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Woodrow Wilson's Missionary to American Business, 1914–1915: A Note

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

Robert D. Cuff
Robert D. Cuff
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of History, University of Rochester
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Abstract

In the manner of the Creole tradesmen of Louisiana, whose lagniappe to their patrons is legendary, the Editor offers a similar bonus to readers of the Review. Instead of trifling presents added to a purchase, however, our lagniappe will be notes and documents illustrative of the evolution of business enterprise.

Type
Lagniappe
Information
Business History Review , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , Winter 1969 , pp. 545 - 551
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1969

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References

1 Link, Arthur S., Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era 1910–1917 (New York, 1963), 75–80, 228–229Google Scholar; Link, Arthur S., Wilson: The New Freedom (Princeton, 1956), 445–457, 469–471Google Scholar; Wiebe, Robert H., Businessmen and Reform: A Study of the Progressive Movement (Cambridge, 1962)Google Scholar; Kolko, Gabriel, The Triumph of Conservatism (New York, 1963), ch. 10.Google Scholar

2 Ferguson, Charles, The University Militant (New York, 1911), 8.Google Scholar For biographical data on Ferguson see, Mohr, William F. (ed.) Who's Who in New York, 1914 (New York, 1914), 243Google Scholar; Holmes, Frank R. (ed.), Who's Who in New York, 1924 (New York, 1924), 432Google Scholar; Downs, Winfield S. (ed.), Who's Who in New York, 1938 (New York, 1938), 361Google Scholar; Bruce, Dwight H. (ed.), Memorial History of Syracuse (Syracuse, 1891), 507.Google Scholar Ferguson died in 1944. See the New York Times, May 28, 1944, 33.

3 Hofstadter, Richard, The Age of Reform (New York, 1961), ch. vi.Google Scholar

4 (Ferguson, Charles), “The Men of 1916,” Forum, LV (February 1916), 156.Google Scholar

5 Ferguson's books include, in order of publication, The Religion of Democracy: A Memorandum of Modern Principles (New York, 1900); The Affirmative Intellect: An Account of the Origin and Missions of the American Spirit (New York, 1901); The University Militant (New York, 1911); The Great News (New York, 1915); The Revolution Absolute (New York, 1918); The Technarchy and the Capital College; Financial Politics; A Movement to Get Possession of Political Power through the Scientific Control of Capital (New York, 1924).

6 Ferguson, The University Militant, 7. See also 106–109, 149.

7 Ibid., 26.

8 House, Edward M., Philip Dru: Administrator (New York, 1912).Google Scholar See 63–64 for a specific reference to the part the aristocracy would play in bringing reform. Ferguson, Revolution Absolute, 121.

9 Ferguson to House, March 28, 1913, September 7, 1913, September 11–12, 1913, October 15, 1913, and November 21, 1913, all in the Papers of Edward M. House, Yale University Library, New Haven, Conn, (hereafter cited as the House Papers).

10 Ferguson to House, December 23, 1913, ibid.

11 Ferguson to House, June 6, 1914, ibid.

12 Ferguson to House, August 27, 1914, ibid. See also Ferguson to House, August 16, 1914, ibid.

13 Ferguson to House, August 31, 1914, ibid.

14 Ferguson to Wilson, August 31, 1914, Record Group 40, Records of the Department of Commerce, File No. 72321, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereafter cited as RG 40).

15 Link, The Progressive Era, 76.

16 Joseph E. Davies to Wilson, September 10, 1914, RG 40, File No. 72321.

17 Wilson to Redfield, September 18, 1914, ibid.

18 Redfield to Wilson, September 30, 1914, RG 40, ibid. See also Redfield to Ferguson, September 23, 1914; Redfield to Wilson, September 24, 1914; Ferguson to Redfield, September 24, 1914; Wilson to Redfield, October 1, 1914, all in ibid.

19 Redfield to Wilson, September 30, 1914; Redfield to Ferguson, November 5, 1914; Frank R. Rutter to Redfield, November 23, 1914, all in ibid.

20 This letter is reproduced in the New York Sun, March 12, 1915. See the clippings in RG 40, File No. 72321.

21 See the New York Sun, March 12, 1915, and the Washington Herald, March 13, 1915, clippings in RG 40, File No. 72321; Charles Ferguson, Great News.

22 B. C. Forbes in the New York American, clipping in RG 40, File No. 72321.

23 Ibid.

24 New York Sun, March 12, 1915, clipping in ibid.

25 Redfield to Wilson, July 10, 1915, RG 40, File No. 72321.

26 Wilson to Redfield, July 12, 1915, ibid.

27 Wilson and House both remained friendly to Ferguson in subsequent months. House tried to get him a campaign job with the Democratic party in 1916. See Robert W. Woolley to House, July 26, 1916 and September 6, 1916, both in the Papers of Robert W. Woolley, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. For examples of the President's continuing affection see Wilson to Ferguson, October 29 and November 5, 1917, both in the Letterbooks of Woodrow Wilson, Vol. 45, Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.