The J. and W. Seligman Archives at the Harry W. Bass Business History Collection.

In 1955 Harry W. Bass, prominent in the petroleum industry and a former student at the University of Oklahoma, provided the money to establish a special collection in business history that would later be named in his honor. Bass recognized the importance of understanding the history of business enterprise, a subject he felt was neglected in institutions of higher education. Working with the late Ronald B. Shuman, the collection's purpose was stated broadly to include not only histories of business leaders and firms but also the economic, social, and political forces that influenced the role of business in society. While books in the English language make up the majority of the collection, other languages and business and economic developments on a global scale are included as well.

Housed as a separate department within the university library, the collection has its own fire protection devices, security arrangements, and humidity controls to preserve materials. The materials in the collection do not circulate nor are they available via interlibrary loan. Visitors are welcome and the staff will respond to inquiries and provide photocopying and research assistance to the extent that our resources allow.

The holdings include a variety of media: archives, rare as well as out-of-print and current books, microforms, and video and audio tapes and cassettes. The oldest book in the collection is Johannes Nider's De Contractibus Mercatorum, published in 1468 in Cologne by Ulrich Zell, an apprentice to Johannes Gutenberg. Other incunabulae include Giorgio Chiarini's 1497 book published in Florence on trade customs in Italy and Bartholomeo di Pasi's 1503 writings about Italian tariffs and taxes. The collection also contains works from many well known figures, including Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas Mun, Sir William Petty, Sir Walter Raleigh, Bernard Mandeville, John Law, Daniel Defoe, and Benjamin Franklin. The collection of Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations consists of the first six editions plus various later compilations. He made textual changes in the first three editions--after that only printers' errors were corrected.

The Bass Business History Collection also includes recent material. The Retail Intelligence Systems [*] archive was generated by a consulting firm, Management Horizons, formed in 1974 by Ohio State University Professors William R. Davidson and Alton F. Doody and Indiana University Professor Bert C. McCammon, Jr. McCammon commented that marketing was a "throw-away" discipline and the trio resolved to keep a record of the materials they developed about retailing for a steadily growing list of clients. McCammon later became a professor at the University of Oklahoma and, with William Davidson, provided a complete set of the Retail Intelligence Systems (RIS) publications for archival purposes. Included in the collection are the reports generated by the consulting company in their Retail Yearbook, Retail Preview, Retail Economist, and Intelligence Update publications. Together these sources include public domain information taken from various government and trade sources supplemented by proprietary research and an alysis from consumer survey research, data gathered from retail store visits, interviews, and in-field observations by the consulting staff.

One of the most significant collections in the Harry W. Bass archives are the papers of the J. and W. Seligman Company. This large collection, which is the subject of the remainder of this research note, should be of particular interest to business historians.

The J. and W. Seligman Company, established in 1864, was one of America's early investment banking houses and provided a strong connection between the United States and Europe. The firm grew from Joseph Seligman who immigrated to the U.S. in 1837 and worked for Asa Packer in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) Pennsylvania before becoming an itinerant peddler. With his savings Joseph financed the immigration of his seven brothers, one sister, and parents over a period of years. Joseph's brothers--William, James, Henry, Jesse, Leopold, Isaac, and Abraham would play a role in the development of the Joseph and William Seligman firm. Joseph's sister, Babette, would marry Max Stettheimer and bring another into the family's ventures.

The Seligman archives contain the history of the family and some records of the various ventures of the brothers before the decision to enter investment banking. The years as peddlers and storekeepers are not fully covered by correspondence, however, but by recollections of family members. The banking years began in New York in 1862 and a Frankfurt, Germany branch opened in 1864. For short periods there were branches in New Orleans, and San Francisco; the latter, the Anglo-California Bank, was subsequently acquired by the Crocker Bank. Eventually there would be branches in London and Paris, all guided by the New York office.