Summary
Creator
- Franklin, Barbara Hackman (Person)
Abstract
Barbara Hackman Franklin (B.A. Penn State, political science, 1962; Harvard School of Business, 1964) recruited women for high level government service under the Nixon administration, was an original commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and became Secretary of Commerce under George H. W. Bush in 1992. This collection contains her political, personal and business records, including correspondence, memorabilia, photographs, speeches, and videos.
Dates
- Creation: 1953-2022
Extent
57.5 Linear Feet (60 containers)
Background
Biographical / Historical
Barbara Hackman Franklin was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1940. In 1962, she graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in political science and she was one of the first women to graduate from Harvard Business School in 1964. She began her career in New York as an environmental analyst for the Singer Company (1964-1968) before moving to Citibank.
In 1971, she joined the staff of President Richard M. Nixon and launched an effort to recruit women for high-level government positions. Active in Republican politics, she served as one of the original commissioners of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (1973-1979). She served four terms on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, by appointments of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. George H. W. Bush appointed her Secretary of Commerce in 1992. She also served as Commissioner on the Competitiveness Policy Council, and as an alternate representative to the United Nations General Assembly. Franklin was a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School and Director of the Government and Business Program, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 1979 to 1988. She founded the management consulting firms Franklin Associates (1984-1992) and Franklin Enterprises (1992-current). During her career, she served on many corporate boards, chaired several audit commissions, and was honored for her contributions to the auditing profession. Barbara Franklin remains politically active and appears as a commentator on national television news. She is married to Wallace Barnes, retired Chairman and CEO of the Barnes Group, Inc.
Scope and Contents
The Barbara Hackman Franklin papers contains the political, corporate, governmental, and personal papers of Secretary Franklin. The bulk of the collection consists of personal files relating to her political work, including positions in the Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush administrations. They include clippings, correspondence, memorabilia, photographs, and speeches, and are a rich source of information about the expanding opportunities for women's leadership in Republican administrations. Family and personal papers date from the 1950s, and include awards, class work, and photographs, and class work. The collection is arranged topically with an emphasis on Franklin's goverment service by govermental institution.
Location
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Penn State University Libraries catalog via the link above. Archival collections may be housed in offsite storage. For materials stored offsite, please allow 2-3 business days for retrieval.
Processing Information
Originally processed by Special Collections staff. Lexy deGraffenreid minimally reprocessed this collection in 2019. She removed sub-series, standardized dates, spelled-out accronyms, intellectually rearranged series, added archival objects for multi-folder titles, and updated notes to reflect new accessions.
Mae Casey minimally processed Accession 2022-0059 on August 10th, 2022 by creating a Digital Additions series to include this link.
Subjects
- Nixon administration Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Politics and government Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Republican Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women in Government Relations Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Names
Creator
- Franklin, Barbara Hackman (Person)
- United States. President (1969-1974 : Nixon) (Person)
- United States. President (1974-1977 : Ford) (Person)
- United States. President (1989-1993 : Bush) (Person)
Using These Materials
Repository Details
Part of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Repository
104 Paterno Library
Penn State University
University Park 16802 USA
(814) 865-1793
spcollections@psu.edu
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access restrictions are noted at the file level.
Conditions Governing Use
Photocopies of original materials may be made available for research purposes at the discretion of the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Photocopies or reproductions of original materials may be subject to fees as outlined by the Pennsylvania State University Libraries reproduction policies.
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Patrons seeking advice on the availability of unpublished materials for publication should consult relevant copyright law and laws of libel.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Barbara Hackman Franklin papers, 00357, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Pennsylvania State University.
- Title
- Guide to the Barbara Hackman Franklin papers
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Prepared by Special Collections Library faculty/staff; Updated by Lexy deGraffenreid (2019)
- Date
- 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2019: Finding Aid revised by Lexy deGraffenreid in May 2019. She removed sub-series, standardized dates, spelled-out accronyms, intellectually rearranged series, added archival objects for multi-folder titles, and updated notes to reflect new accessions.