The Development of Business Archives in the United States: An Overview and a Personal Perspective
Author(s)
Adkins, Elizabeth W.
Abstract
This essay provides an overview of the development of business archives in the United States. The author reviews the uncertain beginnings of corporate archives programs in the 1950s and 1960s, the sudden rush of programs in the 1970s, and the harsh reality cause by reengineering and downsizing in the 1980s and 1990s. She also reviews the role of public repositories which house corporate archives collections in preserving corporate records. In addition, this essay also presents the author’s reflections on the interaction between corporate archives and repositories which collect business records, as a result of her participation in the Records of American Business Project. The essay concludes with an annotated list of major American corporate archives.
