As a result of an invitation from the Pan American Union of Washington, D. C., to participate in the commemoration of Pan American Day on April 14, the Baker Library has installed a special exhibit of materials on the industry and commerce of all Central and South American countries.

In collecting historical material, a society such as ours counts itself fortunate if from time to time the inflow of material, valuable because of its prospective usé, is sweetened by the appearance of items valuable because of their scarcity — and so usually valuable in a monetary sense.

In order to reconstruct the story of West Virginia's growth and in turn to throw light on the State's connection with our national development, the West Virginia University Collection of Historical Manuscripts at Morgantown was established in 1931. Since then, voluminous material pertaining to various significant events in the political, economic, and social evolution of the State has flowed into the Library. It is the purpose of this article to review the economic and business aspects of this collection, although, of course, it is recognized that the institution gives equal emphasis to other phases of history.

An interesting sidelight on the attitude of white laborers toward potential competition from slaves in the pre-Civil War period is found in the Baker Library's Baldwin collection.

In the development of a great industry or a new territory there is quite often one man who stands out as a symbol of its evolution. Such was the case in the development of the upper peninsula of Michigan. The man was Peter White; and the truth of this statement is borne out by even a hasty perusal of the voluminous papers, account books, and letters in the White collection held by the Baker Library.

The story of that epochal day when Europe and America were first successfully connected by cable is told in the “Diary of the Great Eastern Telegraph,” written on board the ship that completed the task in 1866. A copy of this diary, one of the few actually printed on board the ship, and autographed by Cyrus W. Field, is available in the Baker Library.

Letters asking persons to become agents for a novel device or a patent medicine, although grossly exaggerating the qualities of the advertised product, are not unusual; but when a counterfeiter pens a letter to secure an agent for the distribution of illicit dollars, it is indeed a curiosity. Two such extraordinary letters may be found in the files of the Society.

Collecting historical data possesses a lure somewhat akin to the joy of solving a tantalizing puzzle. A bit of information here, a manuscript there, and finally that last scrap of material is found which places the historical event in its true perspective. This process of building up certain business historical information into an understandable whole is often evidenced in the operations of the Business Historical Society.

The recent acquisition by the Baker Library of two booklets on Wall Street, one of them issued by a broker in the days of the Civil War and the other issued by another broker about 1880, calls to mind the many changes, not only in the physical appearance of the Street but also in the procedure of conducting business, that have taken place since 1850.

Arrogant knights, dashing Vikings of the North, wild Indian hunters, and colorful naval battles are a few of the stirring scenes depicted in the picturesque advertisements of the early California clipper ships, found in the Society's collection of trade cards.

Perusal of these yellowed but still gay cards reveals that the illustrations are seldom directly tied up with the shipping trade. More often the scenes are pictorial expressions of the ship's name. Robin Hood and his merry men step right out of history to advertise the sailing of the clipper ship bearing the gallant bandit's name.

The New York Historical Society, at 170 Central Park West, New York City, was founded in 1804, and for one hundred and thirty years has been gathering and preserving historical materials, through generous gifts and considered purchases. Its founders were scholarly gentlemen of varied interests, and for many decades the Society was not considered so specialized as libraries tend to be now. In consequence, there are many things here, besides New York material, which a stranger would not expect to find in the library of a society designated the New York Historical.

Elegantly equipped fire engines, automatic ladders, and pumps capable of spouting streams of water far into the air were not available in 1762; but citizens of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were cognizant of the need for protection against fire; and so they organized the Friendly Fire Society. Detailed regulations of the organization are recorded in the “articles” of the group possessed by the Business Historical Society.

Adventures in the South Seas, narrated in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson's “Treasure Island,” are reported in the log of the Ship Hope for the years 1806 to 1808, now possessed by the Business Historical Society. Opportunity for adventure was derived from the unusual character of the voyage.

Interest in the internal improvement of the country, sectional enthusiasm, desire for personal profit — such were the motives characterizing the early railroad conventions which were a vital factor in the rapid development of our railroads a century ago. Detailed reports of these conventions are available in the almost complete file of the American Railroad Journal, possessed by the Baker Library.

Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, Worcester's first printer and the first historian of American printing, the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester has grown steadily until it is today one of the greatest of all American history libraries. When the present beautiful and modern library building was erected, the museum feature of the Society's collections was discontinued and all efforts were concentrated on the building of a great library for the free use of scholars. Today historians, professors, graduate students, biographers, and bibliographers come from all parts of the country, many of them spending happy weeks or months in our quiet reading room. Hundreds of others write to us each year and are supplied through correspondence with the information they cannot come to Worcester to search out for themselves.

Modern advertisers using rhymes in their copy may have obtained the idea from pamphlets similar to the one issued by Oak Hall, Boston clothiers, in 1850, and preserved in the collection of the Business Historical Society.