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Contemporary Collections
Contemporary Collections aim to support the research and curriculum of the Harvard Business School today and into the future. Collection activities focus on the career and professional development needs of our MBA students and alumni, as well as on access to business content to the Harvard University community at large.
The Harvard Business School Experience: Oversized Materials
Baker's circulating Oversize Collection is comprised of print materials too large to fit on standard shelf dimensions. Among these items is Have I Told You About...?: Knitting Together the Yarns of My Life by Justin L. Wyner (MBA 1948) and Reflections, Memories and Confessions by John L. Loeb, Jr. (MBA 1954). Both items are memoirs with sections dedicated to their days at HBS, the former of which is excerpted below.
Justin L. Wyner's memoir, which was dedicated to Baker Library at Wyner's 75th reunion, is nearly 400 pages detailing his business and political success as well as his engagement with the Jewish community and his own Jewish identity. Many pages are dedicated to his life in Bookline and the greater Boston area—a summation of the lessons he learned as a leader in the business, civic, and religious realms.
You can download a PDF of the featured chapter here.
Profiles of Female Genius: Estée Lauder
Profiles of Female Genius is a reference guide of select female leaders, several of whom are Jewish. This item is part of Baker's circulating Stacks Collection, which is browsable and accessible via the Stamps Reading Room.
One of the featured profiles, Estée Lauder, founded a multi-billion dollar cosmetics empire throughout the 20th century. The Profiles details, in part, her personal life history and struggle to reconcile her immigrant identity, in which "[she] desperately desired to be 100 percent American." This sentiment—along with other aspects of her professional life—is further explored in Lauder's autobiography, Estée Lauder: Sweet Smell of Success, and Estée: A Success Story, a VHS holding in Baker's Media Collection.
You can download a PDF of the above spread here.
Below are Estée Lauder's Rules of Success in Business, excerpted from the Profiles:
Rule 1.
Rule 2.
When you're angry, never put it in writing
Rule 3.
You get more bees with honey
Rule 4.
Keep your own image straight in your mind
Rule 5.
Keep an eye on the competition
Rule 6.
Rule 7.
Rule 8.
Rule 9.
Rule 10.
Acknowledge your mistakes
Rule 11.
Rule 12.
Rule 13.
Rule 14.
Give credit where credit is due
Rule 15.
Train the best sales force
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.
Jewish American Philanthropy
Baker Library’s special collections include the papers of numerous Jewish American businesspeople and families who were greatly involved in philanthropic affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries. These include the investment banker Felix M. Warburg, Boston department store executive Louis Kirstein, and members of the families who led the Lehman Brothers and Kuhn Loeb & Co. investment firms. The records document deep engagement in civic, religious, artistic, and political affairs.
