The titles chosen for this section were intended to provide personal perspective on the industry. Some titles are about specifically named individuals whileothers areautobiographical. We have also chosen to include a few titles to represent the accountants that go unnamed but contribute to the history and development of the profession and practice of accounting. Additional titles can be found by searching our catalog.
We have also included a few titles from and about some of the early inductees from the Accounting Hall of Fame. A list of winners External from 1950 can be seen at the American Accounting Association's website and some can be found in The History of Accounting: An International Encyclopedia (see directly below).
The History of Accounting by edited by Michael Chatfield, Richard Vangermeersch.Call Number: HF5605 .H573 1996
ISBN: 0815308094
Published/Created: 1996
This encyclopedia's more than 400 entries focus on such subjects as publications in the field, institutional bodies, accounting and economic concepts and much more. It is aimed at the student, researcher or professional.
- The Accounting Hall of Fame: Profiles of Thirty-Six Members by Thomas J. Burns, Edward N. Coffman
Call Number: HF5604 .B87
Published/Created: 1976
An account of the first 36 members appointed to the Accounting Hall of Fame. It contains their biographies and contributions to the field. In the Preface it describes some of the qualifications that led to the selection of each accountant: for example, “A CPA who has been a partner in a public accounting firm. He has been active in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, serving as its president or the president of a state society of CPAs. He is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the national accounting professional and scholastic organization for accounting students, and he has received the AICPAs highest honor, its Gold Medal. He has authored both accounting articles and books.” (iii) It then gives a quick account of some of the major contributions of the members and puts them into categories. Finally, it shows all of the 36 members in alphabetical order and gives a detailed description of their accomplishments, including their hobbies and a small part of their personal lives. With each description there is also a drawing of the face of the member along with a quote by the person.
- American Accountants and Their Contributions to Accounting Thought, 1900-1930 by John J. Kahle
Call Number: HF5604.K34 1993
ISBN: 0815312164
Published/Created: 1993-03-01
Includes biographic sketches with contributions on a number of individuals including: Spurgeon Bell, James Bliss, William Morse Cole, Sir Arthur Lowes Dickinson, DeWitt Carl Eggleston, Paul-Joseph Esquerre, Henry Anson Finney, Stephen Gilman, Harry G. Guthmann, Henry Rand Hatfield, David Himmelblau, Roy Bernard Kester, Joseph Jerome Klein, Ananias Charles Littleton, James Oscar McKinsey, Robert H. Montgomery, George Hillis Newlove, Jerome Lee Nicholson, William Andrew Paton, Charles Forrest Rittenhouse, Earl Adolphus Saliers, D.R. Scott, Clinton Homer Scovell, Charles Ezra Sprague, Ross Graham Walker, and John R. Wildman. Each sketch includes citations to books and articles.
- Auditing: An Introduction to the Work of the Public Accountant by Eric Louis Kohler
Call Number: HF5667 .K54
Published/Created: 1947
A second edition of was printed in 1954.
- Carman G. Blough by Richard P. Brief (Editor)
Call Number: HF5616.U5 B48 1978
ISBN: 0405109318
Published/Created: 1978-08-01
Carman Blough was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1961. This is a series of reprints of article published by Blough throughout his career. Several are biographical in nature though most are about specific issues, practices, and industry situations.
- Duties of Junior and Senior Accountants by R K Mautz
Call Number: HF5616.U5 D87 1988
ISBN: 0824061438
Published/Created: 1988-11-01
Includes reprints of three titles of the same name: Duties of the Junior Accountant by W.B. Reynolds and F.W. Thornton, Duties of the Junior Accountant by Alfred B. Cipriani, and "Duties of the Junior Accountant" by R.K. Mautz. The title by Reynolds and Thornton is also available online via the Hathi Trust External. The work by Cipriani is described in an Editor's note as based "to some extent on an earlier work under the same title by W. B. Reynolds and F. W. Thornton."
- Duties of the Senior Accountant by John C. Martin
Call Number: HF5635 .D97 1988
ISBN: 0824061446
Published/Created: 1988-11-01
This is a reprint of a title written by F.W. Thornton and John C. Martin in 1932. The Martin contribution was from a separate title, "Duties of Junior and Senior Accountants," a supplement to the CPA Handbook edited by Robert L. Kane, Jr..
Call Number: HF5629 .K63 1980
Published/Created: 1980
Kohler was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1961 and has written may works on accounting including one of the best accounting dictionaries. This is a collection of his writings.
- Eric Louis Kohler : Accounting's Man of Principles by W. W. Cooper; Yuji Ijiri
Call Number: HF5616.U5 E73
ISBN: 0835917738
Published/Created: 1978-11-01
This title is a series of articles written by several different authors covering aspects of Kohler's life and career, including his time as comptroller of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), his work at the General Accounting Office (GAO), work on the Marshall Plan, and his contributions to early accounting, etc.
- Eric Louis Kohler in the Accounting Profession by Nancy A. Wagner
Call Number: HF5604.5 .K64 W34
ISBN: 0884061965
Published/Created: 1986-12-01
Eric Kohler was a giant in the accounting world and wrote many books most notably his dictionary, a title that was the standard accounting dictionary for over 40 years. This is a history of his work in the profession and contributions to accounting principles. Particular attention is paid to his dictionary, accounting for government agencies, and his impact on the profession.
- Fifty Years of Accountancy by Robert Hiester Montgomery
Call Number: HF5616.U5 M65
Published/Created: 1939, 1978
Available online from Hathi Trust External
This book is written in the first person. Montgomery gives an account of most of his life; which includes his education, career, and personal life as well. The rest of the book contains papers, reports, and prefaces by Montgomery. The chapters are divided into parts; the first part being Public Accounting, the second Taxes and How I was Forced Into The Practice of Law, third is War, and fourth Hobbies. - The Growth of Arthur Anderson and Co., 1928-1973 by Leonard Spacek
Call Number: HF5616.U7 A787
ISBN: 0824061470
Published/Created: 1990-01-01
Spacek worked at Arthur Andersen beginning in 1928 and became a partner in 1940 after the death of Arthur Andersen. He was chief executive beginning in 1947 and served as chairman of the partnership from 1963 until he retired in 1973. This is a biography and history of the firm as seen through his tenure at the firm.
- Henry Rand Hatfield by Stephen A. Zeff
Call Number: HF5604.5.H38 Z44 2000
ISBN: 076230622X
Published/Created: 2000-12-27
This book studies the first full-time accounting professor in a US university; his two textbooks, Modern Accounting (1909) and Accounting (1927), were among the most respected accounting works in the first half century. It is broken down into time periods: the first outlines his professional career, then moves to the early years 1866- 1904, the years 1904-1919/20 (at Berkeley and in Washington), the “historical Defense” and accounting between 1919/20-1930, and final active years, 1930-1945. There is a discussion of his contributions and personal life as well as information on his papers (the Hatfield Collection in the business school at the University of California, Berkeley) and publications.
- Memoirs and Accounting Thought by George Oliver May
Call Number: HF5604.M3 A3
Published/Created: 1962
Available online from Hathi Trust External
George May was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1950 as part of its very first group. This is his autobiography and covers his professional career and contributions. It is divided into three parts, Part I Memoirs, Part II Accounting Thought, and Part III Thought Across the Years of the first inductee. In part I, the author described his education, how he wanted to study mathematics but a visit from a relative changed his mind and he decided to study accountancy instead. Details from his personal life are included, for example the people he met such as Arthur Lowes Dickinson, Robert H. Montgomery, and William Andrew Paton; as well as his beloved wife, career, how he traveled and was able to undertake projects assigned to him. Part II and III examine his thoughts on accounting and also contain his letters, lectures, speeches, and writings about accounting issues. At the very end, there is a collection of his “sayings” regarding accounting, such as “In the accounting field there seems to be a constant disposition to sacrifice accuracy to terseness” (296), which demonstrates a deeper view into May's accounting mind. - Paton on Accounting by William Andrew Paton
Call Number: HF5635 .P316
Published/Created: 1964
Paton was inducted to the Accounting Hall of Fame. This book begins with a biographical portrait of the author and is a collection “selected writings.” The author does well in including facts about Paton's life so the reader can relate to Paton on some level. The author moves on to Paton's writings, including, The Educational Value of training in Accounting, Assumptions of the Accountant, Aspects of Asset Valuations, etc.
- Percival Flack Brundage papers, 1918-1979.
Manuscript Division.
Finding Aid
Brundage was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1955. Family and general correspondence, speeches, writings, subject files, financial records, legal records, clippings, printed matter, and other papers relating to Brundage's service as director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget and to his activities with the Atlantic Council of the United States; Federal Union; Price, Waterhouse & Company; and Project Hope. Subjects include the federal budget; economic policy; etc. - Reminiscences of a Certified Public Accountant by Hermon Fiske Bell
Call Number: HF5616.U5 B4
Published/Created: 1959
This is an autobiography detailing Bell's career over fifty years. It includes a number of brief anecdotes and other interesting memories.
- Twenty-Five Years of Accounting Responsibility, 1911-1936 by George Oliver May
Call Number: HF5625 .M37
Published/Created: 1936
This book contains essays and discussions and is edited by Bishop Carleton Hunt, honoring Mr. May for his 40 years of service to Price, Waterhouse & Co. where he was a senior partner for 25 years.
- A White-Collar Profession by Theresa A. Hammond
Call Number: HF5616.U5 H27 2002
ISBN: 0807827088
Published/Created: 2002-05-27
Among the major professions, certified public accountancy has the most severe underrepresentation of African Americans: less than 1 percent of CPAs are black. Theresa Hammond explores the history behind this statistic and chronicles the courage and determination of African Americans who sought to enter the field. In the process, she expands our understanding of the links between race, education, and economics. Drawing on interviews with pioneering black CPAs, among other sources, Hammond sets the stories of black CPAs against the backdrop of the rise of accountancy as a profession, the particular challenges that African Americans trying to enter the field faced, and the strategies that enabled some blacks to become CPAs. Prior to the 1960s, few white-owned accounting firms employed African Americans. Only through nationwide networks established by the first black CPAs did more African Americans gain the requisite professional experience. The civil rights era saw some progress in integrating the field, and black colleges responded by expanding their programs in business and accounting. In the 1980s, however, the backlash against affirmative action heralded the decline of African American participation in accountancy and paved the way for the astonishing lack of diversity that characterizes the field today.
