Amongst public relations professionals and even the media that cover public relations there is little institutional memory. Since the death of Scott W. Cutlip, one-time dean of the Schools of Communication at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Georgia, no one I know of, either in academia or elsewhere, has spent much time recording the history of public relations. Cutlip wrote the only histories I know of. His first is titled "The Unseen Power" published in 1994. It was a history of public relations agencies, starting with the first public relations firm, The Publicity Bureau founded in 1900 in Boston, and continuing to post Word War II days in the mid-50s. (A personal note: I urged Cutlip to do this book and funded the cost of two graduate student researchers to assist him in its preparation.) Cutlip's second book, "Public Relations History: From the 17th to the 20th Century" was published the following year. It is largely a compendium of articles and speeches by Cutlip.
For a generation of public relations professionals who believe the concept of corporate social responsibility is a 21st Century phenomenon, I thought it would be interesting, if not instructive, to resurrect a speech I made to the Columbia Univertsity Graduate School of Business on March 20, 1973 as the first in a series of Garrett Lectures that honored Paul Garrett, the first public relations officer at General Motors starting in the 1920s and continuing until the early 1950s. In addition to defining the role of the modern corporation as a business entity , I also defined the role of the chief public relations officer. After re-reading it, not once but twice, I believe the speech has relevance on both issues more than 35 years later.
Click here to read the original speech ...
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May 5, 2010
Harold Burson