Publications

September 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Background Note

African American Inequality in the United States

By: Janice H. Hammond, A. Kamau Massey and Mayra G. Garza

This note describes how historical and on-going policies and practices that discriminate against African Americans led to present-day inequality. Topics include slavery, segregation, Jim Crow laws, “black codes,” and policies and practices relating to criminal justice,... View Details

Keywords: African Americans; Justice; Slavery; Discrimination; Race; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Policy; History; United States

June 2019
Case

The National Museum of African American History and Culture and Lonnie Bunch

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Jackson

Lonnie Bunch creates the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) with only half the federal support given to the first 17 Smithsonian historical or zoological institutions. Bunch, to borrow from the African American experience of creating “a... View Details

Keywords: Museums; Fundraising; Arts; Buildings and Facilities; Ethnicity; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Strategy; Marketing; Success; Leadership; Entrepreneurship

07 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

How an African History Scholar Became a Modern Righter of Wrongs

in what people think, and you need to find the right people to talk to you,” says Elkins, a professor of history and African and African American Studies at Harvard, and the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

October 2018
Case

African Bank Investments Limited (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Less than a year after joining the board of African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL), the newest director finds himself in difficult discussions with other directors about removing the struggling company’s CEO. The case is set in South Africa in mid-2014 as shares in... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Personal Finance; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Insurance; Leadership; Management; Risk Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Africa; South Africa

October 2018
Supplement

African Bank Investments Limited (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Less than a year after joining the board of African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL), the newest director finds himself in difficult discussions with other directors about removing the struggling company’s CEO. The case is set in South Africa in mid-2014 as shares in... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Personal Finance; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Insurance; Leadership; Management; Risk Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Africa; South Africa

05 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Meet The HBS African American Student Union

Founded in 1968 by 5 Black students at Harvard Business School, the African American Student Union (AASU) is a community for all Black students at HBS inclusive of all backgrounds, familial situations, and social preferences. Our goal is... View Details

28 Apr 2020
Blog Post

HBS African American Student Union

Black History Month programming. Youtube Video "We just cheer each other on... during all of my most exciting and terrifying moments at HBS, an AASU member has been in my corner making this place feel like home. That's the type of... View Details

Awards

World Economic History Congress Dissertation Prize

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

2018: Winner of the International Economic History Association's triennial Dissertation Prize in the Twentieth Century category for "Financing the African Colonial State: Fiscal Capacity Building and Forced Labor." View Details

30 Apr 2018
Blog Post

Reflecting on AASU50: Advancing African American Business Leadership

history and experience at HBS as African Americans- from the earliest graduates to the founders of AASU and to all who, as students and alumni, have made a difference at HBS, in the View Details

31 Oct 2018
News

Building on History

blessed to be the first African American to do a range of things in my life, starting with integrating what was called the Southwest Conference in 1965 as the first African American to receive a basketball... View Details

2023
Article

Bridging the Gap with the ‘New’ Economic History of Africa

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

This review article seeks to build bridges between mainstream African history and the more historically oriented branch of the ‘new’ economic history of Africa. We survey four central topics of the new economic history of Africa—growth, trade, labor, and inequality—and... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Trade; Labor; Equality and Inequality; Development Economics; History; Africa

Read Now

Web

About - Business History

About History has played a vital role at Harvard Business School since the School’s founding. The School’s first Dean, Edwin F. Gay, was an economic historian. In “The Rhythm of History” (1923), Gay wrote, “The self-centered, active... View Details

Web

African American Student Union | MBA

are AASU alumni. Annual Events H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference Black Tech Masters Series Black New Venture Competition Fall/Spring Retreat Black History Month Celebration Club Email Address hbsaasuclub@gmail.com Club Co-Presidents Ayinde... View Details

Web

Events - Business History

Origins of the Hilton Hotel Chain" Megan Elias (Boston University), 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Apr 9 09 Apr 2025 Virtual Seminar Gareth Austin (University of Cambridge), "Determinants of African Business Performance in Colonial and Post-Colonial... View Details

Bridging the Gap with the ‘New’ Economic History of Africa

This review article seeks to build bridges between mainstream African history and the more historically oriented branch of the ‘new’ economic history of Africa. We survey four central topics of the new economic history of Africa — growth, trade, labor, and... View Details

2014
Book

Empire of Cotton: A Global History

By: Sven Beckert

The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Globalized Markets and Industries; Society; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

04 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Celebrating Black History Month at HBS

During the month of February, we appreciated the opportunity to celebrate HBS students, alumni, and faculty who are establishing their own places in history. We are excited to continue to honor the legacy of the Black and African American... View Details

15 May 2019
Research Event

The Unconventional Capitalism That Shapes Business History

Lalocracio In thinking about the current contested state of global capitalism, and what to do about it, much can be learned from the debates I heard at the recent Harvard Business School conference, Seeking the Unconventional in Forging Histories of Capitalism, which... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones; Education

December 2012
Article

Structural Impediments to African Growth? New Evidence from Real Wages in British Africa, 1880–1965

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

Recent literature on the historical determinants of African poverty has emphasized structural impediments to African growth, such as adverse geographical conditions, weak institutions, or ethnic heterogeneity. But has African poverty been a persistent historical... View Details

Keywords: Living Standards; Real Wages; Labor Market; Colonial Institutions; Economic Growth; Wages; History; Africa