Category: Economists

Categories
Economists Harvard War and Defense Economics

Harvard. Account of his government service during WWI. Gay, 1920

Edwin Francis Gay

Edwin F. Gay was an 1890 alumnus of the University of Michigan (A.B.) whom the Harvard Class of 1890 elected to honorary class membership its 25th anniversary. Five years later we find in the 30th anniversary report of the class a short note paying tribute to Gay’s war service. That note is posted below. Rather than overthink what might be new information worth putting into the digital record here, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror simply decided to transcribe the entire artifact. 

The previous post highlights the role Edwin F. Gay and Wesley Clair Mitchell played at the creation of the “Survey of Current Business” of the Department of Commerce, an important legacy of then Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.

________________________

In-depth look at the life and career of Edwin Francis Gay

Herbert Heaton. A Scholar in Action, Edwin F. Gay. Harvard University Press, 1952.

Contents

Introduction—The man and his work

    1. A Scholar in the Making, 1867-1902
    2. Harvard, 1902-1917
    3. Wartime in Washington, 1917-1919
    4. The New York “Evening Post,” 1919-1923
    5. Harvard and the Squirrel Cage, 1924-1936
    6. In and Out of the Ivory Tower, 1936-1946

________________________

From the 1920 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

EDWIN FRANCIS GAY

DEGREES: (Harvard) LL.D. (Hon.); (Berlin) Ph.D.; (University of Michigan) A.B. 1890.

OCCUPATION: Publisher New York Evening Post.

Offices held in Harvard: instructor in Economics, 1902-03; assistant professor of Economics, 1903-1906; professor of Economics, 1906-1919; dean of Graduate School of Business Administration, 1908-1919. Graduated from the University of Michigan in the class of 1890 and came to Harvard as the dean of the School of Business Administration. He was elected an honorary member of our class at the time of our twenty-fifth anniversary. During the war he went to Washington where he was in charge of the allocation of shipping and at the close of the war he came to New York as the editor of the New York Evening Post where he now is.

Gay really did a wonderful work in Washington in bringing his statistical data to practical results. He started in on the Shipping Board and conceived the idea of restricting imports that were not particularly needed for war work and thus gaining space in ships for carrying munitions, food and men for our Army and those of our Allies from this country abroad. He established a splendid number of expert statisticians, each one of whom made a certain commodity a specialty. These were mostly college deans and professors who quickly acquired a book knowledge of needs and supplies of these various commodities.

For instance, a man would be devoted to the study of rubber. He would know the whole subject and have at his fingers’ ends the amount of rubber imported into this country during the last ten years; the growth of the use of rubber, and what percentage of this total could properly be called essential – to which amount importations might be safely limited without in any way injuring our war preparations. Another man would have similar knowledge of wool; another of minerals; fruits; peanuts; rabbit skins for hats; rattans and reeds for furniture; tobacco, etc., down the list of hundreds of raw materials. In this way over seven hundred and fifty thousand tons of shipping were found for the necessities of the war.

So successful was Gay in quickly starting this bureau that he was made a member of the War Trade Board, and afterwards the War Industries Board, and was the strongest man on both. He was a tremendous worker himself, and had the magnetism to inspire enthusiasm in others. It was generally conceded that he was one of the few strong men in Washington who made it possible for men and supplies to get across the water; a man of great knowledge, but no bigotry. His department was as full of Socialism as were all others in Washington. These college professors were so enthusiastic in keeping out unnecessary commodities that they laughed with glee when an unfortunate business man faced ruin as a result; but the main business was to win the war and it was confidently planned that if the armistice had not come on November 11th, on the following July the United States would have had four million men in Europe and the necessary munitions and supplies.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890.Thirtieth Anniversary, 1920, Secretary’s Report, No. 7, pp. 76-77.

Image Source: Portrait of professor Edwin Francis Gay (colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror) from the Harvard Class Album 1914.

Categories
Biography Economists

Before he was Frank Samuelson, father of Paul, he was Ephraim Chodorowski from Ratzki-Russia (now Poland)

Thanks to an inquiry regarding Paul Samuelson’s father’s geographic roots from loyal Economics in the Rear-view Mirror friends Krzysztof Nowak-Posadzy and Piotr P. Pieniążek, I have pulled up a few artifacts to add to the digital record of Paul Samuelson’s ancestry.

In case you ever wondered: the pre-Samuelson surname of the family was “Chodorowski”.

Ephraim Chodorowski arrived in New York on the steamship Blücher in November 1904, sailing in steerage (the historical analogue to what economy class air travel has become). The records indicate that he used both his birth name as well as his new name “Frank Samuelson” for about a decade.

On the issue of Paul Samuelson’s parents being first cousins: from death records of the state of Illinois for Frank Samuelson and Ella Lypski Samuelson’s brother Alfred Meyer Lypski we find:

Frank Samuelson’s parents (Leo Chodorowski and Jennie Epstein);
Ella Lypski’s parents (Meyer Lypski and Anna Epstein)

It is not too much of a stretch to presume that Jennie and Anna Epstein were sisters which is entirely consistent with Frank Samuelson and Ella Lypski having been first cousins.

A low-quality copy of Frank Samuelson’s 1922 passport photo turned up in my search of the ancestry.com databases. Still it is cool to have found.

Somewhat inconsistently (apologies) I use underlined italics to indicate handwritten insertions into official records. Bold-face is sometimes used within documents to indicate information that has been stamped into spaces for the declarations of intention for naturalization.

________________

Frank Samuelson’s 1939 obituary

SAMUELSON—Frank [Chodorovski] Samuelson, beloved husband of Ella, dear father of Harold, Paul, and Robert, fond brother of Herman, Irving, Edda Gurevitz of Kovno, Rachiel, and Rachel Schah of Kishinev. Funeral Tuesday. 3 p.m., at chapel, 3125 Roosevelt-rd. Burial Jewish Waldheim.

Source: Chicago Tribune (May 9, 1939), p. 25.

________________

State of Illinois Death Record
for Frank Samuelson

Name: Frank Samuelson
Birth Date: 1 Aug 1886
Birth Place: Ratzki, Poland
Death Date: 8 May 1939
Death Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Burial Date: 9 May 1939
Burial Place: Forest Park, Cook, Ill.
Cemetery Name: Cong. A Israel
Death Age: 52
Occupation: Pharmacist
Race: White
Marital Status: M
Gender: Male
Residence: Chicago, Cook, Ill.
Father Name: Leo Samuelson (sic)
Father Birthplace: Ratzki, Poland
Mother Name: Jennie Epstein
Mother Birth Place: Ratki, Poland
Spouse Name: Ella Samuelson
FHL Film Number: 19153415

Source: Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 accessed through Ancestry.com

________________

From the Passenger Lists
from Hamburg, November 1904

Name: Ephraim Chodorowski
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/Nationality: Russian
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Kaufmann [most likely meaning retail salesperson]
Departure Age: 20
Birth Date: abt 1884
Residence Place: Racki (sic)
Departure Date: 19 Nov 1904
Departure Place: Hamburg, Germany
Arrival Places: Dover; Boulogne-sur-Mer; New York
Ship Name: Blücher
Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)
Ship Type: Steamship
Ship Flag: Germany
Accommodation: Steerage

Source:  Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934. Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Auswandererlisten, Volume 373-7 I, VIII A 1, Band 160. Accessed through ancestry.com website.

________________

Declarations of intention for naturalization
by Frank Samuelson (Ephraim Chodorowski) and his cousin Frank Lipski
filed on 18 March 1910

United States of America
Department of Commerce and Labor
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
Division of Naturalization

DECLARATION OF INTENTION
(Invalid for all purposes seven years after the date hereof)

Circuit Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois

ss: In the Circuit Court of The United States

I, Ephraim Chodorowski, aged 24 years, occupation Druggist, do declare on oath/affirm that my personal description is: Color white, complexion fair, height 5 feet 6 inches, weight 143 pounds, color of hair brown, color of eyes gray other visible distinctive marks none; I was born in Ratzka Russia, on the 15th day of September, anno Domini 1885; I now reside at 1137 Desplains Street.

I emigrated to the United States of America from Hamburg Germany on the vessel Bluecher; my last foreign residence was Varsau Russia.

It is my bona fide intention to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to Nicholas II Emperor of all the Russias, of which I am now a citizen/subject; I arrived at the port of New York, in the State of New York on or about the 30th day of November, anno Domini 1904; I am not an anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy; and it is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States of America and to permanently reside therein: SO HELP ME GOD.

[signed] Ephraim Chodorowski
(Original signature of declarant)

Subscribed and sworn to/affirmed before me this 18th day of March, anno Domini 1910

H. S. STODDARD, Clerk of the Circuit Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois.
By Alma [sp?] V. Shoemaker, Deputy Clerk.

Source: U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991. Circuit Court, Northern District, Illinois. Declarations V. 6 (P29-End)-9, 1909-10. Accessed at ancestry.com.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

United States of America
Department of Commerce and Labor
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
Division of Naturalization

DECLARATION OF INTENTION
(Invalid for all purposes seven years after the date hereof)

Circuit Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois

ss: In the Circuit Court of The United States

I, Frank Lypski, aged 19 years, occupation Druggist, do declare on oath/affirm that my personal description is: Color white, complexion fair, height 5 feet 5 inches, weight 145 pounds, color of hair brown, color of eyes brown other visible distinctive marks none; I was born in Suvalki Russia, on the ???th [28th in other records] day of December, anno Domini 1890; I now reside at 1135 Desplains Street.

I emigrated to the United States of America from Liverpool England on the vessel Romania; my last foreign residence was Suvalki Russia.

It is my bona fide intention to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particulary to Nicholas II Emperor of all the Russias, of which I am now a citizen/subject; I arrived at the port of New York, in the State of New York on or about the 23rd day of March, anno Domini 1902; I am not an anarchist; I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy; and it is my intention in good faith to become a citizen of the United States of America and to permanently reside therein: SO HELP ME GOD.

[signed] Frank Lypski
(Original signature of declarant)

Subscribed and sworn to/affirmed before me this 18th day of March, anno Domini 1910

H. S. STODDARD, Clerk of the Circuit Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois.
By Alma [sp?] V. Shoemaker, Deputy Clerk.

Source: U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991. Circuit Court, Northern District, Illinois. Declarations V. 6 (P29-End)-9, 1909-10. Accessed at ancestry.com.

________________

1910 U.S. Census
Chicago City, Cook County, Illinois
Enumerated April 16, 1910

Head of Household: Jacob Stiene (28 yrs)
[note original name probably Gladstein as seen in a letter to Alfred Lypski in his passport application, in other records the surname was spelled “Stine”.]

Wife of Head of Household: Fannie Stiene (22 yrs)

Brothers-in-law of head of household: Alfred (23 yrs, single) and Frank (19 yrs, single) Lypski

Sisters-in-law of head of household: Ella (22 yrs, single) and Sarah Lypski (16 yrs, single)

[So the Lypski siblings were Fannie, Alfred, Frank, Ella, and Sarah. Ella and Fannie look to be twins. Jacob and Frank share a grandfather.]

Frank Samuelson:

Cousin of Head of Household: [sic, actually Frank was the cousin of the wife of the household and so necessarily cousin of her brothers and sisters listed.]

Age in 1910: 24
Birth Date: 1886
Birthplace: Russia
Home in 1910: Chicago Ward 19, Cook, Illinois
Street: 1135 Des Plaines Street
Race: White
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1904
Relation to Head of House: Cousin
Marital Status: Single
Father’s Birthplace: Russia
Mother’s Birthplace: Russia
Able to speak English: English
Occupation: Drug [store]
Industry: Clerk
Employer, Employee or Other: Wage Earner
Attended School: Y
Able to read: Y
Able to write: Y
Out of work: N
Number of weeks out of work: 0

______________

Naturalization Petition: C-362

Family name: Chodarowski (sic)
Given name or names: Efhraim
Address: 1780 Broadway, Gary, Ind.
Certificate no. (or vol. and page): P-782
Title and location of court: US Dist., Lake Co., Hammond Ind.
Country of birth or allegiance: Russia
When born (or age): Sept. 15, 1885
Date and port of arrival in US: [blank]
Date of naturalization: Oct. 16, 1917

Source: U.S. Federal Naturalization Records, District and Circuit Courts, Northern District, Illinois, Index to Naturalization Petitions. Accessed through Ancestry.com

________________

DRAFT REGISTRATION CARD, 1918

First name: Frank
Middle name: [blank]
Last name: Samuelson
Permanent Home Address: 508 Polk, Gary, Lake County, Ind.
Age in years: 33
Date of birth:  August 15th, 1885
Race: White [checked]
U.S. Citizen: Naturalized [checked]
Present Occupation: Druggist
Employer’s Name: Economical Drug Store
Place or Employment or Business: 1651 Broadway, Gary, Lake County, Ind.
Nearest Relative: Ella Samuelson, 508 Polk, Gary, Lake County, Ind.

[signed] Frank Samuelson

REGISTRAR’S REPORT

Description of Registrant

Height: Medium
Build: Medium
Color of Eyes: Gray
Color of Hair: Brown
Has person lost arm, leg, hand, eye, or is he obviously physically disqualified? (Specify.) No.

[Signed by Magistrar]
Date of Registration Sept. 12, 1918

Local Board
Div. No. 1
Gary, Indiana
Federal Bldg.

Source.  U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, Indiana, Gary City 1. Accessed through Ancestry.com

________________

U.S. Passport Application
(Form for Naturalized Citizen,
edition of January, 1919)

United States of America,
State of Indiana
County of Lake

I, Frank Samuelson, a Naturalized and Loyal Citizen of the United States, hereby apply to the Department of State, at Washington, for a passport. For myself.

I solemnly swear that I was born at Ratzki-Russia on August 15th, 1885; that my father, Leo Samuelson, was born in Russia and is now residing at Roumania; that I emigrated to the United States, sailing from Hamburg Germany about Nov 1st , 1904; that I resided 17 years, uninterruptedly, in the United States from 1904 to 1922, at Chicago IIl. 5 Yrs. Gary Ind. 12 Yrs that I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the District Court of United States at Hammond Indiana, on Oct. 16th, 1917, as shown by the Certificate of Naturalization presented herewith; that I am the identical person described in said Certificate that I have reside outside the United States since my naturalization at the following places on the following periods: [left deliberately blank] and that I am domiciled in the United States my permanent residence being at Gary in the State of Indiana, where I follow the occupation of Druggist.

My last passport was obtained from Never had one on [“Date”, left deliberately blank] and was [“Disposition of passport”, left deliberately blank]. I am about to go abroad temporarily, and intend to return to the United States within one year with the purpose of residing and performing the duties of citizenship therein: and I desire a passport for use in visiting the countries hereinafter named for the following purposes:

Roumania, Poland, Lithawania to visit father, sisters and other relatives.

I intend to leave the United States from the port of New York , sailing on board the Olympia on Aug 12, 1922.

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.

Further, I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion: So help me God.

[signed:]  Frank Samuelson

Sworn to before me this 13th day
of July, 1922
Chas . [illegible]
Deputy Clerk of the U.S. Dist. Court at Hammond Indiana

Description of Applicant.

Age: 36 years
Stature: 5 feet, 6 inches, Eng.
Forehead: High
Eyes: gray
Nose: medium
Mouth: small
Chin: medium
Hair: brown
Complexion: medium
Face: medium
Distinguishing marks: moles on right cheek

IDENTIFICATION

July 13, 1922

I, Jacob Brooks, solemnly swear that I am a native/naturalized citizen of the United States; that I reside at Chicago, Illinois; that I have known the above, named Frank Samuelson personally for 10 years and know him/her to be the identical person referred to in the within-described certificate of naturalization; and that the facts stated in his/her affidavit are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

[signed:] Jacob Brooks
(Occupation) Druggist
(Address of witness) 915-E 55th St., Chicago Ills

Sworn to before me this 13th day
of July, 1922
Chas . [illegible]
Deputy Clerk of the U.S. Dist. Court at Hammond Indiana

Applicant desires passport to be sent to the following address:

Frank Samuelson
356 Adams St.
Gary Indiana

A signed duplicate of the photograph to be attached
hereto must be sent to the Department with the appli-
cation, to be affixed to the passport with an impression
of the Department’s seal. [see top of this post]

Source.  U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. Roll 2017/1922. Accessed through Ancestry.com

________________

Illinois Death Index

Name: Alfred Meyer Lypski [brother of Ella Lypski Samuelson]
Birth Date: abt 1887
Death Date: 12 Feb 1936
Death Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Death Age: 49
Gender: Male
Father Name: Meyer Lypski
Mother Name: Rebecca Epstein
Spouse Name: Jennie Lypski
FHL Film Number: 1926849

Source: Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 accessed through Ancestry.com

Categories
Economists Funny Business M.I.T.

M.I.T. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror’s collection for Robert Solow at work and play, December 2023

 

Much has been noted and posted across traditional and social media regarding the contributions and reception of the work of Robert Solow who died on December 21, 2023. I was one of the legion of economics apprentices (a.k.a. graduate students) whom Bob Solow introduced to the art and craft of summoning meaning from the chaos of everyday trends and fluctuations. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has, to date, posted transcriptions of sixteen archival artifacts from his M.I.T. work-and-play-ground.

Bob Solow was like a favorite uncle to those lucky enough to have had him as a teacher. 99 years was one helluva long-run and besides having been a great economist, he was a good man.  

A great interview from March 3, 2023: Robert Solow on growing up in Brooklyn, fighting Nazis, and everything that came after.

___________________________

Solow at Work

Course Outline of Economic Statistics. Robert Solow, 1960

Advanced Economic Theory (Capital and growth). Solow and Phelps, 1962

Advanced Economic Theory Course, Solow, 1962

Advanced Economic Theory. Uncertainty and Capital Theory. Readings and Exam. Solow, 1965

Economic Growth and Fluctuations. Readings and Midterm Exam. Solow, 1966

Suggestions for New Fields. Domar, Kuh, Solow, Adelman, 1967

Core Economic Growth and Dynamics. Readings and Final Exam. Solow, 1968

Student evaluations of second term core macroeconomics. Solow, Foley. 1967-70

Applied Price Theory Readings. Robert Solow, 1971 or 1972

Core Dynamic Macro Half-course. Readings and exam. Solow, 1973

Capital theory. Course outline, suggested readings. Solow, 1975

Solow at Play

Dystopian Faculty Skit by Solow, 1969

Economics faculty M*A*S*H theme skit. Robert Solow, 1977

Faculty skit. Robert Solow as the 2000 year old economist, ca. 1979-80

Rewrite of 1940s blues hit “Why don’t you do right, like some other men do”. Solow, ca. 1983-84

Robert Solow’s Last Skit. “Dr Rudi Tells You How”, Late 1980s.

 

 

Categories
Economics Programs Economists Harvard Race

Harvard. Application for Ph.D. candidacy. W.E.B. Du Bois, 1895

The following “Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.” for William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, who was awarded his Ph.D. in 1895 and whose 1896 publication of his dissertation book is noted, appears to be a record filed ex post. His 1895 Ph.D. was only the 3rd awarded by Harvard’s Division of History and Political Science in political science and it appears to me that the creation of an explicit, real-time record of a candidate’s satisfaction of degree requirements only came later. Similar omissions and ex post inclusions can be found in the similar applications filed for/by Frank W. Taussig and J. Laurence Laughlin.

For the previous post I have transcribed Du Bois’ updates in the reports up through 1920 by the secretary of the Harvard Class of 1890.

Research Tip: W.E.B. Du Bois Papers in the Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Cf. the portrait included in above linked page which is dated 1907 with the 1900 portrait  by Paul Nadar of Paris made in 1900. They are not identical, but close enough for me to suspect that they are both from the same Paris studio in 1900.

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

______________________

William Edward Burghardt DuBois 1895

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

I. Name (in full, and date of birth).

[Name left blank] Feb 23—1868

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

Fisk University 1888
Harvard College 1888-90
Harvard Graduate School 1890-92
Berlin University 1892-94?
Prof. Latin & Greek Wilberforce Univ (Ohio);
Prof. Econ. & Hist. Atlanta Univ (Georgia)

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

A.B. Fisk 1888
A.B. Harvard 1890 [cum laude]
A.M. Harvard 1891
Ph.D. Harvard 1895

IV. Academic Distinctions. (Mention prizes, honors, fellowships, scholarships, etc.)

1st Boylston Prize 1890-91 2nd Boylston Prize 1889-90

Matthews Scholarship 1890

Henry Bromfield Rogers Memorial Fellow [1890-91, first year studying Ethics in Relation to Sociology; second year studying history]

Foreign Fellowship on Slater Fund [1891-92, as non-resident at Harvard to study political science at the University of Berlin]

[Other Academic Distinctions not listed here: Honorable Mention in Philosophy awarded A.B.; Delivered the commencement disquisition “Jefferson Davis as a Representative of Civilization.”]

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

Political Science

VI. Choice of subjects for the General Examination. (Write out each subject, and at the end put in square brackets the number of that subject in the Division lists. Indicate any digressions from the normal choices, and any combinations of partial subjects. State briefly what your means of preparation have been on each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

1. [left blank]
2. [left blank]
3. [left blank]
4. [left blank]
5. [left blank]
6. [left blank]
7. [left blank]

VII. Special subject for the special examination.

[left blank]

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

The Suppression of the African Slave Trade in the United States of America.— ?illegible word? and published Harvard Historical Studies, I (1896).

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

[left blank]

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

[Not to be filled out by the applicant.]

Name: William Edward Burghardt DuBois
Date of reception: [left blank]
Approved: [left blank]
Date of general examination: [left blank]
Thesis received: [left blank]
Approved: [left blank]
Read by: [left blank]
Date of special examination: [left blank]
Recommended for the Doctorate: [left blank]
Voted by the Faculty: [left blank]
Degree conferred: 1895 (Pol Sci.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics, Box 1, Folder “Ph.D. degrees conferred, 1873-1901 (folder 1 of 2)”.

Image Source: W. E. B. Du Bois, identification card for Exposition Universelle, 1900. Nadar, Paul, 1856-1939 (photographer).

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Class of 1890 reports for W.E.B. Du Bois, 1897-1920

W. E. B. Du Bois joined the Harvard Class of 1890 in its junior year. He entered the Ph.D. division of History and Political Science to major in political science. At the end of the 19th century, political science was a synonym for “social science” and encompassed government, economics, and sociology. Economists have a rightful (partial) claim to Du Bois, much as they have to Thorstein Veblen. 

This post provides transcriptions from five Harvard class of 1890 reports on the life and activities of W.E.B. Du Bois through 1820.

Other posts dealing with Du Bois:

Du Bois’ choice of textbooks at Atlanta University

Du Bois goes after Columbia’s Burgess for ‘Anti-Negro’ history

Dubois and Balch post on race and gender

________________________

1897 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is at present teaching at Wilborforce University, Green County, Ohio, an institution for education of colored youth. Has lately published a monograph on the suppression of the slave trade from the press of Longmans, Green & Co. 1896-97, Fellow, University of Pennsylvania.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 3. Boston (1897), p. 38.

________________________

1903 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. “In the fall of 1897 I accepted a position at Atlanta University as professor of history and economics. Here I am still at work. During that time I have published the following works:—

“‘The Philadelphia Negro,’ 520 pp., Ginn & Co., 1899.

“‘The Negroes of Farmville, Va.,’ 38 pp., Bulletin U. S. Department of Labor, January, 1898.

“‘The Study of the Negro Problems,’ 21 pp., Publications of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, No. 219.

“‘Strivings of the Negro People,’ Atlantic Monthly, August, 1897.

“‘A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South,’ Atlantic Monthly, January, 1899.

“‘The Evolution of Negro Leadership,’ (a review of Washington’s “Up from Slavery,”) Dial, July 16, 1901.

“‘The Storm and Stress in the Black World,’ (a review of Thomas’s “American Negro,”) Dial, April 16, 1901.

“‘The Savings of Black Georgia,’ Outlook, September 14, 1901.

“‘The Relation of the Negroes to the Whites in the South,’ Publications of American Academy of Social and Political Science, No. 311. (Reprinted in ‘America’s Race Problems,’ McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901.)

“‘The Negro Land-holder in Georgia,’ 130 pp., Bulletin of U. S. Department of Labor, No. 35.

“‘The Negro as He Really Is,’ World’s Work, June, 1901.

“‘The Freedmen’s Bureau,’ Atlantic Monthly, March, 1901.

“‘The Religion of the American Negro,’ New World, December, 1900.

“‘The Black North,’ New York Times, 1901. [Series: (1st) 17 Nov; (2nd) 24 Nov; (3rd) 1 Dec; (4th) 8 Dec; (6th, sic) 15 Dec]

“‘The Opening of the Library,’ Independent, April 3, 1902.

“I have also edited the following Atlanta University publications:—

“‘Some Efforts of American Negroes for Social Betterment,’ 66 pp., 1898.

“‘The Negro in Business,’ 77 pp., 1899.

“‘The College-Bred Negro,’ 115 pp., 1900.

“‘The Negro Common School,”120 pp., 1901.

“We have had one little boy, born October 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; a daughter, Nina Yolande, was born October 4, 1900. Married, May 12, 1896, Nina Gomer.”

Address, Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 4. Boston (1903), pp. 42-43.

________________________

1909 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

PROF. WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DUBOIS. Son of Alfred Alexander DuBois and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) DuBois.

Born at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868.

Prepared for college at Great Barrington (Mass.) High School and Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.

Writes: “I am still Professor of Economics and History in Atlanta University. Since the last report I have published: ‘Souls of Black Folk,’ A. C. McClurg, Chicago, Ill., 264 pp., 1903; ‘Negro in the South’ (by Washington & DuBois), J. W. Jacobs & Co., Philadelphia, 222 pp., 1907; ‘The Negro Church,’ Atlanta, 212 pp., 1903; ‘Negro Crime,’ Atlanta, 75 pp., 1904; ‘Bibliography of the Negro American,’ Atlanta, 72 pp., 1905; ‘Health and Physique of the Negro American,’ Atlanta, 112 pp., 1906; ‘Economic Coöperation among Negro Americans,’ Atlanta, 184 pp., 1907; ‘The Negro American Family,’ Atlanta, 152 pp., 1908; ‘John Brown,’Philadelphia, G. W. Jacobs & Co., 350 pp., 1909.

“I am General Secretary of the ‘Niagara Movement,’ and Editor-in-chief of the ‘Horizon,’ ‘A Journal of the Color Line.’”

He lectured in the Union on “The Transplanting of a Race 1442-1860.”

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Source: Harvard College Class of 1890. Secretary’s Report, No. 5, 1903-1909. Boston (1909), pp. 42.

________________________

1915 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS

BORN at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868. Son of Alfred Alexander and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) Du Bois. Prepared at Great Barrington High School, Great Barrington, Mass.

IN COLLEGE, 1888–90. Entered Fall of ’88, graduated ’90. DEGREES: A.B. 1890; A.M. 1891; Ph.D. 1895; A.B. (Fisk Univ.) 1888.

MARRIED to Nina Gomer at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 12, 1896. CHILDREN: Burghardt Gomer, born Oct. 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; Nina Yolande, born Oct. 14, 1900.

OCCUPATION: Editor.

DURING the years 1897–1910 I was Professor of Economics and History at Atlanta University. I have been Editor of The Crisis Magazine from 1910 to date. I am also Director of Publicity and Research of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1911 I was Secretary for the United States Universal Races Congress.

ADDRESS: (home) 248 West 64th St., Apt. 45, New York, N. Y.; (business) 70 Fifth Ave., Room 521, New York, N. Y.

PUBLICATIONS: “Souls of Black Folk,” “Negro in the South,” (by Washington and DuBois),  “The Negro Church,” “Negro Crime,” “Bibliography of the Negro American,” “Health and Physique of the Negro American,” “Economic Coöperation among Negro Americans,” “The Negro American Family,” “John Brown,” “Efforts for Social Betterment Among Negro Americans,” “The College Bred Negro American,” “The Common School and the Negro American,” “The Negro American Artisan,” “Morals and Manners Among Negro Americans,” “The Quest of the Silver Fleece,” “The Philadelphia Negro,” “The Negro, Home University Library,” “The Suppression of the Slave Trade.”

CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: Authors’ League of America, Liberal Club, New York; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Societies Club, London.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, 1890-1915, Secretary’s Report, No. 6, pp. 94-95.

________________________

1920 Report
of the Harvard Class of 1890

WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS

BORN at Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23, 1868. Son of Alfred Alexander and Mary Sylvina (Burghardt) Du Bois. Prepared at Great Barrington High School, Great Barrington, Mass.

IN COLLEGE, 1888–90, DEGREES: A.B. 1890; A.M. 1891; Ph.D. 1895; A.B. (Fisk Univ.) 1888.

MARRIED to Nina Gomer at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 12, 1896. CHILDREN: Burghardt Gomer, born Oct. 3, 1897, died May 24, 1899; Nina Yolande, born Oct. 14, 1900.

OCCUPATION: Editor, New York.

Since 1915 I have continued my work as editor of “The Crisis” magazine, which has a circulation of one hundred thousand. I have also begun the publication of a magazine for colored children, known as “The Brownies’ Book.” I have published “The Negro” in The Home University Library , in 1915 , and “Darkwater,” a book of essays, in 1920. After the armistice, I was sent to France to represent the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People. While there, I assembled a Pan-African Conference with fifty delegates, representing sixteen different Negro groups. This conference made report to the Peace Conference, concerning the future of Africa and the treatment of colored peoples.

Source: Harvard College, Class of 1890.Thirtieth Anniversary, 1920, Secretary’s Report, No. 7, pp. 65-66.

Image Source: W. E. B. Du Bois in Philadelphia, 1896. National Archives/National Historical Publications & Record Commission/Papers of W.E.B. Du Bois (Microfilm Edition).

Categories
Columbia Economist Market Economists Harvard

Harvard and Columbia. President of Harvard headhunting conversation regarding economists. Mitchell and Mills, 1936

The following typed notes were based on a conversation that took place on February 21, 1936 regarding possible future hires for the Harvard economics department. President James B. Conant (or someone on his behalf) met with Columbia university professors Wesley C. Mitchell and his NBER sidekick, Frederick C. Mills. This artifact comes from President Conant’s administrative records in the Harvard Archives.

In the memo we find a few frank impressions of members of the Harvard economics departments together with head-hunting tips for established and up-and-coming economists of the day.

An observation that jumps from the paper is the identification pinned to the name Arthur F. Burns, namely, “(Jew)”. Interestingly enough this was not added to Arthur William Marget (see the earlier post Harvard Alumnus. A.W. Marget. Too Jewish for Chicago? 1927.) nor to Seymour Harris.  

________________________

[stamp] FEB 25, 1936

ECONOMICS

Confidential Memorandum of a Conversation on Friday, February 21, with Wesley [Clair] Mitchell and his colleague, Professor [Frederick Cecil] Mills (?) of Columbia

General impression is that the Department of Economics at Harvard is in a better state today than these gentlemen would have thought possible a few years ago. The group from 35-50 which now faces the future is about as good as any in the country. [Edward Hastings] Chamberlin, [John Henry] Williams,[Gottfried] Haberler and Schlichter [sic, [Sumner Slichter] are certainly quite outstanding. Very little known about [Edward Sagendorph] Mason;  he seems to have made a favorable impression but no writings. [Seymour Edwin] Harris slightly known, favorable but not exciting.

[John Ulric] Neff admitted to be the best man in economic history if we could get him. Names of other people in this country mentioned included:

[Robert Alexander] Brady — University of California, now working on Carnegie grant on bureaucracy; under 40.

Arthur [F.] Burns at Rutgers (Jew) now working with the Bureau of Economic Research and not available for 3 or 4 years. Said by them to be excellent.

Henry Schultz of Chicago, about in Chamberlin’s class and age, or perhaps a little better.

[Arthur William] Marget of Minnesota, Harvard Ph.D., I believe; well known, perhaps better than Chamberlin. Flashy and perhaps unsound. (Mitchell and Mills disagree to some extent on their estimate of his permanent value but agree on his present high visibility).

Winfield Riffler [sic, Winfield William Riefler], recently called to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, probably one of the most if not the most outstanding of the younger men.

Morris [Albert] Copeland of Washington; good man but not so good as Chamberlin.

Giddons [sic, Harry David Gideonse?] of Chicago, very highly thought of by Chicago people but has not written a great deal; supposed to be an excellent organizer.

C. E. [Clarence Edwin] Ayres, University of Texas, about 40; in N.R.A. at Washington. Mitchell thinks very highly of him.

England

[Theodore Emmanuel Gugenheim] Gregory, at London School of Economics, about 50, same field as Williams but not so good. Mills more favorable than Mitchell.

Other outstanding young Englishmen:

[Richard F.] Kahn, Kings College, Cambridge

F. Colin [sic, Colin Grant] Clark, of Cambridge

Lionel Robins [sic, Lionel Charles Robbins] of London, age 35, rated very highly by both Mills and Mitchell

F. A. Hayek, another Viennese now in London; spoken of very highly by both Mills and Mitchell.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Records of President James B. Conant, Box 54, Folder Economics, “1935-1936”.

Image Sources: Wesley Clair Mitchell (left) from the “Original Founders” page at the website of the Foundation for the Study of Business Cycles; Frederick C. Mills (right) from the Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. CVIII, No. 68, 11 February 1964.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of Jacob Viner. 1914-1922

Records of individual Harvard economics graduate students are strewn across the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Division of History, Government, and Economics (formerly Division of History and Political Science), and the Department of Economics at Harvard as well as in the archival papers of their professors or themselves. Seek and sometimes ye shall find.

In this post Economics in the Rear-view Mirror presents transcriptions of the items found in the file for Jacob Viner in the papers of the Division of History, Government, and Economics. We see from the application form (then referred to as a “blank”) that the administrative unit responsible for monitoring the satisfaction of the Ph.D. requirements by degree candidates was the Division. Course records and transcripts were issued by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

An interesting anecdote found in the correspondence included below is that Viner committed the indiscretion of announcing in print the completion of his Ph.D. before he had been properly awarded the degree by Harvard. One wonders if his examination committee let him know that they knew and were, like the Dean of the Division, not amused by his presumption.

_______________________

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.

Jacob Viner, Montreal, Canada, May 3rd, 1892.

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

McGill University, Faculty of Arts. Sept. 1911 to May 1914.

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

B.A. McGill University, May 1914.
A.M. Harvard, June 1915.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

History. (1) General Course, (2) History of England, (3) Recent Developments

Government. (1) General Course, (2) Govt of Canada, (3) Social Reform.

Latin. Two college years. — Horace, Tibullus, Caesar, Livy, Cicero.

French. Two college years advanced work.

Philosophy. (1) Logic, (2) History of Ethics, (3) Theory of Ethics.

Economics. (1) Economic History of England, (Canadian Industrial Problems. (3) Money & Banking, and courses listed [below].

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.)

    1. Economic Theory.
      Elementary & Advanced Courses at McGill.
      11, Ec. 12a (1914-15), Ec. 17, Ec. 7a, Ec 14, at Harvard.
    2. International Trade.
      33 (full course.) Harvard.
    3. Public Finance.
      Course at McGill.
      31, Harvard.
    4. Course at McGill.
      Ec. 8, Ec. 18, Harvard.
    5. Economic History since 1770.
      2a, Ec. 2b, Harvard.
    6. Theory of Value. (Philosophy.).
      Phil 25a

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

International Trade

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

International Balance of Payments
Prof. Taussig

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

Spring, 1916 (General).

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

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: Jacob Viner

Approved: Jan 21, 1916

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock 7 April 1916 D.H.

Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock 7 April 1916 D.H.

Date of general examination May 19, 1916 Passed

Thesis received February, 1921

Read by Professors Taussig, Persons, and Young

Approved October 29, 1921

Date of special examination Friday, March 18, 1921

Recommended for the Doctorate January, 1922

Degree conferred February, 1922

Remarks. [Left blank]

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

Record of JACOB VINER in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1914-15
Economics 11.
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 121
[Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation, Prof. Carver]		 A-
Economics 17
[Economic Theory: Value and Related Problems, Asst. Prof. Anderson]		 A
Economics 33 (full co. [full course])
[International Trade, with special reference to Tariff Problems in the United States, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 34
[Problems of Labor, Prof. Ripley]		 B-
German A
[Elementary Course]		 B+
University Scholar
A.M. at Commencement.
1915-16
Economics 2a1
[European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century, Prof. Gay]		 A-
Economics 2b2
[Economic and Financial History of the United States, Prof. Gay]		 abs.
Economics 7a1
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig] [Note: this course not included in GSAS record for Viner]		 abs.
Economics 81
[Principles of Sociology, Prof. Carver]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 (A)…mid-year grade, excused from final
Economics 18a2
[Analytical Sociology, Asst. Prof. Anderson]]		 credit for residence
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 (A-)…mid-year grade, excused from final
Philosophy 182
[Present Philosophical Tendencies. Materialism, Pragmatism, Idealism, and Realism. Prof. R. B. Perry]		 abs.
Philosophy 25a1
[Theory of Value, Prof. R. B. Perry]		 A-
Henry Lee Memorial Fellow.

Note: Original record found in Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Sun—Walls (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 14, Record Card of Jacob Viner.

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

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
H. L. Gray

Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 7, 1916.

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. Viner, and find that he has a good reading knowledge of French and German.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

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

7 April 1916

Dear Perry:

Could you serve as one of the committee for the General Examination of Jacob Viner on Friday, May 19, at 4 p.m.?

Sincerely yours,
[copy unsigned]

Professor R. B. Perry.

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

Cambridge April 8-‘16

I shall be glad to help out with Viner’s General Exam on May 19.

[signed] R B Perry

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

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E. F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 20, 1916.

Dear Haskins:

I beg to certify that Jacob Viner passed satisfactorily his general examination for the degree of Ph. D. in Economics. I enclose his application for your files.

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

Dean C. H. Haskins.

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

7 February 1921

Dear Mr. Viner,

Your letter of 22 January gives this office its first information that you plan to be a candidate for the Doctor’s degree this year. Will you kindly fill out and return at once the enclosed blank, which was due 15 January?

If you plan to have your Special Examination arranged in the middle of March, you will have to give a wider margin for an examination of your thesis than you indicate in your letter.

At least a month will be necessary between the receipt of the thesis and the time provisionally set for the examination. In arranging the examinations of non-resident students we try to consider their convenience; but there must be due notice in advance, and due opportunity for reading the thesis in its final form with deliberation.

You raise the question of the subject on which you are to be examined. Does that mean that you desire to change the special field, which on your plan is indicated an International Trade?

If your thesis does not reach us until the first of March, we could doubtless arrange to examine you some Saturday after 1 April; or possibly early in June, at the conclusion of your instruction for the spring quarter.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]

Mr. Jacob Viner.

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

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Persons:

Dean Haskins would be glad if you would serve on the committee to read the thesis of Mr. Jacob Viner, entitled “The Canadian Balance of International Indebtedness, 1900-13.” The thesis will reach you within a few days.

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

Professor W. M. Persons.

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

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Young:

Dean Haskins would be glad if you would serve on the committee to read the thesis of Mr. Jacob Viner, entitled “The Canadian Balance of International Indebtedness, 1900-13.” The thesis will reach you within a few days.

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

Professor A. A. Young

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

17 February 1921

My dear Professor Taussig:

Dean Haskins will be very glad if you will read Mr. Jacob Viner’s Ph.D. thesis, which is now in your hands, and he has included Professor Persons among the members of the Committee, as you suggested. Professor Day would appreciate it, however, if he could be relieved from serving on the Committee on account of pressure of work, and Mr. Haskins has appointed Professor Young to read the thesis in his place, provided that the change meets with your approval. I enclose an acceptance slip to be included with the thesis.

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

Professor F. W. Taussig

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

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
February 20, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

Viner is sending me his thesis by instalments.

A previous instalment of considerable size, sent in some time ago, has already been read by Bullock and Day, as well as by myself. Probably we should avoid some waste of energy if these two were put on the thesis committee with myself. Needless to say, this suggestion is to be considered in the light of your apportionment of the general work of thesis reading.

Yesterday over the telephone I suggested on the spur of the moment that Persons might be on the committee. He is thoroly [sic] conversant with the subject, and would be a good member; certainly if Bullock should find it inconvenient to serve.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

10 March 1921

My dear Dr. Dewing:

Dean Haskins is arranging the Special Examination of Mr. Jacob Viner for the Ph.D. in Economics for March 18 (Friday) at 4 P.M. Mr. Viner’s field is International Trade.

Would you be able to serve on his Examining Committee? The other members consist of Professors Taussig, (chairman), Young, and Persons.

Since the time before the examination is very short, are to the fact that Mr. Viner’s thesis was in the hands of the Committee until very recently, and had not been approved, we should be glad If you would either return the enclosed card with your signature, or let us know by telephone whether you can serve.

I shall notify you later of the place.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. S. Dewing.

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

I can serve on the Committee for the Special Examination of Mr. Viner on Friday, March 18, at 4 P. M.

[Signed] Arthur S. Dewing

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

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Taussig:

I am sending formal notice to the members of Mr. Viner’s examination committee that the examination will be held on Friday, 18 March, as you suggested. Professor Dewing will serve as the fourth member of the committee, the other three being the members of the thesis committee — yourself, Professor Young, and Professor Persons. I am assuming that the hour will be 4 P.M. as usual.

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

Professor F. W. Taussig.

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

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Persons:

I am  writing you in order to confirm the arrangements for Mr. Viner’s Special Examination, about which I believe Professor Taussig has already spoken to you. Dean Haskins has set the date as Friday, March 18, and the time will be 4 P. M. Mr. Viner’s special field is International Trade. The Committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Persons, and yourself.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor W. M, Persons.

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

11 March 1921

My dear Professor Young:

I am writing you in order to confirm the arrangements for Mr, Viner’s Special Examination, of which I believe Professor Taussig has already told you. Dean Haskins has set the date as March 18 (Friday), and the time will be 4 P. M. His special field is International Trade.

The Committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Persons, and Dewing.

Yours very truly,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young.

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

15 March 1921

Dear Taussig:

I am enclosing Jacob Viner’s papers for your use at his examination on Friday, 18 March. Viner seems to be very optimistic about his success in his examination, as I notice in the last circular of the University of Chicago he was already listed as a Ph.D. I trust that his attention may be called to the impropriety of his using the degree not only until he has passed the examination but until it is actually conferred.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

Professor F. W. Taussig

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

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 22, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

I find there is no chance of Viner’s fixing up the thesis before April 1. His commitments for the coming week are many, and moreover his time will be absorbed by teaching upon his return. He will not present himself as a candidate again this year. What may be the status of the examination which he took, and on which the report would be favorable, remains to be seen. I take it this question need not be considered until it is presented.

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

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

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
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
J. H. Williams
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole
R. S. Tucker
R. S. Meriam

Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 29, 1921.

Dear Haskins:

Viner’s thesis has been approved, and the only question that remains is about the acceptance of his Special Examination last June. Young will present the matter for the consideration of the Administrative Board at its next meeting. Will you kindly see that it is on the docket for the meeting?

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. Ph.D. Examinations 1921-22 to 1922-23. Box 4. Folder “Jacob Viner”.

Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-08489, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Categories
Economics Programs Economists Harvard

Harvard. Ph.D. candidates examination fields. King, Bushee, Seaman. 1901-1902.

For three Harvard political science Ph.D. candidates in 1901-02 [Note: economics fell under “political science” in the administrative division at the time] this posting provides information about their respective academic backgrounds, the six subjects of their general examinations along with the names of the examiners, their special subject, thesis title and advisor(s) (where available). King and Bushée would have been easily classified under “economics” later. Seaman’s teaching assistantships were in history and constitutional law, so he would have been more likely classified under “government” later.

Other years, previously transcribed and posted:

1903-04
1904-05
1906-07
1907-08
1908-09
1909-10
1910-11
1911-12
1912-13
1913-14
1915-16
1917-18
1918-19
1926-27

___________________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF Ph.D.
1901-02

Eight candidates will take either the first or second examination: two more candidates … will take both. All examinations will be held on Thursday (except Tuesday, May 27, and Wednesday, June 11) at 3.30 p.m. in the Faculty Room.

[…]

6. William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Special Examination in Political Science, Thursday, May 22, 1902.

Committee of Examination: Professors Carver, Macvane, Beale, Ripley, Drs. Durand, Andrew, Sprague, Mr. Meyer.

Academic History: University of Toronto, 1891-96 (A. B. 1895, LL.B. 1896, A.M. 1897); University of Chicago, 1896-97; Harvard Graduate School, 1897-99 (A.M. 1898); Henry Lee Memorial Fellow, 1898-1900; Department of Labour, Canada, 1900-02.

(A) General Subjects. (Examination passed April 14, 1899.)

1. Constitutional Law and Government in England; and Constitutional History of Canada. 2. International Law. 3. Theory of the State. 4. Economic Theory and its History. 5. Applied Economics. 6. Economic History — outline of Europe and the United States. 7. Sociology.

(B) Thesis Subject: “The Sweating System and The Fair Wages Movement.” (With Professor Taussig.)

(C) Special Subject: Labor: History of Labor Organization; History of Labor Legislation.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

7. Frederick Alexander Bushée.

Special Examination in Political Science, Tuesday, May 27, 1902.

Committee of Examination: Professors Carver, Macvane, Gross, Ripley, Drs. Durand, Andrew, Sprague, Mr. Cole, Mr. Meyer.

Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1890-94 (Litt.B.); Hartford School of Sociology, 1895-96; Harvard Graduate School, 1897-1901 (A.M. 1898); Paine Fellow, 1899-1900; Assistant in Economies, 1901-02.

(A) General Subjects. (Examination passed April 11, 1900.)

1. Political Institutions in Continental Europe since 1500. 2. Theory of the State. 3. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 4. Economic Theory and its History. 5. International Trade; and Financial Legislation of the United States since 1861. 6. Sociology. 7. Socialism and Communism.

(B) Thesis Subject: “The Population of Boston.” (With Professor Taussig.)

(C) Special Subject: The Theories of Sociology since Auguste Comte.

[…]

12. Charles Edward Seaman.

Special Examination in Political Science, Thursday, June 12, 1902.

Committee of Examination: Professors Hart, Macvane, Ripley, Coolidge, Drs. Durand, Andrew, Sprague, Mr. Meyer.

Academic History: Acadia College, 1888-90 (A.B.); Harvard College, 1894-95 (A.B.); Harvard Graduate School, 1895-98 (A.M. 1896) ; Instructor, University of Vermont, 1901-02.

(A) General Subjects. (Examination passed December 22, 1898.)

1. England to Henry VII. 2. England since Henry VII. 3. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 4. Economic Theory and its History. 5. Applied Economics. 6. Economic History. 7. Sociology.

(B) Thesis Subject: “The Intercolonial Railway of Canada.”

(C) Special Subject: Railway Experience and Legislation.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. Ph.D. Material through 1917, Box 1. Folder “Ph.D. applications pending.”

Image source: Harvard Gate, ca. 1899. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.

Categories
Economists NBER

NBER. Oral History Interviews with 8 researchers. Goldin, 2001-2003

The 2023 recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, Professor Claudia Goldin of Harvard University, has contributed to the history of modern economics through her series of eight interviews with senior economists whose careers have been intrically woven into the historical fabric of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In other news, Professor Goldin has been named to the Economics in the Rear-view Mirror’s “Economists Wearing Jewelry” Hall of Fame.

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Interview with Claudia Goldin (2004)

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, The Region (September 1, 2004). Interviewer: Douglas Clement, editor.

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Oral History Interviews with Claudia Goldin

Gary Becker (August 5, 2003)

Richard Easterlin  (March 15, 2002)

Milton Friedman (August 16, 2002)

Victor Fuchs (March 18, 2002)

Robert Lipsey (August 8, 2001)

Anna Schwartz (November 19, 2001)

Victor Zarnowitz (December 11, 2001)

Jacob Mincer  (July 26, 2002)

Cf. History page of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Categories
Columbia Economic History Economists Undergraduate

Columbia. On Rev. John McVickar’s political economy. Herbert B. Adams, 1887

The subject of political economy and its instructors received much attention in the 1887 survey of the study of history in the United States by Johns Hopkins history professor Herbert B. Adams. In this post Economics in the Rear-View Mirror shares those pages dedicated to the work of Rev. John McVickar (1787-1868) of Columbia College.

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McVickar’s political economy textbooks

Outlines of Political Economy. “A republication of the article [by J.R. McCulloch] upon that subject contained in the Edinburgh Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica together with notes explanatory and critical, and a summary of the science.” (New York: Wilder & Campbell, 1825).

Introductory Lecture to a Course of Political Economy (London: John Miller, 1830).

First lessons in political economy: for the use of primary and common schools. Albany: Common School Depository, 1837.
(Seventh edition. New York: Saxton and Miles, 1846)

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A Pair of McVickar Biographies

Langstaff, John Brett. The Enterprising Life, John McVickar 1787-1868. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1961.

Dorfman, Joseph and R. G. Tugwell. “The Reverend John McVickar: Christian Teacher and Economist” in Early American Policy: Six Columbia Contributors  (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), pp. 99-154.
Originally published in Columbia University Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4 (December 1931), pp. 353-401.

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Historian Herbert B. Adams on Professor John McVickar and historical political economy at Columbia College

…In the continuity of historico-political studies at Columbia College there was another important influence contemporary with Professor Anthon; namely, the Rev. John McVickar, who was appointed Professor of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Belles Letters in the year 1817. This man, the successor of the Rev. Dr. [John] Bowden, is too little known to American students of History and Economics—in both of which studies he was a remarkable pioneer. It would be a useful, as well as pious service, if some one of the present instructors in the School of Political Science at Columbia would prepare an academic memorial of John McVickar, as he did of his worthy predecessor, Dr. Bowden (1751-1817), in an address delivered to the Alumni of Columbia College, October 4, 1837. Although the life of the Rev. John McVickar has been written, as a “clerical biography,” by his son [William A. McVickar, The Life of the Reverend John McVickar, S.T.D.] (New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1872), there is so much of academic interest in his life and writings, so much unused biographical material in the archives of Columbia College, that a special study of his professorial career would certainly repay the younger generation of teachers.

In general, the service rendered by Professor McVickar to Historical and Political Science at Columbia College resembles that rendered by Profesor Francis Bowen in Harvard College. Under the broad ægis of a philosophical professorship, both teachers protected and encouraged historico-political studies. Both inclined most strongly toward politico-economics. Both produced text-books of political economy, which, in their day and generation, proved very helpful to American students. In these days, when the study of economics is coming to the front in our colleges and universities, it will be recognized as a distinguished honor for Professor McVickar that he was one of the first men in this country to lecture upon political economy to students, and also one of the first to publish a text-book upon the subject.

John McVickar (1787-1863) was the son of a leading merchant of New York City, and was of Scotch descent. Heredity and environment gave him a natural inclination toward the study of economic questions. Born in the business center of the United States, into family acquaintance with wealthy and influential men, into association with Albert Gallatin, Isaac Bronson, and Mr. Biddle, young McVickar could not escape the great problems of currency and banking which agitated his times. Although, after his graduation from Columbia College, educated as a theologian and for a time settled as rector of a parish in Hyde Park, he readily accepted the philosophical professorship made vacant by the death of Dr. Bowden in 1817; and, within a year, petitioned to have Political Economy added to his already wide domain, without any increase of salary. The year 1818 marks the establishment of economic science in Columbia College, [see William and Mary’s claim to priority] which was one of the first to recognize this subject in the United States. For several years the need of a text-book of Political Economy was deeply felt by McVickar as an aid to his lectures. In 1821 he appears to have urged Edward Everett to prepare a suitable hand-book; but the great orator, while expressing interest in the subject, pleaded other engagements. In 1825 McVickar brought out his Outlines of Political Economy. This thin octavo volume, which an American student may well prize if he can now secure a copy, was an American adaptation of J. R. McCulloch’s article on Political Economy originally published in the Edinburgh supplement to the old Encyclopædia Britannica [1824, vol. 6, pp. 216-278]. This article, by the first Ricardo lecturer on Political Economy, well deserves comparison with that in the new edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica [by J. K. Ingram in the 9th ed., vol. 19 (1885), pp. 346-401], for the sake of the historical method which both articles represent. McCulloch, with his review of the rise of economic science, the mercantile system, the manufacturing system, the opinions of Mr. Mun, Sir Josiah Child, Dudley North, Mr. Locke, et al., may be as truly called a representative of the historical school of economics as Knies or Roscher.

It is interesting to reflect that the English historical method of J. R. McCulloch was introduced into America by John McVickar, more than twenty-five years before the rise of either of these German pioneers. By more than fifty years did the Scotch student of McCulloch and Adam Smith anticipate the American disciples of Knies and Roscher in advocating historico-political economy. McVickar appended many original notes to McCulloch; and, among other good things, he said of political economy: “To the rising government of America it teaches the wisdom of European experience.” He called economics “the redeeming science of modern times-the regenerating principle that, in connection with the spirit of Christianity, is at work in the civilized governments of the world, not to revolutionize, but to reform.” Besides his original notes, which show not only deep moral, but profound practical insight into economic questions, McVickar appended a general summary of economic science, which probably reveals something of his own method of presenting the subject to his classes. This text-book, which is said to be “the first work on the science of political economy published in America,”* (McVickar’s Life of John McVickar, 85) was welcomed by Chancellor Kent and Thomas Jefferson in the warmest terms. The sage of Monticello said of the subject which the book represented: “I rejoice to see that it is beginning to be cultivated in our schools. No country on earth requires a sound intelligence of it more than ours.” Among the early economic writings of McVickar are the following pamphlets: Interest Made Equity (1826), an English article, like his textbook, with American notes; Hints on Banking (1827), an original paper of forty or more pages, addressed to a member of the New York legislature, and said to have been the origin of the free banking law of New York (1833), and the scientific forerunner of practical reforms in the Bank of England, 1844, and also the National Bank Act of the United States in 1863 (Appendix to the Life of McVickar, 411). A more distinct foreshadowing of our present national system of banking was Professor McVickar’s article, published in 1841, entitled “A National Bank: Its Necessity and most Advisable Form.” This and other financial articles were published by McVickar in the New York Review, which closed its influential career in 1842. He wrote on “American Finance” [“American Finances and Credit,” The New York Review, Vol. VII, (July 1840).]; on “The Expediency of Abolishing Damages on Protested Bills of Exchange”; on “The Evils of Divers State Laws to regulate Damages on Foreign Bills of Exchange,” &c. A complete bibliography of the writings of John McVickar would be a helpful addition to the Dewey system of classification in the excellent library of Columbia College. In the history of economic thought in the United States John McVickar will surely take an honorable place as an academic pioneer. Practical economists, like Franklin, Robert Morris, and Alexander Hamilton, this country had, indeed, developed; but professorial economists, with original and independent views, were rare in America before the days of John McVickar. His chief rival to priority was Professor [Thomas] Cooper, of Dickinson College and of the University of Pennsylvania, the friend of Jefferson, and the predecessor of Francis Lieber, in Columbia, S.C. By a singular chance the two lines of economic teaching came together at last in Columbia College, New York, when, in 1857, Francis Lieber was called to that institution as the successor to John McVickar.

* This statement… is not strictly true, for Destutt Tracy’s Treatise on Political Economy appeared in 1817. McVickar undoubtedly deserves great credit for pioneer work, but the claim to absolute priority in this country as a lecturer upon Political Economy, asserted for him by his filial biographer, should be viewed with caution until the facts are more fully known,

The subject of History was also taught by Professor McVickar as a branch of his philosophical department. The statutes of Columbia College show that from the beginning of the present century Greek and Roman History, or Classical Antiquities, remained in the hands of the classical department. But some attention was always given to Modern History; and this appears to have been intrusted to the professor of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Belles Lettres. It was probably a natural continuation of the original historical work of John Gross, teacher of Geography and German, who was made Professor of Philosophy, also, in 1787. The preparation which Professor McVickar enjoyed for the teaching of history was not as good as that which came to him by nature and associations for the teaching of political economy. While yet a theological student, he appears, however, to have pursued a course of historical reading, and to have invented a system of mnemonics which he applied to Bossuet’s Chronology. Entering upon his professorship, McVickar worked out his own methods of instruction by a long course of experience, the results of which may be generalized upon the basis of the following authentic testimony.

In a report of a committee of the trustees of Columbia College, a statement was made, in 1856, by Professor McVickar, with respect to the duties of his department. He said his professorship comprised a “union of historical and philosophical studies,” of which he advised the division. To the sophomores, during their first semester, he taught “Modern European History, more especially from the latter half of the fifteenth century, being the period suggested by Heeren as the true commencement of the European system. The second session was the exact and critical study of English History, as the great storehouse of our political wisdom. In addition to this, there were essays on subjects connected with the course read and criticised in the lecture-room; the whole embodied in notes, as stated in my annual reports.” In regard to his method of teaching, Professor McVickar told the committee that any good history in the hands of students was sufficient. He said, “The subject is studied, not the text-book. My practice is, at the commencement, to explain the subject of text-books, and to give the class a list of the best, any one of which would be satisfactory. I have made it a point to ascertain from the best students of other colleges the results of studying from text-books, and have felt that such instruction makes little impression on the memory.” In reply to a question from the committee as to whether he delivered his lectures from notes, Professor McVickar said: “I have written notes; and in the earlier periods I used to read lectures. Experience brought me to a freer use of notes, as guiding the analysis of the subjects, but not controlling the words.” All this has a modern tone, and indicates a man of sensible ideas. There was, however, one radical fault found with Professor McVickar, which he perhaps inherited from Dr. Bowden; he did not succeed in keeping good discipline among his students. In his eulogy of Dr. Bowden, McVickar said, with a certain reflex significance, “As a disciplinarian he held lightly the staff of authority.” McVickar’s own students appear to have recognized this amiable weakness in their master, and to have presumed upon it. Some dissatisfaction was felt by the administration with what was allowed in the recitation-room of Professor McVickar; and the inquiry into his methods of instruction reveals a certain animus, with a decided tendency toward a reconstruction of the entire department.

In 1857, by the advice and consent of Professor McVickar, the duties of his too laborious and too comprehensive professorship were divided into three independent chairs: (1) Moral and Intellectual Philosophy; (2) Ancient and Modern Literature (Belles Lettres); (3) History and Political Science. Professor McVickar was transferred to the chair of Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion which he held until 1864, when he retired from office, his duties passing to the then president. The chair of Philosophy was given to Professor Charles Murray Nairne. The chair of Belles Lettres was offered to Samuel Eliot, of Boston; but he declined it, and the duties were then intrusted to Professor Nairne.

Source: Adams, Herbert B. The Study of History in American Colleges and Universities. Bureau of Education, Circular of Information, No. 2, 1887. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887), pp. 61-63.

Image Source: Frontispiece from William A. McVickar, The Life of the Reverend John McVickar, S.T.D.] (New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1872.