Let us light our candles together against the darkness. Peter E. Greulich ---- Inspired by this quote: “Thomas J. Watson preferred to light a candle rather than to criticize the dark.” Reverend Gannon, Fordham University ---- Booker T. Washington talked with his Tuskegee Institute students about the type of individual who only focuses on darkness in their lives. Select the button below to read his thoughts from a review of his book: Building Character. If you read the entire review, you might be surprised by what the southern papers wrote of this work and of Washington’s thoughts and deeds. They were drawn to his light!
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A young clergyman while dining with Abraham Lincoln displayed a belief similar to some who read my articles. This is a short excerpt from that conversation between the two men.
Disregarding the irony of a minister questioning the value of books—the bible is a book, Abraham Lincoln captured how I feel when I read a great biography about a good man or woman. I find that many of today’s new thoughts—including my own, aren’t so original. I find my thoughts sometimes wither, sometimes change direction, or sometimes prosper anew under a spotlight that accurately unfolds a great man’s or woman’s life of achievement. The clergyman ended the passage with a straightforward statement of what seems obvious but rarely written of Mr. Lincoln: “He loved the things of the Spirit.” Be sure your children are readers. We all need our egos exercised and challenged. Select the button below to see a collection of biographies and other miscellaneous books from the past reviewed by this author and by others from the year of their publishing. Footnote: J. E. Gallaher, Best Lincoln Stories: Tersely Told, (M. A. Donohue & Company, Chicago, 1898) pp. 49,50
The United States and Canada are federations of states and provinces, respectively. We are friends. We are next-door neighbors. Putting cynicism—so rampant today—aside, there is no doubt that if either of our countries needed help, the one federation would rise to assist the other. It doesn’t require our two countries to sign treaties or to even shake hands; the democratic debate to come to the other’s aid would be a short one—probably just long enough to take the requisite, unifying vote to aid our brethren in liberty.
But no longer. Select the image above or the button below to read the full article. “We have an obligation to our men and women overseas—nearly 5,000 in number—who have all been guaranteed jobs when they come home from the service of their country.” Thomas J. Watson Sr., IBM Systems Service Classes, Endicott, April 9, 1945
Thomas J. Watson Sr. and his shareholders implemented a policy of giving the returning veterans one- or two-weeks’ vacation between the time when they reported back to the company after the war and when they started work—a wartime to peacetime readjustment period paid for by the company. Tom Watson was also proud of the fact that the company prioritized hiring back servicemen who had not worked for the corporation. To read the whole story select the image above or the button below. If anyone had used the term “capitalist” in reference to Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, he would have been offended to the point of apoplexy. Like him, most 20th Century industrialists would have wondered at an individual’s ignorant usage of the term, but all of them would have quickly corrected the person with a simple statement:
These individuals preferred the term and classification of "industrialist." Select the image above or the button below to read the entire article. “We have an obligation to our men and women overseas—nearly 5,000 in number—who have all been guaranteed jobs when they come home from the service of their country.” Thomas J. Watson Sr., IBM Systems Service Classes, Endicott, April 9, 1945
When discussing the “reconversion” problem, Tom Watson predicted that the biggest problem wouldn’t be in the reconversion to producing peacetime products but in the reintegration of the men and women who had served overseas. He was right. To read about the problems IBM and the country faced with re-employing millions of soldiers after World War II, either select the image above of the button below.
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Peter E. GreulichPete has been studying IBM and early American corporate history since his retirement in 2011. These are his thoughts and musings, and of those whose biographies he has read with links to articles and book reviews on this website. Archives
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