Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month

Discover on this page Baker Library resources with a connection to Hispanic and Latinx culture and identity. Want to learn more about certain materials? Contact infoservices@hbs.edu

Library Collections: Books and HBS Cases

Baker's collections are full of interesting and relevant business materials. But with so much great stuff, sometimes it can be hard to find hidden gems. So here are some things you may not have known about!

CONTEMPORARY ART AT HBS

The HBS Art Collection & Program consists of over 1,000 original works and serves as a key teaching and learning resource for the HBS community.

SELECTED WORKS OF ART IN CONNECTION WITH HISPANIC & LATINX HERITAGE MONTH

Istanbul Project I, 2003 by Doris Salcedo (Top Left)

• Doris Salcedo, Istanbul Project I, 2003, Iris print on Hahnemühle German etching paper. 30 x 23 in., Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School © Doris Salcedo

"Lincoln (after Brady)," from "Pictures of Ink", 2000 by Vik Muniz (Top Right)

• Vik Muniz, "Lincoln (after Brady)," from "Pictures of Ink", 2000, Cibachrome print. 65 x 48 in., Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School Art © Vik Muniz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY 

Backbone of the Universe, 2019 by Esteban Cabeza de Baca (Bottom Left)

• Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Backbone of the Universe, 2019, acrylic on canvas. 60 x 60 in., Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School

What a Wind, 2007 by Carlos Vega (Bottom Right)

• Carlos Vega, What a Wind, 2007, acrylic and collage on canvas. 50 x 50 in., Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Special Collections and Archives collects and makes available the records of business dating from the 14th century to the present and the records of the Harvard Business School since its founding in 1908.

Spanish Stock Certificate

Accion de la Real Compa. de Comercio establecida en Barcelona; part of the Kress Collection.  

This stock certificate is among the oldest in existence. It was issued in 1758 by the Real Compañía de Comercio de Barcelona, the best known of the Spanish royal trading companies, which had a monopoly on trade with Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Margarita Island, off the Venezuelan coast.

To learn more about this item, please refer to this Harvard Business Review article: The Art of Commerce. Harvard Business Review. 2014;92(3):32-33

Accion de la Real Compa. de Comercio establecida en Barcelona

United Fruit Company Photograph Collection

The United Fruit Company engaged in the production, transportation, and marketing of bananas, sugar, cocoa, abaca, and other tropical agricultural products. It owned or leased property in Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, and numerous other Central American, South American, and West Indian countries. By 1930, the company had absorbed more than twenty rival firms and was the largest employer in Central America. 

The collection consists of seventy-five photograph albums that document the United Fruit Company’s operations and holdings in Central and South America, the West Indies, and the United States.

More than 900 of these photographs have been digitized and are available online.

Loading bananas-Guatemala, circa 1930

Creating Emerging Markets Project

Click the link above for a variety of interviews by Harvard faculty with high impact leaders in business and social enterprise from various regions, including Central and Latin America.

Select individuals from the Creating Emerging Markets archive

Thorp D. Sawyer Papers

 Thorp D. Sawyer was an American civil engineer who worked in South America between the 1910s and the 1940s. During his career, Sawyer worked in Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia on construction and engineering projects such as surveys for pipelines and railroads, bridge construction, and in goldmine speculation. The collection contains letters written by Thorp Sawyer to his relatives in the United States describing his life and career in South America. Sawyer’s letters include his perspective on contemporary life in Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia in the early 20th century. He describes the landscape and infrastructure such as railways, the relationship between South American workers and foreign supervisors, and political and economic factors affecting business, mainly between 1914 and 1932.

Thorp D. Sawyer (left) and colleagues near La Paz, Bolivia, 1914

Herman L. Dillingham Papers

Herman Louis Dillingham was appointed secretary of a Boston Chamber of Commerce trade delegation that toured South America in 1913. On April 24, 1913, the delegation sailed from Boston on a three-month voyage to Central and South America. They toured mines, factories, farms, and other local sights. 

 The collection consists of two scrapbooks, two photograph albums, and a variety of supplemental materials.

Herman L. Dillingham's Photograph Album No. 2, page 90, 1913

Historic Industry and Trade Literature Collection

Also known as Baker Old Class, the materials in this collection trace the development and growth of global business and industry from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century. 

Fun fact: It is the original circulating collection of Harvard Business School.

Holdings include corporate histories, directories, government documents, handbooks, pamphlets, and trade publications that are not widely available. A valuable resource for researchers hoping to gather and analyze data.

WORKING KNOWLEDGE

HBS Working Knowledge distills the latest faculty research into practical insights for leaders, entrepreneurs, and change agents. Stay up-to-date by signing up for the Working Knowledge Newsletter.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Stay in the know!  See other resources, events, or research happening at Harvard and beyond.

Follow this link to a spreadsheet of other resources related to Hispanic and Latinx culture and identity.