Wallace Brett Donham cases and teaching files
Overview
The Wallace Brett Donham cases and teaching files span 1921 to 1949 and holds lecture notes and cases for first year students at the Harvard Business School.
Dates
- Creation: 1921-1949
Creator
- Donham, Wallace Brett, 1877-1954 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. HBS Archives collections require a secondary registration form, please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
0.75 linear feet (2 boxes)This collection consists of a series of cases compiled and edited by Dean Wallace B. Donham of the Harvard Business School (HBS) between 1921 and 1949. The ninteen cases were prepared for first year business students. The copies of the cases feature handwritten and typed edits from Donham as well as assignments related to the case in question. Also included are printed lecture notes on index cards outlining class structure. Lastly this collection holds two letters between Donham and other professors, one from HBS, and the other a colleague from the University of Kansas.
Biographical / Historical
Wallace Brett Donham was born on October 26, 1877 in Rockland, Mass. Son of a dentist, Donham lived at home and commuted daily to Cambridge while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in government at Harvard College. He graduated in 1898 and went on to Harvard Law School. After passing the bar in 1901, Donham began working for the legal department at Old Colony Trust Company. He gradually moved to administrative work and in 1906 was elected vice president of Old Colony Trust Company.
Lawrence Lowell, then president of Harvard College, asked Donham to serve as the second dean for the Business School in 1919. Lowell was Donham’s mentor back when Donham was an undergraduate and Lowell taught government. So close was their relationship that Lowell paid for Donham to attend law school. During his deanship, Donham implemented the case study method for teaching business administration, emphasized the human side of business, and insisted on an objective study of economics. The Business School grew from a small program with no dedicated location to a fully embodied professional institution. He received an honorary Doctorate of Law from Harvard University in 1939.
After retiring as dean in 1942, Donham continued to teach at Harvard having started a human relations course for undergraduates. Further he held a seminar in human relations at Colgate University for two years in 1948. During his professional life he wrote two books, “Business Adrift” and “Business Looks at the Unforeseen” as well as numerous articles and essays emphasizing the role of business administrators in society. Wallace Brett Donham died on November 29, 1954 in Cambridge, MA.
Physical Location
ARCFA
Processing Information
Processed: May 2019 By: Elise Riley
Creator
- Donham, Wallace Brett, 1877-1954 (Person)
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- bak00955
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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