Baker Library Historical Collections
Baker Library Historical Collections collects, preserves and provides access to unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry and support research and teaching in a diverse range of disciplines.
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- Main:
- (617) 495-6411
- Fax:
- (617) 495-5957
Baker Library provides access to extraordinarily comprehensive special collections that record the evolution of industry from the 15th century to the present. The HBS Archives, business manuscripts, rare books, photographs and other unique resources document the individuals, organizations and theories that shaped, and continue to influence, the global business world.
Public Computer Terminals
Wi-Fi
Ethernet Cords
Microform Readers
Baker Library provides access to extraordinarily comprehensive special collections that record the evolution of industry from the 15th century to the present. The HBS Archives, business manuscripts, rare books, photographs and other unique resources document the individuals, organizations and theories that shaped, and continue to influence, the global business world.
- Public Computer Terminals
- Wi-Fi
- Ethernet Cords
- Microform Readers
Baker Library provides access to extraordinarily comprehensive special collections that record the evolution of industry from the 15th century to the present. The HBS Archives, business manuscripts, rare books, photographs and other unique resources document the individuals, organizations and theories that shaped, and continue to influence, the global business world.
- Public Computer Terminals
- Wi-Fi
- Ethernet Cords
- Microform Readers
Baker Library provides access to extraordinarily comprehensive special collections that record the evolution of industry from the 15th century to the present. The HBS Archives, business manuscripts, rare books, photographs and other unique resources document the individuals, organizations and theories that shaped, and continue to influence, the global business world.
- Public Computer Terminals
- Wi-Fi
- Ethernet Cords
- Microform Readers
Historical Collections
Baker Library Historical Collections contains the most comprehensive collection of historical materials on business and industry in the world, dating from the 15th century to the present day. Manuscript, print, visual, and other formats are available to academic and scholarly researchers, with extensive 18th and 19th century - and a growing focus on contemporary - business materials.
See the Baker Library Historical Collections’ Collections page for more information.
- Reference Assistance
- Duplication Services
- Research Services for the R.G. Dun & Co. Collection
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/collections/dun/research.shtml
- Research Services for the Historic Corporate Reports Collection
- Access
Baker Library Historical Collections' materials are available for academic and scholarly research. There may be restrictions on the use of selected collection materials. Due to our limited staff and preservation concerns, the collections are not open for genealogical research. Visitors are asked to complete a registration form and present identification with a recent photograph and a current address. For more information on Historical Collections, please see Planning a Visit.
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All areas of Baker Library are accessible by wheelchair through the south entrance of the building. The de Gaspé Beaubien Reading Room is on Level 1. Users with disabilities are welcome to contact the library to discuss their research and any additional assistance or services required to make use of our building or collections.
Building the Foundation
Trace the development of business education for women from Radcliffe College in 1937 to Harvard Business School, and discover how program directors, administrators, faculty prepared students to take their places in the business world.
Chronicle of the China Trade
The Heard Papers present a look into momentous events of Sino-Western relations and the daily activities of American traders in the treaty ports.
South Sea Bubble Resources
This guide provides contextual information about the South Sea Bubble, a detailed index of the South Sea Bubble Collection at Baker Library, and links to available digital content.
Web Guide to Photographs
The photograph collections at Baker Library Historical Collections hold more than 22,000 images of factories, equipment, techniques, processes, and people at work in industrial settings.
Women, Enterprise & Society
Materials that document women's participation in American business and culture from the eighteenth through the twentieth century.
Railroads and the Transformation of Capitalism
Unprecedented in size and complexity, the 19th century U.S. railroad system made possible an unparalleled level of commerce and became one of the models on which the foundations of modern capitalism would be based.
The Nineteenth-Century American Trade Card
An introduction to trade card advertising and a sampling of Baker Library ‘s more than 8,000 trade cards representing the full range of products and businesses advertised through this medium from the 1870s through the 1890s.
Lehman Brothers Collection
The Lehman Brothers Collection is a major resource for studying business trends through the lens of investment banking.
Human Relations Movement
In the 1920s, HBS professors led a landmark study of worker behavior at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works plant. The experiments represented a milestone in the dawn of the human relations movement.
Bubbles, Panics, & Crashes
From the 1830s to the 1930s, asset price bubbles inflated and burst multiple times, shattering public confidence and devastating markets in the U.S. and around the world.
History of Personal Credit
While the institutions and instruments of 21st century credit are less than a century old, credit is as old as commerce.
Latin American Oral History
The Latin American Oral History Project seeks to fill the gaps in business history information - especially the impact of globalization and economic cycles - for Latin American Southern Cone countries.
