Consumer Reports. Board of Directors records, 1916-2015 and undated

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Restrictions:
Collection is restricted. Meeting minutes are closed for 25 years from the date of production. Other materials produced by Consumer Reports are closed for 40 years from the date of production.
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Summary

Creator:
Consumer Reports (Firm)
Abstract:
Consumer Reports is a product testing and consumer advocacy nonprofit organization based in Yonkers, N.Y., founded in 1936. The Consumer Reports Board of Directors records include correspondence, meeting minutes, clippings, financial and status reports, pamphlets and other printed materials. Topics include general operations, Board memberships and resignations; budgets and financial performance, building maintenance and facility site planning; Consumers Union mission and philosophy; litigation; personnel and pension policies; publication and subscription status; research and technical activities. Board members and correspondents represented in the collection include Betty Furness, Clarence Ditlow, Colston Warne, Marjorie East, and Ralph Nader. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.
Extent:
60.0 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11787

Background

Scope and content:

The Consumer Reports Board of Directors records include correspondence, meeting minutes, clippings, financial and status reports, pamphlets and other printed materials. Topics include general operations, Board memberships and resignations; budgets and financial performance, building maintenance and facility site planning; Consumers Union mission and philosophy; litigation; personnel and pension policies; publication and subscription status; research and technical activities. Board members and correspondents represented in the collection include Betty Furness, Clarence Ditlow, Colston Warne, Marjorie East, and Ralph Nader. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

Biographical / historical:

Consumer Reports is a product testing and consumer advocacy nonprofit organization based in Yonkers, N.Y., founded in 1936.

The Board of Directors provide policy oversight and strategic planning for the organization. The first Board was established with the founding of Consumers Union in 1936. Original Board members were: Robert Brady (economist, later Director of Western Consumers Union); Heywood Broun (journalist, co-founder of The Newspaper Guild); Osmond Fraenkel (lawyer, co-founder of The Lawyers Guild); Abraham J. Isserman (labor lawyer, Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union); Arthur Kallet (engineer, first Director of Consumers Union); Charles Marlies (chemical engineer); Dewey Palmer (physicist); A. Philip Randolph (labor organizer, co-founder of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black-led union in the United States); Bernard Reis (lawyer and accountant, first Treasurer of Consumers Union); and Rose Schneiderman (Women's Trade Union League, labor organizer, feminist, leader in New York's suffrage movement).

Later prospective Board members were invited to apply for admission. Board members originally served 2-year renewable terms.

Acquisition information:
The Consumer Reports. Board of Directors records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2019.
Processing information:

Portions originally processed by Consumers Union Archives staff, approximately 1989; minimally re-processed by Richard Collier, 2019; Additions processed by Richard Collier, Dec. 2019 and interfiled with collection. Accessions described in this collection guide: 2019-0130

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: General Files; Board Meetings; President (Colston Warne); Treasurer; Correspondence; Commmittees; Board Members; Elections; Reports to the Board from Outsiders.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Consumer advocacy
consumer protection
Product safety
Names:
John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
Warne, Colston E. (Colston Estey), 1900-1987

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is restricted. Meeting minutes are closed for 25 years from the date of production. Other materials produced by Consumer Reports are closed for 40 years from the date of production.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Consumer Reports. Board of Directors records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.