Arthur Dare Whiteside

Background

Arthur Dare Whiteside was born on September 15, 1882 in East Orange, N. J. , the son of Newton Elkanah Whiteside, a jewelry manufacturer, and Elizabeth Hankins.

Education

He left Princeton University in 1904.

Career

Whiteside worked in the credit department of a New York City bank. Two years later, he joined the National Credit Office, a commercial credit-reporting agency that specialized in the textile trade. He became president of National Credit in 1912 and thereafter greatly expanded its business, largely by developing a highly trained staff whose reports were of exceptionally high quality. According to one estimate, Whiteside tripled the volume of National Credit in the years from 1922 to 1930. The Great Depression was crucial to Whiteside's career, as it provided the immediate cause for fundamental changes in the several business enterprises engaged in commercial credit reporting. In addition to specialized agencies, such as Whiteside's National Credit Office, there existed since the mid-nineteenth century two large general agencies: R. G. Dun and Company and the Bradstreet Company. By 1930 it was evident to Whiteside and others that the declining economy could not sustain the competition and duplication of effort of these several agencies. Whiteside played a major role in the consolidation of three major commercial-credit agencies into one company, Dun and Bradstreet, Incorporated. First, as president of National Credit, he initiated long and difficult negotiations with the owners of R. G. Dun and Company, a family-held trust. As a consequence, in December 1930 R. G. Dun was incorporated and merged with National Credit, with Whiteside as the new president. Whiteside quickly exerted vigorous and effective leadership in the new company. Some of this effort was largely depression-era morale boosting, such as refinishing office equipment and cleaning the exterior of the headquarters building. More important, in 1931 and 1932, Whiteside introduced changes that significantly improved the quality of R. G. Dun and Company's services. These changes included the development of continuous service, whereby subscribers automatically received updated credit information on businesses of interest to them; expansion from four to six of the number of annual editions of the printed credit-rating or reference book; and more thorough training of reporters in the preparation of analytical credit reports, of the kind Whiteside had introduced at National Credit. Whiteside's innovations and improvements helped make R. G. Dun and Company much stronger than the Bradstreet Company. Indeed, Whiteside believed that Bradstreet could not long survive and that its elimination was a necessary step for the future prosperity of R. G. Dun. As president of R. G. Dun, Whiteside negotiated purchase of all the assets of Bradstreet, with Bradstreet shareholders paid in shares in the new company, Dun and Bradstreet, Incorporated, formed in March 1933. Bradstreet representatives received three seats on the board of directors, but management of the new company was composed entirely of Dun managers, with Whiteside continuing as president.

Achievements

• Whiteside played a major role in the consolidation of three major commercial-credit agencies into one company, Dun and Bradstreet, Incorporated. Whiteside's innovations and improvements helped make R. G. Dun and Company much stronger than the Bradstreet Company.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Situation in Steel: Transcript of the Meeting of Iron and Steel Industry with the Iron and Steel Branch Office of Production Management

    (Contributors Include W. S. Knudsen, E. G. Grace, Sidney H...)

Connections

On Feburary 12, 1909, he married Edith E. Davidson; they had one daughter.

Father:

Newton Elkanah Whiteside

A jewelry manufacturer

Mother:

Elizabeth Hankins

Spouse:

Edith E. Davidson