Category: Harvard

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Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Enrollment and semester exams for Statistics. Ripley, 1908-1909

William Zebina Ripley

Not a terribly lot to say about these statistics examinations, other than it is hard for the modern trained applied economist to imagine filling much more than a week of lectures on the material covered. So yes there has been been an enormous change in methodological sophistication. And not just fancy-pants stuff.

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Statistics (Econ 4),
previous years

1901-02.
1902-03.
1903-04.
1904-05.
1905-06 [omitted]
1906-07. [offered but no printed exam found]
1907-08.

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Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 4. Professor Ripley. — Statistics. Theory, method, and practice.

Total 24: 5 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 4 Freshmen, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 67.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4

Mid-year Examination, 1908-09
  1. What is the nature of Hoffman’s statistical data on negro mortality? Does the census of 1900 throw any light upon it? Criticise the evidence.
  2. Criticise the statement, “the average age at death is discussed at greater length than it would seem proper to give to a practically discarded subject per vital statistics.”
  3. —
 

Conjugal condition.

Color.
White.

Colored.

Males

 Females. Males.

Females.
Registration area:
Single

16.6

 13.7 32.7

29.6
Married

16.4

 13.1 23.8

20.3
Widowed

62.6

 43.6 49.1

34.4

The above figures give death rates per thousand. What do they show and what do they not show?

  1. Discuss the inter-relation between birth, marriage, and death rates. Show how they affect one another.
  2. Comment upon the following figures showing the average number of children born in certain places: —

Native born mothers

Foreign born mothers
Persons included

19,478

26,544
Average age of mothers

42.23

42.98
Child bearing period (years)

5.41

8.39
Years married

17.64

19.08
Average children born

2.77

4.83
Average children born by mothers of preceding generation

6.47

7.75
  1. State the main statistical laws relating to the phenomena of marriage and divorce.
  2. Compare conditions in the United States respecting registration of births and deaths.
  3. What are the principal difficulties and defects in statistics of pauperism?
  4. Compare the arithmetical and geometrical methods of estimating populations as applied to the United States in 1800 and at the present time.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1908-09.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4

Year-end Examination, 1908-09
  1. Explain and illustrate the following proposition concerning the tendency toward concentration of wealth: “by imagining a group of persons having incomes represented by 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc., in the first epoch, and by 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, etc., in the second epoch. Of course, as the income of each individual has doubled, the distribution of wealth is the same in both epochs. Yet if we arrange these ten individuals in fixed classes, and reason about the ‘concentration of wealth’ from the rate of increase in the higher and lower classes, we should probably conclude that some great change had taken place.” Can you suggest any better way to show the real facts than by the use of such “fixed classes”?
  2. What is available officially as to statistics of strikes and lockouts? Point out the limitations upon the value.
  3. Indicate the special field of statistics of as many as possible of the following authorities, viz.: Engel, Dewey, Rowley, Quetelet, Jevons, North, Wright, Hoffman, Willcox, Newsholme.
  4. What is the principal source of weakness in all statistics of the U. S. Department of Agriculture as to crop conditions? How have they met it?
  5. In what manner are statistics of profits in manufactures commonly computed? Point out sources of error in the process.
  6. What is the principal argument in favor of weighted averages in price statistics? How may this be best controverted?
  7. Set forth the main criticisms against the Aldrich Committee Report on Wages.
  8. What does a logarithmic curve show, which may not be properly shown otherwise?
  9. Define the following terms used in statistics, viz.: “improvement trade,” “quet,” decile, mode, fecundity.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), pp. 34-35.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives.  William Zebina Ripley [photographic portrait, ca. 1910], J. E. Purdy & Co., J. E. P. & C. (1910). Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Sociology

Harvard. Enrollment and exams for Principles of Sociology. Carver, 1908-1909

Artifacts from a time when Sociology roomed with Economics…at least at Harvard. But make no mistake, economics was paying the rent back in that day.

One presumes the course text was Thomas Nixon Carver’s book of course readings (over 800 pages!): Sociology and Social Progress: A Handbook for Students of Sociology. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1905.

The teaching assistant for the course was Carl William Thompson (1879-1920). After receiving an A.M. from the University of South Dakota in 1903, he added a Harvard A.M. in 1904 where he had an appointment as Assistant in Elocution. He re-entered Harvard graduate school in 1908 as a professor of economics and sociology and director of the School of Commerce at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. He passed his general exam on June 2, 1909. In his application for candidacy for the Ph.D. he wrote “Am teaching a course in General Sociology this year, based on Carver’s ‘Sociology & Social Progress’, Ward, Spencer etc.” [Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics Division Archives. PhD. Material, Box 3, Folder “Ph.D. (illegible)”]. There is no indication that he completed the other requirements for the Ph.D. in his file. From Harvard Thompson was the director of the bureau of research in agricultural economics and associate professor of economics at the University of Minnesota. In May 1913 he accepted a position in the rural organization service of the U.S. department of agriculture. He died of influenza in 1920.

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Sociology exams from earlier years.

1901-02 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1902-03 (taught by T. N. Carver and W. Z. Ripley)

1903-04 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1904-05 (taught by T. N. Carver and J. A. Field) Includes the reading list for the course and additional biographical information.

1905-06 (taught by T. N. Carver)

1906-07 (taught by J. A. Field)

1907-08 (taught by T. N. Carver)

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Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 3. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Thompson. — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 42: 7 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Mid-year Examination, 1908-09
  1. Can social progress be defined in terms of human well-being and, at the same time, in terms of the universal evolutionary process? Explain.
  2. Are human interests harmonious as antagonistic, and what is the relation of this question to the problem of evil?
  3. How does military life, in different stages of social development, operate as a factor in human selection.
  4. What are some of the leading factors tending toward, (a) race improvement, (b) race deterioration, at the present time in the United States?
  5. Discuss the probable future of ceremonial institutions as described by Spencer.
  6. How does the transition from the militant to the industrial type of society affect the status of women?
  7. Trace briefly the historical relationship among the leading professions, as set forth by Spencer.
  8. Discuss briefly, territory, race, creed, and occupation, as bases of group consciousness, together with some of the results of each special form of group consciousness.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1908-09.

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ECONOMICS 3
Year-end Examination, 1908-09

  1. What, according to Spencer, is the relation between the development of domestic institutions and the economizing of individual life?
  2. How do you distinguish between passive and active adaptation? Give illustrations.
  3. Discuss the views of Galton and Pearson on the social aspects of biological selection.
  4. What, according to Tarde, is the place of imitation as a social factor?
  5. Compare Kidd and Buckle on the relation of religion to progress.
  6. State, in brief, and criticize Spencer’s sociological theory of morals.
  7. State the democratic and republican theories of representation and the application of each to the conditions of modern government.
  8. Would you draw any line between those industries which are suitable for government enterprise and those which are not? If so, where? If not, why not?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), p. 34.

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver. The World’s Work. Vol. XXVI (May-October 1913) p. 127. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Enrollment and semester examinations for principles of economics. Taussig, 1908-1909

Our march through the economics examinations at Harvard resumes with the academic year 1908-09. We start obviously with the Principles of Economics à la Frank W. Taussig. His team of teaching assistants turned out to have amounted to quite a bit (see the links in the course enrollment section below).

In addition to the 1908-09 exam questions for Principles of Economics taught at Harvard by Frank W. Taussig, this post includes the following links to the previously transcribed 37 years worth of exams. As you can see we have come a long way, though there is still over a century’s worth of exams to go.

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Exams for principles (a.k.a. outlines)
of economics at Harvard
1870/71-1907/08

1871-75.
1876-77.
1877-78.
1878-79.
1879-80.
1880-81.
1881-82.
1882-83.
1883-84.
1884-85.
1885-86.
1886-87.
1887-88.
1888-89.
1889-90.
1890-91.
1891-92.
1892-93.
1893-94.
1894-95.
1895-96.
1896-97.
1897-98.
1898-99.
1899-00.
1900-01.
1901-02.
1902-03.
1903-04.
1904-05.
1905-06.
1906-07.
1907-08.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1908-09

Economics 1. Professor [Frank William] Taussig, assisted by Messrs. [Robert Lee] Hale, [Joseph Stancliffe] Davis, [Isaiah Leo] Sharfman, Stevens, and [Abbott Payson] Usher. — Principles of Economics.

Total 503: 1 Graduate, 21 Seniors, 97 Juniors, 241 Sophomores, 100 Freshmen, 43 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1908-09

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. Explain what determines, in the long run, the value of

free goods;
public goods;
goods produced at the margin of cultivation;
goods produced above the margin of cultivation.

  1. “Even if it were the fact that there is never any land taken into cultivation, for which rent, and that too of an amount worth taking into consideration, was not paid; it would be true, nevertheless, that there is always some agricultural capital which pays no rent, because it returns nothing beyond the ordinary rate of profit.”
    Do you think this holds good as to agricultural land? as to urban sites?
  2. Suppose land to be of uniform fertility, and suppose not all of it to be under cultivation: would there be rent? would there be interest? (Neglect differences of situation.)
    Would your answer be different, in either respect, if all the land were under cultivation?
  3. What is the effect of larger scale of production and more minute division of labor on

the irksomeness of labor;
the productiveness of labor;
the reward of labor;
the share which goes to labor as compared with other sorts of incomes.

5. What is the connection between

the “round about” or “lengthened” process of production;
the “effective desire of accumulation”;
the “discounted marginal product” of labor;
economic rent.

  1. A strike takes place in an industry whose owners are protected from competition by a patent. Its settlement is referred to an arbitrator, before whom the workmen undertake (with success) to show that the industry has been highly profitable to the owners. How far, it at all, should the arbitrator consider this fact in his decision?
    Suppose the case had been one of agricultural laborers on an unusually fertile farm, would your answer be different?
  2. Suppose a great and permanent fall to take place in the rate of interest on capital, other things remaining the same; what changes would you expect in

the general rate of wages; the values of commodities;
the prices of urban sites;
the prices of securities yielding a fixed income?

  1. “The price of a monopolized article is commonly supposed to be arbitrary: depending on the will of the monopolist, and limited only by the buyer’s extreme estimate of its worth to himself. This is in one sense true, but forms no exception, nevertheless, to the dependence of value on supply and demand.” In what sense true? and why no exception?
  2. Would you expect the organization of employees into trade unions to bring about higher wages in the case of
    domestic servants;
    motormen on street railways;
    plumbers.
    If so, how? if not, why not?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1908-09.

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ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination, 1908-09

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. Explain briefly: value; price; unit price; index numbers; weighted average.
  2. What determines the value of: gold dollars; gold bullion; silver dollars; silver bullion?
  3. What determined the par of exchange between (1) the United States and England in 1870; (2) the United States and England in 1880; (3) the United States and Mexico in 1890? [Mexico had a silver standard in 1890.]
  4. Is it conceivable that a country should steadily import goods which its own producers can make at less expense than foreign producers? that it should import goods which its own producers can make at less cost than foreign producers?
  5. What determines the reserve against deposits held by the Bank of England? by the Bank of France? by the First National Bank in New York City? by the Charles River National Bank in Cambridge?
  6. “There is, therefore, a rough correspondence between the movements of loans and deposits … The true connection between these movements is often forgotten, but its nature can not be mistaken by anybody who will observe the steps by which an ordinary ‘discount’ is placed at the command of the borrower.” What is the nature of the connection? What are the steps?
  7. Which among the following, if any, do you consider “unproductive” laborers: a stock-exchange broker; the promoter of a trust; a legislative agent (lobbyist) exerting himself to bring about high tariff legislation; the editor of a blackmailing newspaper?
  8. In a socialist community, what changes from existing conditions would you expect as to: the medium of exchange; economic rent; business profit; highly competent administrators?
  9. What do you understand by the principle of diminishing utility? of marginal utility? How does either principle bear on (1) the values of commodities, (2) proposals for equalizing the distribution of wealth?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1909), pp. 31-32.

Image Source: Frank W. Taussig in Harvard Class Album, 1915.

Categories
Economists Harvard M.I.T.

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.)

  1. 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.
  2. Economic History since 1750.
    Ec 23 (1st half 1923-24) Attended lectures 2nd half.
    Ec 2b (Dr. E.E. Lincoln, Harvard, 1919-20).
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Transportation.
    Ec 4a, 4b (Prof. Ripley, Harvard, 1920-21)
    Lectures in “Overhead Costs” (J.M. Clark – Stanford);
    Outside reading outlined by     Prof. Cunningham.
  6. 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:

  1. Economic Theory and its History
  2. Economic History since 1750
  3. Statistical Method and Its Application
  4. Transportation
  5. 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:

  1. Economic Theory and its History
  2. Economic History since 1750
  3. Statistical Method and Its Application
  4. Transportation
  5. 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

Categories
Columbia Economists Harvard Industrial Organization Transcript

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

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 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.

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 and its History.
    Ec 11 & Ec 15.
  2. [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]
  3. Money Banking & Crises
    Ec 38
    Ec 37
  4. Economics of Corporations
    Ec 4b
    2 years special study of corporate relationships
  5. International Trade & Tariff Policies
    Ec 33 & Ec 39 offered for course credit
  6. 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

VS

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

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.

Categories
Economists Harvard LSE

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

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.)

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.

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. A two years course under Prof. Cannan at London followed by Ec. 11 at Harvard and Ec 15.
  2. 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.
  3. Public Finance. One course with Dr. Hugh Dalton at London and Ec. 31 at Harvard.
  4. International Trade and Tariff Policy. Ec. 38, Ec. 33 and (proposed) Ec 39 at Harvard.
  5. History of Political Theory. One course with Prof. H. J. Laski at London and Govt. 6 at Harvard.
  6. (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.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Final exam for Adam Smith and Ricardo course. Bullock, 1907-1908

 

I suppose that a graduate course dedicated to the works of Smith and Ricardo between historical bookends of Physiocracy and Karl Marx should come as no surprise from that era over a century ago when the history of economic ideas was firmly embedded in the theory taught to apprentice economists. But like Gay’s attempt to bring a deep reading of French and German economics (not in translation) into the curriculum in the previous year, Bullock’s course of was not met with an overwhelming demand.

________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 25 2hf. Professor Bullock — Adam Smith and Ricardo.

Total 6: 4 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.

________________________

ECONOMICS 25
ADAM SMITH AND RICARDO.
Year-end Examination, 1907-07

  1. Trace the development of the doctrine of rent in the writings of the Physiocrats, Smith, and Ricardo.
  2. What were the opinions of Smith and Ricardo concerning the measure of value?
  3. Discuss the fundamental doctrines of the Physiocrats and Smith concerning capital.
  4. Compare Marx’s theory of value with the theories of Smith and Ricardo.
  5. What are the fundamental contentions of Smith in his attack upon the Mercantilists?
  6. Compare the general doctrines of the Physiocrats, Smith, and Ricardo concerning the incidence of taxation.
  7. Compare Ricardo’s doctrine of foreign trade with that of Smith.
  8. What were the views of Smith and Ricardo concerning the effect of the increase of capital upon profits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), p. 46.

Image Sources: Adam Smith by James Tassie in the National Galleries of Scotland. David Ricardo by William Holl Jr, after Thomas Phillips stipple engraving, published 1839 in the National Portrait Gallery.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Philosophy Social Work

Harvard. Description, enrollment and exam for Social Ethics. Peabody, 1907-1908

Social Ethics inhabited an academic borderland between the disciplines of economics and philosophy at Harvard in the early 20th century. Professor Francis Greenwood Peabody, himself a Unitarian minister and professor of theology, governed that territory which attracted many graduate students of economics interested in social policy.

This post adds to the collection of examinations given in his courses over the course of nearly two decades.

________________________

Exams from past years

Exam questions  this course from the late 19th century have been transcribed and posted:

1888-1889; 1889-1890; 1890-1891; 1892-1893; 1893-1894; 1894-1895; 1895-1896.

1902-03. Listed as Philosophy 5. Taught by Peabody and Ireland.

1904-05. Listed as Philosophy 5 and Ethics 1. Taught by Peabody and Rogers.

1906-07. Taught by Peabody and Rogers.

__________________________

Francis Greenwood Peabody. The Approach to the Social Question. New York: Macmillan, 1912. “The substance of this volume was given as the Earle Lectures at the Pacific Theological Seminary in 1907.”

Peabody’s own short bibliography on the Ethics of Social Questions was published in 1910.

Another post provides the history of Harvard’s Department of Social Ethics up through 1920.

__________________________

Course Description
1907-08

  1. Social Ethics. — The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory. Lectures, special researches, and prescribed reading. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor Peabody and Dr. Rogers.

            This course is an application of ethical theory to the social problems of the present day. It is to be distinguished from economic courses dealing with similar subjects by the emphasis laid on the moral aspects of the Social Question and on the philosophy of society involved. Its introduction discusses various theories of Ethics and the nature and relations of the Moral Ideal [required reading from Mackenzie’s Introduction to Social Philosophy, and Seth’s Study of Ethical Principles]. The course then considers the ethics of the family [required reading from Spencer’s Principles of Sociology (Volume 1; Volume 2; Volume 3)]; the ethics of poor-relief [required reading from Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People (links below), and Devine’s Practice of Charity]; the ethics of the labor question [required reading from Carlyle’s“Past and Present”, Ruskin’s “Unto this Last”, Adams and Sumner’s, Labor Problems]; and the ethics of the drink question [required reading from The Liquor Problem; a Summary of Investigations]. In addition to lectures and required reading two special and detailed reports are made by each student, based as far as possible on personal research and observation of scientific methods in poor-relief and industrial reform. These researches are arranged in consultation with the instructor or his assistant; and an important feature of the course is the suggestion and direction of such personal investigation, and the provision to each student of special literature or opportunities for observation.

            Rooms are expressly assigned for the convenience of students of Social Ethics, on the second floor of Emerson Hall, including a large lecture room, a seminary-room, a conference-room, a library, and two rooms occupied by the Social Museum. The Library of 1800 volumes is a special collection for the use of students of Social Ethics, with conveniences for study and research. The Social Museum is a collection of graphical material, illustrating by photographs, models, diagrams, and charts, many movements of social welfare and industrial progress.

Source: Announcement of the Divinity School of Harvard University, 1907-08, p. 22.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Charles Booth’s Life and Labor of the People:

(Original) Volume I, East London;
(Original) Volume II, London;
(Original) Appendix to Volume II;
Note: the previous three original volumes were re-printed as four volumes that then were followed by
Volume V, Population Classified by Trades;
Volume VI, Population Classified by Trades (cont.);
Volume VII, Population Classified by Trades;
Volume VIII, Population Classified by Trades (cont.);
Volume IX, Comparisons, Survey and Conclusions.

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1907-08

Social Ethics 1. Professor Peabody and Dr. Rogers. — Social Ethics. The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory.

Total 108: 3 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 38 Sophomores, 2 Freshman, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 69.

__________________________

SOCIAL ETHICS 1
Year-end Examination 1907-08

This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limits should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.

  1. The economic doctrines of Carlyle and Ruskin compared and criticized.
    [cf: “Past and Present” by Thomas Carlyle; “Unto this Last” by John Ruskin]
  2. The philosophies of the anarchist and the communist compared.
  3. The political origins of the Labor Question in Great Britain.
  4. The German school of Socialism; its philosophy of history, its principles and its demands.
  5. French and English precedents in Arbitration and Conciliation, applied to the circumstances of the United States. (Lectures, and Adams & Sumner, pp. 289-305.)
  6. The progress of Labor Legislation in the United States, and its relation to the doctrines of free contract and class legislation. (Adams & Sumner, p. 466 ff.)
  7. The “third party” to industrial disputes; and the American method of safeguarding its interests.
  8. The Canadian Industrial Disputes Investigation Act; its intention, limitations, and results.
  9. The German system of Workingmen’s Insurance, its principles, methods, and applicability to the United States.
  10. Four types of Industrial Partnership; their historical sequence, and relative importance.
  11. The relation of the Drink Problem to poverty, crime and nationality, in the United States. (Summary of the Liquor Problem, ch. 4.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 58-59.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives.  Francis Greenwood Peabody [photographic portrait, ca. 1900], Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Economists Harvard M.I.T. Transcript Undergraduate

Harvard. Economics PhD alumnus, Douglass Vincent Brown, 1932

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

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.)

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.

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 & Its History. Ec. 11, Ec. 14, Ec. 15. Private Reading.
  2. Statistics. Ecc. 1a, Ec. 41. Private Reading.
  3. Sociology. Ec. 8, Ec. 12a. Private Reading.
  4. Money and Banking. Ec. 3, Ec. 38. Private Reading.
  5. American History, since 1789. History 32b, History 55. Private Reading.
  6. (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
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.

Categories
Brown Economists Harvard

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

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

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.)

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.

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 and Its History. (Econ. 11, 14, and 15. Half-year undergraduate course at Boston University in the history, full-year course in the theory.
  2. Economic History since 1750 (Econ. 2 with additional reading and a half-year undergraduate course at Boston Univ.).
  3. Statistical Method and its Application (Econ. 41).
  4. Public finance (Econ 31 and a half-year undergraduate course at Boston University).
  5. History of Political Theory. (Gov’t 6).
  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.