Some of our most interesting finds in the Baruch Archive have been discovered serendipitously. While rearranging shelves in the archive Sarah Rappo, our Assistant Archivist, noticed a beautiful slim volume bound in leather, printed by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx.

As we celebrate Bernard Baruch’s 150th birthday on August 19, 2020, it is interesting to turn back the clock to see what an important statesman he was and how his contemporaries viewed him.

The greatest modern bearer of the name,
Bernard Baruch, that fine American,
A modern Thales, advises, “Know thyself,”
Wisdom shared by both philosophers,
Both of whom were wizards of finance
Both were accounted wise men of their day.
Like Aesop, too, Baruch conceals deep thought
In facetious fable form at times.