Category: Economists

Harvard. Graduate records of economics PhD alumnus, Abraham George Silverman, 1930

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-02-15
No Comments on Harvard. Graduate records of economics PhD alumnus, Abraham George Silverman, 1930

Plot-spoiler: Abraham George Silverman ultimately became a non-atomic spy for the Soviets, one of their useful American bureaucrats. Links to details of that story can be found at the end of this post. In an earlier post you can find the Harvard graduate economics record of Lauchlin Currie along with a link to his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

However for our purposes here, Silverman enters Economics in the Rear-view Mirror as a humble graduate student who succeeded in grinding through the requirements for a Harvard economics Ph.D. at the end of the Roaring ‘Twenties.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Abraham George Silverman. Poland, Feb. 2, 1900.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Boston University (College of Liberal Arts), Sept. 1917 to June, 1919.
Harvard College, Sept., 1919 to June, 1921.
Leland Stanford Jr. University, Sept. 1922 to Sept., 1923
Economic Research Assistant, Food Research Institute, Stanford University, June, 1922 to Oct. 1, 1923.
Inst. in Econ., M.I.T.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

S.B. ~~in Economics~~, Harvard College, June, 1921.
A.M. in Economics, Stanford University, Sept., 1923.
A.M. Harvard, 1924.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your under-graduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History: Medieval and Modern European History, English History, American History, and “History of Liberty.”
Government: Principles of Popular Gov’t., Philosophy of the State.
Economics: Principles, Statistics, Accounting, Ec. Hist. of U.S., Money and Banking, Transportation, Corporations, Public Finance, Ec. thought and Institutions, “Socialism Anarchism, and Single Tax.”
Philosophy and Psych: Psychology (Principles), History of Philosophy, Philosophy of the State, Modern Philosophical Tendencies.
French.
Advanced Mathematics, etc.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

Economic Theory and its History.
Ec 10 (History of Ec. Thought and Institutions Dr. A. E. Monroe – 1920-21);
Ec 11 (1923-24);
Advanced Ec. Theory (J.M. Clark at Stanford);
Seminaries in Ec. Theory (Stanford);
Outside Reading.
Ec 15 (1924-25).
Teaching principles of economics 1924 – M.I.T.
Economic History since 1750.
Ec 23 (1st half 1923-24) Attended lectures 2nd half.
Ec 2b (Dr. E.E. Lincoln, Harvard, 1919-20).
Statistical Method and Its Applications.
Ec 1b (Dr. J. S. Davis at Harvard);
Ec 41 (1923-24);
Stat. assistant to Dr. J.S. Davis, Summer of 1920;
Ec. Research Assistant, Food Res. Ins., Stanford Univ. 1 1/2 yrs;
Stat. work in Fed. Res. Bank of Bos.;
A.M. Thesis on “Wheat Supplies, Distribution and Prices, May 1920 to July 1921”
Taught Statistics (1925-26) – M.I.T.
Money Banking & Crises.
Ec 3 (A.E. Monroe, Harvard);
Ec. 38 (1923-24);
Foreign Exchg. (A.C. Whitaker – Stanford);
Reading in History of Money and Banking & Crises in connection with Ec. 23;
Acquaintance with the methods of Harvard Econ. Service.
Transportation.
Ec 4a, 4b (Prof. Ripley, Harvard, 1920-21)
Lectures in “Overhead Costs” (J.M. Clark – Stanford);
Outside reading outlined by Prof. Cunningham.
American History since 1789.
Hist 32, 32b (Mr. Morrison, Prof. Channing – Harvard College (1920-21);
Lectures in Hist 17 (1923-24)
Hist 13b or 39 (1923-24, second half)
Outside reading.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Money and Banking, and Crises.

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The International Trade of Great Britain, 1880-1913. A statistical analysis of some aspects of the theory of international trade and prices (With Prof. Taussig)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General Examination — May 1924 (if adequately prepared by then).
Last of March or first of April.

X. Remarks

Professors Taussig, Bullock, Williams

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] F. W. Taussig

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Abraham George Silverman.

Approved: Janary 11, 1924.

Ability to use French certified by A. E. Monroe. 12 Jan. 1925

Ability to use German certified by A. E. Monroe. 12 Jan. 1925.

Date of general examination April 8, 1926. Passed T.N.C.

Thesis received April 1, 1930

Read by Professors Bullock, Taussig, Williams

Approved May 1, 1930

Date of special examination May 5, 1930. Passed – F.W.T..

Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]

Degree conferred [left blank]

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jan. 12, 1925

Mr. A. G. Silverman has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German, as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed]
A. E. Monroe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(INTER-DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Record of
Abraham George Silverman
in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1923-1924	COURSE	HALF-COURSE
Economics 11	A
Economics 23 (1st hf)		A
Economics 38	A minus
Economics 41	A
History 39²		A

	Grade
1924-1925	COURSE	HALF-COURSE
Economics 15¹ (mid-year)	Abs

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)

15 May 1925

Dear Mr. Silverman:

This is to remind you that your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics is to be held on Tuesday, 19 May, at 4 p.m. in Widener U.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. Abraham G. Silverman

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)

15 May 1925

My dear Professor Young

This is to remind you that you are the chairman of the committee for the general examination of Mr. Abraham George Silverman for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Tuesday, 19 May at 4 p.m. in Widener U. I enclose Mr. Silverman’s papers herewith. The other members of the committee are Professors Carver, Ripley, Merk and Cole.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Professor A.A. Young

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Failed General Examination, first try

22 Concord Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 19, 1925

As Chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the general examination of Mr. A. G. Silverman for the degree of Ph.D. in Economics, I have to report that Mr. Silverman failed to pass the examination.

The committee recommends, however, that Mr. Silverman be encouraged take another examination. On one subject (statistics) he was better prepared than the average candidate. Only in two subjects did his preparation appear to be distinctly inadquate. There is reason to believe, furthermore, that there may have been certain circumstances which counted against the candidate’s doing himself full justice.

[signed]
Allyn A. Young

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling General Examination
(Second Attempt)

March 24, 1926.

Dear Mr. Silverman:

This is to inform you that the date of your general examination has been set for Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock. The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Ripley, Merk, and Cole.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. Abraham G. Silverman

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Examiners for the
General Examination
(Second attempt)

March 24 1926

Dear Sir:

Will it be possible for you to serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mr. A. G. Silverman, to be held on Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock? Mr. Silverman’s subjects for the general examination are:

Economic Theory and its History
Economic History since 1750
Statistical Method and Its Application
Transportation
American History since 1789

Mr. Silverman’s special subject is Money, Banking, and Crises.

The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Ripley, Merk, and ~~Cole.~~ Taussig.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

[Pencil note added to bottom:] Professor Taussig would like to serve.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Responses to the request
to serve on the committee for the General Examination (2nd try)

[Postmark: Mar 29, 1926]

[The following responses to the card requesting participation by examiners:]

I can ~~cannot~~ serve on the committee for the general examination of Mr. Silverman on April 8.

[respectively by] Professors Persons, Cole, Merk, Ripley.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Confirming Taussig as Examiner
for the General Examination
(Second attempt)

March 30 1926.

My dear Professor Taussig:

You have been kind enough to say you will serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mr. A. G. Silverman, to be held on Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock? Mr. Silverman’s subjects for the general examination are:

Economic Theory and its History
Economic History since 1750
Statistical Method and Its Application
Transportation
American History since 1789

Mr. Silverman’s special subject is Money, Banking, and Crises.

The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Taussig, Ripley, and Merk.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Professor F. W. Taussig.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination, second try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 9, 1926

The Committee on the General Examination of Abraham George Silverman for the Ph.D. degree, held April 8, 1926, voted unanimously to accept the examination as satisfactory.

[signed]
T. N. Carver
Chairman of the Committee

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 6, 1930.

Dear dear Professor Carver:–

As chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination for the Ph.D. degree of Mr. Silverman I beg to report that Mr. Silverman passed the examination.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, PhD. Degrees Conferred, Box 10.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

Harvard, 1919-20

Economics 1b. Dr. J. S. Davis. – Statistics.

Economics 2b. Dr. E.E. Lincoln.– Economic History of the United States.

Economics 3. A. E. Monroe. – Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Harvard, 1920-21

Economics 10. Dr. A.E. Monroe.– History of Economic Thought and Institutions.

Economics 32². Professor Carver. – Economics of Agriculture.

Economics 4a. Professor Ripley. – Economics of Transportation.

Economics 4b. Professor Ripley. – Economics of Corporations.

History 32a. Dr. Morrison. – American History: The Formation of the Union, from 1760 to 1829.

History 32b. Professor Channing. – American History: The Development of the Nation, 1830 to the Present Time.

Stanford, 1922-23

John M. Clark. – Advanced Economic Theory.

A. C. Whitaker. – Foreign Exchange

Audited lectures by J. M. Clark on Overhead Costs

Harvard, 1923-24

Economics 11. Professor Taussig. – Economic Theory.

Economics 23. Asst. Professor Usher. – Modern Economic History since 1750. Registered in the first term, audited lectures second term.

Economics 38. Professor Young. – Principles of Money and Banking.

Economics 41. Asst. Professor Crum. – Statistical Theory and Analysis.

History 39b. Professor Turner – History of the United States, 1880-1920.

History 17. Professor Turner and Dr. Merk. – The History of the West. Audited lectures.

1924-25

Economics 15. Professor Young. – Modern Schools of Economic Thought.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President of Harvard College for 1919-20, 1920-21, 1923-24, 1924-25.

__________________________

Abraham George Silverman
Timeline of his education and career

1900. Born Feb. 2 in Poland.

1913-1917. Attended Boston English High School. Boston, Massachusetts.

1917-19. Undergraduate student in the College of Liberal Arts, Boston University.

1918. Inducted into U.S. Army October 9, honorably discharged December 13.

1919-21. Undergraduate student, Harvard College.

1921. Naturalized U.S. Citizen in Boston, January 24.

1921. June. S.B. from Harvard College.

1922-23. Food Research Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. May 1922 to October 1923.

1923. September. A.M. in Economics from Stanford.

1923-24. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, intermittent.

1923-24. Graduate student, Harvard University.

1924. A.M. in Economics from Harvard.

1924. Better Homes in America, Inc., and Division of Building and Housing, U.S. Department of Commerce, June 1924 to September 1924.

1924-31. Instructor in Economics, M.I.T. June 1924 to June 1931.

1924-31. Babson Statistical Organization.

1930. Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard. Thesis: The International Trade of Great Britain, 1880-1913.

1931-32. National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, N.Y. September 1931 to August 1932.

1932-33. Brown University and Rockefeller Foundation, Providence, Rhode Island, September 1932 to June 1933.

1933-34. Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration. Sept. 1933 to July 1934.

1934-36. United States Tariff Commission. November 1934 to February 1936.

1936-42. Chief Econmist and Director of research at the Railroad Retirement Board, Washington, D.C. March 1936 to March 1942.

1941. Loaned to U.S. Treasury Department. Frozen funds policy.

1942-45. Civilian economic advisor and Chief of Analysis and Plans to the Assistant Chief of the Army Air Forces Air Staff for Material and Service. March 25, 1942 to August 18, 1945.

1945. August. Left the Pentagon to work for the French Supply Council in Washington, D.C.

1948-53. Called several times to testify before Congressional committees having been named as a member of the Silvermaster ring of government informants reporting to espionage agents of the Soviet Union. He repeatedly invoked the protection of the fifth amendment to refuse answering questions during the Congressional hearings. Testimony of Abraham George Silverman, August 12, 1948.

Abraham George Silverman talking at the hearing on Communist spy activities in the US. (Washington, DC, US, Aug 1948) Photographer: Tony Linck

Image Source: Life Images, hosted by Google Images.
For personal non-commercial use only

1953-73. Obscurity.

1973. Died of a heart attack January 7 in New Jersey.

Principal Sources for the Timeline: Harvard University and F.B.I. Records. Report of Edward E. Kachelhoffer March 18, 1949.

Image Source: M.I.T. yearbook Technique 1931, p. 47

Tags SilvermanAG

Columbia Economists Harvard Industrial Organization Transcript

Harvard. Graduate records of Economics PhD, Gardiner Coit Means. 1933

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-02-09
No Comments on Harvard. Graduate records of Economics PhD, Gardiner Coit Means. 1933

Gardiner Coit Means, Passport application 1919

Gardiner C. Means was awarded his Harvard Ph.D. in economics in no small part due to the department’s willingness to relax a binding constraint with respect to a residency requirement for the Ph.D. Professor Harold Burbank’s plea for an exception to the rule is an example of a blind-eye getting turned for the right reason.

I recommend that Gardiner Coit Means be forgiven whatever deficiencies for residence that may appear on his record.

Means has had a checkered career, characterized by work neglected, I am afraid, and brilliant performances. He is the sort of student who cannot, or should not, be held to the usual formal requirements…

His greatest hit, The Modern Corporation and Private Property (with Adolf A. Berle, Jr.) scored a Hoover Institution conference on the 50th anniversary of its publication. Not bad for an early “checkered career”.

Fun fact: Gardiner C. Means was an “old bunkmate” of Adolf A. Berle, Jr. at the Army’s officer candidate school at Plattsburg, New York during World War I. Their respective spouses were undergraduate friends at Vassar.

_______________________

Much More Background and Context

William W. Bratton. “The Modern Corporation and Private Property Revisited: Gardiner Means and the Administered Price,” Law Working Paper 443/2019 (January 2020). Published in Seattle University Law Review, Vo. 42, 2019.

Gardiner C. Means, Remarks upon the Receipt of Veblen-Commons Award, Journal of Economic Issues Vol. 9, No. 2 (June 1975).

Warren J. Samuels & Steven G. Medema, Gardiner C. Means’ Institutionalist and Post Keynesian Economics (1991).

Theodore Rosenof, Chapter 3 “Gardiner C. Means and the Corporate Revolution” in his Economics in the Long Run: New Deal Theorists & Their Legacies, 1933-1993, (1997).

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Gardiner Coit Means, June 8, 1896. Windham, Conn.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Harvard College 1913-18
Harvard University 1925-27
Columbia University 1930-31

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

Harvard College AB 1918
Harvard University MA 1927

History I, Economics A, — Specialized in Chemistry.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory and its History.
Ec 11 & Ec 15.
[Economic History since 1750]
Ec 2 offered for course credit
Supplementary Reading.
[NOTE: Brackets added in red pencil later, “offered for course credit” written in pencil and added sometime later]
Money Banking & Crises
Ec 38
Ec 37
Economics of Corporations
Ec 4b
2 years special study of corporate relationships
International Trade & Tariff Policies
Ec 33 & Ec 39 ~~offered for course credit~~
Special Problems in Valuation – Judicial, Commercial, & Accounting.
Special work with Professor Bonbright of Columbia Univ.
Ec 36

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Special Problems in Valuation

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The Corporate Revolution
[NOTE: added in pencil as substitution for earlier subject]

~~Accounting Theory and Practice in Relation to Problems of Valuation. — Prof. Bonbright~~

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General Examination — ~~Late Fall of 1931~~ Jan 13/32 [ADDED]
Special Examination — Spring of 1932

X. Remarks

[ALL REMARKS ADDED LATER:]

Professor Williams, chairman
[Professor] Bullock
Dr. O. H. Taylor
[Dr.] A. H. Cole

Special examination — Professors Mason, Monroe, Chamberlin

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] H. H. Burbank

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Gardner [sic] Coit Means.

Approved: June 2, 1931.

Ability to use French certified by Dr. A. E. Monroe. March 23, 1927

Ability to use German certified by Dr. A. E. Monroe. March 23, 1927.

Date of general examination Wednesday, January 13, 1932. Passed J.H.W.

Thesis received January 6, 1933 (accepted for Jan. 3 by W.S.F.)

Read by Professor Chamberlin and Mason and Dr. Monroe

Approved January 30, 1933 (with reservations)

Date of special examination January 31, 1931. Passed – E.S.M.

Recommended for the Doctorate Jan. 31, 1933.

Degree conferred Feb. 1933

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 23, 1927

Mr. Gardiner C. Means has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed]
A. E. Monroe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Failed General Examination, first try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 23, 1927

To the Chairman of the Division of
History, Government, and Economics

Dear Sir:

As Chairman of the Committee for the examination of G. C. Means, I have to report that Mr. Means failed to pass his general examination. But the Committee was unanimous in the opinion that he ought to be encouraged to try again. He did better than the average in his theoretical subjects, but was singularly weak in history.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
John H. Williams

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to Amend Program
of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

H.H. Burbank
41 Holyoke House
Cambridge, Massachusetts
December 10, 1931.

Dear Professor Carver:

Gardner C. Means has requested that he be allowed to change his program somewhat. He plans to stand for the General Examinations in January. He wishes to amend his program so that he will be examined on International Trade rather than Economic History and will satisfy the Economic History requirement by offering credit in Economics 2. This course was taken in 1925-26 before our new regulations went into effect and before Economics 25 was offered.

Very sincerely,
[signed]
H. H. Burbank

HHB: BR

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to substitute a field for credit
approved

Dec. 15, 1931

Dear Mr. Means:

This is to inform you that at a meeting of the Committee of Seven, Division of History, Government, and Economics, held on December 14, your petition to change your plan of study to offer course credit in Economic History instead of in International Trade and Tariff Problems, was granted.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Chairman

Mr. Gardner [sic] Coit Means

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling 2nd try
General Examination

Columbia University
in the City of New York

School of Law

December 22, 1931

Professor T. N. Carver,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dear Professor Carver,

I should like very much to present myself for the General Examination required of candidates for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. I will appear at any time after the first of the year which you indicate though my own convenience would be better served if I were to appear on or about the 13th of January. However, any date within a week of the middle of January would be almost equally convenient.

Very sincerely,
[signed]
Gardiner C. Means.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling General Examination,
first iteration for second try

Dec. 28, 1931

Mr. Gardiner C. Means
Columbia University
New York

Dear Mr. Means:
Your letter has cone during Dr. Carver’s absence from Cambridge.

I am scheduling your general examination for Wednesday, January 15, at 4 p.m. Your committee will probably consist of
Professors Williams (chairman), A. H. Cole, and Ripley, and Dr.
Haberler. If there is any change in the personnel, I will let you know.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bullock to Substitute for Ripley
in the General Examination Committee

Jan. 8, 1932

Dear Mr. Means:

I find that Professor Ripley will be in Mexico on the date of your examination, January 13. However, Professor Bullock can take his place on the board. As the committee now stands, it consists of Professors Williams (chairman), A. H. Cole, Bullock, and Dr. O. H. Taylor. If anything further develops, I will let you know.

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Mr. Gardner [sic] C. Means

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Time and Place of the
General Examination (2nd try)

Jan. 11, 1932

Dear Professor Williams:

You are chairman of the committee for the general examination of Mr. Gardiner C. Means to be held on Wednesday, January 13, in 42 Holyoke House, at 4 p.m.

The other members of the committee are Professors Bullock and A. H. Cole, and Dr. O. H. Taylor. I enclose Mr. Means’ papers.

In writing the report of the examination, will you please make it somewhat detailed?

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Professor John H. Williams

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination, second try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
January 15, 1932

Dear Professor Carver:

Mr. Gardiner C. Means passed his general examination in Economics on January 13. It was the unanimous opinion of the committee that the examination itself was rather poor, but that in view of his good course record he ought to be passed. Apparently Mr. Means is constitutionally unable to answer simple questions directly, and tends to run off at length on tangents of his own, so that it is peculiarly difficult in so short a time as two hours to find out what he really knows and thinks in four subjects. The result was that none of us felt sure whether he did or did not have an adequate grasp of the subjects. We felt that in view of the course record he should have the benefit of the doubt.

Very sincerely yours,
[signed]
John H. Williams

[Handwritten] P.S. Next day, in private conversation, I discovered Means has an intimate knowledge of recent writings in monetary theory, which I was entirely unable to uncover in the exam. J.H.W.

Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to Amend Program
of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

H.H. Burbank
41 Holyoke House
Cambridge, Massachusetts
December 7, 1932

Dear Dean Mayo,

I recommend that Gardiner Coit Means be forgiven whatever deficiencies for residence that may appear on his record.

Means has had a checkered career, characterized by work neglected, I am afraid, and brilliant performances. He is the sort of student who cannot, or should not, be held to the usual formal requirements. As a matter of record, I could secure a grade for him in the research work he did with Professor Williams in 1926-27, but I believe that such details are better left unfulfilled and that Means be allowed his residence credit on the basis of general accomplishment.

He passed his General Examination in January last year.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
H. H. Burbank

Dean Lawrence S. Mayo
24 University Hall

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Division Head Requested to Back the Department Head…please…

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
December 20, 1932

Dear Professor Ferguson:

At its meeting last evening the Administrative Board considered the application of Gardiner C. Means to become a candidate for the doctorate at the end of the current half-year and took no action because Means has had only one and three-quarters years of resident graduate work. At my suggestion Professor Burbank had recommended that Means be forgiven whatever deficiencies for residence might appear in his record. I had thought that this would suffice, but the Board quite properly felt that a recommendation of this kind should come from you as Chairman of the Division instead of from the Chairman of the Department. I enclose Professor Burbank’s letter for your information. All of Means’s graduate study was done in actual residence at Harvard. Under the circumstances do you feel like making a recommendation in his case?

Yours very truly,
[signed]
Lawrence S. Mayo
Assistant Dean

Professor W. S. Ferguson

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jan. 4, 1933

Dear Mr. Mayo:

On general principles I feel like upholding the recommendation of the Department of Economics. They have the personal
knowledge of Mr. Means which I lack. Though his record is one course short of the requirement for residence, he has, none
the less, taken two full years of work in the Harvard Graduate School and has passed his general examination for the Doctorate.
Speaking for the Division, I should say that the passing of this
examination is our test. It is, I think, for you to decide whether this compensates for a deficiency in his record of courses completed.

Yours sincerely,
[unsigned]
Chairman

Dean Lawrence S. Mayo

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Summary of Thesis Submitted

Columbia University
in the City of New York

School of Law

January 6, 1933.

Chairman of the Division Committee on Graduate Degrees, Division of History, Government and Economics,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Sir:

In sending my thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctors degree in Economics, I failed to enclose the summary descriptive of the thesis. I am enclosing it herewith and I would very much appreciate it if you would have the summary placed with the thesis.

Very sincerely,
[signed]
Gardiner C. Means

GCM/ Z

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thesis submitted

Jan. 9, 1933

Dear Mr. Means:

Your thesis came to my office Friday afternoon, and although it was three days late, the postmark indicated that it had been mailed in time and should have been delivered before; therefore it is accepted as of January 3rd.

I do not find any summary, which should accompany every thesis. It should not exceed 1200 words in length. If you have not already prepared one, you had better attend to it at once.

Professor Williams, who would ordinarily read the thesis and be on the committee, is in Europe, to be gone until some time in February. In view of this fact, and also that the summary has not been completed, I wonder if you would not be willing to postpone your examination until after February 1st. Of course this would mean waiting for your degree until Commencement, and you may prefer to go ahead with the examination as planned. Please let me know your thought in regard to this suggestion.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Mr. Gardiner C. Means

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

John Williams not available for the special examination

Jan. 11, 1933

Dear Mr. Means:

I find that Professor Williams may be abroad indefinitely, so the wisest thing seems to be to go ahead with your examination on January 31st as planned. I will let you know the verdict on the thesis as soon as it is returned to me. I am sorry if I caused you any confusion by my letter of the 9th.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Mr. Gardiner C. Means

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chamberlin asked to read thesis
[carbon copy]

Jan. 12, 1933

Dear Professor Chamberlin:

Will you serve as a member of the committee to read Mr. Gardiner C. Means’ Ph.D. thesis entitled “The Corporate Revolution”?

Professor Mason is the other member of the committee. He has the thesis now, and will hand it to you when he has finished reading it.

The date for Mr. Means’ special examination is Tuesday, January 31. I hope that this time is satisfactory to you. It will be at 4 p.m.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Professor E. H. Chamberlin

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thesis Reports Not Yet Submitted,
Stay Tuned

January 27, 1933

Dear Mr. Means:

The report on your thesis has not yet been returned, and I shall probably not have it before Monday. I will wire you then in time for you to arrange to come on for your special examination on Tuesday afternoon.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

Mr. Gardner C. Means

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Handwritten Draft for Telegram [?]
to Means from Mason

Gardiner C. Means

Thesis acceptable with omission of Part II [NOTE: Means’ theoretical discussion]. Examination tomorrow if you consent; otherwise revise Part II and take examination later.

(signed) E. S. Mason

Jan. 30 / 33

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When and Where
of the Special Examination

Special examination of Mr. Gardner [sic] C. Means
Tuesday, January 31, in 42 Holyoke House
at 4 p.m.
Professor Mason (chairman) and Chamberlin,
and Dr. Monroe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feb. 1, 1933.

Professor W.S. Ferguson, Chairman, Division of History, Government and Economics.

Dear Professor Ferguson–

As Chairman of the Committee for the special examination of Gardiner C. Means I should like to report that the examiners were satisfied with his performance. In view of the difficulty with his thesis the examination was somewhat more extensive than usual and the Committee were unanimously agreed that Mr Means should be passed.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Edward S. Mason

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
February 4, 1933

Dear Wilson:

Would you bring the following matter up for formal action by the Division of History, Government, and Economics?

Mr. Gardner [sic] Coit Means was a member of the Graduate School from 1925-27, and his record on the books stands as follows:

1924-25 (2nd half)	Grades
	Course	Half-Course
Economics 4b²		A minus
Economics 6b²		C
Economics 32²		A
Economics 39²		A minus

1925-26	Grades
	Course	Half-Course
Economics 2	B plus
Economics 11	A
Economics 33¹		B
Economics 36²		B
Economics 38	A minus

1926-27 midyears	Grades
	Course	Half-Course
Economics 15¹		B plus
Economics 20 (J.H.W. )(2nd hf.)		absent
Economics 37¹		A
History 39¹		B minus

A.M. February 1927.

The Department of Economics recommended that in spite of the fact that this record totals only seven courses Mr. Means be regarded as having satisfied our requirement of two years of work for the Doctor’s degree. Professor Ferguson, as Chairman of the Division, when I consulted him, wrote me as follows:

“On general principles I feel like upholding the recommendation of the Department of Economics. They have the personal knowledge of Mr. Means which I lack. Though his record is one course short of the requirement for residence, he has, none the less, taken two full years of work in the Harvard Graduate School and has passed his general examination for the Doctorate. Speaking for the Division, I should say that the passing of this examination is our test. It is, I think, for you to decide whether this compensates for a deficiency in his record of courses completed.”

When I presented the letter to the Board the members felt that me should have formal action of the Division, not simply recommendation of a Department and more or less informal approval by the Chairman of the Division.

I am afraid this seems like a good deal of letter writing for
a rather simple matter, but I believe it is important to have Division action on the case. If I could have the vote before February 20 I can present the matter at the next meeting of the Board.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
George H. Chase

Professor G. G. Wilson

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Columbia University
in the City of New York

School of Law

August 10, 1933

Secretary
Department of Goverment, History and Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Sir:

Though I took and passed the final examination and had a thesis accepted as a prerequisite to the receipt of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, I have never received an official notice indicating that the degree has been granted to me. I have been told that my name was listed among those receiving the degree some time in February or March and I assume that it has been granted. For my records I would appreciate having a letter from an official source indicating my present status.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Gardiner C. Means

GCM:MB

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, PhD. Degrees Conferred, Box 12.

__________________________

Harvard Course Names and Instructors

1924-25 (2d hf)

Economics 4b². Professor Ripley. – Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

Economics 6b². Asst. Professor Meriam. – The Labor Movement in Europe.

Economics 32². Professor Carver. – Economics of Agriculture.

Economics 39². Asst. Professor Williams. – International Finance.

1925-26

Economics 2. Professor Gay. – Economic History from the Industrial Revolution.

Economics 11. Professor Taussig. – Economic Theory.

Economics 33¹. Professor Taussig. – International Trade.

Economics 36². Professor Bonbright (Columbia University). – Regulation of Public Utilities.

Economics 38. Professor Young. – Principles of Money and of Banking.

1926-27

Economics 15¹. Professor Young. – Modern Schools of Economic Thought.

Economics 20. J. H. Williams (2d hf.). Course of Research in Economics.

Economics 37¹. Professor Persons. – Commercial Crises.

History 39¹. Professor Channing. – History of the United States, 1865 to 1920.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President of Harvard College for 1924-25, 1925-26 and 1926-27.

__________________________

Gardiner Coit Means
Timeline of his education and career

1896. Born June 8 in Windham, Connecticut.

1912-13. College preparation at the Phillips Exeter Academy.

1913-18. Harvard College, chemistry major.

1917. Enlisted in the Army. Served as 2nd lieutenant in the infantry.

1918-19 Transferred to the Signal Corps, becoming an Army pilot. Survived a plain crash in 1918 while practicing manoeuvres over Long Island.

1918. A.B. awarded by Harvard College.

1919-20. Near East Relief to aid Armenians in Turkey. Supervised a village of 1,000 orphans.

1920-22. Two years sat the Lowell Textile School in Massachusetts.

1922-29. Started and managed a factory that manufactured hand woven fine blankets.

1925-27. Graduate coursework in economics at Harvard University. Commuted to Lowell on classless days to attend to his business.

1927. A.M. in economics awarded by Harvard University.

1927. Married Caroline F. Ware (economist and college professor), June 2.

1927. Adolf A. Berle, Jr., professor at the Columbia University Law School, asks Means to join a Social Science Research Council funded project.

1932. Publication of The Holding Company – Its Public Significance and Its Regulation (with J. C. Bonbright).

1932. Publication of The Modern Corporation and Private Property with Adolf A. Berle, Jr.

1933. Ph.D. degree, Harvard University.

1933-. Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Henry A. Wallace.

1935. Became a member of the Consumers’ Advisory Board of the National Rescovery Administration.

1935. Published paper, “Price Inflexibility and the Requirements of a Stabilizing Monetary Policy,” Journal of the American Statistical Association.

1935-39. Means moves to the Industrial Section of the National Resources Committee. Alvin H. Hansen displaces Means.

1938. Published Patterns of Resource Use. With statistical assistance of Dr. Louis Pardiso. National Resources Committee.

1935. Gardiner C. Means and his wife Caroline Ware bought a 74 acre farm near Vienna, Virginia.

1936. Published The Modern Economy in Action together with his wife, Caroline F. Ware.

1940-41. Fiscal Analysis in the U.S. Bureau of the Budget.

1943-58. Research Associate at the Committee for Economic Development.

1951-63. Starts up and then runs a private business raising and selling zoysia grass.

1957-1959. Research at the Fund for the Republic.

1959. Published Administrative Inflation and Public Policy. Anderson Kramer Associates, Washington, D.C.

1962. Publication of Pricing Power and the Public Interest.

1975. Published Roots of Inflation. New York: Lennox Hill Publishers.

1980. Over two thirds of their farm land given to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, with the house being donated after his death. Now known as Meadowlark Gardens.

1982. Hoover Institution conference on the fiftieth anniversary of Berle and Means.

1988. Died following a stroke February 15 in Vienna, Virginia.

Image Source: Second page of passport application (January 1919) by Gardiner Coit Means in the “Uniteds States, Passports Applications, 1795-1925” at Family Search.

Tags MeansGC

Economists Harvard LSE

Harvard. Graduate Records of Economics PhD Alumnus, Lauchlin Currie, 1931

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-02-07
No Comments on Harvard. Graduate Records of Economics PhD Alumnus, Lauchlin Currie, 1931

Lauchlin Currie (1902-1993) was trained by many of the top economists of his day, after which he rose to commanding heights of economic policy-making. He also swam in Soviet spy infested waters and was identified as an easily tapped deep-throated unwitting source (at best) or as a deep-state traitor (at worst) during the McCarthy era. Four of his FBI files can be downloaded at the National Archives and Records Administration. Roger Sandilands stakes a position in his excellent paper “Guilt by Association? Lauchlin Currie’s Alleged Involvement with Washington Economists in Soviet Espionage” in History of Political Economy (Fall 2000). [Copy at ResearchGate] Sandlilands lands closer to the easily-tapped-unwitting source side of the story. Also see, Currie’s testimony before the House of Representative’s Committee on Un-American Activities (August 13, 1948).

But for our purposes here Lauchlin Currie serves as just one more observation of the population of trained economists to help us learn about the intergenerational transmission and generation-by-generation production of new economic knowledge. Below you will find Currie’s graduate records from his time at Harvard.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Currie, Lauchlin Bernard. Born Oct 8, 1902 at Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

St. Francis Xavier’s 1921-22 (Nova Scotia)
London School of Economics 1922-1925.
Harvard University, 1925-1927

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

B. Sc (Econ.) London 1925

An ordinary first year Arts [?] course which included French, German and Latin, followed by the ordinary three years course for the B.Sc. degree at London, with honors in economic theory. The latter course included Economics, Government and History (political and economic) and Logic and Scientific Method.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory. A two years course under Prof. Cannan at London followed by Ec. 11 at Harvard and Ec 15.
Economic History since 1750. A three years course under Prof. Knowles at London on English Industry, Commerce & Colonisation, Econ. Position of the Great Powers, and Ec. 2 at Harvard.
Public Finance. One course with Dr. Hugh Dalton at London and Ec. 31 at Harvard.
International Trade and Tariff Policy. Ec. 38, Ec. 33 and (proposed) Ec 39 at Harvard.
History of Political Theory. One course with Prof. H. J. Laski at London and Govt. 6 at Harvard.
(Money, Banking and Crises.) [NOTE: this item added later]

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Money, Banking and Crises

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

Monetary History of Canada 1914-1926.
(Prof. Young)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

~~May~~ 1927. [NOTE: “April 11 Monday” added later]

X. Remarks

[Added later:]

Professors ~~Young Wright Cole (A. H.) Burbank Usher~~
Williams Monroe Harris

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Allyn A. Young

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

Approved: November 12, 1928.

Ability to use French certified by Professor A. E. Monroe. December 8, 1926.

Ability to use German certified by Professor A. E. Monroe. December 8, 1926.

Date of general examination April 11, 1927, Passed A.A.Y.

Thesis received January 5, 1931

Read by Professor Williams and Dr. Harris

Approved January 28, 1931

Date of special examination January 30, 1931. Passed – J.H.W.

Recommended for the Doctorate Jan. 27, 1931.

Degree conferred Feb. 1931

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dec. 8, 1926

Mr. L. B. Currie has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed]
A. E. Monroe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 14, 1927

The Division of History, Government, and Economics:

As Chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the General Examination of Lauchlin B. Currie for the degree of Ph.D. in Economics, I beg to report that Mr. Currie passed the examination. While the candidate’s showing was in no way brilliant, the examination was, in the unanimous opinion of the committee, a perfectly clear pass.

[signed]
Allyn A. Young

AAY: CCT

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Record of Lauchlin Bernard Currie

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
January 29, 1931

Transcript of the record of Mr. Lauchlin Bernard Currie

1925-26
COURSE	GRADE
Economics 2 (1 course)	A
Economics 11 (1 course)	A
Economics 31 (1 course)	A
Economics 38 (1 course)	A

1926-27
COURSE	GRADE
Economics 15¹ (½ course)	A minus
Economics 20 (1½ courses)	AA
Economics 33¹ (½ course)	A
Economics 39² (½ course)	cr.
Government 6 (1 course)	cr.

1929-30
COURSE	GRADE
Economics 20¹ (1 course)	A

Mr. Currie received the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1927.

The established grades are A, B, C, D, and E.

A grade of A, B, Credit, Satisfactory, or Excused indicates that the course was passed with distinction. Only courses passed with these grades may be counted towards a degree.

*Courses marked with an asterisk are elementary and therefore may not be counted toward a higher degree.

[signed]
George K. Zipf
Assistant Dean.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, PhD. Degrees Conferred, Box 11.

__________________________

Harvard Course Names and Instructors

1925-26

Economics 2. Professor Gay. – Economic History from the Industrial Revolution.

Economics 11. Professor Taussig. – Economic Theory.

Economics 31. Professor Bullock. – Public Finance.

Economics 38. Professor Young. – Principles of Money and Banking.

1926-27

Economics 15¹. Professor Young. – Modern Schools of Economic Thought.

Economics 20. Course of Research in Economics.

Economics 33¹. Professor Taussig. – International Trade.

Economics 39². Associate Professor Williams. – International Finance.

Government 6. Professor McIlwain. – History of Political Theory.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President of Harvard College for 1925-26 and 1926-27.

__________________________

Lauchlin Bernard Currie
Timeline of his education and career

1902. Born October 8 in New Dublin, Nova Scotia, Canada.

1921-22. St. Francis Xavier’s 1921-22 (Nova Scotia)
[Note: See above in Currie’s application to Ph.D. Candidacy at Harvard. Cf. Sandilands who apparently from some other source has this as 1920-22.]

1922-25. Study at the London School of Economics. University of London. B.Sc.

1925. Begins graduate study of economics at Harvard University.

1927. A.M. awarded at Harvard.

1927-34. Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics at Harvard.

1931. Ph.D. awarded at Harvard. Thesis: Bank Assets and Banking Theory.

1931-32. Taught “International Trade and Tariff Policies,” Economics 9a ¹hf, at Radcliffe.

1932-33. Co-teaches Economics 3 “Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises” with Professors Williams and Schumpeter.

1933-34. Professor of International Economics at Fletcher Graduate School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

1934-35. Taught “Money, Banking, and Cycles,” Economics 3, at Radcliffe.

1934. Published The Supply and Control of Money in the United States. Harvard University Press.

1934. Analyst for the United States Treasury Department, under supervision of Jacob Viner.

1934-1939. Assistant Director of Research and Statistics for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

1939-45. Assistant on Economic Affairs to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1941. Named head of the Economic Mission to China.

1943-44. Acting Director of the Foreign Economic Administration.

1945. Resigned from government service to enter private business.

1954. Lost U.S. Citizenship following an investigation by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

1949-93. Advisor on economic issues to the government of Colombia.

1993. Died in Colombia.

Source: Roger J. Sandilands. The Lauchlin Currie Papers at Duke University: A Review of their Significance for the History of Political Economy. July, 2003. Also some details from the FBI Freedom of Information Files linked to above.

Image Source: Portrait of Dr. Lauchlin B. Currie, Harvard Class Book 1934.

Tags Currie

Cornell Curriculum Economists

Cornell. Frank Knight’s Cornell Coursework, 1913-1917

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-02-05
1 Comment on Cornell. Frank Knight’s Cornell Coursework, 1913-1917

Almost fourteen years ago I was in the University of Chicago archives where I came across three boxes in Frank H. Knight’s papers containing his hand-written, three-by-five inch index card notes that covered presumably most, if not all, of his coursework at Cornell for the academic years 1914-15, 1915-16, and 1916-17. For some reason, I presume a time-constraint for that archival visit was involved, I did not copy the notes from his first year at Cornell (1913-14) to have a complete record of his graduate studies. This post provides an overview of the courses taken by Frank Knight and those professors who taught him. For his first year, we are all quite fortunate to have the story of Knight’s ex ante oeconomica life as told by Ross B. Emmett (2015) in his excellent, Frank H. Knight Before He Entered Economics (1885-1914).

The official Cornell course announcements were published in the Spring before the academic year began. This means there are a few discrepencies between the actual instructors identified by Knight and those found in the printed announcements. For example, Alvin Saunders Johnson left the Cornell faculty and was replaced by Thomas Sewell Adams and Herbert J. Davenport during the academic years 1915-16 and 1916-17.

Hopefully there will be time and energy later to provide summaries of course content from Knight’s detailed notes. Visitors are encouraged to sign up to receive future postings via email (see below).

____________________________

1913-14

Source: Announcement of the College of Arts and Sciences, 1913-14. Official Publications of Cornell University. Volume IV (May 15, 1913) Number 11.

Philosophy 11. Philosophical Results and Applications. First term, credit one hour. Prerequisite at least one course in philosophy. Professor [James Edwin] Creighton. S, 12, Goldwin Smith 225.

The purpose of the course is to show how philosophical ideas enter into other departments of thought and have a bearing on concrete problems of life and society. This will be illustrated by a consideration of certain aspects of the movement of thought and civilization in the nineteenth century.

Philosophy 19. The Development of Modern Philosophical Problems. First term, credit two hours. Prerequisite either course 1, 3, 5, 7, 17, 20, or 21. Professor [James Edwin] Creighton. T Th, 12, Goldwin Smith 225.

A review and an interpretation of the leading philosophical ideas of modern schools and systems, with the purpose of tracing the evolution of philosophical conceptions, especially during the nineteenth century, in the light of the various scientific, social, and religious problems with which they are connected.

Philosophy 20. History of Ethics, Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance. First term, credit two hours. Professor [William Alexander] Hammond. M W, 11, Goldwin Smith 220.

Lectures and assigned readings. A history of moral ideals and reflection in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, treated in connection with social and political institutions. Primarily for seniors and graduates.

Philosophy 21. History of Modem Ethics. Second term, credit two hours. Professor [Ernest] Albee. M W, 11, Goldwin Smith 220.

The history of modern ethics with special reference to the development of the commonly recognized methods of ethics. The history of British ethics will receive particular attention, as illustrating the gradual differentiation of ethics as an independent science of philosophical discipline. Primarily for graduates.

Philosophy 30. Empiricism and Rationalism. First term, credit three hours. Professor [Ernest] Albee. T Th S, 11, Goldwin Smith 220.

Lectures, discussions, and essays. The empirical movement as represented by Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, and the rationalistic movement as represented especially by Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, with reference to their distinctive methods. Locke’s Essay (Bohn edition, 2 vols.), Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature (Clarendon Press), and Leibniz’s Philosophical Works (Duncan’s translation, Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, New Haven). Primarily for graduates.

Political Science 87. The History of Economic Theory. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. Professor [Alvin Saunders] Johnson. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 264.

It is the purpose of this course to trace the main currents of economic theory from the mercantilists writers to the present day. Chief emphasis will be laid upon the development of the individualistic economic doctrines in 18th century France and England; the conditions, economic and social, upon which they were based; the consolidation of the doctrines in classical economics; and the modifications they have undergone through the influence of historical and social political criticism.

Political Science 88. Value and Distribution. Throughout the year, credit two hours a term. Professor [Alvin Saunders] Johnson. Th, 2.30, Political Science Seminary.

This course is devoted to a study of the chief problems of current economic theory, including the nature, the value, and the laws of its growth, valuation of capital and capitalization, the interest problem, wages, profits, competition, and monopoly. The works of the chief contemporary authorities will be critically studied with a view to disclosing the basis of existing divergencies in point of view.
It is desirable that students registering for this course should have a reading knowledge of German and French.

“The course description for Value and Distribution dated back several years, to the period when Frank Albert Fetter had taught the course. Fetter had completed his doctorate at the University of Halle, and was deeply engaged with economic ideas emerging from the Austrian School of Economics. Carl Menger, often considered the founder of Austrian economics, had initiated a Methodenstreit with the historicist orientation of the German Historical School, whose work had deeply influenced American economists of the late 19th century (many of whom, like Fetter, had completed Ph.Ds. in Germany). When Fetter joined Cornell’s faculty in 1901, there was an existing course on distribution, but not one on price theory generally. There had been, however, a course in reading German economic literature from the Historical School. The course was designed to enable economics students to meet the foreign language requirements Cornell had established for doctoral candidates. Fetter introduced a course in economic theory (eventually called Value and Distribution) that required students to read significant texts by French, German, and Austrian economists such as Leon Walras, Werner Sombart, Eugene Böhm-Bawerk, and Friedrich Wieser in their original language, thereby satisfying simultaneously the Graduate School’s foreign language requirement. When Alvin Johnson arrived at Cornell in 1913 (at the same time as Frank did), he inherited Fetter’s course. But Johnson, a mid-westerner educated at Columbia by John Bates Clark, was aligned more with the Anglo-American tradition of economic theorizing than he was with either the German Historical School or the Austrian School. Thus, he ignored the language requirement. Frank’s notes from Johnson’s course on the History of Economic Theory (which did not have a foreign language requirement) tell us that, one day in class, Johnson said, ‘American and English books [on economics] may contain logical fallacies, but their facts are reliable. Facts and fiction [are] indistinguishable in books like Sombart’s.’ Johnson then suggested that the doctoral requirements for economics at Cornell (and elsewhere, presumably) should state ‘that student[s] should not read German’ (from the Frank Knight Papers, Box 2, Folder 1, quoted in Howey 1983, 169, emphasis in the original).

Source: Ross B. Emmett,Frank H. Knight Before He Entered Eonomics (1885-1914). 2015.

Not registered, but audited.

Philosophy 26. Advanced Ethics. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. Professor [Frank] Thilly. Lectures, reading, discussion, and essays. M W F, 10, Goldwin Smith 220. Primarily for graduates. [Knight’s notes end in February]

Political Science 54b. State Administration. Second term, credit three hours. Prerequisite courses 53a, 53b. Professor [Samuel Peter Orth]. M W F, 11, Goldwin Smith 256.

A study of the American state; the county and the township; the powers and functions of administrative organs, boards, and commissions; judicial control. Lectures, readings, and reports. Each student will be required to make a detailed study of some particular state. [Ross Emmett believes this course corresponds to Knight’s notes that he examined]

1914-1915

Source: Announcement of the College of Arts and Sciences, 1914-15. Official Publications of Cornell University. Volume V (May 1, 1914) Number 10.

Philosophy 40. Seminary in Logic and Metaphysics. T, 3-5, Goldwin Smith 231. Professor [James Edwin] CREIGHTON and Dr. [William Kelley] WRIGHT.

[Portrait of William Kelley Wright from the 1926 Darmouth yearbook “Aegis”.]

The subject for 1914-15 will be a study of certain leading metaphysical problems in the light of recent investigations.

Philosophy 37. Seminary in Ethics. Investigation of special problems. Throughout the year, credit two hours a term, Professor [Frank] THILLY. Hours and room to be arranged.

Political Science 66a. The Labor Problem. First term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51. Professor [Alvin Saunders] JOHNSON. T Th S, 11. Goldwin Smith 264.

This course will present a systematic view of the progress and present condition of the working class in the United States and in other industrial countries; sketch the history and analyze the aims and methods of labor organizations; study the evolution of institutions designed to improve the condition of the working class; and compare the labor legislation of the United States with that of European countries.

Political Science 66b. Socialism. Second term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51, Professor [Alvin Saunders] JOHNSON. T Th S, 11, Goldwin Smith 264.

Due attention will be given in this course to the various forms of socialistic theory. Its main object, however, is to describe the evolution of the socialist movement and the organization of socialistic parties, to measure the present strength of the movement, and to examine in the concrete its methods and aims.

Political Science 76a. Elementary Statistics. First term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51. Professor [Walter Francis] WILLCOX. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 256. Laboratory, W, 2-4, Goldwin Smith 259.

An introduction to census statistics with especial reference to the federal census of 1910, and to registration statistics with especial reference to those of New York State and its cities. The course gives an introduction to the methods and results of statistics in these, its best developed branches.

Political Science 76b. Economic Statistics. Second term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51. Professor [Walter Francis] WILLCOX. T Th S, 9. Goldwin Smith 256. Laboratory, W, 2-4, Goldwin Smith 259.

A continuation of course 76a, dealing mainly with the agricultural and industrial statistics of the United States. Mature students that have not already had course 76a or its equivalent may be admitted by special permission. The course is an introduction to statistics in its application to more difficult fields, such as production. wages, prices, and index numbers.

Political Science 90. Research in Statistics. Throughout the year, credit to be arranged. Professor [Walter Francis] WILLCOX.

[Knight describes this as “afternoon session for Grad studs.”

Political Science 65a. The Industrial Revolution in England, 1700 to 1850. First term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51, previously or concurrently, or work in European history. Assistant Professor [Abbott Payson] USHER. M W F, 12. Goldwin Smith 264.

The topography and resources of England, the Industrial Revolution, commercial expansion in the 18th century. the history of the Bank of England, the rise of London as a world metropolis.

Political Science 65b. Social and Economic Problems of the 19th Century in England. Second term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51, previously or concurrently. Professor [Abbott Payson] USHER. M W F, 12. Goldwin Smith 264.

The course can be followed most profitably by students who have taken course 65a, but it may be elected independently. The history of English agriculture, 1700 to 1907; the poor laws, 1834 and 1909; the coming of free trade. 1776 to 1846; railroads and rate-making; Germany and the industrial supremacy of England.

1915-1916

Source: Announcement of the College of Arts and Sciences, 1915-16. Official Publications of Cornell University. Volume VI (May 1, 1915) Number 10.

Political Science 87. Principles of Economics. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. Professor [Alvin Saunders] JOHNSON [Apparently taught by Thomas Sewall Adams]. M W F, 11, Goldwin Smith 264. Prerequisite course 51 or its equivalent.

[Photo of T. S. Adams from the University of Wisconsin Badger of 1916]

An advanced course in general economics, based upon Marshall’s Principles of Economics as a text. Especial attention will be given in this course to the laws of value and price, of wages, interest, and profit.

Political Science 64. Money and Banking. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. Prerequisite course 51. Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young. T Th S, 10, Goldwin Smith 142.

A discussion of the more important phases of the theory of money and credit is followed by a consideration of selected practical problems, including the revision of the American banking system. Practical work is required in the analysis of the controlling conditions of the money market, of organized speculation in securities, and of foreign exchange.

Political Science 55a. Elementary Social Science. First term, credit three hours. Course 51 should precede or be taken with this course. Professor [Walter Francis] WILLCOX. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 256.

An introductory course upon social science or sociology, its field and methods, with special reference to the human family as a social unit, to be studied by the comparative, the historical, and the statistical methods.

Political Science 55b. Elementary Social Science. Second term, credit three hours. Course 51 should precede or be taken with this course. Professor [Walter Francis] WILLCOX. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 256.

A continuation of the preceding course but with especial reference to the dependent, defective, and delinquent classes. Open to all who have taken 55a and by special permission to others.

Knight’s note cards for lectures on “Valuation” are dated for either Monday or Tuesday meetings, but no more than one meeting per week. Notes for 21 meetings twelve on Mondays, nine on Tuesdays. So presumably his notes on valuation come from the following scheduled seminar courses.

Political Science 92. Research in Finance. Throughout the year, credit two or three hours a term. Professor [Allyn Abbott] YOUNG [and Thomas Sewall Adams]. T, 2.30. Goldwin Smith 269.

Individual or coöperative investigations of selected problems in money, banking, and corporation finance, in connection with lectures upon the sources of information and upon the use of appropriate methods of investigation.

Political Science 99. General Seminary. Throughout the year, credit two hours a term. Conducted by members of the department. M., 2.30-4.30, Political Science Seminary. Open only to graduate students

1916-1917

Source: Announcement of the College of Arts and Sciences, 1916-17. Official Publications of Cornell University. Volume VII (April 15, 1916) Number 10.

[1916-17 announcement] Political Science 51. Elementary Economics. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. One lecture and two recitations each week Lectures, M, 9; repeated M, 11. Barnes Auditorium. Assistant ~~Professor TURNER~~. Recitations, T Th, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12; W F, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Assistant Professor [Abbott Payson] USHER, ~~Mr. CAMPBELL, Dr. WOODBURY,~~ Mr. [Charles Roland] HUGINS and Mr. [Clarence Cameron] KOCHENDERFER. Section assignments made at the first lecture.

From the Proceedings of the Cornell Board of Trustees Meeting of May 20, 1916 “J.R. Turner, Assistant Professor of Economics resigned effective June 30”. Also note resignations of Mr. Campbell and Dr. Woodbury. So they are struck out above. Comparing this to the announcement for the staffing of the course in 1917-1918. We see that Davenport was named as lecturers with assistant professor Reed, instructor Knight, and assistant Working appearing as well. Knight’s notes for the 1916-1917 lectures explicitly mention Davenport.

[1917-18 announcement] Political Science 51. Elementary Economics. Throughout the year, credit three hours a term. One lecture and two recitations each week. M, 9; M, 11. Barnes Auditorium. Professor [Herbert Joseph] DAVENPORT. Recitations, T Th, 8, 9, 10,11, 12; W F, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Assistant Professors [Abbott Payson] USHER and [Harold Lyle] REED, Dr. [Frank Hyneman] KNIGHT, Mr. [Charles Roland] HUGINS, Mr. [Clarence Cameron] KOCHENDERFER, and Mr. [Holbrook] WORKING. Section assignments made at the first lecture.

An introduction to economics including a survey of the principles of value, money, banking, and prices; international trade; free trade and protection, wages and labor conditions; the control of railroads and trusts; socialism, principles and problems of taxation.

Political Science 57b. Lectures on Citizenship. Second term, credit two hours. M W, 12, Goldwin Smith B.

A lecture each Monday by a non-resident lecturer and each Wednesday by a member of the Department. The course has been arranged by a committee of Alumni who are actively engaged in civic and social work and who are coöperating in this way with the Department. It will follow the same general plan as last year, but the speakers and most of the subjects treated will be changed.
The course will be under the general charge of Professor Orth. Reading, reports, and essays will be required.

Political Science 88. Value and Distribution. Throughout the year, credit two hours a term. ~~Professor [Alvin Saunders] JOHNSON~~. F, 2.30, Political Science Seminary.
[Johnson had resigned from the faculty, notes indicate that Davenport led the seminary that Knight has notes from October 21, 1916 through February 3, 1917.]

A study of the chief problems of current economic theory. The works of the chief contemporary authorities will be critically studied with a view to disclosing the basis of existing divergencies in point of view. It is desirable that students registering for this course should have a reading knowledge of German and French.

Political Science 89. Mathematical Economics. Throughout the year, credit two hours a term. Professor [Allyn Abbott] YOUNG. Hours to be arranged.

The use of mathematics in economic analysis, with special reference to the work of Cournot, Jevons, Edgeworth, Walras, Pareto, Auspitz and Lieben, and Fisher. Primarily for graduates.

Political Science 63a. Corporation Finance. First term, credit three hours. Prerequisite course 51. Professor [Allyn Abbott] YOUNG. T Th S, 11, Goldwin Smith 256.

A study of the business corporation, with special reference to its economic significance and effects and to the problems of its legal control, including an analysis of the financial operations of railroads, public utilities, and industrial corporations.

History 54. Economic History of the Colonies, 1600 to 1800. First term, credit three hours. Professor [Charles Henry] HULL. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 234.

Colonization and settlement as business enterprises: the agricultural conquest of the coast: the competition between slave, indentured, and free labor; the commerce of the British Empire and its relation to the American Revolution. Textbooks, reading. reports, and lectures.

History 55. Economic History of the United States, since 1800. Second term, credit three hours. Professor [Charles Henry] HULL. T Th S, 9, Goldwin Smith 234.

Commerce during the European wars; the introduction of manufactures; the westward movement; industrial differentiation of the sections; agriculture for export; the amalgamation of railways and the combination of industries. Textbooks, reading, reports, and lectures.

Philosophy ??. Seminary of Professor [James Edwin] Creighton.

[Note cards for eight sessions in April and May 1917]

Image Source: Portrait of Frank Knight (1930 Fellow) at the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation website. Most of the professors’ portraits were found in the Cornell Classbook (various years). Many of the portraits have been digitally enhanced by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Tags AdamsTS, Davenport, HullCH, JohnsonAS, Knight, ReedHL, Usher, Willcox, WorkingH, Young

Economists Harvard M.I.T. Transcript Undergraduate

Harvard. Economics PhD alumnus, Douglass Vincent Brown, 1932

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-01-11

The lifespan of the sub-field of labor economics, industrial relations (collective bargaining and arbitration), very neatly coincided with the career of Douglass Vincent Brown (1904-1986). He was educated at Harvard College (A.B., 1925) and trained in the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (A.M., 1926; Ph.D., 1932). After a few years of teaching at the Harvard Medical School, Brown was hired by M.I.T. in 1938 as an assistant professor of industrial relations and there rose through the ranks to become its first Sloan Professor of Management in 1946. He became professor emeritus in 1969.

What makes this post relatively unique is that it provides a complete picture of Brown’s educational progress from his college preparation through Harvard undergraduate years and graduate school as seen in his transcripts. Names of courses and professors have been added. A timeline of Douglass Vincent Brown’s life has also been appended to the post.

_______________________________

On Industrial Relations

Issues in Labor Policy. Essays in Honor of Douglass Vincent Brown. Edited by Stanley M. Jacks, M.I.T. Press, 1971. Publications and papers listed pp. xii-xiii.

Chapter 7. John G. Turnbull, “Reflections on a Generation of Work in the Field of Labor Economics”, pp. 165-177.

Chapter 1. Douglas Vincent Brown and Charles Myers, “Historical Evolution”, in Public Policy and Collective Bargaining, ed. by Joseph Shister, Benjamin Aaron, and Clyde W. Summers, Industrial Relations Research Association, Publication No. 27, 1962, pp. 1-27.

Fun fact: Douglas Vincent Brown was George Shultz’s thesis advisor.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Douglass Vincent Brown, Wilkes-Barre, Penn. May 16, 1904.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Harvard University, 1921-27

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B., Harvard 1925
A.M., Harvard 1926

Economics A, Economics B, Economics C, Ec. 6a, Economics 2a, Economics 3, Economics 5, Economics 6b, Economics 8.
History 1, History 32b, Gov’t 1.
English A, English 31, English 41.
Social Ethics 4, German A, Philosophy 1a, Anthropology 1.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory & Its History. Ec. 11, Ec. 14, Ec. 15. Private Reading.
Statistics. Ecc. 1a, Ec. 41. Private Reading.
Sociology. Ec. 8, Ec. 12a. Private Reading.
Money and Banking. Ec. 3, Ec. 38. Private Reading.
American History, since 1789. History 32b, History 55. Private Reading.
(Labor Problems.) Ec. 6a, Ec. 6b, Ec. 34

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Labor Problems

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

~~Restriction of Output.~~ Family Allowances. Professors Taussig and Ripley.

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

Early in the second half-year, ~~1926-7~~. [Added later:] Wednesday, March 2, 1927. Thurs. April. 28/32.

X. Remarks

[Added later:]

Professors
Taussig, chairman
Bullock
Ford (James)
Schlesinger
Persons.

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] F. W. Taussig

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Douglass Vincent Brown.

Approved: January 21, 1927.

Ability to use French certified by Professor A. E. Monroe. February 7, 1927.

Ability to use German certified by Professor A. E. Monroe. February 7, 1927.

Date of general examination March 2, 1927, Passed – F.W.T.

Thesis received April 1, 1932

Read by Professors Taussig and Ripley

Approved April 25, 1932

Date of special examination Thursday, April 28. Passed – F.W.T.

Recommended for the Doctorate June 9, 1932

Degree conferred June 23, 1932

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feb. 7, 1927

Mr. D. V. Brown has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed]
A. E. Monroe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 4, 1927

To the Chairman of the
Division of History, Government, and Economics,

As chairman of the committee for the general examination in economics of Mr. Douglass V. Brown, I have to report that the committee unanimously voted to accept the examination as satisfactory. Mr. Brown’s showing was in every respect creditable.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 30, 1932

Dear Professor Carver,

As chairman of the committee appointed for the examination in the special field of Douglass V. Brown, candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, I have to report that Mr. Brown passed the examination to the entire satisfaction of the committee. His showing was excellent. The committee also agreed that his thesis was of high quality.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Undergraduate Transcript
of Douglass V. Brown

HARVARD COLLEGE

Record of Douglas V. Brown
for the years 1921-25

(Date) February 28, 1927

ADMISSION RECORD
SUBJECT	Elementary		Advanced
SUBJECT	Grade	Units	Grade	Units
English. Part A, II	90 85	3
Greek
Latin (1.2.4)	90	3
German
French	80	2	74	1
History (anc.)	68	1
Algebra	100	2	92	½
Plane Geometry	93	1
Solid Geometry Plane Trig.			72 98	½ ½
Physics	A 97	1
Chemistry
Geography	70	½
Admission Conditions:— [left blank]

YEAR 1921-22
Freshman	Grade
Subject	Course	Half-course
English A	B
Chemistry A	B
German A	B
History 1	B
Mathematics C	A
YEAR 1922-23
Sophomore	Grade
Subject	Course	Half-course
Anthropology 1	B
Economics A	B
English 31	B
Government 1	B
Mathematics 2	A
YEAR 1923-24
Junior		Grade
Subject	Course	Half-course
Economics 3	B
Economics 8	A
Economics 6a¹		B
Economics 6b²		A
English 41	A
Philosophy 1a²		A
Social Ethics 4a¹		A
YEAR 1924-25
Senior		Grade
Subject	Course	Half-course
Economics B¹		A
Economics C hf		B
Economics 2a¹		B
Economics 5²		Exc(C)
Economics 12a¹		A
History 32b²		Exc(B)

Concentration Subject:— Economics

Passed General Examinations in:— History, Government, and Economics

[…]

Received A.B. Degree:— magna cum laude at Commencement 1925

[…]

The standing of every student in each of his courses is expressed, on the completion of the course, by one of five grades, designated respectively by the letters A,B,C,D, and E; A and B are honor grades; C is passing; D passing but unsatisfactory; E failure. “Abs” indicates failure to obtain credit for the course, owing to absence from the final examination.

[…]

( ) indicates the quality of the work in the course up to the time of the final examination, from which the student was excused.

Sixteen full courses, in addition to the prescribed English Composition, are required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, or Bachelor of Science. From four to six full courses (or their equivalent in half-courses) constitute a full year’s work. An average of nine hours each week (normally three hours of classroom work and six hours of preparation) for thirty-six weeks is the approved amount of work for the ordinary student in a single full course.

C. N. GREENOUGH, Dean
By [signed] G. G. Benedict

Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 12.

_______________________________

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Record of Douglass Vincent Brown

First Registration: 25 September 1925

1925-26	Grades
First Year	Course	Half-Course
Economics 1a		A
Economics 11	A
Economics 38	A
Economics 41²		A
History 55	A minus

1926-27	Grades
Second Year	Course	Half-Course
Economics 14	cr.
Economics 15¹		A
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)(2 co.)	AA
Economics 34 (1st half)		A

Henry Lee Memorial Fellowship

1927-28	Grades
Third Year	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)	A

Inst. in Economics and Tutor in the Div. of H., G & E.
$1500

1928-29. Sheldon Fellow.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students 1895-1930. (UA V 161.272.5), Box 2, Belding-Burton.

__________________________

Harvard Course Names and Instructors

1921-22

English A. Rhetoric and English Composition, Oral and Written. Professor Murray, general direction of Course A.

Chemistry A. Elementary Chemistry. Professor Lamb and others.

German A.Elementary Course. Professor Bierwirth and others.

History 1. European History from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Present Time. Professor Haskins and others.

Mathematics C. Analytic Geometry; Introduction to the Calculus. Section I: Associate Professor Bouton and Mr. LaPaz; Section II: Associate Professor Kellogg and Dr. Walsh.

1922-23

Economics A. Principles of Economics. Asst. Professor Burbank, and Messrs. Masson, Blackett, Fagg, Heath, and Chamberlin, with lectures on selected subjects by Professor Taussig.

Anthropology 1. General Anthropology. Professors Dixon and Tozzer, and Asst. Professor Hooton, assisted by Mr. Ghua.

English 31. English Composition. Professor Hurlbut.

Government 1. Constitutional Government. Professors Munro and Holcombe, assisted by Messrs. Wells, McClintock, McKaughan, and Pollock.

Mathematics 2. Differential and Integral Calculus; Analytic Geometry. Professors Huntington, Birkhoff, and Asst. Professor Graustein..

1923-24

Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Professor Young.

Economics 8. Principles of Sociology. Professor Carver.

Economics 6a¹. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems. Professor Ripley.

Economics 6b². The Labor Movement in Europe. Dr. Meriam.

English 41. English Literature from the Elizabethan times to the present. Professor Bliss Perry, assisted by Mr. Bacon and Taeusch.

Philosophy 1a². Introduction to Philosophy. Asst. Professor Lewis.

Social Ethics 4a¹. Problems of Race and Immigration in America: Americanisation. Dr. Carpenter.

1924-25

Economics B¹. Economic Thought and Institutions. Asst. Professor A. E. Monroe.

Economics C hf. Theses for Distinction. Members of the Department.

Economics 2a¹. European Industry and Commerce since 1750. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Gilbert.

Economics 5². Public Finance. Associate Professor Bullock.

Economics 12a¹. Problems in Sociology and Social Reform. Professor Carver.

History 32b². American History: The Development of the Nation, 1840 to the Present Time. Professor Schlesinger (University of Iowa).

1925-26

Economics 1a. Statistics. Asst. Professor Crum.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 38. Principles of Money and Banking. Professor Young.

Economics 41². Statistical Theory and Analysis. Asst. Professor Crum.

History 55. Social and Intellectual History of the United States. Professor Schlesinger.

1926-27

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.

Economics 15¹. Modern Schools of Economic Thought. Professor Young.

Economics 20. Two Research Seminars with Frank William Taussig.

Economics 34. (First half) Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.

1927-28

Economics 20. Research Seminar with Frank William Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Courses of Instruction of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1921-22 and Report of the President of Harvard College for 1922-23 through 1926-27.

__________________________

Douglass Vincent Brown
Timeline of his education and career

1904. Born May 16 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

1918-21. Wyoming Seminary college preparatory school, Kingston, Pennsylvania.

1925. A.B. magna cum laude, Harvard.

1926. A.M. in economics, Harvard.

1926-27. Henry Lee Memorial Fellow, Harvard.

1927-33. Instructor and tutor of economics, Harvard University.

1932. Ph.D. in economics, Harvard University. Thesis: “Family Allowances.”

1933-38. Assistant professor of medical economics, Harvard Medical School.

1938-40. Assistant professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.

1940-43. Associate professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.

1941. Member of presidential mission sent to Moscow under W. Averell Harriman to organise Lend-Lease deliveries.

1942-45. Consultant to Departments of Labor and War. Advisory posts for the Council of National Defence and Office of Production Management.

1943-46. Professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.

1944-45. Public member of the New England Regional War Board.

1944. Named as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1946-. Named first Albert P. Sloan Professor of Management at M.I.T. Switched from “Economics and Social Science” to “Business and Engineering Administration.”

1947. Member of the Slichter Commission that issued a report leading to the 1948 “Slichter Law” which had the goal of reducing industrial disputes. It would have allowed the governor of Massachusetts to seize an industry if after 15 days there was “a menace to public health or safety” due to a strike.

1947. Charter member of National Academy of Arbitrators.

1948. Appointed by the governor of Massachusetts as a moderator to resolve a major trucking strike in New England. Application of the “Slichter Law” was avoided when the truckers agreed to continue moving food and fuel.

1959-60. Ford Foundation visiting professorship of industrial relations at the University of Chicago School of Business.

1969-. Professor emeritus, M.I.T.

1970. President of the Industrial Relations Research Association.

1986. Died March 21 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Obituary in The Boston Globe, 23 March 1986, p. 87.

Image Source: MIT Museum. Portrait photo of Douglass Vincent Brown from 1946.

Tags BrownDV, Taussig

Brown Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. alumnus Harry Edward Miller, 1923

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2025-01-02

Today we meet the economics Ph.D. alumnus Harry Edward Miller who was an Allyn A. Young dissertation student awarded a Harvard Ph.D. in 1923. Miller went on to become the Eastman professor of political economy at Brown University. He was only forty years old at the time of his death that resulted from hemorrhaging, a complication from a pancreaticoduodenectomy, probably attempted because of pancreatic cancer (cause of death information from death certificate).

This post provides the entire record for Harry Edward Miller found in the files of the Division of History, Government and Economics at Harvard. Bonus content includes the identification of all his graduate school courses and instructors plus a chronology of Miller’s life and career.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Harry Edward Miller, born October 11, 1897 at Boston Mass.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Boston University, 1915-19
Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences 1919-21

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B., Boston University, 1919
A.M., Harvard University, 1920

Full-year courses in Modern & Medieval European History, American History, Comparative Government. Full-year courses in Principles of Economics, and half-year courses in Public Finance, Economic History of the U.S., Socialism, History of Economic Theory.
4 years of high-school Latin and one of college.
3 years of high-school French and one of college.
2 years of high-school German and 3 of college.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory and Its History. (Econ. 11, 14, and 15. Half-year undergraduate course at Boston University in the history, full-year course in the theory.
Economic History since 1750 (Econ. 2 with additional reading and a half-year undergraduate course at Boston Univ.).
Statistical Method and its Application (Econ. 41).
Public finance (Econ 31 and a half-year undergraduate course at Boston University).
History of Political Theory. (Gov’t 6).
Money, Banking and Commercial Crises (Econ. 3 with additional reading, and Econ 38² hf. (to be taken during second semester of this year))

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Money, Banking and Commercial Crises. (Econ.3)

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

To be determined.
[added by someone else] “Theories of Banking in the United States before the Civil War.” (with Professor Young)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

I should prefer the general examination in the late spring of this year.

X. Remarks

[left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Edmund E. Day

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Harry E. Miller.

Approved: January 25, 1921.

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock, March 28, 1921.

Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock, March 28, 1921.

Date of general examination Thursday, 3 November 1921, passed – A.A. Young

Thesis received April 1, 1923

Read by Professors Young, Sprague and

Approved Bullock

Date of special examination May 25, 1923. Passed – A.A. Young

Recommended for the Doctorate June 5, 1923

Degree conferred 21 June 1923

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
E. E. Lincoln
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 28, 1921

My dear Haskins:

I have this morning examined Mr. Henry E. Miller, and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the doctorate.

Very sincerely yours
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Miller provides title of his dissertation

Apr. 11, 1921

Division of Hist., Govt. and Economics
Mrs. Dorothy Cogswell Sec’y.

My dear Mrs. Cogswell:

The title of my Ph.D. thesis is to be, “The History of Banking Theory in America before 1860.” I informed the secretary of the Dept. of Economics to that effect and am sorry it did not occur to me that you might not be advised through her.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Harry E. Miller

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Exam Postponed

COPY

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT,
AND ECONOMICS

20 May, 1921

My dear Sir:

The General Examination of Mr. Harry E. Miller, which was scheduled for Wednesday, 25 May, has been postponed until next year.

Very truly yours,
CHARLES H. HASKINS

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to Professors to join general examination committee

Copy

8 October 1921

My dear Sir:

Can you serve as one on the committee for the general examination of Harry Edward Miller? The committee will consist of Professor Young, Chairman, Professor Bullock, Professor McIlwain, Professor Usher and Professor Taussig. The examination will be on Tuesday, November 3.

The subjects which Mr. Miller offers are

Theory and its History
Economic History since 1750
Statistical Method and its Application on Public Finance
History of Political Theory
Money, Banking and Commercial Crises.

Very truly yours,

Professor [“Young”, “Bullock”,“Usher”, “Taussig”,“McIlwain” added here to the individual letters]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bullock declares willingness to serve on the general exam committee

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Committee on Economic Research
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Charles J. Bullock, Chairman
W. M. Persons, Editor
A. E. Monroe, Asst. Editor
F. Y. Presley, Business Mgr.
Charles F. Adams
Nicholas Biddle
Frederic H. Curtiss
Wallace B. Donham
Ogden L. Mills
Eugene V. R. Thayer

October 10, 1921

Professor Charles H. Haskins,
24 University Hall,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

My dear Sir:

In reply to your letter of October 8th I may say that I will serve on the committee for the general examination of Henry Edward Miller on November 3rd.

Very truly yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock/A.H.C.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Usher declares willingness to serve on the general exam committee

THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
OF
BOSTON UNIVERSITY

525 Boylston Street
Boston

Department of Economics

Oct 11, 1921

Dear Prof. Haskins:

I shall be glad to serve on the committees for the general examinations of Mr. Miller and Mr. Bober; though on Tuesday Nov. 3 I should not be able to attend earlier than 3.30 P.M.

As no date has apparently been set for Mr. Bober’s examination, I may say that my class obligations here would make it impossible to attend either on Tuesdays or Fridays before 3.30.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Abbott Payson Usher

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Young available for the proposed dates of the general exams

6 Hilliard Street, Cambridge, Mass.,
October 11, 1921.

Dear Haskins,

I have your notes informing me of the dates set for the general examinations of Miller and Bober. I have set aside the two dates mentioned, Tuesday, [marginal note “/Thursday?”] November 3, and Thursday, October 27

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Allyn A. Young

Dean Charles H. Haskins
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Miller informed of date
for his general examination

Copy

13 October 1921

My dear Mr. Miller:

Your general examination will take place on Thursday, 3 November. I am very sorry that it was impossible to arrange for this earlier in the week as you desired.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned]

Mr. H. E. Miller

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination

6 Hilliard Street, Cambridge, Mass.,
November 5, 1921.

Dear Dean Haskins,

On behalf of the committee in charge of the general examination of Mr. Harry Edward Miller for the degree of Ph.D., I beg to report that Mr. Miller passed the examination, which was held on Thursday, November 3.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Allyn A. Young

Dean Charles H. Haskins
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dean Haskins asking Young about the general quality of Miller’s general exam

Copy

8 November 1921

Dear Young:

I have your letter of 5 November, notifying me that H. E. Miller passed his general examination.

Could you without inconvenience let me know about the general quality of the examination and whether he had any margin. The Division desires a record of this kind for reference when a candidate comes to the later stages of his work, particularly the special examination, when the Committee may have no personal recollection of the general examination.

Sincerely yours,
[“x” for Haskins]

Professor A. A. Young

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Supplementary Information for
General Examination of H. E. Miller

6 Hilliard Street, Cambridge, Mass.,
November 21, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

I have your note of November 8 asking for supplementary information respecting H. E. Miller’s general examination for the Ph.D. degree.

It was the unanimous opinion of the committee that Miller’s examination was unusually creditable. He showed himself well prepared in each of the subjects offered; he thought clearly; and he was always in command of himself and of his information. In several fields the examination could easily be called brilliant; in all fields it showed unusual competence.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Allyn A. Young

Professor Charles H. Haskins, Dean
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
24 University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to Prof. Vanderblue to join special examination committee

Copy

14 May 1923

My dear Professor Vanderblue:

Will it be possible for you to serve as a member of the committee for the special examination of H. E. Miller for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Friday, 25 May, at 4 p.m., to take Professor Dewing’s place? Professor Dewing is to be away on that date, and so is unable to attend. I am sending you an examination pamphlet herewith. You will find Mr. Miller’s name on page 20.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division

Professor H. B. Vanderblue

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Request to Prof. Vanderblue to join special examination committee

Copy

17 May 1923

My dear Professor Young:

Mr. H. E. Miller’s examination is on Friday, the 25th, but his thesis is not in yet. I gave it to Professor Sprague to read first, and Professor Bullock’s secretary tells me that it is in her office, signed by Professor Bullock and yourself. Can you tell me when it will be ready to come back to this office?

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division

Professor A. A. Young

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Reminder to Young: special examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Division of history, Government, and Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
22 May 1923

My dear Professor Young:

This is to remind you that you are chairman of the committee for the special examination of H. E. Miller for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Friday, 25 May, at 4 p.m., in Widener U. I enclose Mr. Miller’s papers herewith, also an envelope for their return.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Esther W. Hinckley
Secretary of the Division

P.S. Professor Vanderblue is to take Professor Dewing’s place on the committee.

Professor A.A. Young

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Reminder to Miller: special examination

Copy

Cambridge, Massachusetts
22 May 1923

My dear Mr. Miller:

This is to remind you that your special examination for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Friday, 25 May, at 4 p.m., in Widener U. Professor Vanderblue is to take Professor Dewing’s place on the committee.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division

Mr. H. E. Miller

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

6 Hilliard Street,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 26, 1923.

My dear Haskins,

On behalf of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. Harry E. Miller for the degree of Ph.D., I beg to report that Mr. Miller passed the examination. He made a very creditable showing, – distinctly above the average.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Allyn A. Young

Professor Charles H. Haskins, Dean
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
University Hall.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Record of Harry Edward Miller

	Grades
1919-20	Course	Half-Course
Economics 2a¹		B plus
Economics 2b²		A minus
Economics 11	A
Economics 31	B plus
Economics 41	A


1920-21	Course	Half-Course
Economics 14	A minus
Economics 15	A
Economics 38²		A
Government 6	A


1921-22	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20 (2 co.)	AA


1922-23	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20	[left blank]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 09.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1919-20

Economics 2a ¹hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Dr. E. E. Lincoln.

Economics 2b ²hf. Economic History of the United States. Dr. E. E. Lincoln.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 31. Public Finance. Professor Bullock.

Economics 41. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Asst. Professor Day

1920-21

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.

Economics 15. Modern Schools of Economic Thought. Professor Young.

Economics 38². Selected Monetary Problems. Professor Young.

Government 6. History of Political Theory. Professor McIlwain.

1921-23

Economics 20. Research Seminars.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1919-20, 1920-21.

__________________________

Harry Edward Miller
Timeline of his life and career

1897. Born [Aaron Miller] on October 10 in Boston.

1918. Military service.

1919. A.B. Boston University.

1920. A.M. in economics Harvard University.

1923. Ph.D. in economics, Harvard. (Report of the President of Harvard College, 1922-23, p. 52)

1923-24. Assistant Professor, Clark University. Cf. Holyoke Daily Transcript (18 Aug 1923). [Note: Unable to find mention of Harry Edward Miller in the relevant Clark University catalogues.]

1924. Joins the Brown economics department at the rank of assistant professor.

1927. Banking Theories in the United States before 1860. Harvard University Press. Revision of Ph.D. thesis.

1928. Appointed associate professor on the Eastman Foundation, Brown University.

1930. Appointed Eastman Professor of Political Economy, Brown University.

1931. Chairman of the Rhode Island special commission for liquor legislation.

1935. Married Rosabelle Winer of New York.

1937. Died November 14 at Beth Israel Hospital in Brookline, Mass.

Sources: Obituary published in The New York Times (November 15, 1937) and the article “Harry Edward Miller” at online Encyclopedia Brunoniana.

Image Source: The Third Seal of Brown University (1834). The seal is still in use today.

Tags Bullock, MillerHarry, Taussig, Vanderblue, Young

Economist Market Economists Harvard

Harvard. University Overseer objects to hiring Alvin Hansen. 1937

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-12-29

Harvard’s hiring of Alvin Hansen, the future “American Keynes”, met with disapproval from high up in the U. S. Department of State. The reservations were easily overcome as can be seen in Harvard President Conant’s polite yet firm response to the telegram sent him urging him to block Hansen’s appointment to a tenured professorship.

William Richards Castle Jr. (1878-1963) graduated from Harvard in 1900, was an instructor of English and later Freshman Dean from 1904 to 1913. These Harvard connections helped him later to climb to the top of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Politically he was fiercely anti-New Deal. From 1935 to 1941 he served as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers which is why he must have felt it to be both his right and his duty to shoot this late torpedo at Dean John William’s candidate.

The quoted source with a negative opinion of Alvin Hansen’s qualifications was Herbert Feis (1893-1972), who likewise was a Harvard man, A.B. (1916) and Ph.D. (1921). Feis was serving as adviser on economic affairs to the Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson. Herbert Feis is an interesting enough economics Ph.D. alumnus to warrant a dedicated post here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. An unanswered question is what might have accounted for Feis’ low professional esteem regarding Hansen.

________________________________

WESTERN UNION

1937 MAY 12 PM 12:34
WASHINGTON DC

PRESIDENT CONANT
HARVARD COLLEGE CA

FEIS KNOWS HANSON WELL SAYS HE IS A THOROUGH WORKER WHO TRIES TO BE INDEPENDENT GOOD IN HIS SPECIAL FIELD BUT BY NO MEANS GREAT HE CHOOSES SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS BUT TREATS THEM SOMEWHAT NARROWLY AS HE HAS LITTLE BACKGROUND IN HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES HE GIVES SENSE OF INTELLECTUAL DOGMATISM HAS ABRUPT UNPREPOSSESSING MANNER ANTAGONIZING MANY FEIS THINKS HIM GOOD BET FOR TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT BUT WOULD GREATLY REGRET PERMANENT APPOINTMENT

W R CASTLE.

________________________________

Copy of Conant’s Reply to Castle

June 9, 1937

Mr. W. R. Castle
2200 S Street, N.W.
Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. Castle:

After receiving your information about Professor Hansen, I proceeded to investigate the whole question very thoroughly, as I was, of course, very much disturbed by what Dr. Feiss [sic] stated to you in confidence. After making this investigation, I was convinced, in spite of Dr. Feiss’ [sic] negative conclusions, that the appointment was one we should make. In this decision Dean Williams and other members of the Department of Economics agree (of course, no one except Dean Williams knows of your inquiry). I have heard excellent reports on Professor Hansen from other people in the State Department and from economists in other institutions. On the basis of all this evidence, therefore, we have proceeded with the appointment.

I am asking Dean Williams to drop in on you in Washington and discuss certain matters connected with the School and, incidentally, tell you a little more about the matter of Professor Hansen, as I am sure you would be interested in the reasons which led us both to go contrary to the advice which we received through your kindness.

I am deeply appreciative of your having taken the trouble to look into this matter and I am sure you will understand that in all such matters it is a question of weighing the pros and cons which one receives fron different sources.

Very sincerely yours,

[stamp] JAMES B. CONANT

Source: Harvard University Archives. Records of President James B. Conant, Box 81, Folder “Economics 1936-37”.

Image Source: Alvin Hansen from the Harvard Class Album 1945. Book in the foreground is The Seven Myths of Housing by Nathan Straus that was published in January 1944. The bits of newspaper one can read /…Tribune…/…by big R.A.F…./…-Day Breathing…/…Novgorod…” so my guess is that the newspaper is from late January 1944. A large-scale R.A.F. attack on Magdeburg and the Soviets recapture of Novgorod both occurred on January 21, 1922.

Tags FeisH, Hansen

Economists Harvard

Harvard. Academic record of Vervon Orval Watts, Ph.D. 1932

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-12-12

Vervon Orval Watts (1898-1993) was a faithful libertarian disciple of Harvard economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver. One of his course outlines from his time at Antioch College in Ohio has been transcribed and posted earlier.

In this post you will find the paper record of Watts’ march through the Division of History, Government and Economics that was rewarded with the award of a Ph.D. by the department of economics in 1932.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Vervon Orval Watts, March 25, 1898, Walkerton, [Ontario] Can.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

University of Manitoba, 1914-1918; Harvard University, 1921—
Teaching Positions: Brandon College, Jan. 1 – July 1, 1919; Gilbert Plains, high school, 1919-1921; Harvard, Assistant in Economics, 1923-24 (Asst.); 1926-27 (gr.); T + T 1927-29.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B., University of Manitoba, 1918
A.M., Harvard University, 1923.

History:— Greek + Roman, 1 course; European, 2 1/2 courses; English History, 2 courses; Canadian History 1/2 course.
Economics:— Courses in Theory, Economic History, Public Finance, Money + Banking, Foreign Trade + Finance.
Government:— 1 course, Logic:— 1 course.
Languages:— Greek + Latin.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory and Its History.
At Harvard – Ec. 11, Ec. 14; at Manitoba – course in Theory + its History. Private Reading.
Public Finance.
At Harvard, Ec. 31; at Manitoba – 1 course. Private Reading.
International Trade + Tariff Policy.
At Harvard – Ec. 9b, Ec. 39;
At Manitoba – 1 course; Private Reading.
Economics of Agriculture.
At Harvard – Ec. 9a, Ec. 32;
– Assistant in Ec. 9a, 1923,
Private Reading.
Sociology.
At Harvard, Ec. 8,
–Assistant in Ec. 8, 1923
Private Reading.
History of England since the Reign of Henry VII.
At Harvard: Hist. 12; Auditor in Hist. S9 + Hist. 11.
At Manitoba: 1 course
Teaching of English History in high school; Private Reading.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Sociology.

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The Development of the Technological Concepts of Production in Anglo-American Thought.

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

I should prefer the General Examination not before Feb. 1. Middle of March or few days after. [Handwritten note: “May 27/32”]

X. Remarks

Professor Carver.

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] T. N. Carver

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Vervon Orval Watts

Approved: January 11, 1924

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock, May 29, 1923.

Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock, May 29, 1923.

Date of general examination Monday, March 31, 1924. Passed. T.N.C.

Thesis received March 28, 1932

Read by Professors Carver and Taussig

Approved May 16, 1932

Date of special examination Friday, May 27, 1932

Recommended for the Doctorate June 9, 1932

Degree conferred June 23, 1932

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 29, 1923

Dear Haskins:

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. V. O. Watts and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the Ph.D. degree.

Very sincerely yours
[signed]
C. J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, date and
examiners
[carbon copy]

Division of History, Government, & Economics
Harvard University

21 March 1924

My dear Mr. Watts:

We are arranging your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics for Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m. Your committee will consist of Professors Carver (chairman), Abbott, Williams, Bullock, and Dr. Meriam.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. V. O. Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination
Information Sent to Examiners
[carbon copy]

Division of History, Government, and Economics
Harvard University

24 University Hall
25 March 1924

My dear Professor [blank]

Since the Ph.D. pamphlet is not yet out, I am sending you herewith the information which will appear in it about V. O. Watts, whose general examination is to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Carver
Abbott
Williams
Bullock
Meriam

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, Watts Reminder
[carbon copy]

27 March 1924

My dear Mr. Watts:

This is to remind you that your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics is to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m. in Widener N.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination, Carver Reminder
[carbon copy]

27 March 1924

My dear Professor Carver:
This is to remind you that you are chairman of the committee for the general examination of Mr. V. O. Watts for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Monday, 31 March, at 4 p.m., in Widener N. I enclose Mr. Watts’s papers herewith. The other members of the committee are Professors Abbott, Williams, Bullock, and Dr. Meriam.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Professor T. N. Carver

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 1, 1924

Dear Professor Haskins:

I beg to report that the general examination for the Ph.D. degree of Mr. Vernon [sic] Orval Watts was held in Widener N, Monday afternoon, March 31. The committee voted unanimously to accept Mr. Watt’s examination as satisfactory.

Signed: T.N. Carver
Chairman of the Committee

Dean C. H. Haskins

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thesis summary still needed
[carbon copy]

March 29, 1932

Dear Mr. Watts:

Your thesis has arrived in good shape. I do not find any summary with it, however. Each thesis is required to be accompanied by a summary, not over 1200 words, which is later published by the University, along with others, in a volume. I note that you have a Digest at the beginning of your thesis; perhaps you intended this to be the summary. However, it should not be bound in with the thesis, and the form should be consecutive and not in outline as you have it. It will be a simple matter for you to re-write this Digest into an appropriate summary.

I believe I wrote you as to the date for your examination, May 27. I should be glad to hear from you confirming this, as the pamphlet goes to press soon, and I cannot hold dates open after April 1st.

Sincerely yours,
Secretary

Mr. V. O. Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Last-minute thesis preparation

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 5, 1932

Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Sir:

I have almost completed my doctoral dissertation in the field of economics, and I wish to be informed if there are any rules concerning the nature of the binding for the volume.

I am writing the thesis in Sociology under Professor Carver. Shall I send it to you or to him when it has been completed?

Very truly yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Scheduling Special Examination

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 15, 1932

Miss Helen Prescott
772 Widener Memorial Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Miss Prescott:

I should like to have my special examination placed at the end of May or the beginning of June if that will be convenient for Professor Carver.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

V. O Watts: Apology for late thesis summary

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

March 31, 1932

Dear Miss Prescott:

I regret that my delay in writing you and in sending the summary of my thesis should have caused you the trouble and annoyance of writing me age in about it. For the past two weeks I have been exceedingly busy finishing the thesis while carrying the work of four courses. We also have an economics seminar which meets every week and I am serving on two faculty committees, one of which meets every week.

At the last moment, moreover, last Tuesday, I decided to have most of the thesis re-typed because the previous typing had been so faint. It may have been that the chemicals which are used on that ripple-finish paper may have caused the ink to fade on the earlier copy. At any rate, the work of supervising the typing and doing the proof-reading in addition to my regular teaching load led me to postpone everything I could as long as possible. I sent the summary off yesterday by special delivery, however, so that you should have received it by April first.

I should very much appreciate it if you could let me know soon whether or not my thesis appears to be acceptable. I am naturally anxious about it, especially since the last half of it has been written without Professor Carver’s supervision. It has certain merits, I believe, but I am very conscious of its short-comings. It would have been better if I had showed the earlier drafts of it to Professor Carver to secure his criticisms and suggestions; but every time I wrote a chapter I saw so many things I knew myself should be corrected that I disliked to show it to him, or to any one whose good opinion I valued, until I had done it as well as I could with it myself. In fact I still wanted to give it another revision before turning it in.

I trust that you and your sister are well. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that you were working with Professor Carver again. I am looking forward to seeing you and him again this spring, and I may bring my family along with me.

Very truly yours
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Letter to Carver

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

April 8, 1932

Professor Carver:

Professor Taussig read a short article I wrote in criticism of Stuart Chase’s Tragedy of Waste when I first considered the topic of waste as a thesis subject. At that time my ideas concerning my plan of procedure were vague, and Professor Taussig merely approved the general subject of economic waste as one worthy of further development. I did not return for further conferences with him.

Most of my conferences, other than those with yourself, were with Professor Young, whom I used to consult frequently during the last year he was at Harvard. The distinction between the economic and the engineering point of view and the historical approach which I took are largely the result of those conferences.

I had several conferences with Professor R. B. Perry of the philosophy department, and he read and discussed at some length with me the first chapter. Professor Mason also read a few of my earlier essays, and I had a few talks with him concerning the general subject. I have felt, however, that he never approved
either of me or of my ideas. Professor Black has stated the central idea of my thesis — the distinction between the economic and technological points of view — more clearly than any one else with whose work I am familiar, but I never had any conferences with him.

It seems to me that, all things considered, Professor Taussig is the most logical choice in the Economics Department for the examining board. He is very conscientious and honest in his criticisms and evaluations of students, yet I believe he is just and sympathetic towards new ideas.

I feel more keenly than ever at this time the loss of Professor Young, and I realize now that I may have made a mistake in not seeking the advice of Professor Taussig in writing my thesis after Professor Young left us. I always felt very reluctant to show my work to anyone, however, until I had done all I could with it myself. The distinction I have made in the thesis has not been clearly drawn by any other English writer, as far as I could discover, except by Professor Black, and I therefore felt it all the more necessary to state the idea as well as possible before
seeking criticism for it.

I expect to visit Cambridge and to see you and Professor Sorokin next Thursday or Friday. I am rather concerned about my ignorance of European sociology in view of Professor Sorokin’s interest in that field. I have been reading diligently in the history of sociological theory, but it is a very large field to cover, and I am hoping that Professor Sorokin may have some suggestions which will make my efforts more effective.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

V. O Watts: List of Positions

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

May 3, 1932

Dear Miss Prescott:

I have just recalled that you asked me some time ago to send you a list of the positions I have held. If you wanted the list for the pamphlet which was being printed three weeks ago when I was in Cambridge it will be too late to send it now. But in case you may have a further use for it I am giving it herewith. You have my permission, however, to mention any or all of these titles if you wish.

1918-1919. Instructor, Brandon College, Canada
1919-1921. Assist. principal, Gilbert Plains High School, Gilbert Plains Canada.
1922-1923. Thayer Scholar, Harvard University
1924-1926. Instructor in Economics and Sociology, Clark University
1926-1927. Weld Scholar, Harvard University
1917-1929. Tutor in History, Government, and Economics, Harvard University
1929-1930. Lecturer in Economics and Sociology, Wellesley College
1930–. Assoc. Professor of Economics, Antioch College

As you may guess I am very anxious concerning the progress of my thesis through the gauntlet of the readers. I should very much appreciate it if I could obtain a hint of good news from the scene of action, but I suppose that the long list of theses presented this year is delaying the progress of all of them.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
V. Orval Watts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Passed Special Examination

The committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. V. Orval Watts on Friday, May 27, 1932, voted unanimously to accept the examination. It was agreed by all three examiners that it was a brilliant examination..

Signed: T. N. Carver

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Antioch College informed
that Watts completed his Ph.D.

Antioch college
Yellow Springs
Ohio

Office of the President

June 6, 1932

Dr. T. N. Carver
Department of Economics,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dear Dr. Carver:

I thank you for your note about Mr. V. O. Watts. It is good to know that he did so well. His interest and enthusiasm in his work with us make his scholarly qualifications all the more productive.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Arthur E. Morgan,
President.

AEM:HG

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ohio State Not Hiring

the ohio state university
George W. Wrightmeyer, President
Columbus

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
M. B. Hammond	Alma Herbst
A. B. Wolfe	R. H. Rowntree
H. G. Hayes	J. D. Blanchard
H. F. Walradt	J. M. Whitsett
Grace S. M. Zorbaugh	H. J. Bittermann
F. E. Held	C. J. Botte
L. Edwin Smart	R. T. Stevens
E. L. Bowers	Louis Levine
R. L. Dewey	Maurice A. Freeman
C. L. James	R. L. Horne
R. D. Patton	Wm. H. Mautz
Louise Stitt	J. H. Sloan
Virgil Willit

June 6, 1932

Professor T. N. Carver
Department of Economics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Professor Carver:

I thank you for calling to my attention Mr. V. O. Watts, now teaching Economics at Antioch College. With your recommendation I do not doubt his ability to satisfy. However, the situation is about the same with us as it is at other western
institutions. We are not likely to make additions to the staff during the coming year. Those who are already employed are fighting hard to hold their jobs and there is a steady pressure on the part of graduate students to secure employment as assistants, readers, or in any other capacity, so that I do not anticipate any chance for Mr. Watts to find employment here. However, I will pass your letter to Dr. Bowers, who is acting chairman of the department, so that he can make use of it if there should be any change in the situation which calls for a new man.

I am, with best wishes,

Cordially yours,
[signed] M. B. Hammond

MBH:KU

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Record of V. O. Watts in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

1921-22	Course	Half-Course
Economics 9a		A
Economics 9b¹		A
Economics 11	B plus
Economics 32²		A
Economics 39²		A
German A	A minus


1922-23	Course	Half-Course
Economics 8	A
Economics 14	A minus
Economics 31	A
History 12	A minus

1923-24	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 12.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1921-22

Economics 9a ¹hf. Economics of Agriculture [primarily for undergraduates]. Professor Carver.

Economics 9b ¹hf. International Trade and Tariff Policies. Professor Taussig.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professors Taussig and Young.

Economics 32 ²hf. Economics of Agriculture [primarily for graduates]. Professor Carver.

Economics 39 ²hf. International Finance. Asst. Professor Williams.

German A. Elementary Course. Professor Bierwirth et al.

1922-23

Economics 8. Principles of Sociology. Professor Carver.

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.

Economics 41. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Professors Young and Day.

History 12. The History of England from 1688 to the Present Time. Professor Abbott.

1923-24

Economics 20. Course of Research in Economics.

Image Source: Portrait of Vervon Orval Watts in the Harvard Class Album, 1932.

Tags Carver, Taussig, Watts, Young

Economist Market Economists

Harvard. Renewal of Faculty Instructorship. Case of Paul Sweezy, 1940

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-10-26

The following records come from the President’s Office at Harvard University involving the terms of the reappointment of Paul Sweezy at the rank of Faculty Instructor in the Harvard economics department. Sweezy joined the army in the fall of 1942, so the debate about a two or five year reappointment turned out to be moot on account of the Second World War. What I found particularly interesting in these records is the last one posted below where we witness a member of the department’s visiting committee trying to scuttle Sweezy’s appointment because of his Keynesian fiscal proclivities.

“Mr. Bigelow presented newspaper and other clippings as evidence that Mr. Sweezy advocated economic doctrines in regard to the utility of government-spending in excess of income, and ways of meeting huge deficits, which characterized Mr. Sweezy in Mr. Bigelow’s opinion as an opponent of capitalism…”

In Sweezy’s defense the two members of the department present at the meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science felt it necessary to remind the others present that the department itself had nominated John Maynard Keynes to receive an honorary doctorate at the Tercentenary celebrations in 1936 (…but that honor somehow escaped Keynes…).

__________________________

Departmental Recommendation
to Appoint for a Five-year Term

(Copy)

February 23, 1940

Dear Dean Ferguson:

The Department of Economics has considered the reappointment of Paul Marlor Sweezy whose term as a Faculty Instructor expires in the current year. The Executive Committee voted unanimously that he be reappointed without specification of the term of such reappointment. It then voted to appoint him a Faculty Instructor for a period of five years. As indicated on the detailed record of this ballot, there were two dissenting votes. Letters from Professors Burbank and Slichter will explain in detail their reasons for not approving of the five-year term.

Mr. Sweezy’s instruction is in the fields of Industrial Organization and Socialism, and is primarily undergraduate. He is an experienced tutor, and at present is one of the two Examiners in Economics. He would at any time be considered a strong candidate for a Faculty Instructorship, and is especially valuable to the Department now in view of the recent departure of so many of our younger staff.

Biographical and bibliographical data are enclosed on separate sheets.

Yours very truly,
(S) E. H. Chamberlin
E. H. Chamberlin

Dean W. S. Ferguson
Copied by: MEH

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Departmental Vote
to Appoint for a Five-year Term

Paul Marlor Sweezy

At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Department of Economics on February 13, 1940, upon motion of Dean Williams, it was voted unanimously that we favor the reappointment of Paul Sweezy, without specification of term.

Professor Black	Yes
Professor Burbank	Yes
Professor Chamberlin	Yes
Professor Crum	Yes
Professor Frickey	Yes
Professor Haberler	Yes
Professor Hansen	Yes
Professor Harris	Yes
Professor Leontief	Yes
Professor Mason	Yes
Dr. Monroe	Yes
Professor Schumpeter	Yes
Professor Slichter	Yes
Dr. Taylor	Yes
Professor Usher	Yes
Dean Williams	Yes
Professor Wilson	Yes

Dean Williams then moved that we recommend the appoint of Paul Sweezy as Faculty Instructor for a five-year term. The motion was carried with two dissenting votes.

Professor Black	Yes
Professor Burbank	No
Professor Chamberlin	Yes
Professor Crum	Yes
Professor Frickey	Yes
Professor Haberler	Yes
Professor Hansen	Yes
Professor Harris	Yes
Professor Leontief	Yes
Professor Mason	Yes
Dr. Monroe	Yes
Professor Schumpeter	Yes
Professor Slichter	No
Dr. Taylor	Yes
Professor Usher	Yes
Dean Williams	Yes
Professor Wilson	Yes

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Burbank’s Dissent
to Appoint for a Five-year Term

(Copy)

February 17, 1940

Dear Dean Ferguson:

You are familiar with the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Department of Economics regarding Dr. Paul Sweezy.

Since I voted against the recommendation which is in your hands, I should like to state the reasons for my action.

I strongly favor continuing the present appointment of Dr. Sweezy for two years, or voting him a five-year appointment from 1937. Either action would give him a full five-year faculty term.

I take this position because I believe his status should be reviewed in about two years. The members of the Executive Committee have known Sweezy for a long period. We are, or should be, altogether familiar with his work and his promise for growth and accomplishment. I place two more years rather than four or five as the better time for revision both from Sweezy’s point of view and from the point of view of the Department.

I have had many years of experience in placing men in other institutions. It has been our experience that it is extremely difficult to place the better men advantageously after they have passed the early thirties. In this particular category the matter of a few years is of real significance. If, in 1945, Sweezy should not be advanced, the difficulties in securing an acceptable place for him will be increased. I hope this can be avoided. I believe that the colleagues who are the principal supporters of the motion for the longer term would declare that this argument carries little or no weight. However, the fact that Dr. Sweezy has no invitations from other institutions of high standing carries very considerable weight in its bearing on this problem.

I was reluctant to recommend a longer appointment at this time because of my estimate of Dr. Sweezy’s promise.

In the immediate past men have not been advanced and have gone elsewhere who were regarded, I believe, by a majority of the members of the Committee as superior to Dr. Sweezy. There are a number of men on the ground whom I regard as more promising.

Further, I believe that in our present situation our Instructorships should be well staggered and filled with regard for our long-time development. Considering the urgent needs of the Department in particular areas, I think it unwise to fill too many places immediately. I urge this policy strongly, since I am convinced that in some fields it is likely to be exceedingly difficult to uncover the requisite ability. It may be decidedly to our advantage to develop competition in these areas, — that is, two Instructors in the subjects involved. I would not urge this course for all areas of study and instruction, but in Agriculture and related problems, and in Labor and related problems I believe such competition may be essential.

Very sincerely yours,
(s) H. H. Burbank
H. H. Burbank

Dean W. S. Ferguson
5 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Copied by: MEH

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Slichter’s Dissent
to Appoint for a Five-year Term

(Copy)

February 19, 1940

Dean W. S. Ferguson
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Dean Ferguson:

At a meeting of the Department of Economics on February 13, I voted for the reappointment of Mr. Paul Sweezy as faculty instructor but against a term of five years. I favor a two-year term.

Mr. Sweezy is just completing a three-year term as faculty instructor. Consequently appointment for two more years would convert his three-year term into a five-year term which is more normal. On the other hand, appointment for five years following three would put Mr. Sweezy in a special class among faculty instructors and would easily be interpreted as a stronger endorsement of his work and qualifications than I think we are warranted in giving.

No one, of course, knows how rapidly Mr. Sweezy will develop during the next few years but I think that the chances are against our desiring to offer him a permanent place. If that is so, a two-year appointment is fairer than a five-year both to him and to the University.

Sincerely yours,
(S) Sumner H. Slichter

Copied by: MEH

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Appendix: Sweezy c.v.

Paul Marlor Sweezy

Biography

Born April 10, 1910

A.B., Harvard, 1931
A.M., Harvard, 1934
Ph.D., Harvard, 1937

Married

1934-37 Annual Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government and Economics, Harvard.

1937-40 Faculty Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government and Economics, Harvard, for three years.

Bibliography

“A Note on Relative Shares,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. I, No. 1, October 1933.

“Pigou’s Theory of Unemployment,” Journal of Political Economy, December, 1934.

“Economics and the Crisis of Capitalism,” The Economic Forum, Spring, 1935.

“John Strachey’s Theory and Practice of Socialism,” review in The Nation, December 5, 1936.

“On the Definition of Monopoly,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February, 1937.

“Review of The United States: A Graphic History, by Louis Hacker et al.,” The Nation, December 11, 1937.

“Review of Economics for Everybody, by Mervyn Crobaugh,” The Nation, December 25, 1937.

“Review of Socialism versus Capitalism, by A. C. Pigou,” The Nation, February 5, 1938; and Plan Age, March 1938.

“Review of The Promises Men Live By, by Harry Schernan,” The Nation, March 26, 1938.

“Review of Socialism, by Ludwig Mises,” Science and Society, Spring, 1938.

“Wage Policies and Investment,” American Economic Review, Supplement, March, 1938.

“Review of On the Economic Theory of Socialism, by Oskar Lange and Fred M. Taylor,” The Nation, June 25, 1938.

“Expectations and the Scope of Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, June, 1938.

“Review of Confessions of an Economic Heretic, by J. A. Hobson,” The Nation, August 27, 1938.

An Economic Program for American Democracy. With R. V. Gilbert, G. H. Hildebrand, Jr., A. W. Stuart, W. Y. Sweezy, L. Tarshis, and J. D. Wilson. The Vanguard Press. 1938.

Monopoly and Competition in the English Coal Trade, 1550-1850. (Wells Prize essay 1937-38.) Harvard Economic Studies Vol. LXIII. Harvard University Press. 1938.

“Demand under Conditions of Oligopoly,” Journal of Political Economy, August 1939.

“The Thinness of the Stock Market,” American Economic Review, December, 1938.

“Review of Full Recovery or Stagnation, by A. H. Hansen,” The Nation, November 19, 1938.

“The Power of the Purse,” The New Republic, February 8, 1939.

“Marx on the Significance of the Corporation,” Science and Society, Spring 1939.

“Review of The Brandeis Way, by A. I. Mason,” Harvard Law Review, April, 1939.

“Review of Jobs for All, by Mordecai Ezekiel,” The New Republic, April 19, 1939.

“Government Spending, its Tasks and Limits,” (discussion), Social Research, May, 1939.

“Is Further Debt Financing Sound?” (symposium), The Business Bulletin, May, 1939.

“Review of Man’s Estate, by Alfred M. Bingham,” The Boston Transcript, July 22, 1939.

“Public Works as an Aid to Private Investment,” The American City, July, 1939.

“Review of Henry George, by Albert Jay Nock,” The Nation, October 28, 1939.

“Review of Ideas are Weapons, by Max Lerner,” The Nation, December 2, 1939.

“Major Interest Groups in the American Economy,” Appendix No. 11 in The Structure of the American Economy, National Resources Committee, 1939.

In preparation:

Lectures on Marxian Economic Theory. Accepted for publication by the Oxford University Press. (Eight chapters completed in first draft.

“A Contribution to the Economic History of the Law of Corporations.” Accepted for publication by The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dean Signals Green Light
to Appoint for a Five-year Term

C O P Y

February 26, 1940.

Dear Mr. Chamberlin:

I confirm herewith the message I gave you by telephone this morning, that we are agreed to have Dr. Paul Sweezy appointed as Faculty Instructor for five years beginning on September 1, 1940. It is part of this transaction that you and we are agreed that Dr. Sweezy should be informed (first) that this appointment involves no commitment for his election to a vacancy on the permanent staff, (second) that he will be considered for election to such a vacancy in competition both with other Faculty Instructors on the staff and with outsiders, and (third) that in all likelihood this competition will be severe.

Will you kindly write to him to this effect and send to me both a copy of your letter and of his acknowledgment of its receipt?

I am

Yours sincerely,
[unsigned]

Professor E. H. Chamberlin

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chairman Informs Sweezy
of the Appointment Decision

COPY

February 29, 1940

Dear Paul:

This letter is to confirm our conversation of several days ago. The Department of Economics has voted for you a five-year appointment as Faculty Instructor dating from September 1940, and this appointment has been approved by both Dean Ferguson and by President Conant. It goes without saying that it is an expression of a belief in your promise as an economist and in your continued usefulness to the Department over the five years to come.

The appointment, made during the transition from the old system to the new, in effect continues your tenure on a non-permanent basis over a period of eight years from your Ph.D. which is perfectly normal, but has the unusual result of extending over the entire eight-year period your status as “Faculty Instructor.” For this reason apprehension has been expressed both in the Department and by the University administration lest it be misinterpreted. In fairness to you it should be made perfectly clear that no one regards this appointment as involving any commitment whatever for subsequent election for a permanent position at Harvard. When such a permanent position is to be filled, the competition will include, as well as yourself and other Faculty Instructors on the ground, former members of the Department and still others from the outside. It looks now as if this competition would be severe.

I trust that you will understand the importance of avoiding any misunderstanding at this time. Will you please let me have an acknowledgement to this letter.

Sincerely yours,
(s) E. H. Chamberlin

Dr. Paul M. Sweezy
10 Forest Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sweezy Confirms Understanding
Tenure Review will be Competitive

COPY

March 3, 1940

Professor Edward H. Chamberlin,
Department of Economics,
Littauer Center,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Professor Chamberlin,

I have your letter of February 29th regarding my appointment to a five year term as Faculty Instructor beginning next fall. Needless to say I am happy that the Department and the Administration feel the confidence in my work to date which this appointment implies.

I note that both the Department and the Administration are anxious to make it quite clear that this appointment carries with it no implication of further commitments. You may rest assured that I understand the situation in this respect completely; this letter will serve to furnish a formal record of the fact.

Sincerely,
(sgd.) Paul M. Sweezy

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Official Announcement
of the Appointment Decision

PAUL MARLOR SWEEZY

Recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty:

I recommend the appointment of Dr. Paul Sweezy as Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Department of Economics for five years from September 1, 1940. Dr. Sweezy’s three-year term as Faculty Instructor expires this year. Prior to his present appointment he served three years as Annual Instructor before receiving his doctorate. Consequently he is entitled under our rules to the five-year Faculty Instructorship for which he is recommended. He is thirty years of age.

The vote of the Department on which this recommendation is based was not unanimous. The two dissenters preferred to have the five-year period divided into two periods, one of two years and the other of three. This division seems to me to conflict with the essential idea on which the new type of Faculty Instructorship rests. It denies him the opportunity of sufficient time, free from the consequences on himself and his work of an intervening judgment, in which to demonstrate his scholarship. On the plan of the dissenters Dr. Sweezy would come up for consideration again a year hence. It is not urged that the Department would be in a better position to reach a definite decision regarding him twelve months from now than it is in at present. The action recommended by the great majority of the Department is best calculated to give Dr. Sweezy a fair chance. The Department has only one other Faculty Instructor on the five-year tenure at present and he has just been appointed. Their quota is six. Hence they could have another man in direct competition with Dr. Sweezy in 1944. Dr. Sweezy is comparatively young. There is, therefore, little risk in keeping him on for five years longer. In a subject like Economics the five years between the ages of 30 and 35 constitute the period in which a man ordinarily comes to maturity.

The enclosed letter from me to Professor Chamberlin makes clear to Dr. Sweezy the situation in which he stands on entering on his five-year term.

[signed] W. S. Ferguson

March 20, 1940.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Memorandum of the discussion between Mr. Albert Bigelow, Professors Burbank and Chamberlin, and Assistant Dean Buck, and myself [W. S. Ferguson, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences] Thursday, May 9, 1940.

Dramatis Personae

Albert Francis Bigelow. Harvard Class of 1903. Harvard Law Graduate. Member of the Economics Visiting Committee. Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1925-1944. [His son, Albert Bigelow, was a prominent pacifist.]

Paul Herman Buck. Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, associate professor in history as of 1939. He received the Pulitzer prize in American History in 1938 for his book on the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War.

William Scott Ferguson. Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History (Fun fact: Ferguson invented the reading period at Harvard)

Harold Hitchings Burbank, David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy. Former chairman of the Department of Economics, chairman of the Board of Tutors in the Division of History, Government and Economics.

Edward Hastings Chamberlin, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Department of Economics.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Mr. Bigelow presented newspaper and other clippings as evidence that Mr. Sweezy advocated economic doctrines in regard to the utility of government-spending in excess of income, and ways of meeting huge deficits, which characterized Mr. Sweezy in Mr. Bigelow’s opinion as an opponent of capitalism and, on this basis, queried “whether or not he arrived at his views by thorough scholarship and by intellectual processes which command the respect of his peers” — that is to say, met the conditions formulated in the Report of the Visiting Committee of the Economics Department for 193[last digit omitted]. General discussion followed. Professor Chamberlin pointed out that the position taken by Mr. Sweezy was substantially that held by Professor Keynes of Cambridge University, scholar to whom Harvard had tendered an honorary degree at the Tercentenary. Neither Professor Burbank nor Professor Chamberlin was able to define the degree of Mr. Sweezy’s radicalism and affirmed vigorously that in making their recommendation the Department was not actuated for or against him by considerations of his politico-economic opinions. They regarded Mr. Sweezy as a well-trained economist, a man of real ability, and an excellent teacher. Mr. Bigelow raised the question whether the point of view advocated sympathetically by Mr. Sweezy was not considered dispassionately by other members of the Department in their teaching. Professor Burbank affirmed that this was the case, adding that the men who agitated irresponsibly on matters of current controversy were not in the Harvard Department of Economics.

Mr. Bigelow also inquired whether Mr. Sweezy was not likely to influence emotionally the opinions of young men predisposed by present conditions to seek, by any or every means, an escape from their immediate troubles. The point was made that individual undergraduates were taught economics not by one man alone but by at least four or five, among them men who were more orthodox than he in their economic theories. Professors Burbank and Chamberlin were clear that it was impossible not to have instruction on socialism in the Economics Department at Harvard and that without the services of Sweezy they would be very hard put to give it. Accordingly somebody else would be needed to replace Mr. Sweezy; and, according to Mr. Burbank, there was only one man in the country whom they regarded as his superior (Lange of Chicago) and whom in his opinion they would prefer to Sweezy when and if they contemplated making a permanent appointment in this field. He is not procurable on an Instructor’s salary. Professor Burbank thought that the needs of the Department on its permanent staff placed Labor, Economic History, and Agricultural Economics prior to the field represented by Mr. Sweezy. It was pointed out by Mr. Buck that with its quota of six Faculty Instructors, the Department could easily provide for these permanent needs and yet retain Mr. Sweezy as a Faculty Instructor of the new type. He pointed out that since the Department would have at best only two Faculty Instructors next year (excluding Sweezy) they had a real need for Sweezy to insure greater continuity in tutoring and to perform other departmental duties such as the conduct of General Final Examinations. This was admitted by both Mr. Burbank and Mr. Chamberlin.

I took the point of view that I was recommending Mr. Sweezy’s appointment on the grounds of his training in Economics and his intellectual distinction and his excellence as a teacher, adding that since the question of his opinions had been raised I should like to urge that neither at the present time nor a year from now* could an explanation be given which would seem to Mr. Sweezy or his friends to be at all adequate for our failure to reappoint him: in view of our agreement as to his qualifications he would be entitled to think that he was denied the type of appointment granted to his competitors primarily because of his political opinions, whereas should he be given his five-year appointment and not elected to a permanency at its termination (which Professor Burbank thought highly probable) there would be an explanation for letting him go which he could not contest; namely, the prior needs for men in other fields, the fact that, however good they were, only one Faculty Instructor out of every two would find a vacancy open for him, and the regularity of turn-over at that stage.

Mr. Bigelow intimated that he might wish to discuss the matter further with me and with President Conant. (Mr. Bigelow called me up later to say that he would ventilate the problem on Monday but would not press for adverse action.

[signed] W. S. Ferguson

* The date at which a decision would have to be made if he were given a two-year appointment only.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Records of President James B. Conant, Box 154, Folder “Economics, 1939-1940”.

Image Source: Paul Sweezy in the Harvard Class Album 1942.

Tags Burbank, Chamberlin, Lange, Slichter, SweezyP

Economic History Economists Gender Harvard

Radcliffe/Harvard. Ph.D. economic history alumna Esther Clark Wright, 1931

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2024-10-22

Today we meet the Canadian Radcliffe/Harvard Ph.D. in economic history (1931), Esther Clark Wright. A link to her list of publications will be found below. The main artifact for this post consists of transcriptions of documents in her graduate record in the Division of History, Government, and Economics.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Esther Clark Wright, May 4, 1895, Fredericton, N.B., Canada.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

1912-1916. Acadia University.
1918. Toronto University.
1920-21. Oxford University.
1926–. Radcliffe College.

Fredericton High School. 1920,1922-23. English and History.
Moulton Ladies College, 1923. History and Latin.
Harvard. Assistant in Business History, 1927.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

B.A. Acadia, 1916. Honors in Economics.

History, 1 yr.
Economics and Sociology 3 yrs.
Greek and Latin, 4 yrs. each.
French and German, 1½ yrs each.
Philosophy, 1 yr.
Logic and Ethics, 1 yr.
Psychology, 1 yr..

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics.

Economic Theory. S7a. Ec. 11. Courses at Toronto and Stanford (not registered).
Labor Problems. Ec 34. Seminary at Toronto. Private reading..
Socialism and Social Reconstruction. Ec. 7b. Private reading.
Canadian History. Course at Toronto. Private reading. (Special Topic: The Settlement of New Brunswick). Teaching.
[Sociology] Ec. 12. Course at Toronto. (Course credit).
(Economic History since 1750) Ec 2. Ec 20. Course at Oxford. Assistant in Business History at Business School.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Economic History since 1750.

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The Genesis of the Civil Engineer. A Study in the Economic History of Great Britain, 1760-1830. Professor Gay..

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

April 28 or 30, 1930. General.
Special, Tues May 19/31

X. Remarks

Professors Gay, Ripley, Mason, [Dr.] Furber, Chamberlin

Special Committee: Professors Gay, Usher, and Dr. Monroe

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] H. H. Burbank

* * * [Last page of application] * * *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Esther Clark Wright

Approved: December 10, 1929

Ability to use French certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, March 8, 1930.

Ability to use German certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, November 6, 1930.

Date of general examination April 30, 1930. Passed (Edwin F. Gay, Chairman)

Thesis received April 1, 1931

Read by Professors Gay and Usher

Approved June 1, 1931.

Date of special examination Monday, June 8, 1931. Passed. (Edwin F. Gay, Chairman)

Recommended for the Doctorate June 4, 1931

Degree conferred June 17, 1931

Remarks. [left blank]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

General Examination,
date and examiners requested
[carbon copy]

April 21, 1930.

Dear Sir:

Will it be possible for you to serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mrs. Esther Wright on Wednesday, April 30, at four o’clock? Mrs. Wright’s fields for this examination are:

Economic Theory and its History.
Labor Problems.
Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
Canadian History.

Mrs. Wright’s special field is Economic History since 1750 and she is offering course credit in Sociology.

The committee consists of Professors Gay (chairman), Chamberlin, Mason, Ripley, and Dr. Furber.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Change of thesis title
[carbon copy]

June 6, 1931

My dear Mrs. Wright:

Professor Gay has asked me to tell you that he would like you to change the title of your thesis to

The Genesis of the Civil Engineer in Great Britain

As it is desirable to have this done before the examination, could you attend to it on Monday? The thesis is in my office.

Very sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Radcliffe College

College Record of Mrs. Esther Clark Wright.

SUBJECT	GRADE
1926-27	Course	Half-Course
Economics 2	A minus

SUBJECT	GRADE
1927-28 2hf.	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20″ Prof. Gay	A minus

SUBJECT	GRADE
1928-29	Course	Half-Course
Economics 20 Prof. Gay	A minus
Economics 34″		A
Economics 7b”		A

SUBJECT	GRADE
1929-30	Course	Half-Course
Economics 11
Economics 12

A.B. Acadia University 1916

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1930-31. (UA V 453.270), Box 11.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1926-27

Economics 2. Economic History since the Industrial Revolution. Professor Gay.

1927-28

Economics 20. Economic Research. Professor Gay.

1928-29

Economics 20. Economic Research. Professor Gay.

Economics 34. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.

Economics 7b. Programs of Social Reconstruction. Asst. Professor E. S. Mason.

1929-30

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 12. Some Fundamental Problems in Economic and Social Theory. Professor Carver.

Source: Radcliffe College Catalogue [for] 1926-27, 1927-28, 1928-29, 1929-30.

_______________________

Some of her personal backstory

…After her undergraduate study at Acadia, she studied at the University of Toronto and then at Oxford. Her studies at Oxford were cut short after just one year by her younger brother’s illness, which ended his life in October 1921. It was on the journey back to Fredericton from Oxford that she met her future husband, Conrad Payling Wright.

The courtship between the two comprised largely of correspondence over the next two years and culminated in their marriage, in 1924, on the family farm outside of Fredericton. This was unusual at the time because her family held positions of esteem in the local congregation and thus they were expected to marry in a church. After marriage, Esther Clark Wright moved to California where her husband was studying at Stanford University. She soon discovered that she was unable to have children which, though devastating, enabled her to pursue her academic studies and research at liberty. She joined her husband at Stanford, and then following that she studied at Radcliffe (Harvard University), where she graduated with a PhD in economics in 1931.

Back in Fredericton, her father had risen through the political ranks, beginning as mayor of Fredericton and eventually becoming the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. He had also opened several car dealerships in anticipation of the coming demand for automobiles. Her family’s prosperity ensured that Wright never had to depend on any other income to maintain her material comfort and this enabled her to spend time pursuing her research. This also provided her with much more independence in marriage than her female contemporaries enjoyed. Her relationship with her husband was tumultuous with the two of them often maintaining separate residences throughout their sixty-five-year marriage….

Source: New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia website article “Esther Isabelle (Clark) Wright”.

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Esther Isabelle Clark Wright’s publications, 1914-1988.

__________________________

Esther Isabelle Clark Wright
Timeline of her life and career

1895. Born May 4 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

1916. B.A. Acadia University (Wolville, Nova Scotia). Honors in Economics.

1924. July 31. Married Conrad Payling Wright.

1931. Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. Dissertation: “The Genesis of the Civil Engineer in Great Britain, 1760-1830.”

1943-47. Lectured in sociology at Acadia University.

1975. Honorary D. Litt. awarded by Acadia University

1981. Honorary Ll.D. awarded by Dalhousie University.

1984. Honorary D. Litt. awarded by the University of New Brunswick.

1990. Died June 17

1990. Posthumously awarded Order of Canada. “A prolific author and respected scholar, her excellent research has been used by many students, historians and genealogists studying Maritime history, particularly the Loyalist migration, or tracing family roots.”

Image Source: Esther Isabelle Clark from the Acadia University Class of 1916 photo.

Tags Chamberlin, Gay, Mason, Monroe, Ripley, Usher, WrightEC

HARVARD UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

Certification of reading knowledge of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY (INTER-DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

Record of Abraham George Silverman in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1923-1924

COURSE

HALF-COURSE

Grade

1924-1925

COURSE

HALF-COURSE

Scheduling General Examination (First Attempt)

Scheduling General Examination (First Attempt)

Failed General Examination, first try

Scheduling General Examination (Second Attempt)

Examiners for the General Examination (Second attempt)

Responses to the request to serve on the committee for the General Examination (2nd try)

Confirming Taussig as Examiner for the General Examination (Second attempt)

Passed General Examination, second try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Course Names and Instructors

Harvard, 1919-20

Harvard, 1920-21

Stanford, 1922-23

Harvard, 1923-24

1924-25

Abraham George Silverman Timeline of his education and career

Much More Background and Context

HARVARD UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

Certification of reading knowledge of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Failed General Examination, first try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Request to Amend Program of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Request to substitute a field for credit approved

Scheduling 2nd try General Examination

Columbia University in the City of New York

Scheduling General Examination, first iteration for second try

Bullock to Substitute for Ripley in the General Examination Committee

Time and Place of the General Examination (2nd try)

Passed General Examination, second try

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Request to Amend Program of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

Division Head Requested to Back the Department Head…please…

HARVARD UNIVERSITY The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Summary of Thesis Submitted

Columbia University in the City of New York

Thesis submitted

John Williams not available for the special examination

Chamberlin asked to read thesis [carbon copy]

Thesis Reports Not Yet Submitted, Stay Tuned

Handwritten Draft for Telegram [?] to Means from Mason

When and Where of the Special Examination

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1924-25 (2nd half)

Grades

Course

Half-Course

1925-26

Grades

Course

Half-Course

1926-27 midyears

Grades

Course

Half-Course

Columbia University in the City of New York

Harvard Course Names and Instructors

1924-25 (2d hf)

1925-26

1926-27

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(INTER-DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

Record of
Abraham George Silverman
in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)

Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)

Scheduling General Examination
(Second Attempt)

Examiners for the
General Examination
(Second attempt)

Responses to the request
to serve on the committee for the General Examination (2nd try)

Confirming Taussig as Examiner
for the General Examination
(Second attempt)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Abraham George Silverman
Timeline of his education and career

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Request to Amend Program
of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Request to substitute a field for credit
approved

Scheduling 2nd try
General Examination

Columbia University
in the City of New York

Scheduling General Examination,
first iteration for second try

Bullock to Substitute for Ripley
in the General Examination Committee

Time and Place of the
General Examination (2nd try)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Request to Amend Program
of the General Examinations

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Columbia University
in the City of New York

Chamberlin asked to read thesis
[carbon copy]

Thesis Reports Not Yet Submitted,
Stay Tuned

Handwritten Draft for Telegram [?]
to Means from Mason

When and Where
of the Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1924-25
(2nd half)

1926-27
midyears

Columbia University
in the City of New York

Gardiner Coit Means
Timeline of his education and career

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Record of Lauchlin Bernard Currie

Lauchlin Bernard Currie
Timeline of his education and career

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Undergraduate Transcript
of Douglass V. Brown

Record of Douglas V. Brown
for the years 1921-25