Mission
The John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History acquires, preserves, and promotes materials that document the history of the advertising, marketing, and sales industries, as well as the consumer movement. The center, housed at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, makes these materials available to a diverse group of researchers from around the world.
History
The origins of the Hartman Center began with the library's acquisition of the corporate archives of international advertising agency the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) in 1987. In 1992, with funding from Duke alumnus John W. Hartman and others, the library established the Hartman Center to continue to actively collect and promote the use of material related to the history of advertising in society. In addition to the JWT archives, the most complete historical record of any advertising agency in the world, the center now houses the records of other advertising agencies and trade associations, the papers documenting the careers of advertising and communications professionals, and a large collection of sales and salesmanship literature.
John W. Hartman
The Hartman Center is named for John W. Hartman (1923-2007), a 1944 Duke graduate. Mr. Hartman had successful careers in advertising, media, and sales. As former CEO of Bill Communications, he published a number of business, trade, and technical magazines, including Sales and Marketing Management. He continued to write for publications after retirement and was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Additional support for the center's collections and programs has come from the John & Kelly Hartman Foundation, JWT, the Dunspaugh-Dalton Foundation, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Lamar Advertising Company, and numerous other corporate and individual donors.
Support
The Hartman Center is grateful for the generosity of private benefactors, whose donations support our collecting mission and greater access to collections through outreach, processing, and public programming. We have received most of our holdings as gifts or have acquired them with the support of our donors. We welcome inquiries from individuals and representatives of businesses and professional organizations about contributing to our collections or supporting the center's mission in other ways. To make a financial contribution to support our unique collections, you can donate online.
Holdings
The Hartman Center collections a broad range of historical materials in a number of formats including the following topical areas;
