John Henry Williams was in his day a colossus whose feet were squarely planted in macroeconomic research and macroeconomic policy. Many posts here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror include material from his Harvard courses. The particular contribution of this post is found in the transcriptions of the graduate course records from the Division of History, Government and Economics that document Williams’ own pursuit of the Ph.D. Not essential to any understanding of the development of modern economics is the flurry of letters, cards and telegrams required to coordinate the time of Williams’ Special Examination that followed the acceptance of his doctoral thesis. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
A timeline of his life and career has been appended to the post below.
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Current Literature
Pier Francesco Asso’s chapter “John Henry Williams (1887–1980)” in The Palgrave Companion to Harvard Economics edited by Robert A. Cord (1924), pp. 197-220.
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Ph.D. in Economics, 1919
JOHN HENRY WILLIAMS, A.B. (Brown Univ.) 1912, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1916.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, International Trade. Thesis, “Argentine International Trade under Inconvertible Paper Money, 1880-1900.” Assistant Professor of Economics, Princeton University.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1918-19, p. 82.
_______________________
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.
John Henry Williams. June 21, 1887. Ystrad, Wales.
II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)
Brown University. 1909-12.
Harvard University. 1915 to present.
Brown University. Instructor in English, 1912-15.
III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)
A.B. Brown University, 1912.
A.M. Harvard, 1916.
IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)
General course in European history; English Constitutional history; European history since 1815; American history.
Elementary course in Economic Theory; Labor Problems;
Elementary courses in Political Science & in Sociology.
History of Philosophy. English composition (2 year courses).
Anglo-Saxon; English literature (two year courses); French (two years); German (two years); Latin & Greek (one year each). I obtained credit for a course in Spanish by special examination.
V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)
Economics.
VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)
- Economic theory, and the history of economic thought.
Economics 11, Economics 14: – Harvard.
(Elementary course in theory at Brown.) - Economic history.
Economics 2: – Harvard. - Public Finance.
Economics 31: – Harvard. - Labor Problems.
Economics 34: – Harvard.
(one course at Brown.) - Political Theory.
Govt. 6a; Govt 6b: – Harvard.
- International Trade. Special Field
Economics 33.
Economics 20(a) (Research – full course)
VII. Special Subject for the special examination.
International Trade
VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)
The Foreign Trade of Argentina in the Period of Inconvertible Paper Money (1880-19009.
Professor F. W. Taussig.
IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)
For the general examination. Early May, 1917.
X. Remarks
[left blank]
Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.
[signed] Charles J. Bullock
* * * [Last page of application] * * *
[Not to be filled out by the applicant]
Name: John Henry Williams
Approved: Jan 23 1917
Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock. 18 December 1916 – D.H.
Ability to use German certified by C. J. Bullock. 18 December 1916 – D.H.
Date of general examination Passed – May 7, 1911 – D.H.
Thesis received [left blank]
Read by [left blank]
Approved [left blank]
Date of special examination [left blank]
Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]
Degree conferred [left blank]
Remarks. [left blank]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Record of JOHN HENRY WILLIAMS
in the Harvard Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences
| Grades | ||
| 1915-16 | Course | Half-Course |
| Economics 2a1 | A | |
| Economics 2b2 | A | |
| Economics 11 | A | |
| Economics 13 | B plus | |
| Economics 31 | A minus | |
| Economics 34 | A | |
| 1916-17 | Course | Half-Course |
| Economics 14 | “Credit” | |
| Economics 20a | A | |
| Economics 332 | abs. | |
| Economics 351 | A | |
| Government 6a1 | A | |
| Government 6b2 | abs. | |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Certification of reading knowledge
of French
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. H. Williams and found that he has a satisfactory reading knowledge of French and German.
[signed]
C. J. Bullock
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
General examination passed
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dear Haskins:
Mr. J. H. William passed his general examination for the doctor’s degree on May 7th. He did pretty well in all subjects, and the vote of the Committee was unanimous. The examination was not, however, a brilliant one.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock
Dean C. H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Willing to take a professorship at Lafayette College if offered.
Department of Commerce
Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce
Washington
June 20, 1918
I have your letter of June 17th, forwarded from the Cambridge Y.M.C.A., stating that I have been recommended for a professorship in economics and government at Lafayette College at $2,000. That prospect seems to me highly desirable and I hope I may get it. I am writing today to Dr. MacCracken.
For the past two weeks, as a result of your kind mention of me to Dr. Klein, I have been doing Latin American research work in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. My present appointment is temporary and in no way binding on either side. I understand, however, that I may arrange for a permanent appointment if I desire. The salary is about the same as that of the teaching position, but the cost of living here in Washington is terrific! I feel too that I should prefer teaching to this work, provided the salary were satisfactory, as it is in the case of this position at Lafayette College. If, therefore, you could assist me in any way to secure the place, I should be very grateful.
I take this opportunity to explain what is the present status of my thesis. Save for some minor changes it is completed, and is now in Professor Taussig’s hands. He hopes to have an opportunity to read it during his vacation, which I undertand is to begin soon. Once the thesis is returned to me I mean to put it into final shape and forward it to you. Do you not think that it might be examined by a committee in the late summer or early fall, and that, if it is satisfactory, arrangement might be made for me to take the final examination in October?
With many thanks for your kind letter, I am
Very truly yours,
[signed]
John H. Williams
Dean Charles H. Haskins.
(My safest address is the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Latin American Division, Washington, D.C. I am advising the Appointments Office of this address.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dean Haskins reply to Williams
22 June 1918
Dear Mr. Williams:
I am glad to learn from your letter of 20 June that you are interested in the place at Lafayette. Your letter to President MacCracken will put you in touch with him; I had already given him the only address I conld get, 1937 Calvert Street.
In regards your thesis, I will undertake to see what we can do when it reaches me in final shape. It is hard to find men free to read theses during the summer, but at least it can be read early in the academic year, so that your special examination need not go far into the autumn.
Let me know if I can do anything about the place at Lafayette, or elsewhere. I mentioned Professor Bullock in writing to President MacCracken.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Mr. John H. Williams.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Undated File Note
Presumably late June 1918.
Miss Ham has telphoned that J. H. Williams wishes to take his special examination next fall. Professor Taussig has received his thesis and has read it. Who are to be the other members of the committee?
[Handwritten notes added:]
Bullock, Sprague, Klein, Carver.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Division asks Carver
to Read Williams’ thesis
7 October 1918
Dear Carver:
Will you serve as one of the committee to read the Ph.D. thesis of J. H. Williams, on “Foreign Trade of Argentina in the Period of Inconvertible Paper Money (1880-1900)”? The thesis will be sent to you.
Yours sincerely,
[unsigned copy]
Professor T. N. Carver
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Taussig’s Daughter to wed in November 1918. Good time to schedule Williams’ Special Examination
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dear dear Haskins:
Taussig writes that he is going to be in Cambridge about November 10th to attend his daughter’s wedding, and obviously that will be the best time for having Williams’s final examination. Let us tentatively put that down for November 9th, 10th, or 11th, the exact date to be fixed after the date of the wedding is definitely set.
Williams’s thesis will undoubtedly be accepted. Taussig and I are now ready to approve it, and find it a very excellent piece of work. Carver is now reading it.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock
Dean C. H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dean Haskins Begins to Assemble Special Examination Committee
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Division of History, Government, and Economics
16 October 1918
My dear Sir:
Can you serve as a member of the committee for the special examination of John Henry Williams for the Ph.D. in Economics, which is provisionally fixed for November 9 or 11? Mr. Williams’s special field is International Trade, and his thesis subject is Foreign Trade of Argentina in the Period of Inconvertible Paper Money (1880-1900). The committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Carver, and Persons.
Yours sincerely,
[unsigned copy]
CHARLES H. HASKINS
[To: Taussig, Bullock, Carver, Persons]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Division sets tentative dates for
Special Examination
16 October 1918
Dear Mr. Williams:
Your special examination has been fixed provisionally for November 9 or 11. The committee consists of Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Carver, and Persons.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Mr. J. H. Williams.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Division checking whether
Taussig would be available for the Special Examination
16 October 1918
Dear Taussig:
I understand from Bullock that you are to be here these days. Can you indicate so far in advance whether you could act on Williams’s examination and what hour would be convenient for you?
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Professor F.W. Taussig.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Persons can serve on
Special Examination Committee
My dear Dean Haskins:
I will be able to serve on the committee to examine J. H. Williams on Nov 9 or 11.
[signed]
Warren M. Persons
Oct. 18–1918
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
|
F. W. Taussig, Chairman |
Address reply to |
October 18, 1918.
Dear Bullock:
I enclose the certificate on Williams’s thesis, duly signed. I should hope to be able to get to Cambridge about November 12th. I can make no unqualified promises, but just now there is something of a let up, and prospects for an easier year are good.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Professor C. J. Bullock,
Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Enclosure.
[Short-hand note at bottom of page]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
|
F. W. Taussig, Chairman |
Address reply to |
October 19, 1918.
Dear Haskins:
I have your letter of the 16th. I could take part in Williams’ examination about November 12th or 13th. It will be a pleasure to have a hand again in Cambridge doings.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Mr. Charles H. Haskins,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bullock has Taussig’s letter to him
forwarded to Dean Haskins
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dear Dean Haskins:
Professor Bullock wished me to send you the enclosed letter from Professor Taussig, and to suggest that you provisionally set November 12th as the date for Mr. Williams’s examination and find out whether Professor Taussig now can agree to come at that time.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
A. Pauline Ham
Dean C. H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Special Examination Date Change
(to the Committee)
21 October 1918
Dear Bullock:
Mr. Williams’s examination has been changed to Tuesday, November 12, at 3 p.m. I hope that this will be convenient for you.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Professor C. J. Bullock
Professor T. N. Carver
Dr. W. M. Persons.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Special Examination Date Change
(to Williams)
21 October 1918
My dear Mr. Williams:
It has been found necessary to change your examination, and it has been set provisionally for Tuesday, November 12, at 3 p.m.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Mr. John H. Williams.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Special Examination Date Change
(to Taussig)
21 October 1918
Dear Taussig:
I have arranged Mr. Williams’s examination for Tuesday, November 12, at 3 p.m. I hope that hour will be convenient for you.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Professor F. W. Taussig.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carver agrees to serve on Williams’ Special Examination Committee
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dean Charles H. Haskins,
Cambridge, Mass.
Dear Sir:
I can serve as a member of the committee for the examination of Mr. Williams on either date, given, preferably on November 9.
Very sincerely yours,
[signed]
T. N. Carver (P)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bullock can’t make
the new Special Examination date
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
My dear Haskins:
It now appears that I shall be away from Cambridge the week of November 10-16 in attendance at the annual conference of the National Tax Association. Since Taussig is going to be here that week, I think it would be better to adhere to your date of Noverber 12th for Williams’s examination. You have Taussig, Carver, and Persons, so that you could perfectly well replace me by Burbank or some historian or a government man. It is more important that Taussig should be on hand than that I should be there.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock
Dean C. H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Carver agrees to new date for
Williams’ Special Examination
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dean Charles H. Haskins,
Cambridge, Mass.
Dear Dean Haskins:
The date for Mr. Williams’s examination, November 12, at 3 p.m. is satisfactory to me.
Very sincerely yours,
[signed]
T. N. Carver
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
|
F. W. Taussig, Chairman |
Address reply to |
October 24, 1918.
Dear Haskins:
I have your note concerning Williams’ examination on Tuesday, November 12th. I will be on hand.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Mr. Charles H. Haskins,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Asking Burbank to substitute for Bullock
25 October 1918
Dear Burbank:
Could you serve as a member of the committee for the special examination of J. H. Williams on Tuesday, November 12, at 3 p.m.? Professor Bullock, who was to serve, is obliged to be out of town that week, and the date of the examination has to be fixed with regard to Professor Taussig’s presence in Cambridge. Mr. Williams’s special field is International Trade, and his thesis is on Foreign Trade in Argentina, 1880-1900. The other members of the committee are Professors Taussig (chairmen), Carver, and Persons.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Dr. H. H. Burbank.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bullock informed
25 October 1918
Dear Bullock:
I have asked Burbank to serve in your place at Williams’s examination.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Professor C. J. Bullock.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Taussig needs to postpone
the Special Examination
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dean Agrees to Postponing Special Examination
6 November 1918
Professor F. W. Taussig, U. S. Tariff Commission, Washington, D.C.
Examination can be changed to Friday fifteenth if your presence assured then. Telegraph.
Charles H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Williams informed of Special Examination date change
7 November 1918
Dear Mr. Williams:
It has been found necessary to change your examination to Friday, November 15, at 4 p.m. in Widener U.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
Mr. J. H. Williams.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Committee members informed of
Special Examination date change
7 November 1918
My dear Sir:
It has been found necessary to change Mr. Williams’s examination to Friday, November 15, at 4 p.m. in Widener U. I trust this hour will be convenient for you.
Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]
[Carver, Persons, Burbank]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Special examination passed
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
|
F. W. Taussig |
Cambridge, Massachusetts |
Dear Sir:
I beg to report, in behalf of the Committee appointed to conduct the special examination of J. H. Williams, that he passed the examination by unanimous vote of the Committee.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Dean C. H. Haskins
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Notice to President’s Office
of the Award of Ph.D.
[Format matches the listing in the Annual Report of the President of Harvard College]
3 December 1918
The Division of History, Government, and Economics reports that the following candidate for the degree of Doctor of philosophy has presented a satisfactory thesis and passed his final examination successfully:
John Henry Williams,
A.B. (Brown Univ.) 1912, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1916.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, International Trade.
Thesis. “The Foreign Trade of Argentina in the Period of Inconvertible paper Money (1880-1900).”
[unsigned copy]
Chairman
Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. 1923-24. (UA V 453.270), Box 05, Folder “Degree Granted”.
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Course Names and Instructors
1915-16
Economics 2a 1hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Professor Gay assisted by Mr. A.H. Cole and Ryder.
Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Professor Gay assisted by Mr. A.H. Cole and Ryder.
Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.
Economics 13. Statistics: Theory, Methods, Practice. Asst. Professor Day.
Economics 31. Public Finance. Professor Bullock.
Economics 34. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.
1916-17
Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.
Economics 20a. Economic Research (Economic Theory and International Trade and Tariff Problems). Professor Taussig.
Economics 332. International Trade and Tariff Problems. Professor Persons (Colorado College).
Economics 351. Problems of Business Cycles. Professor Persons (Colorado College).
Government 6a1. History of Political Theory. Asst. Professor Holcombe.
Government 6b2. Political Theories of Modern Times. Asst. Professor Holcombe.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1915-16, 1916-17.
__________________________
John Henry Williams
Timeline of his life and career
1887. Born June 21 in Ystrad, Wales.
1889. May. Family emigrates to the United States, settling in the Blackinton section of North Adams, Massachusetts.
1900. October 13. Became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
1908[est.] Graduated from Drury High School, North Adams, Massachusetts.
1912. A.B. Brown University.
1912-15. English instructor at Brown University.
1915. Married Jessie Isabelle Monroe (she died in 1960). Two daughters.
1916. A.M. in economics, Harvard.
1917-18. July to May, Sheldon Travelling Fellow to Buenos Aires.
1918-19. Instructor of Economics. Harvard. Also assistant editor of the Review of Economic Statistics.
1919. Ph.D. in economics, Harvard. Thesis awarded the Wells Prize.
1919. Accompanied Professor Edwin Walter Kemmerer of Princeton University, who was serving as adviser to the Guatemalan government in currency matters, to Guatemala and Cuba. (They departed July 12 from New Orleans). Williams traveled as secretary to Kemmerer.
1919-20. Assistant professor of economics, Princeton University.
1920. Publication of the doctoral thesis, Argentine International Trade Under Inconvertible Paper Money, 1880-1900.
1920-21. Associate Professor of Banking, Northwestern University.
1921-25. Assistant Professor of Economics, Harvard University.
1925-26. Westinghouse professor in Italy.
1925-29. Associate Professor of Economics, Harvard University.
1929-33. Professor of Economics, Harvard University.
1933-57. Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University.
1932-33. Delegate to the Commission that prepared the World Monetary and Economic Conference.
1933. Spring. Joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as Assistant Federal Reserve Agent. Full-time until October 1934.
1936-47. Vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In charge of the Research Function.
1937-47. First Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration.
1944. First edition of Postwar Monetary Plans and Other Essays published. Second edition (1945). Third edition (1947). Fourth edition (1949).
1947-52. Economic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
1948-51. Member of the European Cooperation and Administration advisory committee on fiscal and monetary problems.
1951. President of the American Economic Association.
1952-ca.1963. Consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
1953. Economic stability in a changing world; essays in economic theory and policy.
1953. One of seven named by President Eisenhower to a commission to study foreign economic policy.
1953-54. Member of the United States Commission on Foreign Economic Policy.
1957. Retires from Harvard University.
1957-63. William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
1962. Married second wife, Katherine R. McKinstry
[note: she was thanked for her editorial help in preparing the publication of Postwar Monetary Plans and Other Essays (1944); also in Economic stability in a changing world; essays in economic theory and policy (1953)]
1980. December 24. Died in Southbridge, Massachusetts.
Timeline sources: Obituary in North Adams Transcript (Jan 5, 1981), p. 12; FRBNY Quarterly Review (Winter, 1980-81), pp. 1-2; Who’s Who in America 1952, p. 2622.
Image Source: Passport picture from John Henry Williams’ passport application July 8, 1919. Low resolution scan enhanced by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.