This series contains serial publications of Exxon Corporation, its predecessors and subsidiaries, notably Humble Oil & Refining Company. For the most part, these titles provided news on recent business activities supplemented by features on various topics. The Lamp (1918-1999), the corporation’s cornerstone publication, began as a bulletin for Standard Oil (New Jersey) employees but evolved into a quarterly shareholder magazine. [ExxonMobil continues to publish this title.] Oilways (1934-1981) is another prominent publication, which was distributed externally and used principally as a marketing tool for the benefit of “better industrial lubrication.” Other titles had a much smaller audience such as employees of a particular facility (Bayway [New Jersey] Refiner) or foreign operations. Dealers who sold Humble products received the Humble Sales Lubricator (1932-1961) to keep current on new products and marketing strategies.

Of note are annuals reports for Standard Oil (New Jersey) (1920-1956), Humble Oil (1945-1954) and Exxon Corporation (1975-1996). Other major titles include The News (1955-1966) and Horizons (1973-1992) for Esso (later Exxon) Research & Engineering employees; and The Humble Way (1945-1971) and Exxon USA (1973-1986) issued, respectively, by the public affairs departments of Humble and its successor, Exxon Company U.S.A.

This series contains research materials from the four-volume History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), primarily written under the auspices of the Business History Foundation. A 1944 article entitled “Danger in Business History” by Henrietta Larson, a Harvard University business historian, precipitated both the Standard Oil history and the establishment of the Foundation in 1947. Endowed by Standard Oil (N.J.) and directed by members of Harvard’s business history program, the Foundation’s primary purpose was to support the research and writing of the Standard Oil history. The original team of scholars, George Gibb, Muriel and Ralph Hidy, Evelyn Knowlton, Henrietta Larson, and Charles Popple, researched volumes I-III simultaneously from the late 1940s through the early 1950s, while Bennett H. Wall, a noted business historian and professor at Tulane University and the University of Georgia, researched volume IV in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their research files are organized accordingly in two sub-series: Volumes I-III and Volume IV.

Volumes I-III consists of copious notes, transcriptions and, occasionally, photostats of original Standard Oil records, which includes internal correspondence. Files include information on domestic and foreign affiliates and foreign operations. Correspondence between authors and researchers is interleaved throughout their notes, shedding light on particular aspects of their research. Particular materials of interest include photostats of corporate records, as there is doubt as to whether or not the originals still exist.

Research materials for the fourth volume, Growth in a Changing Environment, include publications, clippings, internal correspondence, speeches, and press releases. Areas strongly represented include materials relating to Standard Oil (New Jersey)’s 1972 name change, Exxon Chemical Company, energy policies, and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

The four volumes that comprise the History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) are:

Volume I: Hidy, Ralph W. & Muriel E., Pioneering in Big Business: 1882-1911 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1955).

Volume II: Gibb, George Sweet & Knowlton, Evelyn H., The Resurgent Years: 1911-1927 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956).

Volume III: Larson, Henrietta M., Knowlton, Evelyn H. & Popple, Charles S., New Horizons: 1927-1950 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1971).

Volume IV: Wall, Bennett H. Growth in a Changing Environment: 1950-1975. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1988).