Historical Collections

Pacific Crossing: California Gold, Chinese Migration, and the Making of Hong Kong
By Elizabeth Sinn

Senior Consultant for the Hong Kong Memory Project Elizabeth Sinn examines the complex connections between California and Hong Kong from the mid 19th century onward to study both the role Hong Kong played in Chinese emigration and the influence Chinese emigration patterns had on the economic, social, and cultural development of Hong Kong. In the course of her extensive archival research on this topic, Sinn used the Heard Family Business Records. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

Instant: The Story of Polaroid
By Christopher Bonanos

New York magazine editor Christopher Bonanos traces the arc of Polaroid Corporation and its driven, charismatic leader, Edwin Land, from the earliest days of polarized light filters to the development of instant photography; from its decades long reign as a research and development powerhouse to the years of decline and eventual bankruptcy. In the course of his extensive archival research on this topic, Bonanos used the Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records and the Polaroid Corporation Legal and Patent Records. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

When Wall Street Met Main Street: The Quest for an Investors' Democracy
By Julia C. Ott

Julia C. Ott presents the development of a broadening investment market in the early 20th century and examines the roles of government, corporations, financial institutions, and individual stakeholders. During her research visit to Baker Library Historical Collections, Julia Ott used the Thomas W. Lamont Papers, the Kidder, Peabody and Company Records, and the Edgar Higgins Investment Trust Papers. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America
By Richard White

In this work, Stanford University Professor and MacArthur Award winner Richard White presents the history of North America's western railroads and how they transformed the corporate world in the latter part of the 19th century through their failures as much as their successes. In the course of his extensive archival research on this topic, Richard White used the Jay Cooke & Co. Records, the Henry Villard Business Papers, and the Harris Charles Fahnestock Papers. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race, Entrepreneurship, Second Edition, Volume 1, to 1865
by Juliet E.K. Walker
Volume 1 of this new, updated version of Juliet Walker's work draws on hundreds of primary and secondary sources to present a comprehensive survey of black business development through the end of the Civil War. Volume 2 covers from the end of the Civil War to the 21st century. Walker used the R. G. Dun & Company Credit Report Volumes at Baker Library, comprised of thousands of credit reports on businesses and individuals from locations throughout the expanding nineteenth-century United States. Walker used these reports to research black businesses and entrepreneurs in the mid-nineteenth century. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book, or purchase it.

Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink
By Louis Hyman

Louis Hyman presents a history of American postwar consumer credit behavior through an examination of the financial practices, policies, institutions, and instruments that shifted the borrowing and lending processes of the 20th century. In the course of his research, Louis Hyman used materials from the Historic Corporate Report Collection and the Baker Old Class Collection. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications
By Richard R. John

Using publications from the Baker Old Class Collection in addition to the business archives of some of the major entities, Columbia University Professor of Journalism Richard R. John examines the history of electricity based communication media and federal, state and local governmental influences on the development of telecommunications networks.

Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

Investing in Life: Insurance in Antebellum America
By Sharon Ann Murphy

In this latest title from the Studies in Early American Economy and Society monograph series, Providence College's Sharon Ann Murphy examines the growth of the American for-profit life insurance industry throughout the 19th century and its relevance to the emerging middle class. In the course of her research on life insurance at Baker Library, Murphy used the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company Records, the New York Life Insurance and Trust Company records, the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company records, the Elizur Wright Business Papers, and the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States Records as well as materials from the Historic Corporate Reports Collection and the Baker Old Class Collection.

Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

The South Sea Bubble: an Economic History of its Origins and Consequences
By Helen J. Paul

University of Southampton Research Fellow Helen J. Paul's new economic history of the South Sea Bubble uses historic evidence and quantitative analysis to place the early eighteenth century crash into a wider societal context. Instead of focusing on the losses, Paul looks at the financial, legal, political systems that created rational reasons for investing. Paul used digital facsimiles from Kress Collection of Business and Economics available via Sunk in Lucre's Sordid Charms: South Sea Bubble Resources in the Kress Collection at Baker Library and the subscription database Making of the Modern World. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.

Unexceptional Women: Female Proprietors in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Albany, New York, 1830-1885
By Susan Ingalls Lewis

In this new work and Hagley Prize recipient for the best book in business history, State University of New York at New Paltz Associate Professor Susan Ingalls Lewis studies the scope of enterprises run by women in mid 19th century Albany, New York. Lewis used city directories, census data, and the R.G. Dun & Company credit report volumes to take a local approach toward examining preconceptions about the roles and contributions of women in American business, labor, and economic history. Consult the Catalog Record for more information about the book or purchase it here.