ABSTRACT
My interest in understanding the histories of (human service) organizations emerged over the past several decades from the experiences of teaching management, consulting with a variety of nonprofit organizations, and academic administration.
As a teacher, I was struck by the significant absence of any discussion of organizational history in the management texts for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. The implicit message to managers was that the most relevant history begins when they take charge of an organization. And yet, curiosity drives most administrators to at least explore the organization’s recent past.
As a management consultant, I noted that very few executives had a thorough grasp of the history of their agency and even fewer knew where to look to find documents of historical significance …..
And finally, in my role as (dean) of a graduate school of social work in a leading research university, I was confronted with the challenge of communicating about an 80 year old institution’s unique niche in the marketplace and used historical documents and oral history interviews to communicate with alumni and prospective applicants. As I resigned from the deanship and left the university, I struggled to identify the historical legacy of my seven-year stewardship (Austin and Gilmore, 1993).
Out of all these experiences grew the lingering question: Are there tools that might assist both new and continuing administrators in their efforts to understand the organization’s past and present? (reformatted from Austin, 1996, p.44)
