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Why study business history?

by Paul Levengood
for Virginia Business
July 2006

On July 22, the Virginia Historical Society (VHS) will officially open the Reynolds Center for Business History, the first facility in the South to collect and interpret the business history of a state.

Initiated by generous grants from the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation and Alcoa, the center is part of a new $22 million wing of the VHS’ headquarters in Richmond. It provides a repository for the records of important and representative businesses and business leaders. The center is fortunate to have already attracted several major collections, including the papers of Reynolds Metals, Best Products, Lane Furniture, A.H. Robins, James River and others.

In discussing the center with people outside VHS, confusion frequently arises: “Old payroll records, interoffice memoranda, employee newsletters, and the like . . . why would you want these things?” The answer, in a nutshell, is that we know of no other way to tell the complete story of Virginia history, especially that of the 20th century, a period in which the commonwealth underwent many of the most dramatic changes in its history.

In fewer than 100 years, the fundamental underpinnings of Virginia’s economy moved from a centuries-old reliance on agriculture to a diversified array of industries and services. In 1900 close to 82 percent of Virginians lived in the country, most on farms. In 2000 that number had dropped to 26 percent.

In the same period, life expectancy, per capita income and education levels all rose greatly. Virginians today are better paid, better educated, healthier and live in a more just society than they did when the 20th century dawned. Clearly a number of factors contributed to this revolution. But at the top of the list must be the role played by a host of businesses led by several generations of business leaders. Largely through their efforts, the commonwealth has gone from a net exporter of its people — who fled north or west in search of decent-paying jobs — to a magnet for migrants from across the nation and the world. Businesses have provided jobs, invested in Virginia towns and cities, helped attract federal infrastructure investment, supported the region’s institutions of higher education, and encouraged a host of cultural activities from museums to the performing arts.

In spite of the unquestionably important role business has played in creating the Virginia of today, until the VHS established the Reynolds Center, no institution in the state was actively collecting the records of businesses and making them available to researchers. We envision becoming a magnet for those interested in the history of business and commerce, the role of business in society and the lessons to be learned from the entrepreneurs of the past.

It is impossible to speculate what company records might tell future researchers. Yet the prospect that they may be used to answer important questions about the past is exciting.

Paul Levengood is managing editor of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. He also serves as the program coordinator of the Reynolds Business History Center.