This post provides some biographical material for Mabel Agnes Magee who received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1927. As I was browsing through Chicago departmental records, I came across her name in a form submitted to hire her as an assistant for three quarters in 1927-28 at a salary of $500. I decided to put on my detective gumshoes and see what I could find about her pre- and post-Chicago life. From at least 1930 (U.S. Census) through her retirement, she taught at the sister college to Cornell, Wells College. Mabel Magee was born in Massachusetts, did her undergraduate studies at Simmons College, received an M.A. from Columbia University, taught briefly at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, went on Chicago for her Ph.D. in economics. So except for her graduate training at Columbia and Chicago, Mabel Magee spent her academic life entirely in women’s colleges. She is mentioned in Wade L. Thomas’ “A Brief History of the New York State Economics Association” (New York Economic Review, Fall 2011) as the host of meetings at Wells College in May 1948 that constituted the beginning of the “Central New York Economics Conference” that was the predecessor to the New York State Economics Association.
Mabel Magee retired from Wells College to DeBary, Florida, a town just north of Orlando. I have found no indication that she either married or had children. Also, up to now I have not been able to determine when she died.
__________________
AEA Listing, 1957
MAGEE, Mabel Agnes, Box 469, DeBary, Fla. (1925) Wells Col., prof. emeritus, teach., gov. serv.; b. 1889; B.S., 1912, Simmons Col.; M.A., 1920, Columbia; Ph.D., 1927, Chicago. Fields 14abd, 8, 2b. Doc. dis. Women’s clothing industry of Chicago: study of labor relations. Pub. Trends in location of women’s clothing industry (Univ. of Chicago, 1931); “Constitutional and statutory limitations on local taxation,” 1936, 1938, 1944, “Constitutional and statutory provisions regarding local property taxation,” Tax Systems. Res. Role of federal property its local finance. Dir. Dir. of Amer. Schol.
Source: The American Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 4, Handbook of the American Economic Association (Jul., 1957), p. 186.
__________________
1912 Simmons Yearbook, Microcosm
[Portrait and signature], 698 Salem Street, South Groveland, Massachusetts. Groveland High School.
Source: Simmons College. Microcosm 1912, p. 66.
__________________
1923 Wheaton College 1923, Nike
Mabel Agnes Magee was listed as instructor in economics and history in the department of economic and sociology at Wheaton College
[Education] B.S. Simmons College; A.M. Columbia University.
[Previous Employment] Registrar’s Assistant, Simmons College; Private Secretary to president of South End National Bank, Boston; Teller at Haverhill National Bank; Private Secretary to William J. Mack, Impartial Chairman and Arbitrator Ladies’ Garment Industry, Cleveland, Ohio.
Source: Wheaton College yearbook Nike 1923 (edited by class of 1924, Wheaton College), p. 16.
__________________
Miscellaneous Facts Drawn from U.S. Census Reports
1900. Born December 1889.
1910. Home on Salem Street in Groveland, Massachusetts. Parents: John and Hannah Magee, born in Canada and Massachusetts, respectively. Two brothers: George and Edward L. Magee.
1920. [same information, without brother George in household, note: last name incorrectly transcribed as “Magie”]
1930. Home on Main Street South in Ledyard, New York. Occupation “Teacher” at Wells College. Head of household: Anne C. Jones (34 yrs). Also residing there: Mariam R. Small (31 yrs), Elisabeth G. Kimball (30 yrs), and Andrew McGardon (47 yrs).
__________________
From other AEA published membership information
1928. Address given at Faculty Exchange, University of Chicago.
1938. Institutional affiliation given as Wells College.
1948. Institutional affiliation given as Wells College.
1966. No longer included in AEA membership directory.
__________________
Foreign travel
1952. Arrived in New York City from Amsterdam on a KLM flight on August 25.
1961. Arrived in New York City from Paris on Lufthansa 806. U.S. address given as 12 Estiella [sic, Estrella] Road, Debory [sic, DeBary], Florida.
Source: From ancestry.org’s immigration and emigration data base.
__________________
Image Source: Senior portrait of Mabel Agnes Magee in the Simmons College Yearbook, Microcosm 1912, p. 66.