Daggett, Stuart, 1881-1954

Stuart Daggett (1881–1954) was a scholar of American railroad history in the first half of the twentieth century; relatively little is known about his life, and publicly available information is limited. Judging from the two works held in the collection, his writing focused on railroad corporate reorganization and the development of railroads along the Pacific coast. Railroad Reorganization examines the financial difficulties of railroad companies and the mechanisms of receivership and restructuring, while Chapters on the History of the Southern Pacific traces the evolution of the Southern Pacific Railroad in a series of topical chapters. Both books are distinguished by their attention to institutions, management, and historical sources, with an empirical style that makes them useful to researchers in railroad history and the economic history of transportation.