced nations.

In the late 1840's, under the leadership of the Boston and Maine management, the seven steam railroads in Boston promoted the development of suburbs by lowering fares and providing frequent commuter trains. By 1855 the volume of commuter traffic was of sufficient magnitude and the fares so low as to depress the earning power of the seven roads. When the managements attempted to offset increases in wages and material costs with higher commuter fares, the commuters on one line dramatically and successfully staged a revolt. The policy of deliberately developing commuter service as a by-product not only stimulated the urban development of Greater Boston but also influenced the philosophy of railroad management itself.

Despite Louis Brandeis' well-publicized opposition to the New Haven-Boston & Maine railroad merger of 1907–1909, a large number of public-spirited men, including many progressive reform leaders whom Brandeis had worked with and admired, favored the combination. They saw the merger not as a conspiracy against the public interest, but a necessary response in the public interest to a commercial crisis in Massachusetts. This examination of their reasoning and action tempers Brandeis' widely accepted assessment of the controversy.

This study narrates the history of the largest steamboat line on the western rivers during the decade following the Civil War and assesses causes and responsibilities for its failure.

The interrelationship of national security, the Atomic Energy Commission, government financial support, and the birth pangs of a new and growing industry with unusual competitive characteristics are examined in this article.

This article traces the economic factors in the decline of the railroad commuter business and examines the recent public-policy issues. The author is extremely skeptical of the rebirth of railroad commutation under any institutional arrangements and predicts further decline and possibly eventual extinction.

Substantial gains made within the past score years in clarifying the nature and scope of business history afford ample grounds for confidence that this academic youngster will assuredly develop into a vigorous adult. Such high optimism can be sustained, however, only if this small guild of practitioners develops and administers appropriate intellectual booster shots necessary for its continued health. At the moment it does appear that business history is vulnerable to a large number of afflictions. To put the matter more specifically, business historians as a group give the impression of being sharply divided on issues where agreement might reasonably be expected at this stage of the field's development. Signs of a recent shift from emphasis on decision-making, innovation, and administration to a stress on a vaguely defined “general environment” fueled concern.

While “higgling” always occurred to some degree in most country stores, this article establishes evidence that, for many basic commodities, a system of standard prices existed in some country stores long before the Civil War.

The topic for this morning — the recruitment of business history teachers and its allied problems — is an ideal one for discussion purposes. There are practically no facts to impede the free flow of ideas and the limits to the expression of opinion are almost boundless.

My function is to provide an introduction to the discussion. This will be divided into the usual three parts: how are business history teachers presently recruited? What are the strengths and weaknesses in the present arrangement? What should the process of recruiting really be? All of these questions raise a whole series of additional questions of even more fundamental importance.

The purpose of this study is to trace the disposition of stockholder securities and to estimate the losses incurred by investors as a result of the collapse of Samuel Insull's utility complex.

One of the most neglected aspects of the celebrated Teapot Dome investigation is the reaction of businessmen in general to these events. This article analyzes the views of the business community to Teapot Dome and reveals how various business interests reacted to the episode.

A distinguished Dutch scholar and one of the Review's International Correspondents considers approaches to business history in general and with specific reference to the Netherlands.

Everybody in this group will be aware of the fact that business history is neither of American nor of recent vintage. The first full-fledged company history was published in 1825 to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the Lauchhammer Iron Works in Saxony; and Professor Herman Freudenberger has recently been able to trace the beginnings of company history to the eighteenth century. His research will be published this spring. As early as the 1900's, Professor Richard Ehrenberg of the University of Rostock was the first to see that what we call business history could be developed into an academic discipline, and his book on the enterprises of the Siemens Brothers marks the beginning of company history satisfying the most rigid modern scientific standards. In fact, Ehrenberg's work had an influence on the thinking of Professor N. S. B. Gras.

The Zurich Association for study in Economic History was founded in 1950 by various trade associations, businessmen, and historians. At the time, Swiss postwar prosperity stimulated considerable discussion of the distribution of wealth and many responsible groups felt further government interference in this matter was probable but unwelcome. Founders of the Association hoped to “regain territory for the idea of private enterprise,” by giving an historical dimension to economic affairs.