I believe that this article is biased in favour of James Lorin Richards. For one of the "10 most important businessmen both in the greater Boston community and in America", this page is certainly short, and lacking in references.
I am a relatively new user, and am uncertain as to how to approach fixing this issue. If someone more experienced could help me, that would be great.
DXsmiley (talk) 10:51, 2 June 2015 (UTC)
Hey DXsmiley,
Thanks for reading my article.
As its author, I certainly understand your concern. Richards was probably the most important man you never heard of because so little was written about him. Much of his family didn't know either. You see, he was my gg grandfather. So I spent over a year researching before I posted this, my first article. Richards was probably the most prolific businessman of his age, yet few knew of him as he avoided the spotlight, preferring to get things done in boardrooms, though innovation, communication and hard work. He owned several beautiful summer homes on Chapoquoit Island in West Falmouth, MA on the cape. There are stories of how he would leave Boston in his huge yacht, take the Cape Cod Canal and arrive with his 3 man crew, tie up to "Big Pier" at the mouth of the West Falmouth harbor, and spend the weekends there entertaining dignitaries, etc. During these trips he may have passed two or more coal colliers owned by his firm Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, going up to Boston. My grandfather remembers Joe Kennedy Sr. coming to visit from their summer home on Martha's Vineyard, by boat of course.
Richards home in Newton is registered with the US National Register of Historic places, James Lorin Richards House. Once when he had surgery, the Boston Chief of Police cordoned off his road to help him recover without traffic noise. Richards personally saved Northeastern University from bankruptcy. I have a copy of the letter from then president Speer thanking him. Richards Hall is named in his honor.
Only one book was ever written about him. At the urging of president Speer, the head of Northeastern's English dept pinned him down. "James Lorin Richards, The Story of a New England Industrialist". Cloney, William Thomas Jr. (1948). Boston Mass: Abbey Press. The eBook is available here James Lorin Richards : the story of a New England industrialist It is short but an amazing read. Be sure to read the testimonials in the back.
The links at the bottom of the article tell the whole story, so much better than I could. But if I didn't at least start the article his legacy would have been lost forever, and I wasn't going to let that happen. I agree, it's a skeleton now. I was hoping others might add to the article, including Northeastern business students.
One of my favorite stories is how he took roughly 35 independently owned unregulated Boston gas companies and managed through diligence, commitment and overwhelming obstacles to bring them all together under the Boston Consolidated Gas Company, and was so deeply concerned with customer service, he required every single complaint that came in to be put on his desk for follow-up. If memory serves, this was all done as a personal request by Robert Winsor, friend and head of the Boston investment banking firm Kidder, Peabody & Co. Both were at the forefront of industrial consolidation during the period leading up to the Great Depression.
Try to take a little time re-reading the article, especially the "external links", and grasp all his business involvements, and innovations that went along with his reputation: for example, right in the middle of the country's first major depression, because of his financial acumen, in July 1932 he was asked to sit on the advisory board of the country's first mutual fund that was in dire straits after the market crashed (Massachusetts Investors Trust). He was a brilliant bond salesman, taking JP Morgan to task by oversubscribing bonds in the bailout of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. He was also the first to recommend employees have representation on company boards, something simply unheard of back then. The list goes on and on.
Adding it all together within the context of one man's accomplishments in his 96 years, hopefully you can see that is why the Boston Herald deemed Richards one of the 10 most important businessmen both in the greater Boston community and in America.