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Subject: Re: [APG] old business record at Harvard?
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:58:57 -0500


I was disappointed to hear Ray and Rebecca's reports on the R.G. Dun & Co.
collection at Harvard Business School's Baker Library. Historian Mary Ryan made
interesting use of it in her wonderful book "Cradle of the Middle Class: The
Family in Oneida County, New York, 1790-1865," which motivated me to visit the
web site.

FYI, it's not just Dun. All of Baker Library's historical collections are
closed to genealogists:

"The Historical Collections Department is open to members of the Harvard
Business School and Harvard University communities. Visitors who are engaged in
scholarly research and whose work depends upon materials contained in the
Historical Collections Department may have free access. There may be
restrictions on the use of selected collection materials. Because of our
limited staff and preservation concerns, the collections are not open for
genealogical research."

http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/services/access.shtml

And should any scholarly genealogist manage to squeeze in through the obvious
loopholes, the Dun collection is further restricted:

"The Dun & Bradstreet Company, in presenting the early credit ledgers of R.G.
Dun & Co. to Baker Library, has requested that no material found in the records
be published, whether by quotation or by summary, without its prior permission.
... Users agree to submit manuscript excerpts and citations, before publication
or presentation, to the Coordinator of Public Services, Historical Collections,
Baker Library, who will in turn forward them to Dun & Bradstreet for the
required permission. Please allow two months for the processing of your
request."

http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/collections/dun/dunapp.htm

Harold


Message: 11
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:08:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ray Beere Johnson II <>
Subject: Re: [APG] old business record at Harvard?
To: Karen Webster <>, APG Posting
<>
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Karen;

> I attended a genealogy conference in Utah last month. I
> believe I remember one of the instructors saying that
> Harvard business school has the records for old businesses
> in the US. Anyone have any experience with those, or
> accessing them?

Harvard business school does not have records for _all_ old businesses in the
US, but they do have many records, some for businesses operating in Colonial
times. There is a catalogue on their web site, although it may not be complete.
<http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/>; Please note that although the web site states
these collections are "available for use", the actual policy seems to be far
more restrictive. I inquired about access, a few years ago, at the request of a
client. I got a quite nasty reply from a business school library staffer, the
short version being that the records were only accessible for serious academic
purposes. It was implied that genealogists were far beneath Harvard's lofty
standards. (Despite the fact one of their libraries is a government documents
repository, and they are required to let anyone in, I also had a lengthy
argument with a security guard before I was allowed access there. Harvard is
the only place I have ever personally encountered such trouble in accessing
records. Once in the library, however, I did find the staff friendly and
helpful.) Ray Beere Johnson II

------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:09:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rebecca Rector <>
Subject: Re: [APG] old business record at Harvard?
To:
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I have had experience using this collection. It's called the R.G. Dun
Collection (forerunner of Dun & Bradstreet), at Baker Library at Harvard. It's
a difficult collection to use, and no photocopies are allowed except for the
few volumes that are on film?(I don't know about digital photos - the website
doesn't mention that. I was there before digital cameras became popular, and
had to take extensive notes).? There are indexes, but the handwriting in the
books is very small and scrawled and it's difficult to read the "codes" that
were used, though there is a guide to the codes. ? The collection is only
available to those doing "scholarly research. It is not available for
genealogical research" ? Here's the website:?
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/collections/dun/ ? Good luck. It's an interesting
collection of old business ratings, with some occasional good laughs, such as
remarks that a business owner was drunk or something similar. ? Rebecca (I was
doing research for a professor and he had to write them a letter stating that I
would be doing research for him)

Rebecca Rector, MLS
RbInfo Research
Troy, NY
www.rbinforesearch.com

Harold Henderson
Research and Writing from Northwest Indiana

home office 219/324-2620
http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com

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