This article traces the historical evolution of the memorandum as a genre of written communication in American business during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It draws on published and unpublished materials from the period, including archival materials from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and Scovill Manufacturing Company. The historical analysis shows that the memo developed from the letter, not for reasons related to rhetorical theory, but as a practical response to two sets of developments: (1) the emergence of new managerial theory and techniques, and (2) innovations in the technology of written communication. The study also reveals a significant lag between the actual emergence of the genre and its recognition in instructional materials in communication.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Andrews, D. C. , & Andrews, W. D. (1988). Business communication. New York: Macmillan.
2.
Belfield, H. W. (1904, February). Interhouse correspondence. System, 5, 113-115.
3.
Bell, A. H. (1987). Business communication: Process and practice. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
4.
Bennett, J. C. , & Olney, R. J. (1986). Executive priorities for effective communication in an information society. Journal of Business Communication, 23(2), 13-22.
5.
Bishop, P. W. (ca. 1950). [History of Scovill, in Scovill 2/59]. Unpublished manuscript.
6.
Bliven, B., Jr. (1954). The wonderful writing machine. New York: Random House.
7.
Bogert, J.B.W. , & Worley, R. B. (1988). Managing business communications: An applied process approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
8.
Chandler, A. D., Jr. (1962). Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the American industrial enterprise. Cambridge: MIT Press.
9.
Chandler, A. D., Jr. (1977). The visible hand: The managerial revolution in American business. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
10.
Chandler, A. D., Jr. , & Salsbury, S. (1971). Pierre S. du Pont and the making of the modern corporation. New York: Harper & Row.
11.
Current, R. N. (1954). The typewriter and the men who made it. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
12.
Dale, E. , & Meloy, C. (1962). Hamilton MacFarland Barksdale and the Du Pont contributions to systematic management. Business History Review, 36, 127-152.
13.
Daniel, C. A. (1982). Sherwin Cody: Business communication pioneer. Journal of Business Communication, 17(4), 3-18.
14.
Dickson, D. (1985). Humanistic influences on the art of the familiar epistle in the renaissance. In G. H. Douglas & H. W. Hildebrandt (Eds.), Studies in the history of business writing (pp. 11-21). Urbana IL: Association for Business Communication.
15.
Gallagher, O. C. , & Moulton, L. B. (1918). Practical business English. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
16.
Griffith, J. B. (1909). Correspondence and filing (Instruction paper). Chicago: American School of Correspondence.
17.
Hanna, J. L. (1913, January 10). Efficient methods of handling correspondence. Railway Age Gazette, 54, 61.
18.
Hildebrandt, H. W. (1988). Some influences of Greek and Roman rhetoric on early letter writing. Journal of Business Communication, 25(3), 7-27.
19.
Hotchkiss, G. B. (1916-17). Business English (12 vols.). New York: Business Training Corporation.
20.
Lesikar, R. V. (1984). Business communication: Theory and application (5th ed.). Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.
21.
Litterer, J. A. (1961). Systematic management: The search for order and integration. Business History Review, 35, 461-476.
22.
Litterer, J. A. (1963). Systematic management: Design for organizational recoupling in American manufacturing firms. Business History Review, 27, 372-389.
23.
Locker, K. (1982, December). The divergence of “bureaucratic” style from standard English prose in the correspondence of the British East India Company, 1600-1800. Paper presented at the meeting of the Modern Language Association, Los Angeles.
24.
Macklem, J. W. (1927). Old black powder days (part 1). Du Pont Magazine, 21 (8-9, combined), 11.
25.
Munter, M. (1987). Business communication: Strategy and skill. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
26.
Nelson, D. (1974). Scientific management, systematic management, and labor, 1880-1915. Business History Review, 48, 479-500.
27.
Nelson, D. (1975). Managers and workers: Origins of the new factory system in the United States, 1880-1920. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
28.
New York City Board of Education . (1923). English and business (Report of the Commercial Education Research Committee). New York: Board of Education.
29.
President's Commission on Economy and Efficiency . (1912). Memorandum of conclusions reached by the commission concerning the principles that should govern in the matter of handling and filing correspondence and preparing and mailing communications in connection with the work of the several departments of the government...(Circular no. 21). Washington, DC: Federal Archives and Records.
30.
Schulze, J. W. (1913). The American office: Its organization, management, and records. New York: Key.
31.
Sigband, N. B. , & Bell, A. H. (1986). Communication for management and business (4th ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
32.
Stine, D. , & Skarzenski, D. (1979). Priorities for the business communication classroom: A survey of business and academe. Journal of Business Communication, 16(2), 15-30.
33.
Storms, C. G. (1983). What business school graduates say about the writing they do at work: Implications for the business communication course. ABCA Bulletin, 46(4), 13-18.
34.
Watson, H. (1922). Applied business correspondence. Chicago: A. W. Shaw.
35.
Weiss, H. B. (1945). American letter-writers: 1698-1943. New York: New York Public Library.
36.
Wilkinson, N. B. (1965). In anticipation of Frederick W. Taylor: A study of work by Lammot du Pont, 1872. Technology and Culture, 6, 208-221.
37.
Wilkinson, N. B. (1984). Lammot du Pont and the American explosives industry, 1850-1884. University Press of Virginia.
38.
Williams, W. H. (1910). Railroad correspondence file (revised and supplemented by John L. Hanna). New York: De Vinne-Hallenbeck.
39.
Wren, D. (1979). The evolution of management thought (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
40.
Yates, J. (1982). From press book and pigeonhole to vertical filing: Revolution in storage and access systems for correspondence. Journal of Business Communication, 19(3), 5-26.
41.
Yates, J. (1987). From hand copy to Xerox copy: The effects of duplicating technology on organizational communication in American firms in the 19th and 20th centuries. In L. Thayer (ed.), Organization—communication: Emerging perspectives, II (pp. 82-103). Norwood, NY: Ablex.
42.
Yates, J. (in press). Control through communication: The rise of system in American management. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
