May 24, 2006   link to syllabus   Link to handout on paper topics       New! Notes and questions on Capital Moves

History 363: American Business History

Announcements:
1. I'll have to leave office hours today (Wed., May 24) about 2:50; I won't be able to keep office hours next Tuesday, May 30.  I will hold replacement office hours tomorrow (Thurs., May 25) from 2:00-3:20.  Sorry for any inconvenience.
2. The paper is due Wednesday, May 31 at class time.   Late papers will be accepted if submitted by the last class (June 7), but they will be penalized in the grading, depending on how late they are. Papers will not be accepted after June 7.
3. Instructions and questions for the final exam will be available by next Wednesday. As previously mentioned, you'll have the choice of a take-home or an in-class exam.  The take-home will be due by the start of the in-class exam--10:15 Monday, June 12.  No extensions.  If you haven't submitted the take-home, you take the in-class.

We'll begin today with a brief video about our Tycoon of the Week--though once again it's stretching the definition to call her a tycoon.  Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919) was the daughter of former slaves who developed and marketed  hair care products for African American women in the early twentieth century.  She was one of the most successful African-American entrepreneurs of her era.  In watching the documentary consider what openings there were for small businesses in an era of giant corporations and how race and gender shaped the possibilities for business success that Madam Walker had.
    Some websites about her: http://www.princeton.edu/~compub/pwb//05/0321/1b.shtml
           http://www.madamecjwalker.com/
           http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/madamewalker.html    
            http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/walker/walker.htm

I. Small Business

    A. Small Business Sectors and Niches

    B. Big Business and the Sheltering of Small Business

    C. Small Business in an era of Flexible Specialization
        Brief summary of flexible specialization theory
         
II. Race, Gender and Business
        bibliography on cultural diversity in American business    Center for Black Business History

    A. Segregation, Exclusion and Opportunity

    B. Gender and the "Glass Ceiling"    essay on sources on history of women in American business
            online exhibit on women in American business