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Accounting Historians Journal
Volume 38, Number 1
June 2011
pp. 111-139
2010 VANGERMEERSCH AWARD WINNER
Michael E. Doron
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY - NORTHRIDGE
“I Ask the Profession to Stand Still”: The Evolution of American Public Accountancy, 1927-1962
Abstract: This paper traces the emergence of the AICPA as an effective national representative of the American profession. Central to this evolution was a broadening of the Institute’s outlook to encompass all practicing CPAs and to embrace the benefits of public relations and lobbying. The paper begins with the Wall Street elite that dominated the Institute’s predecessor, the AIA, and describes the pressures for reform that culminated in the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 and set this evolution in motion. The final section makes use of former AICPA president Marquis Eaton’s papers to show how pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, from competing professions, and from a geometric increase in the profession’s numbers brought a more pragmatic and aggresive leadership to the Institute, one that more closely resembles the modern AICPA.
INTRODUCTION
Studies of the U.S. accounting profession’s development often end with the 1930s, viewing the New Deal, the unification of the profession in 1936, and the McKesson & Robbins (M&R) scandal of 1939 as the seminal events in the profession’s history [Miranti, 1990; Sriram and Vollmers, 1997]. Few emphasize the importance of the next two decades and the realignment of the profession’s leadership and goals took place. This paper focuses on the crucial years of 1927-1962, when accountants evolved from an insular, divided group with an uncertain mandate from American society for its services to a profession eager to promote itself and to expand its reach and responsibilities. From
Acknowledgments: I wish to thank Stephen Zeff, Paul Miranti, Gary Previts, Bob Parker, Editor Richard Fleischman, and participants at the 2009 ABFH Conference in Cardiff for their comments. This paper is based on my dissertation at Texas A&M University. I thank Harold Livesay (chair), Gary Giroux, Charles Brooks, and Albert Broussard for their advice and support.
