Director’s Foreword

In 2002, Lehman Brothers donated an extensive collection of business records to Harvard Business School’s Baker Library. In 2008, the firm donated additional materials to be integrated into the existing Lehman Brothers Collection. A few weeks later, on September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. Today this remarkable collection stands as the primary record of one of the longest running and largest investment firms in the United States.

The Lehman Brothers Collection holds voluminous business records highlighting the administrative and financial activities of the renowned firm as well as an extensive series of deal books that date from the 1920s through the 1980s. Lehman Brothers, like other major investment firms, compiled these large bound volumes to record its business transactions such as mergers, initial and common stock offerings, and debentures. The deal books contain agreements between the sellers and underwriters, prospectuses and other literature advertising an offer, filings of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and correspondence.

Baker Library is pleased to introduce the exhibition Lehman Brothers: A History, 1850–2008 as an opportunity to highlight this archival collection. The exhibition explores the history of this influential company as it evolved from a family-run firm for over one hundred years, to its merger with Kuhn, Loeb & Co., to its transformation into Shearson Lehman/American Express, and finally, to Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.

One of the earliest investment banking firms in the United States, Lehman Brothers had a rich history beginning in Montgomery, Alabama and ending 158 years later in New York City in 2008 in the midst of the global financial crisis. From its earliest years onward, the firm foresaw and helped grow a host of industries from retail to high tech. Among the many boxes and volumes within the collection, researchers can explore evidence of Lehman Brothers’ vision while tracing the firm’s influence on American business over a century and a half.

The Lehman Collection is an important resource for the study of modern business history providing researchers with a rare opportunity to access twentieth-century corporate records. Our hope is that in highlighting this collection, we can “finish the story” of this landmark American firm. We are eagerly seeking materials to fill in the gaps from 2000 to 2008, while continuing to build the overall collection.

We are profoundly grateful to Paul M. Cohen, Senior Partner, Lehman Brothers, who was instrumental in bringing this collection to Harvard Business School, as well as to the firm’s leaders who agreed to donate these archives in 2002. Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies at Harvard University, Francine S. Kittredge, Managing Director and Director of Corporate Relations, and Konrad Will, Vice President, Business Information Services and Corporate Archives at Lehman Brothers, were crucial to this effort as well. Without the vision and efforts of these individuals, we would not be able to share this important, richly documented history of a significant American firm.

In researching the story of Lehman Brothers and this period in business history, we benefited from the assistance of many individuals. We are particularly grateful for the guidance of Tom Nicholas, William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, who offered his knowledge and advice in the development of this exhibition. Robin Greenwood, George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at Harvard Business School, generously provided his expertise. We would like to thank John A. Paulson (MBA ’80), President, Paulson & Co., Inc. for his insights and time which are greatly appreciated. We are indebted to Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr. (MBA ’54) who shared his deep knowledge of the history of the Lehman family as well as his own materials. John D. Gordan, III was very helpful in locating early Lehman family photographs. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Felice Axelrod, who has been assisting us in reaching out to former Lehman Brothers’ employees to fill in gaps and expand the Lehman Brothers Collection.

We also reached beyond Baker Library to a number of institutions. Our thanks go to Vanessa Lee, Columbia Rare Book & Manuscript Library; James Darby, Barclays Group Archive; Peter Asch, New York Stock Exchange Archives; and Melissa Holland, Kheel Center, Cornell University. This collaboration greatly strengthened our exhibition.

Bringing all of these resources and expertise together was no small order. I would like to thank Melissa Banta, who led the exhibition team and navigated through Baker Library’s extensive Lehman holdings to tell this story with great skill and creativity. Also invaluable were the exhibition team members: Melissa Murphy, Michelle Jarvis, Jennifer Skarbek, Liat Spiro, Christine Riggle, Timothy Mahoney, Debra Cuoco, Lisa Clark, Candace King, and Heather Oswald. Each contributed in crucial ways to the success of this project and their efforts are very much appreciated.

November 2018