The Southwestern Company Alumni Blog
On Thursday morning, February 26, 2009, one of the greatest pillars in the history of Southwestern, Dortch Oldham, passed away. He was 89 years old. Dortch grew up on a farm north of Nashville, and heard about selling books from a friend. As he said in an interview here several years ago, “He told me you could make as much as $200. That was during the Depression, and I was on the farm – that was real money to me.” He began selling while still a teenager. At the recommendation of J.B. and W.E. Henderson, his sales managers, he attended the University of Richmond, graduating in 1941. Dortch and his wife, Sis, later endowed Richmond with scholarships for deserving young people, who became known as Oldham Scholars. They did the same for U.T. Knoxville in 1999.
 After serving in active duty in the Asian theatre during World War II, Dortch joined with Fred Landers to rebuild Southwestern, which J.B. Henderson had held together during the war. With Fred taking the area West of the Mississippi, and Dortch taking what was East, they recruited both new and former dealers, sold books again themselves, and sowed the seeds for the modern-day Southwestern (of which Dortch later bought the majority share.)
Dortch influenced thousands of young people, and through them, thousands more. He believed strongly in advising students to do what was in their best interest, and was a living example of the truth behind Edwin Markham’s great quotation that what we put into the lives of others comes back into our own. One of the young people he mentored throughout his early career later donated $500,000 to the University of Tennessee-Martin to help establish the Dortch Oldham Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurial Studies. Dortch’s influence, represented by countless acts of generosity and kindness, will continue to multiply to the
 benefit of all society. Dortch once said, with characteristic humility and grace, “We don’t make them great people; they are great people when they come to us. They just never had the chance to prove themselves.” Those of us who were touched by Dortch’s spirit, care, and influence feel otherwise: we became greater because of Dortch Oldham.
Click here to view Dortch’s obituary.
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What an example to us all. I never knew or met Dortch (I was selling in ‘96 and ‘97 and traveled to Nashville from the UK) but he’s inspired me today. “We don’t make them great people; they are great people when they come to us. They just never had the chance to prove themselves.” I partly agree – SouthWestern certainly gave us all that chance but through its leaders it provided us with a whole lot of enduring guidance too! Becky thanks for posting this piece. Tremendous!
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Dortch Oldham was my sales manager during my first summer – 1959 – and changed my life. I spent five summers selling books and six years going to university until I got my MBA. I learned more in those five summers than in six years of university. Dortch got me to believe in myself and to develop successful work habits. He was a constant encouragement in his weekly letters and occasional phone calls. Later, when I was a full-time sales manager, he continued to expand my vision and scope by giving me writing and editorial assignments on top of my sales management duties. He was always positive and drew out the best in me. He was a great man who had a major influence on my life. I honor his memory and will miss him.
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