John Benjamin Harris is Professor Emeritus of Management and Marketing at Virginia State University. He pioneered governmental and commercial awareness of African American advertising markets and, in the 1970s, became the Director of the Virginia State Office of Minority Business Enterprise and Special Assistant to the Governor for Minority Enterprise. The John Benjamin Harris Papers span the years 1955-1991 and include scholarly articles, corporate reports and proposals, product labels, 16mm film reels, and audio tapes. Materials represent Harris' academic and professional work at New York University and Virginia State University as well as his work for the Virginia State Office of Minority Business Enterprise. Topics touched on in the collection include minority business enterprises; minority markets and minorities (especially African Americans) as consumers; and African American mass media. In addition, the collection reflects Harris' work for the advertising industry with employers including Cunningham & Walsh, Inc., the Leo Burnett Company, Inc., and the Ted Bates Company. Brands represented include Alka-Seltzer (Miles Laboratories), Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Cleveland Electric, Eastman Kodak, Pillsbury, and Schlitz.
The John Benjamin Harris Papers span the years 1955-1991 and include scholarly articles, corporate reports and proposals, product labels, 16mm film reels, and audio tapes. Materials represent Harris' academic and professional work at New York University and Virginia State University as well as his work for the Virginia State Office of Minority Business Enterprise. Topics touched on in the collection include minority business enterprises; minority markets and minorities (especially African Americans) as consumers; and African American mass media. In addition, the collection reflects Harris' work for the advertising industry with employers including Cunningham & Walsh, Inc., the Leo Burnett Company, Inc., and the Ted Bates Company. Brands represented include Alka-Seltzer (Miles Laboratories), Campbell Soup, Coca-cola, Cleveland Electric, Eastman Kodak, Pillsbury, and Schlitz.
The collection is organized into three series: Writings, Package Labels, and Audiovisual Materials. The Writings Series includes scholarly articles, reports, and proposals from Harris' academic and professional career in marketing research. The Package Labels series includes images of Campbell Soup Company branded product labels. The Audiovisual Materials series includes reels of television and radio advertisements for various company brands and advertising agencies.