Alfred Chandler, the Harvard Business School professor whose early work on Henry Varnum Poor brought to light the work of one of business journalism pioneers, is dead at the age of 88.
Chandler created the field of business history, and he helped former GM CEO Alfred Sloan write his famous autobiography “My Years with General Motors” that led to Sloan being the first person on the cover of Fortune magazine in 1963.
But it was Chandler’s graduate study work at the University of North Carolina in the late 1940s and early 1950s that had an impact on business journalism. He wrote his dissertation about Poor, who was editor of the American Railroad Journal from 1849 to 1862 and considered the forerunner of modern business journalism. Poor was Chandler’s great-grandfather.
Poor turned the newspaper from a trade journal into a publication aimed at a general audience.
As editor of this paper, Poor required railroad companies to provide him financial statements — long before the SEC made them a public record for all investors. He analyzed the numbers and gave his opinion as to whether the companies were a good — or poor — investment. His paper is considered the precursor to all modern business journalism in evaluating investments.
Poor’s compilation of railroad company financials was later compiled into a book, forming the basis of what is today Standard & Poor’s Corp., a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Inc.
Chandler’s work on Poor was later published as a book: “Henry Varnum Poor: Business Editor, Analyst and Reformer.” Most major public libraries have a copy.
Read more about Chandler here.Â
