A couple of months ago, I began collecting farewell messages from members of the BHC to 9-year blog editor of The Exchange, Pat Denault. Pat, Thank You! We All hope that you will continue reading and being in contact with us, and we all wish you the best for the future.
Communication is at the heart of any community and, for the same reasons, any organization. Therefore, Pat Denault’s tireless efforts and creativity over decades have contributed immeasurably to the growth and health of the field of business history and, especially, to the Business History Conference. In addition to initiating, creating, and editing the BHC’s website and also its blog, The Exchange, she has over time filled key roles in the Business History Review and the BHC’s proceedings journal, Business and Economic History, with skill and dedication. Despite Pat’s trademark modesty, we all admire and appreciate her work and her generous spirit in doing that work.
A message from David B. Sicilia,
I got to know Pat Denault in the early 1980s, when she was managing the Charles Warren Center (CWC) at Harvard and I was a Brandeis Ph.D. student studying under Alfred Chandler. Other budding business historians then at large in Cambridge as part of the Harvard-MIT-Brandeis nexus were Joanne Yates, Richard John, Takashi Hikino, and Gerry Burk. In 1985, Pat left the CWC and moved across the Charles River to HBS, where she became increasingly involved with business history and the BHC. She knew and welcomed everyone into the fold. Later, while working for Harvard's distinguished Bernard Bailyn through his Atlantic History Seminar (1995-2008), Pat continued to nurture the BHC in a variety of ways. The Conference was growing and diversifying at a rapid clip, from only a small handful of women members when we started attending, and outward from an originally narrow range of disciplines. Pat remained a wise, steady, and patient presence, the institutional memory as much as Carol Lockman at Hagley and our two longstanding Secretary-Treasurers, Will Hausman and Roger Horowitz. BHC Presidents came and went; Pat was always there, welcoming new members and new directions in the field, climbing astride the Digital Revolution, and following the Conference's annual trek throughout the U.S. and, increasingly, abroad. Over more than four decades she has missed exactly one annual meeting. It is because of smart and hard-working loyalists like Pat Denault that the BHC is a vibrant community of scholars and friends rather than a sterile institution. How can we thank her enough?
A message from Mark Wilson,
Thank, you, Pat, for your many years of outstanding service to the BHC. I benefitted greatly from your efforts as coordinating editor of Enterprise & Society, which were more impressive than any comparable editorial services I have witnessed, at any academic journal. Thank you for always having a kind word and taking the time to chat at BHC meetings, even as you have been busy with book exhibits and countless other tasks. You are a BHC hero.
A message from Mark Rose,
I am so pleased for the opportunity to say in public what every BHC member has long known about you—that you were and remain a warm friend, a wise counselor, and a crucial person in the development of business history. The best way for me to talk about you is to offer a few personal stories. We met at the BHC meeting at Harvard University in 1993. You were seated with Will Hausman (another warm friend, wise counselor, and a crucial BHC person). You welcomed me to the meeting and asked about my teaching and research. You told me about the meeting and about the teaching and research of senior and junior members. You also included me in your conversation with Will, which revolved, as expected, around teaching and research. Pat, after an hour or so the BHC seemed like a place I could find a few additional colleagues with similar interests. It was a revelatory moment. After that meeting, I was fortunate to talk with you at every BHC right up to 2018 (and I hope to see you at BHC meetings far into the future).
There is still more. Pat, You expressed an early interest in social media. As before, you took time to bring me up to date on such matters and to inquire about my work. In Cleveland, as I recall, you asked us to complete a questionnaire about our media knowledge and use. Pat, you guided development of the BHC’s social media presence. Now that I think about it Pat, you accomplished so much; and yet you are among the most modest persons I have the pleasure to know.
Pat, Carol Lockman, and Roger Horowitz (additional warm friends, wise counselors, and crucial BHC people) organize the book exhibit; and Pat, you join Carol in running registration. You are present to reply to every query. Pat Denault—you are the BHC’s memory and the keeper of our institutions. Thank you.
A message from Shane Hamilton,
At the moment I write this, Pat Denault has composed 1,386 posts on The Exchange. Every single one is informative, concise, and professionally edited. Pat has an amazing ability to keep her finger on the pulse of the business history community. If an important event is happening that affects BHC members, Pat knows about it, and she has always made sure that our membership finds out as quickly as possible--sometimes posting items from exotic locations with minimal internet access! We have been extremely lucky to have someone as talented as Pat serving, voluntarily, to promote the interests of the business history community. Thank you, Pat!
A message from Mansel Blackford,
Pat was a wonderful colleague for me for decades at meetings of the BHC. Witty, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful, she has been one of the backbones of the conference. I wish Pat the very best in her future.
A message from K. Austin Kerr,
We have all benefited from Pat's intelligence, energy, and goodwill. I best remember Pat for her vision. She was a pioneer in seeing possibilities for the Internet to provide us with sharing information, reaching across boundaries both intellectual and geographical, and stimulating scholarly and teaching insights. We are all better for her good cheer and service.
May she have all the best in retirement.
A message from William Hausman,
I cannot remember precisely the first time I met Pat Denault, because it seems like I have known her forever. I’m sure it was at a Business History Conference, at a time when I was Secretary-Treasurer and she was still working with the Business History Review. It may well have been setting up the book display at one of the annual meetings, something I think she enjoyed very much. I know I always enjoyed the book display, especially the frenzy when the books went on sale. My fondest memories of Pat are the four years I worked with her on Enterprise & Society. Pat actually was instrumental in getting a publisher for the journal after the concept had been approved by the Trustees. We had received a nibble from Cambridge University Press and Pat and I (mostly Pat) filled out a standard request form. Without that nibble we may never have proceeded. Cambridge turned out not to be interested (how ironic since they now are the publisher), but at the suggestion of Larry Neal we approached Oxford University Press with the same proposal, a four-issue per year, fully refereed journal. After favorable reader reports and final approval by the Trustees, we revved up the engines. There was no guarantee that this would work. For the next four years, as the papers submitted got stronger and stronger, every three months, Pat would come down to Williamsburg from Boston (where she was working for Bernard Bailyn at the time). She would copy edit the papers for each issue (while I mostly watched). She was, without doubt, the best, most professional editor of work in business history on the face of the earth. I believe the issues we produced were superb, and the journal took off and flew, in no small part due to Pat’s superb skills. It has been a privilege working with Pat over these many years, and I hope we both can continue to come to the annual conferences.