Tracing the circulation of ideas can cast light on patterns of interaction between various people and institutions in the past. During the mid-late twentieth century, a circuit of ideas linked business culture, industrial designers, academia, and related professional organizations. The movement of values, techniques, and perspectives between these distinct but interpenetrative spaces illuminates how they related to one another in historical context.

In her latest research Penelope Dean, professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, uncovers this movement of ideas and uses it to bring business and design histories into conversation. Using numerous collections held in the Hagley Library, including the Raymond Loewy and Ernest Dichter collections, Dean identifies the spread of ideas between business and design, and the development of a shared language capable of communicating complex concepts across professional groups.

In support of her work Dr. Dean received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, please visit us online at hagley.org.