Richard Swanson’s Legacy: An Examination of Diversity in the Foundations of Human Resource Development

As human resource development (HRD) grapples with what it means to have recently committed to doing the overdue work of antiracism in the field (AHRD Board, 2020) and as actions taken by the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) antiracism committee exposes ongoing issues with racism in the field, one area of scholarship that needs substantial revision is the historical foundations of HRD. The purpose of this chapter is to critically examine the writings of a prominent human resource development founding figure, Richard Swanson, with special attention to diversity related editorials he published as the founding Editor of Human Resource Development Quarterly. The chapter explores how he discussed issues of race, gender, sexuality, and disability, and discusses the effect his discourse has had on the field of HRD.