The John W. Hartman Center contributes to the study of sales, advertising and marketing in society by preserving historical archives and sponsoring related programs at Duke University. It provides the most comprehensive archive of industry history available today.The Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University received the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) Archives in 1987. Recognizing the opportunity to acquire related collections and to promote their use, the library created the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History in 1992 with funding from John W. Hartman and others. The Hartman Center holds an extensive collection of more than 3 million items that document the history of salea, advertising marketing throughout the past two centuries, including the the following major collecting areas:
- Advertising Cookbooks: Nicole DiBona Peterson Collection
- Agencies: Bates Worldwide, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, J.Walter Thompson (JWT), Wells Rich Greene, Warwick Baker & O'Neill and Wunderman
- Collectors: Gary P. & Sandra D. Baden Collection of Print Advertising, Roy Lightner Collection of Print Advertising and Wayne P. Ellis Collection of Kodakiana
- Direct Marketing: Wunderman, Lester Wunderman Papers, John Stevenson Papers
- Marketing: McGraw-Hill Marketing Information Center Collection
- Outdoor Advertising: Garrett Orr Papers, Howard Scott Papers, Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and R.C. Maxwell Company
- Personal Career Papers: Ben Rosen, David McCall, Gene Federico, Kensinger Jones, Margaret Fishback, Sheldon Sosna and Stanley C. Marshall
- Sales and Salesmanship Literature: Search our collection online.
- Tobacco: Liggett & Myers Tobacco Advertising Collection
- Trade Associations: Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and American Association of Advertising Agencies
