Category: Harvard

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for history of 19th century economics. Bullock, 1903-1904

The new assistant professor of economics at Harvard in 1903 hired from Williams College, Charles Jesse Bullock, was given responsibility for courses on the early history of economics and public finance.

I could only find the year-end examination in the collection of economics examinations at the Harvard archive for Bullock’s two semester course “History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century” offered in 1903-04. It is transcribed and posted below. 

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Short biography from the Williams College Yearbook, 1902

Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science

Graduated from Boston University, 1889, with commencement appointment, and received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1895. He taught in high schools from 1889 to 1893, was Traveling Fellow in Boston University in 1893-94, and was Fellow and Assistant in the University of Wisconsin, 1894-95 From 1895 to 1899, he was Instructor in Economics at Cornell University. Dr. Bullock has written: “The Finances of the United States, 1775-1789,” (Madison, 1895); “Introduction to the Study of Economics,” (Boston, 1897, second edition, 1900); and “Essays on the Monetary History of the United States,” (New York, 1900). Editor of “Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America” (Am. Economic Assoc., New York, 1897), and contributor of various articles to the economic and statistical magazines. He is a member of the American Economic Association and of the American Statistical Association, an associate  member of the National Institute of Art, Science, and Letters, and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Dr. Bullock is a member of the society of ΦΒΚ and of the ΘΔΧ Fraternity.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26.

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Bullock appointed assistant professor of economics

At a special meeting of the Board of Overseers held yesterday it was voted to concur with the President and Fellows in their votes as follows: …appointing Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics for five years from September 1, 1903…

Source: The Harvard Crimson, May 21, 1903.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 15, 1903-04

Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. The History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century.

Total 5: 5 Graduates.

 Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 15
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. What trace of the influence of Aristotle can be found in modern economic thought?
  2. What were the chief characteristics of English, French, German, and Spanish mercantilism?
  3. Give a brief account of the writings of any three of the following men: Child, Montchrétien, Forbonnais, Seckendorff, Justi, Genovesi, Ustariz.
  4. Give a critical account of the economic doctrines of Thomas Mun.
  5. Give an account of the economic opinions of Sir Dudley North.
  6. Characterize the economic doctrines of Gournay.
  7. Name and characterize the principal works that treat of the Physiocratic School.
  8. Describe the development of Adam Smith’s economic opinions prior to 1764.
  9. What is your opinion of Smith’s criticism upon the mercantilists?
  10. Describe the progress of Smith’s doctrines in France and Germany.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 36-37.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Economist Market Exam Questions Harvard Methodology

Harvard. Final exam questions for economic methods course. Carver, 1903-04

Thomas Nixon Carver

This semester-long course on methods of economic investigation taught by Thomas Nixon Carver was listed as one being “primarily for graduates”. Only the introductory course of the department was considered “primarily for undergraduates” while the bulk of course offerings were deemed appropriate for both graduate and undergraduate students. Judging from the questions, this course appears to have been little more than a leisurely trot through John Neville Keynes, The Scope and Method of Economics (1897, 2nd ed.) along with Cairnes’ Logical Method of Political Economy (1875, 2nd ed.).

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Related previous posts

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Course Enrollment

Economics 13 1hf. Professor Carver. Methods of Economic Investigation.

Total 11: 5 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 13
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The relation of economics and ethics.
  2. The departments of political economy.
  3. The fields for the observation of economic phenomena.
  4. The nature of an economic law.
  5. The use of hypotheses in economics.
  6. The relation of theoretical analysis to historical investigation.
  7. The place of diagrams and mathematical formulae in economics.
  8. The methods of investigating the causes of poverty.
  9. The methods of determining the effects of immigration on the population of the United States.
  10. The place of direct observation in economic study.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

Image Source: Harvard Classbook 1906. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

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Exam Questions Harvard International Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for international trade and payments. Sprague, 1903-1904

Another of our exports: the American fortune by Samuel D. Ehrhart (1901)

Time (it’s always “time” I suppose) to get back to the feeding of the slowly growing databank of Harvard economics exams with that from the semester course on international trade and payments taught by O.M.W. Sprague during the 1903-04 academic year.

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Related Posts

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Course  Enrollment

Economics 12a 2hf. Dr. Sprague. — International Trade and International Payments.

Total 23: 5 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Others. 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 12a
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. Analyze the effects of increasing exports of commodities produced under conditions of diminishing returns upon (a) laborers and capitalists, (b) upon landlords.
  2. What significance do you attach to differences in the per capita amount of foreign trade of different countries?
  3. Sir Robert Griffin’s criticism of the young industries argument.
  4. Does the extension of our export trade to tropical countries, e.g. South America, give promise of as satisfactory results as an equal growth to other parts of the world?
  5. Indicate the more important factors which determine the localization of manufacturing industries. Have these factors the same relative importance that they had fifty years ago?
  6. Analyze the recent course of English exports, indicating the chief tendencies for the future on the assumption of an unchanged fiscal policy.
  7. Do tariff barriers exert a steadying influence upon prices?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 34.

Image Source: Samuel D. Ehrhart, “Another of our exports; the American fortune”, cover of Puck, Vol. 50, No. 1278 (1901 August 28). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for the Modern Economic History of Europe. Gay, 1903-1904

Edwin F. Gay was hired as instructor to cover the economic history field left vacant by the departure of William Ashley for the University of Birmingham in 1901. By the end of his first semester (December 1902) he was promoted to an assistant professorship. Medieval economic history proved not to be a magnet for student enrollment (I am shocked to report) so he began to give greater emphasis to “modern” European economic history.

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Getting to 1903-1904

The outstanding feature of Gay’s years of study abroad is their number. He went to Europe expecting to return within two years, but stayed twelve and a half. Instead of getting his Ph.D. after working for three or four semesters on medieval history, he spent nine in universities–three in Leipzig, five in Berlin, and one in Zurich; then for seven years he studied privately; and finally, after being registered for three more semesters in Berlin but attending no classes, he wrote a dissertation on a theme in economic history, took his examinations, and was granted his degree in the summer of 1902….[p.30]

*  *  *

…[Gay] arrived in Harvard somewhat nervous about the reception he was likely to receive. Apart from the President, the only men who knew him — Gross and Haskins — were in the history department. His position, junior and temporary, was in the economics department, yet the economists had played no part in choosing him. When he visited Cambridge for his interview, he met neither the veteran F.W. Taussig nor the recently appointed younger men, Carver and Ripley. Apart from a very brief encounter with Carver in Berlin in the summer of 1902, he was a complete stranger to all his associates….[p. 63]

*  *  *

…By Christmas, 1902, [Gay] felt confident that he was holding the attention and interest of his students. By that time he also had learned, through T. N. Carver, chairman of the department, what the students thought of his work: they said it was so stiff and heavy in its demands that “whenever you see any of us going around with circles under our eyes, you can know we are taking Gay’s course.” There were very few of them at first; the medieval story [10 students] and the German economists [4 students] did not attract much attention… [p. 61]

*  *  *

…by Christmas 1902, [Gay] was informed the department wanted him to stay and before his first year ended he was raised to the rank of assistant professor of economics with a tenure of five years. In recommending the promotion Carver wrote to [President] Eliot: “His scholarship is of the very highest type and his success as a classroom lectureer is unqualified, as shown by his work this year.” [p. 64]

Source: Herbert Heaton, A Scholar in Action: Edwin F. Gay. Cambridge (Massachusetts), Harvard University Press, 1952.

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Related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from the the 1902-03 academic year have been posted earlier .

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

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ECONOMICS 11
Course Enrollment
1903-04

Economics 11. Asst. Professor Gay. — The Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 18: 10 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 4 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-Year Examination, 1903-04

  1. Explain briefly:—

(a) convertible husbandry.
(b) bodgers.
(c) book of rates.
(d) Gutsherrschaft.
(e) lettre de maîtrise.
(f) Fondaco dei Tedeschi.

  1. Describe briefly, with indication of the bearing on wider questions:—

(a) The divergent views as to the security of copyhold tenure in the sixteenth century.
(b) The organization of the Florentine woollen industry.
(c) The rise of the Merchant Adventurers.

  1. Comment on the following passage:—

“Everie day some of us encloseth a plote of his ground to pasture; and weare it not that oure grounde lieth in the common feildes, intermingled one with a nother, I thincke also oure feildes had bene enclosed, of a common agreement of all the townshippe, longe ere this time.”

  1. Give an account of the gild system of industry in England, emphasizing the analogies and contrasts with the continent.
  2. It is estimated that the following series of figures represents the change in the average purchasing power of wages in England:

1451-1500

 100

1501-1520

 88

1521-1550

 70

1551-1570

57
1571-1602

47
1603-1652

40
1653-1702

47

(a) How would you construct such a series and what is its value?
(b) What caused the change thus indicated and what were its effects?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-End Examination, 1903-04

I. Explain briefly:—

(1) contractus trinius.
(2) two forms of capitation.
(3) Gesellenverbände.
(4) Gulden and Thaler.
(5) the vend.
(6) Exchequer Bills
(7) the Molasses Act.
(8) roundsmen.

II. Describe briefly:—

(1) the influence of the Civil War on English economic history.
(2) the distinction between the economic views of Whigs and Tories.

III.

(1) State the chief provisions and significance of

(a) the Statute of Artificers (1563),
(b) the Navigation Act (1660), and
(c) the Corn Law of 1688.

(2) When in England was the policy embodied in each of the above statutes changed, and under what circumstances?
(3) Indicate the analogies and contrasts of this English policy in relation to industry, commerce, and agriculture with the policies of France and Holland in the seventeenth century.

IV.

When and why did indirect taxation become prominent in Western Europe?

V. Comment on the following statement:

“the domestic system existed [in England] from the earliest times till it was superseded by capitalism; … craft gilds were a form of industrial organization which was appropriate to the domestic, rather than to the capitalist system.”

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 33-34.

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay, seated in office, 1908. From Wikipedia. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror

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Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization Problem Sets

Harvard. Economics of Corporations. Case assignment and final exam. Ripley, 1903-1904

William Zebina Ripley

 

The course “Economics of Corporations” at Harvard taught by William Zebina Ripley would have been better described as “The Economics of Trusts“. The course number “9” was split between the first semester dedicated to the labor market institution of trade unions and the second semester dedicated to corporations and combinations of firms into trusts. What both courses had in common was the theme of market power, important exceptions to the case of perfect competition in factor and product markets.

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Course Enrollment
1903-1904

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor Ripley. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 170: 10 Graduates, 49 Seniors, 74 Juniors, 24 Sophomores, 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 92
1903
[sic, the second semester began in 1904]

ECONOMICS 92
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

→ Exact references by title, volume, and page must be given in foot-notes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

GROUP A

Students will report upon the organization and present character of one industrial combination in the United States. This will be indicated by a number, placed against each student’s name on the enrolment slip, which number refers to the industrial combination similarly numbered on this sheet. See Directions on last page.

GROUP B

Students will compare the character and extent of industrial control in two different industries in the United States. These are indicated by numbers given below, which are posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. The aim should be to point out and explain any discoverable differences in the nature or extent of the industrial monopoly attained in the two industries concerned. Mere description of conditions in either case will not suffice; actual comparison is demanded. The parallel column method is suggested. See Directions on last page.

GROUP C

Students will compare industrial combinations in different countries of Europe with one another, or with corresponding ones in the United States. The assignment of industries will be made by numbers, referring to the list below, these numbers being posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. Mere description will not be accepted; the student will be judged by the degree of critical comparison offered. Parallel columns may be used to advantage. See Directions on last page.

→ The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “31 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the American Cotton Oil Co.; “2 & 64 B,” that a comparison of the American Bridge Co. and the United States Leather Co. in the United States is expected; while “59 & 138 C” calls for an international comparison of industrial organizations in thread manufacture as described under Group C.

INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

A star indicates that data will be found in Industrial Commission Reports, Volume I [Hearings on Trusts and Industrial Combinations] or Volume XIII [Trusts and Industrial Combinations].

  1. American Axe and Tool Co., 1889.
  2. American Bridge Co., 1900. (See No. 123.)
  3. American Iron and Steel Mfg. Co., 1899.
  4. American Steel Foundries Co., 1902.
  5. *American Radiator Co., 1899.
  6. *American Sheet Steel Co., 1900. (See No. 123.)
  7. *American Steel and Wire Co. of New Jersey, 1899. (See No. 123.)
  8. American Steel Casting Co., 1894.
  9. *American Steel Hoop Co., 1899. (See No. 123.)
  10. *American Tin Plate Co., 1898. (See No. 123.)
  11. *Federal Steel Co., 1898. (See No. 123.)
  12. International Steam Pump Co., 1899.
  13. *National Shear Co., 1898.
  14. *National Steel Co., 1899. (See No. 123.)
  15. National Tube Co., 1899. (See No. 123.)
  16. *Otis Elevator Co., 1898.
  17. Republic Iron and Steel Co., 1899.
  18. United Shoe Machinery Co., 1899.
  19. United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Co., 1899.
  20. American Beet Sugar Co., 1899.
  21. *American Chicle Co., 1899.
  22. Corn Products Co., 1902.
  23. *American Sugar Refining Co., 1891.
  24. *Glucose Sugar Refining Co., 1897.
  25. *National Biscuit Co., 1898.
  26. National Sugar Refining Co., 1900.
  27. *Royal Baking Powder Co., 1899.
  28. United States Flour Milling Co., 1899.
  29. *American Fisheries Co., 1899.
  30. American Agricultural Chemical Co., 1899.
  31. *American Cotton Oil Co., 1889.
  32. American Linseed Co., 1898.
  33. *Fisheries Co., The, 1900.
  34. *General Chemical Co., 1899.
  35. *National Salt Co., 1899.
  36. *National Starch Manufacturing Co., 1890.
  37. *Standard Oil Co., 1882.
  38. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co., 1895.
  39. American Shot and Lead Co., 1890.
  40. American Smelting and Refining Co., 1899.
  41. American Type Founders Co., 1892.
  42. *International Silver Co., 1898.
  43. National Lea Co., 1891.
  44. American Malting Co., 1897.
  45. American Spirits Manufacturing Co., 1895.
  46. Kentucky Distilleries and Warehouse Co., 1899.
  47. Pittsburg Brewing Co., 1899.
  48. St. Louis Brewing Association, 1889.
  49. Standard Distilling and Distributing Co., 1898.
  50. *American Bicycle Co., 1899.
  51. American Car and Foundry Co., 1899.
  52. *Pressed Steel Car Co., 1899.
  53. Pullman Co., The, 1899.
  54. American Snuff Co., 1900.
  55. *American Tobacco Co., 1890.
  56. *Continental Tobacco Co., 1898.
  57. * National Cordage Co., 1887. (See No. 62.)
  58. American Felt Co., 1899.
  59. *American Thread Co., 1898.
  60. American Woolen Co., 1899.
  61. New England Cotton Yarn Co., 1899.
  62. *Standard Rope and Twine Co., 1895. (See No. 57.)
  63. American Hide and Leather Co., 1899.
  64. * United States Leather Co., 1893.
  65. American Straw Board Co., 1889.
  66. American Writing Paper Co., 1899.
  67. * International Paper Co., 1898.
  68. * National Wall Paper Co., 1892.
  69. Union Bag and Paper Co., 1899.
  70. United States Envelope Co., 1898.
  71. American Clay Manufacturing Co., 1900.
  72. American Window Glass Co., 1899.
  73. International Pulp Co., 1893.
  74. National Fire Proofing Co., 1899.
  75. *National Glass Co., 1899.
  76. *Pittsburg Plate Glass Co. 1895.
  77. United States Glass Co., 1891.
  78. American School Furniture Co., 1899.
  79. Diamond Match Co., 1889.
  80. National Casket Co., 1890.
  81. United States Bobbin and Shuttle Co., 1899.
  82. American Glue Co., 1894.
  83. American Ice Co., 1899.
  84. American Shipbuilding Co., 1899.
  85. American Soda Fountain Co. 1891.
  86. *General Aristo Co. (Photography), 1899.
  87. Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., 1899.
  88. United States Rubber Co., 1892.
  89. Allis-Chalmers Co., 1901.
  90. American Cigar Co., 1901.
  91. American Grass Twine Co., 1899.
  92. American Light and Traction Co., 1901.
  93. American Locomotive Co., 1901.
  94. American Machine and Ordnance Co., 1902.
  95. American Packing Co., 1902.
  96. American Plow Co., 1901.
  97. American Sewer Pipe Co., 1900.
  98. American Steel Foundries Co., 1902.
  99. Associated Merchants Co., 1901.
  100. Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co., 1902.
  101. Consolidated Railway Lighting and Refrig. Co., 1901.
  102. Consolidated Tobacco Co., 1901.
  103. Corn Products Co., 1902.
  104. Crucible Steel Co. of America, 1900.
  105. Eastman Kodak Co., 1901.
  106. International Harvester Co., 1902.
  107. International Salt Co., 1901.
  108. Jones & Laughlin Steel Co., 1902.
  109. * National Asphalt Co., 1900.
  110. New England Consolidated Ice Co., 1902.
  111. New York Dock Co., 1901.
  112. Pacific Hardware and Steel Co., 1902.
  113. Pennsylvania Steel Co. 1901.
  114. Railway Steel Spring Co., 1902.
  115. International Mercantile Marine Co., 1902.
  116. Northern Securities Co., 1901. (See Library Catalogue.)
  117. United Box, Board and Paper Co., 1902.
  118. United Copper Co., 1902.
  119. United States Cotton Duck Corporation, 1901.
  120. United States Realty and Construction Co., 1902
  121. United States Reduction and Refining Co., 1901
  122. United States Shipbuilding Co., 1902
  123. *U.S. Steel Corporation, 1901. (See Wilgus, in Library.)

INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS IN EUROPE

[Consult: Industrial Commission, Vol. XVIII [Industrial Combinations in Europe]; U.S. Special Consular Reports, Vol. XXI, Part III; and London Economist on England since 1895.]

  1. Canadian Iron Founders’ Association. (See Canadian Commission on Trusts, 1888.)
  2. *Bleachers’ Association, England.
  3. *Iron Combination, France.
  4. *Iron Combination, Germany.
  5. *Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate.
  6. *Spirits Combination, Germany.
  7. *United Pencil Factories Company, Germany.
  8. *Portland Cement Manufacturers’ Association, England.
  9. *Bradford Dyers’ Association, England.
  10. *Brass Bedstead Association, England.
  11. *British Cotton and Wool Dyers’ Association.
  12. *British Oil and Cake Mills.
  13. *Calico Printers’ Association, England.
  14. *Wall Paper Manufacturers’ Association, England.
  15. *English Sewing Cotton Co.
  16. *Petroleum Combination, Germany.
  17. *Petroleum Combination, France.
  18. *Sugar Combination, Germany.
  19. *Sugar Combination, Austria.

DIRECTIONS

All books here referred to are reserved in Gore Hall.

First. —Secure if possible by correspondence, enclosing ten cents postage, the last or recent annual reports of the company. Unless they are “listed” on the stock exchanges, no reports will be furnished. P.O. addresses for American corporations will be found in the latest Moody’s Manual of Corporation Securities [1903; 1904]; in 12th U. S. Census, 1900, Manufactures, Part I, p. lxxxvi; in the latest Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle [e.g., Supplement from July 28, 1900]; or in the Manual of Statistics.

Second. —In all cases where possible (starred on list) consult Vols. I, XIII, or XVIII. U.S. Industrial Commission Reports. Read appropriate testimony in full, consulting lists of witnesses, Vol. I, p. 1263, and Vol. XIII, p. 979; and also using the index and digests freely. Always follow up all cross references in foot-notes in the digests. Duplicate sets of these Reports are in Gore and Harvard Halls.

Third. —For companies organized prior to 1900 look through the bibliography and index in Halle or Jenks for references; and also in Griffin’s Library of Congress List [Relating to Trusts].

Fourth. —Work back carefully through the file of the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle [e.g., Supplement from July 28, 1900]. These Supplements, prior to 1902, are bound in with the regular issues of the Chronicle, one number in each volume. Since 1901 they are separately bound for each year. The Investors’ Supplement will be recognized by its gray paper cover, and must be carefully distinguished from other supplements of the Chronicle. Market prices of securities are given in a distinct Bank and Quotation Supplement [e.g. for 1903], also bound up with the Chronicle. Having found the company in the Investors’ Supplement, follow up all references to articles in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle as given by volume and page. Also use the general index of the latter, separately, for each year since the company was organized [e.g., Index for Jan-June 1903 and for July-December 1903].

The files of Bradstreet’s should also be used, noting carefully that the index in each volume is in three separate divisions, “Editorials” being the most important. The course of prices is summarized at the end of each year in January Bradstreet’s, and also in Bulletin U.S. Dept. of Labor, No. 29.

Fifth. —The files of trade publications may also be profitably used. Among these are Bulletin of the National Wool Manufacturers’ Association, The Iron Age, Dry Goods Economist, etc.

The course of prices of securities in detail for many companies is given in Industrial Commission Reports, Vol. XIII, p. 918, et seq.

As for the form of the reports all pertinent matter may be introduced, proper references to authorities being given. Particular attention is directed to the extent of control, nature and value of physical plant, mode of selling products and fixing prices, amount and character of capitalization, with the purpose for which it was issued, relative market prices of different securities as well as of dividends paid through a series of years, degree of publicity in reports, etc. Mere history is of minor importance, unless it be used to explain some features of the existing situation.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder: “Economics 1903-04”.

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ECONOMICS 9b
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

Questions should be arranged in regular order as numbered.

  1. In what three ways may legislation attempt to minimize the speculative management of corporations?
  2. Outline the nature, purpose, and results of the U. S. Steel Bond Conversion operation.
  3. What is the attitude of “Trusts” toward labor? What experiments in financial participation have been tried?
  4. What was the gist of the testimony of Messrs. Schwab or Gates [according as you read one or the other] before the U.S. Industrial Commission on the subject of “Trusts”?
  5. Are the decisions under English common law in harmony or not with the statutory enactments of most of our American states on the subject of monopoly?
  6. Outline the nature of the recent changes in Massachusetts Corporation Law, especially with reference to stock watering.
  7. What are three main characteristics of the so-called “Smith Combination Movement” in England?
  8. What is the main issue involved in recent attempts to amend English Company law? Illustrate fully.
  9. What remedy (if any) do you consider most effective for future control of monopoly in the United States? Discuss it with reference to its financial, constitutional, and moral aspects.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 33.

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 Labor Problem Sets

Harvard. Problems of Labor. Assignment of Reports and Final Exam. Ripley, 1903-1904

Young William Zebina Ripley

The course “Problems of Labor” at Harvard taught by William Zebina Ripley would have been better described as “Problems of Organized Labor”. The course number “9” was split between the first semester dedicated to the labor market institution of trade unions and the second semester dedicated to corporations and combinations of firms into trusts.

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Course Enrollment
First Semester, 1903-04

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley. — Problems of Labor.

Total 97: 8 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 34 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 9
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

GROUP A

Students will report upon the comparative conditions respecting Trade Union organization, functions, and efficiency in corresponding industries in the United States and Great Britain. The particular, industry assigned to each man is indicated by a number on the enrolment slip, which refers to the Trade Union number on the appended list of National Labor Organizations.

GROUP B

Students will report upon the comparative efficiency of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in the United States. Numbers against the names on the enrolment slip refer to the numbered Trade Union list, appended hereto.

GROUP C

Students will report upon the nature of Trade Union organization in two distinct lines of industry in Great Britain. Names on the enrolment slip as numbered refer to the industries concerned in the appended list of Trade Unions.

→ The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “8A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the Cotton Spinners’ Unions in the United States and Great Britain; “1 & 8B,” that a comparison of the Spinners’ and of the Boot and Shoe Workers’ Organizations in the United States is expected: while “1 & 8C” calls for the same comparison for the two industries in Great Britain.

NATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

A star indicates that the Trade Union journal is in the Library. [Loeb Fund.]

*The Knights of Labor
*The American Federation of Labor

  1. Boot and Shoe Workers’ Union.
  2. The United Hatters of North America.
  3. The United Garment Workers of America.
  4. *The Journeymen Tailors’ Union of America.
  5. Custom Clothing Makers’ Union of America.
  6. International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
  7. The Shirt, Waist and Laundry Workers’ International Union.
  8. National Spinners’ Association of America.
  9. The Elastic Goring Weavers’ Amalgamated Association of the United States of America.
  10. International Union of Textile Workers.
  11. Trunk and Bag Workers’ International Union of America.
  12. *International Typographical Union of North America.
  13. German-American Typographia.
  14. International Printing Pressmen and Assistants’ Union of North America.
  15. International Brotherhood of Bookbinders.
  16. Lithographers’ International Protective and Beneficial Association.
  17. International Steel and Copperplate Printers’ Union of the United States of America.
  18. Bricklayers and Masons’ International Union of America.
  19. *United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
  20. Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners.
  21. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
  22. *Granite Cutters’ National Union of the United States of America.
  23. Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paper Hangers of America.
  24. Operative Plasterers’ International Association.
  25. United Association of Journeymen Plumbers, Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters’ Helpers.
  26. National Association of Steam and Hot-Water Fitters and Helpers.
  27. Journeymen Stone Cutters’ Association of North America.
  28. Mosaic and Encaustic Tile Layers and Helpers’ International Union.
  29. Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association.
  30. American Flint Glassworkers’ Union.
  31. *Amalgamated Glassworkers’ International Association.
  32. National Brotherhood of Operative Potters.
  33. *United Mine Workers of America.
  34. Northern Mineral Mine Workers’ Progressive Union.
  35. Amalgamated Woodworkers’ International Union.
  36. United Order of Box Makers and Sawyers.
  37. *Piano and Organ Workers’ International Union.
  38. International Wood Carvers’ Association.
  39. Coopers’ International Union.
  40. Carriage and Wagon Workers’ International Union.
  41. National Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers.
  42. *International Association of Machinists.
  43. Amalgamated Society of Engineers.
  44. *Brotherhood of Boiler Makers and Iron Ship Builders.
  45. International Association of Allied Metal Mechanics.
  46. Metal Polishers, Buffers, Platers, and Brass Workers’ International Union.
  47. Amalgamated Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association.
  48. *Iron Molders’ Union.
  49. Pattern Makers’ League.
  50. Core Makers’ International Union.
  51. Grand Union of the International Brotherhood of Blacksmiths.
  52. Chain Makers’ National Union.
  53. Stove Mounters and Steel Range Workers’ International Union.
  54. Tin Plate Workers’ International Protective Association.
  55. American Wire Weavers’ Protective Association.
  56. Metal Trades’ Federation of North America.
  57. *International Seamen’s Union.
  58. National Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association.
  59. International Longshoremen’s Association.
  60. Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees.
  61. Switchmen’s Union.
  62. Journeymen Bakers’ and Confectioners’ International Union.
  63. Journeymen Barbers’ International Union.
  64. National Union of the United Brewery Workmen.
  65. *National Brickmaker’s Alliance.
  66. International Broom Makers’ Union.
  67. *Cigar Makers’ International Union.
  68. Retail Clerks’ International Protective Association.
  69. Team Drivers’ International Union.
  70. International Union of Steam Engineers.
  71. National Brotherhood of Coal Hoisting Engineers.
  72. Watch Case Engravers’ International Association.
  73. International Brotherhood of Stationary Firemen.
  74. International Union of Journeymen Horseshoers.
  75. Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ International Alliance and Bartenders’ International League.
  76. International Jewelry Workers.
  77. The United Brotherhood of Leather Workers on Horse Goods.
  78. National Association of Letter Carriers.
  79. *Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen.
  80. American Federation of Musicians.
  81. International Brotherhood of Oil and Gas Well Workers.
  82. United Brotherhood of Paper Makers.
  83. National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
  84. National Stogie Makers’ League.
  85. *Tobacco Workers’ International League.
  86. Upholsterers’ International Union.
  87. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
  88. *Order of Railway Conductors of America.
  89. *Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.
  90. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.
  91. *Order of Railroad Telegraphers.
  92. Brotherhood of Railway Truckmen.
  93. Switchmen’s Union of North America.

The constitutions of most of the Trades Unions for the United States will be found in Vol. XVII, Reports, U. S. Industrial Commission. Similar data for Great Britain is in the Appendix to “Foreign Reports, Vols. 1-2,”Royal Commission on Labour, pp. 15-324. [Volume I, United States; Volume II, Colonies and Indian Empire] [Both reserved in Gore Hall.] Additional evidence as to labor conditions in each industry will be found in Vols. VII, VIII, XII, XIV, and XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission (consult Digest and Index in each volume); and in the Reports of the British Royal Commission. The student should also consult 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];

Webbs, Industrial Democracy; and other books reserved in Gore Hall.

Data respecting the various unions among railroad employees in the United States will be found in a separate section on Railway Labor, in Vol. XVII, U. S. Industrial Commission: as also in Vols. IV and IX. (See Digests and Indexes.)

In cases where the American Trade Union journal is not in the library, the student will be expected to procure at least one copy from the Secretary of the Union. [See list of post office addresses posted with the enrolment slip.] These are to be filed with the report.

→ Exact references by title, volume and page must be given in foot notes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1903-1904”.

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ECONOMICS 9a
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. What is the most successful instance of Collective Bargaining in England? What is the status of the same industry in the United States, and why?
  2. What is the difference between an Employers’ Liability Act and a Workman’s Compensation Act? On what grounds may the latter be advocated?
  3. What is the English Device of the Common Rule? What are some of its economic effects?
  4. State two important peculiarities of American trades unions as contrasted with Great Britain.
  5. Outline the main features of the industrial arbitration legislation of Australasian colonies.
  6. What is the economic defence for restriction of the number of apprentices in a trade? Is it valid?
  7. What were the three most important strikes in the United States since 1850, and why?
  8. Criticise the recent recommendations of the Massachusetts Commission on Relation of Employer and Employed.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 32.

Image Source: MIT Museum website. William Zebina Ripley. Image colorized by Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Categories
Faculty Regulations Harvard

Harvard. Statute establishing the award of the Ph.D. degree, 1872

In the beginning there was no Ph.D. degree, and then the Harvard Corporation and Board of Overseers said, “Let there be Doctors of Philosophy and Science” in the spring of 1872.

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Statute concerning the Academic Council
[Adopted by the Corporation and Board of Overseers
in the Spring of 1872]

[Note: The Academic Council was originally established with the institution of the University Lectures in 1863]

The Academic Council consists of the President, Professors, Assistant Professors, and Adjunct Professors of the University. The Council is empowered to recommend to the President and Fellows candidates for the degrees of Master of Arts, Doctor of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy.

Standing Votes concerning the Degrees of Master of Arts,
Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Science. 

Voted, That the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Science be established in Harvard University.

Voted, That the degree of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy be open to Bachelors of Arts of Harvard College, and to Bachelors of Arts of other colleges who shall have satisfied the College Faculty by examination that the course of study for which they received the Bachelor’s degree is equivalent to that for which the Bachelor’s degree is given in Harvard College, or shall have passed such additional examination as that Faculty may prescribe.

Voted, That the degree of Doctor of Science be open to Bachelors of Science of Harvard University, and to Bachelors of Science and Bachelors of Philosophy of other institutions who shall have satisfied the Faculty of the Lawrence Scientific School by examination that the course of study for which they received the Bachelor’s degree is equivalent to that for which the degree is given in Harvard University, or shall have passed such additional examinations as that Faculty may prescribe.

Voted, That the Academic Council be authorized to recommend for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy candidates, otherwise properly qualified, who, after taking the Bachelor’s degree, shall have pursued at Harvard University, for two years, a course of liberal study approved by the Academic Council in any one of the following departments, – Philology, Philosophy, History, Political Science, Mathematics, Physics, or Natural History, shall have passed a thorough examination on that course, and shall have presented a satisfactory thesis.

Voted, That the Academic Council be authorized to recommend for the degree of Doctor of Science candidates, otherwise properly qualified, who, after taking their Bachelor’s degree, shall have resided at least two years at the University, and have pursued during three years a course of scientific study, embracing at least two subjects, and approved by the Academic Council, and shall have passed a thorough examination upon that course, showing in one of the subjects special attainments, and shall have also made some contribution to science or some special scientific investigation: provided, however, that a course of study of two years only shall be required of candidates who are both Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Science of Harvard University.

Voted, That the Academic Council be authorized to recommend for the degree of Master of Arts candidates, otherwise properly qualified, who, after taking the Bachelor’s degree, shall have pursued for at least one year at the University a course of liberal study approved by the Academic Council, and shall have passed a thorough examination on that course.

Voted, That the Academic Council be authorized to recommend for the degree of Master of Arts candidates, otherwise properly qualified, who shall pursue at the University, for at least one year after taking the degree of Bachelor of Laws or Bachelor of Divinity in Harvard University, a course of study in Law or Theology approved by the Academic Council, and shall pass a thorough examination on that course.

Voted, That the Academic Council be authorized, in examining the qualifications of candidates for degrees, to procure the assistance of officers of instruction and government who are not members of the Council.

Voted, To open the elective courses of instruction in Harvard College to Bachelors of Arts.

Voted, That for Bachelors of Arts of Harvard College, and Bachelors of Science, Law, and Divinity of Harvard University, residence or study at the University may be partly or wholly dispensed with at the discretion of the Academic Council, as a condition for receiving a higher degree.

Source: Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1871-72, pp. 75-76.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Semester Examinations in US Economic History. Sprague, 1903-1904

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

 

Exam questions for the Economic History of the United States taught by Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague in academic years 1901-02, and 1902-03 have been posted earlier.

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ECONOMICS 6
Enrollment. 1903-04

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 58: 14 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 6
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. Give reasons for the failure to engage in diversified agriculture in the South before 1860.
  2. Contrast the Southern plantation managed by owners with those under the management of overseers.
  3. Why should 1839 rather than 1837 be regarded as the close of the speculative movement of the thirties?
  4. Why may it be considered fortunate that the national government did not take an important part in the early internal improvement movement?
  5. To what extent was distrust of private corporations a factor in the internal improvement movement?
  6. Contrast the effects of protection upon the cotton and upon the woollen industry.
  7. Are wages and profits higher in protected than in other occupations, (a) raw materials, (b) manufactures?
  8. What, in your opinion, was the strongest argument for protection in 1816? What seems to you the strongest argument which has general validity?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

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ECONOMICS 6
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. How is immigration said to have affected the birth rate?
  2. Point out any indications which give promise of future negro progress.
  3. Briefly.
    1. The Homestead Law.
    2. The Copper Act of 1869.
    3. Reciprocity in the Tariff Act of 1890.
    4. The effects of specific duties according to Walker’s Report of 1846.
  4. Point out striking differences in the protective movement before and since 1860, taking illustrations especially from the Woollen Act of 1867 and the Act of 1890.
  5. The cotton manufacture in the South and the young industries argument.
  6. Why has the iron and steel industry developed more satisfactorily than the woollen industry?
  7. Account for changes in the character of the foreign trade of the United States with reference to the excess of imports or of exports.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 29.

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915, colorised by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Economists Harvard LGBTQ Money and Banking Policy

Harvard. A. Piatt Andrew at his home “Red Roof”. Gloucester, MA. 1910

Abram Piatt Andrew taught monetary economics at Harvard before becoming a key player in the National Monetary Commission, Director  of the U.S. Mint, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, founder of the American Field Service, and a Republican member of the United States Congress from 1921-36. Much more has been posted about him here at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

This post deals with his home and private life.

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This photograph features A. Piatt Andrew at his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, before World War I began. Prior to founding the American Field Service during the war, Andrew served as an assistant professor of economics at Harvard, director of the U.S. Mint, and assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury. “Red Roof,” as his home was called, was designed and built under Andrew’s direction in 1902. Red Roof contained secret rooms, one of which necessitated dismantling a sofa to access and contained a Prohibition-era wet bar and a player piano. Guests in the living room could therefore hear the music but didn’t know its source. Another secret room contained a dugout that was later filled with AFS artifacts from the war, including posters, AFS recruitment slides, shell fuses (a favorite souvenir of AFS Drivers), and trench art.

Andrew created elaborate entertainment for guests at Red Roof by organizing themed dinner parties, musical performances, and skits in full costume. Guests to Red Roof included interior decorator and longtime AFS supporter Henry Sleeper, the portrait painter John Singer Sargent, art collector and philanthropist Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt [May 2-4, 1903].

Source: Nicole Milano, “A. Piatt Andrew and Red Roof, 1910.” American Field Service Website.

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But wait, there’s more

A blog dealing exclusively (no kidding) with “A. Piatt Andrew and Red Roof“.

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Research tips:

At the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now called “Historic New England“) one can find “A. Piatt Andrew Guest Books, 1902-1930” among other items. These guest book pages have, in addition to the signatures, close to 700 photographs.  You can page through the pictures online (1902-1912) and (1913-1930).

At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum you will find online 249 items (photographs, correspondence from A. Piatt Andrew).

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Henry Davis Sleeper and
A. Piatt Andrew Jr.

Plot spoiler: They were more than friendly neighbours.

Source: A. Piatt Andrew’s The Red Roof Guestbook, 1914-1930. Available at the Historic New England Website.

 Sleeper’s frail constitution prevented him from participating in the rough-and-tumble games and amusements favored by Andrew and his young male friends, mostly Harvard undergraduates. [p. 90]

Mrs. Jack

Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) was a legend in her own time. Starting with the untimely death of her husband, John Lowell Gardner, in 1898, his widow, called Mrs. Jack, embarked on an ambitious program of art acquisition which culminated in the transformation of her fabulous Venetian-style palazzo, Fenway Court, into a beloved cultural institution. She accomplished this feat largely by relying on the skills, expertise and companionship of the coterie of attractive and talented homosexual men-mostly artists, collectors, and curators-that she gathered around her…. [p. 90]

Society Painter

By 1908 Mrs. Jack’s circle included the society painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Born in Italy to American parents, Sargent had first come to Boston in 1887. After a solo exhibition in 1888 at the St. Botolph Club, he was commissioned in 1890 to design murals for the new Boston Public Library in Copley Square. Along with other commissions-for the Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard’s Widener Library-Sargent was almost fully occupied in Boston for the next twenty-five years. While circumspect about his private life, an album of male nudes that Sargent, a bachelor, kept for his own enjoyment offers insight into his predilections. [p. 91]

Seaside shenanigans

In the years preceding World War I, Isabella Stewart Gardner, John Singer Sargent, and others in their circle were drawn into the wealthy summer enclave at Eastern Point, Gloucester, where Harvard professor (later U.S. congressman) A. Piatt Andrew Jr. (1873-1936) and his neighbor, interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper (1878-1934), had homes. The letters from Sleeper to Andrew provide evidence of the intensity of his feelings.

Social life on Eastern Point revolved around ceaseless entertaining. One of Gardner’s biographers hints at the goings-on at Andrew’s home, Red Roof: “Gossip had it that often all the guests were men, their pastimes peculiar. Yet all the ladies on Eastern Point were fascinated by Piatt.” Portrait painter Cecilia Beaux (1863-1942) spent summers at her Gloucester home, Green Alley, where she enjoyed hosting evening gatherings of her neighbors. She never married. “Faithful in attendance were Harry Sleeper and Piatt Andrew, whose brilliancy of repartee has never been excelled” according to an observer. Concealment and ambiguity characterized the lives of many of the women and men who moved through this exclusive world of polite manners and material luxury. [p. 92]

Source: The History Project. Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and gay history from the Puritans to Playland. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. [Note: you need to register at archive.org to access (borrow) the book for an hour at a time]

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October 6, 1910. A. Piatt Andrew and Isabella Stewart Gardner at “Red Roof”. Photo by Thomas E. Marr from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Cleaned and cropped by Economics in the Rear View Mirror

From Isabella Stewart Gardner’s biography

A. Piatt Andrew lived next door to Miss Davidge under his “Red Roof” – nearer the mainland than Miss Davidge and Miss Beaux, and with one more maiden lady beyond him….

Harry Sleeper, whom Mrs. Gardner already knew fairly well, lived just beyond. … Harry was sweet, gentle, affectionate. He was devoted to his mother, who protected him from the ladies when he feared they had designs on his celibacy. Still more was he the devoted slave to Piatt….

…A. Piatt Andrew had an organ installed in the passage between the living room and a recently added study. Here, Isabella sat on the couch (with a bearskin and two leopard skins on it) to listen to his music. She was probably unaware of a hidden space above the books – too low to stand up in but equipped with mattress and covers where some of Andrew’s guests could listen in still greater comfort. She had seen the Brittany bed in the living room but that there was a small hole over it, perhaps no one had told her. The sound of organ music could be heard the better through the hole – and was it just a coincidence that a person in the hidden alcove above could look down through it? Gossip had it that often all the guests were men, their pastimes peculiar. Yet all the ladies on Eastern Point were fascinated by Piatt and one especially keen observer thought that Miss Beaux was “sweet on him”.

When the fog lifted and the sun came out, the whole atmosphere at Red Roof changed. Gloucester harbor sparkled bright and blue. Isabella’s spirits lifted, macabre impressions vanished, and Isabella went out on a stone seat to be photographed with Piatt – or “A,” as she liked to call him, referring to herself as “Y,” amused to find herself at the opposite end of the alphabet.

Isabella wore a linen suit with leg o’mutton sleeves, long coat and wide gored skirt. She had on a toque with a black dotted veil over her face. Beside her, A. Piatt sat – head turned toward her, his handsome profile toward the camera.

A. Piatt Andrew had been chosen by President Eliot to work in Senator Aldrich’s monetary commission and he planned to go to Europe during the summer of 1908 to make preliminary studies. Mrs. Gardner told him to be sure to get in touch with Matthew Stewart Prichard – late of the Boston Art Museum. This Andrew did, Prichard showing him beautiful Greek and Roman coins which gave him ideas for new designs for American currency.

Source: Louise Hall Tharp, Mrs. Jack: A Biography of Isabella Stewart Gardner, Little, Brown and Company, 1965, pp. 276-278.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Semester exams for money and banking. Andrew and Sprague, 1903-1904

 

Abram Piatt Andrew (b. 1873, Princeton A.B. 1893; Harvard  Ph.D. 1900) and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague (b. 1873, Harvard A.B. 1894; A.M. 1895; Ph.D. 1897) were rising stars in the department of economics at Harvard in the 1903-04 academic year. Together they covered the bases of money, banking, and international payments. 

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Related, previous posts

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Course Enrollment
Economics 8a and 8b
1903-04

Economics 8a 2hf. Asst. Professor Andrew. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. [note: taught second semester]

Total 91: 8 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 39 Juniors, 24 Sophomores, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 8b 1hf. Dr. Sprague. — Banking and the History of the leading Banking Systems. [note: taught first semester]

Total 77: 6 Graduates, 30 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 8a
Year-End Examination
1903-04

Arrange answers in the order of the questions.
Omit one question.

  1. Explain the character, merits, and defects of
    1. the arithmetical mean;
    2. the geometrical mean;
    3. the median;
    4. the mode;
    5. weighted averages.
      Discuss Pierson’s criticism of index numbers.
  2. When a government issues inconvertible notes, is the premium on gold apt to measure the depreciation of the notes
    1. at the beginning of the issue?
    2. in the course of a war?
    3. at the restoration of peace?
    4. if the crops fail?
    5. “in the long run”?
      Give reasons, and where possible, illustrations.
  3. What justification is there for the respective claims that the United States adopted the gold standard
    1. by the act of 1834?
    2. by the act of 1853?
    3. by the act of 1873?
    4. by the act of 1874?
    5. by the act of 1900?
  4. To what extent was England’s adoption of the gold standard the result of a policy deliberately adopted and intentionally pursued? To what extent was it the result of unforeseen conditions?
  5. Suppose that owing to the increasing gold supply the ratio between gold and silver were to fall again below 32 to 1 how would foreign trade and the price level be affected
    1. in Mexico?
    2. in the Philippines?
  6. Would an ideal monetary standard always measure the same exchange value?
    1. according to Darwin?
    2. according to Walker?
    3. in your own opinion?
      Answer both from the points of view of production and of distribution.
  7. Is there any significance for “the quantity theory” in the currency history
    1. of India between 1893 and 1898?
    2. of Austria between 1878 and 1892?
    3. of Russia between 1878 and 1896?
    4. of Holland between 1873 and 1875?
      Where possible give variant opinions.
  8. Trace the general changes in the value of money in the United States from 1830 to the present time, analyzing the reasons for these changes.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 30-31.

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ECONOMICS 8b
Mid-Year Examination.
1903-04

  1. Sight exchange, $4.86; sixty-day bills, $4.83; commercial bills, $4.82. What would be the probable effect of an advance of one per cent of the market rate of discount in London? Consider each quotation separately.
  2. The government of the Bank of England.
  3. Why does the existing system of note issue in the United States tend to check the expansion of credit in the form of deposits?
  4. Discuss briefly:—
    1. The payment of interest upon deposits by commercial banks.
    2. The significance of statistics relative to clearing-house transactions.
    3. The publication of weekly reports by the trust companies of New York.
    4. The use of certified checks in Stock Exchange dealings.
    5. The taxation of national banks.
  5. Contrast the value for purposes of reserve of call loans in New York made by the Canadian banks with those made by the banks of the city.
  6. The Suffolk Bank system.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

Image Sources: Portrait of Abram Piatt Andrew from the Hoover Institution archives posted at the Federal Reserve History website. Portrait of Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague from the Harvard Classbook 1912. Images colorized and edited by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.