Reconsidering the corporate narrative in U.S. PR history: A critique of Alfred Chandler's influence on PR historiography

•PR history focuses on corporations because of the influence of Alfred Chandler.•PR history is limited because of the dominance of the corporate narrative.•The work of Alfred Chandler is implicitly accepted in PR historiography.•PR scholars should re-examine Chandler's influence on PR history.

This study explores the influence and dominance of Alfred Chandler Jr.’s theory of corporate development within public relations [PR] history. Chandler's work on late 19th Century corporate development is influential in PR historiography. PR oftentimes places its genesis in the late 19th Century corporate sphere to distance itself from press agentry. Examining critiques of Chandler's work on corporate development, this study argues that rooting PR in a corporate context does not provide legitimacy to PR practice and skews PR history to favor a corporate narrative. Implications for both history and normative PR theory development are discussed.