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I realize this is slightly off topic, but thought I would go ahead and ask. EE has a whole chapter dedicated to Business & Institutional Records. But I always wondered how a researcher would even begin to get access to private banking or insurance records that are presumably still held by instructions?
NY-researcher, Many major…
NY-researcher,
Many major companies have created "archive" departments, using professional archivists. Some have put their records online. Others have put catalogs (inventories) online for our study; when we identify records of potential value, then we contact them and inquire. Very old insurance and banking institutions that dealt in the slavery trade are especially likely to make those historical records available. There's no master guide to everything, of course. It's up to us to do the sleuthing to identify what has survived and what is available. EE's chapter, I hope, has given you some ideas.