Roger Babson
Encyclopedia
Roger Ward Babson remembered today largely for founding Babson College
in Massachusetts
, was an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th century. He also founded Webber College, now Webber International University
, in Babson Park, Florida
, and the defunct Utopia College
, in Eureka, Kansas
.
He was born to Nathaniel Babson and his wife Ellen Stearns as part of the tenth generation of Babsons to live in Gloucester, Massachusetts
. Roger attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and worked for investment firms before founding, in 1904, Babson's Statistical Organization, which analyzed stocks and business reports. It continues today as Babson-United, Inc.
.
On March 29, 1900, Babson married his first wife, Grace Margaret Knight.
According to biographer John Mulkern, Babson attributed the business cycle
Babson authored more than forty books on economic and social problems, the most widely read being Business Barometers (eight editions) and Business Barometers for Profits, Security, Income (ten editions). Babson also wrote hundreds of magazine articles and newspaper columns. He was a popular lecturer on business and financial trends.
Babson was an investor and sometimes director of many corporations, including some traded on the New York Stock Exchange
. He established an investment advisory company Babson's Reports which published one of the oldest investment newsletters in America.
Babson had "ten commandments" he followed in investing and encouraged his readers to do the same. These were:
On September 5, 1929, he gave a speech saying, "Sooner or later a crash is coming, and it may be terrific." Later that day the stock market declined by about 3%. This became known as the "Babson Break". The Wall Street Crash of 1929
and the Great Depression
soon followed.
Babson was the Prohibition Party
's candidate for President of the United States
in 1940. Election was won by incumbent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the Democratic Party
. Babson was surpassed by two other unsuccessful candidates:
Babson founded the Gravity Research Foundation
in 1948. The Foundation established a research facility in the town of New Boston, New Hampshire
after Babson determined that this location was far enough away from the city of Boston, Massachusetts to survive a nuclear attack.
Babson was interested in the history of an abandoned settlement in Gloucester known as Dogtown
. To provide charitable assistance to unemployed stonecutters in Gloucester during the Great Depression, Babson commissioned them to carve inspirational inscriptions on approximately two dozen boulders in the area surrounding Dogtown Common. The Babson Boulder Trail exists today as a well-known hiking and mountain-biking trail. The inscriptions are clearly visible. The boulders are scattered, not all are on the trail, and not all of the inscriptions face it, making finding them something of a challenge. Samples of some of the two dozen inscriptions include: "HELP MOTHER", "SPIRITUAL POWER", "GET A JOB", "KEEP OUT OF DEBT", and "LOYALTY".
He became a widower in 1956. In 1957 he remarried to Nona M. Dougherty, who died in 1963. Babson died in 1967.
Babson College
Babson College is a private business school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts near Boston.- History :Babson College was founded by Roger Babson on September 3, 1919, as the Babson Institute. It was renamed "Babson College" in 1969...
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, was an entrepreneur and business theorist in the first half of the 20th century. He also founded Webber College, now Webber International University
Webber International University
-External links:* -- Official web site* -- Official athletics web site* at -References:...
, in Babson Park, Florida
Babson Park, Florida
Babson Park is a census-designated place in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,182 at the 2000 census. It is also the home of Webber International University....
, and the defunct Utopia College
Utopia College
Utopia College was a two-year college Eureka, Kansas that granted certificates but not diplomas. It was established in 1946 by Roger Babson with the intent to bring practical business instruction to other parts of the United States. Graduates were invited to complete their baccalaureate degrees...
, in Eureka, Kansas
Eureka, Kansas
Eureka is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,633.-History:...
.
He was born to Nathaniel Babson and his wife Ellen Stearns as part of the tenth generation of Babsons to live in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
. Roger attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and worked for investment firms before founding, in 1904, Babson's Statistical Organization, which analyzed stocks and business reports. It continues today as Babson-United, Inc.
Babson-United, Inc.
Babson-United, Inc. is the institutional successor to the securities analysis and investment management business founded in 1904 by Roger Babson...
.
On March 29, 1900, Babson married his first wife, Grace Margaret Knight.
According to biographer John Mulkern, Babson attributed the business cycle
- to Sir Isaac Newton's law of action and reaction.... His pseudoscientific notion, that the laws of physics account for every rise and ebb in the economy, had no more validity than [astrology or alchemy]. But just as astrology gave birth to astronomy and alchemy to chemistry, so, too, did Babson's efforts to explain the economic cycle... lead to the economic breakthrough that revolutionized the business of economic forecasting.
Babson authored more than forty books on economic and social problems, the most widely read being Business Barometers (eight editions) and Business Barometers for Profits, Security, Income (ten editions). Babson also wrote hundreds of magazine articles and newspaper columns. He was a popular lecturer on business and financial trends.
Babson was an investor and sometimes director of many corporations, including some traded on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
. He established an investment advisory company Babson's Reports which published one of the oldest investment newsletters in America.
Babson had "ten commandments" he followed in investing and encouraged his readers to do the same. These were:
- Keep speculation and investments separate.
- Don't be fooled by a name.
- Be wary of new promotions.
- Give due consideration to market ability.
- Don't buy without proper facts.
- Safeguard purchases through diversification.
- Don't try to diversify by buying different securities of the same company.
- Small companies should be carefully scruitinized.
- Buy adequate security, not super abundance.
- Choose your dealer and buy outright (i.e., don't buy on margin.)
On September 5, 1929, he gave a speech saying, "Sooner or later a crash is coming, and it may be terrific." Later that day the stock market declined by about 3%. This became known as the "Babson Break". The Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
soon followed.
Babson was the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
's candidate for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 1940. Election was won by incumbent President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Babson was surpassed by two other unsuccessful candidates:
- Wendell Lewis Willkie of the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. - Norman Mattoon Thomas of the Socialist Party of AmericaSocialist Party of AmericaThe Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
.
Babson founded the Gravity Research Foundation
Gravity Research Foundation
The Gravity Research Foundation, established in 1948 by businessman Roger Babson , was an organization designed to find ways to implement gravitational shielding...
in 1948. The Foundation established a research facility in the town of New Boston, New Hampshire
New Boston, New Hampshire
New Boston is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,321 at the 2010 census. New Boston is home to the annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair and the Molly Stark Cannon.-History:...
after Babson determined that this location was far enough away from the city of Boston, Massachusetts to survive a nuclear attack.
Dogtown, Massachusetts
Dogtown is an abandoned inland settlement on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. Once known as the Common Settlement and populated by respectable citizens, the area later known as Dogtown is divided between the city of Gloucester and the town of Rockport...
. To provide charitable assistance to unemployed stonecutters in Gloucester during the Great Depression, Babson commissioned them to carve inspirational inscriptions on approximately two dozen boulders in the area surrounding Dogtown Common. The Babson Boulder Trail exists today as a well-known hiking and mountain-biking trail. The inscriptions are clearly visible. The boulders are scattered, not all are on the trail, and not all of the inscriptions face it, making finding them something of a challenge. Samples of some of the two dozen inscriptions include: "HELP MOTHER", "SPIRITUAL POWER", "GET A JOB", "KEEP OUT OF DEBT", and "LOYALTY".
He became a widower in 1956. In 1957 he remarried to Nona M. Dougherty, who died in 1963. Babson died in 1967.