Besides being a typical addition to the collection of posts “Meet an Economics Ph.D. alumna/us”, we may consider the life/career of Hermann Franklin Arens (Harvard A.B., A.M., and Ph.D.) as that of a poster-child of a “non-survivor” in the history of economics. Serious historians worry about the survivor-bias in the accounts that are read that would systematically miss evidence of potentially productive scholarly/scientific paths not attempted. Evidence of what has actually happened to those who voluntarily or involuntarily separated from active careers in economic research will be haphazard and difficult to gather (e.g., I have been unable to find Arens’ date of death in a casual search), but at least Economics in the Rear-view Mirror can provide an occasional empirical reminder of these least-studied characters in the history of economics.
Even within the truncated autobiographical account of Arens’ post-Harvard career, we pick up the following self-deprecating and heavily ironic remark that points to his status as a “non-survivor”:
Outside of making a living for a family, I have accomplished practically nothing.
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Harvard Class 1907, 25th Anniversary Report (1932)
HERMANN FRANKLIN ARENS
Born: Boston, Mass., May 3, 1882. Son of Edward Johannes, Adelma Sohmes (Atkinson) Arens.
Prepared at Dummer Academy, and Newburyport High School, Newburyport, Mass.
In College: 1903-06. Degrees: A.B. 1907; A. M. 1913; Ph.D. 1918.
Married Elizabeth Clare McNamara, Sept. 11, 1907. New York, N.Y. Children: Hermann Athanasius, May 4, 1911; Winifred Adelma, Feb. 16, 1914; Friederich Vincent, April 6, 1916; Mary Elizabeth, March 28, 1918 (died April 28, 1928); Konrad, Jan. 11, 1920 (died April 24, 1931).
Occupation: Economist.
Address: 2 Woodworth St., Neponset, Mass.
At present I am the staff economist and editor for the United Business Service, Boston, and instructor in economics at Northeastern University, Boston.
My most extensive travels were a trip to Japan and China in the winter of 1922-23.
I have a small wind-jammer, and yachting is the only sport that interests me.
Outside of making a living for a family, I have accomplished practically nothing.
Member: American Economic Association; Royal Economic Society (life fellow).
Source: Harvard Class of 1907. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report, Sixth Report. Norwood, Mass.: Plimpton Press, June 1932.
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General Exam Report (1914)
Hermann Franklin Arens.
General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 15, 1914.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Sprague, Anderson, Foerster, and Yerkes.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1903-06; Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, 1906-08; General Theological Seminary, New York, 1908-09; Harvard Graduate School, 1912—. A.B., Harvard, 1907; A.M. ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1912-13; Assistant in Social Ethics, 1913—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology. 3. Socialism and Labor Problems. 4. Philosophy. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Special Subject: Sociology.
Thesis Subject: (undecided).
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1913-14”.
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Harvard Ph.D. Report (1918)
Hermann Franklin Arens.
Special Examination in Economics, Monday, April 29, 1918.
General Examination passed May 15, 1914.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1903-06; Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, 1906-08; General Theological Seminary, New York, 1908-09; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-16. A.B., Harvard, 1907; A.M., ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, 1912-13; Assistant in Social Ethics, 1913-14; Assistant in Economics, 1914-15.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology. 3. Socialism and Labor Problems. 4. Philosophy. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Special Subject: Sociology.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Day, Anderson, and Foerster.
Thesis Subject: “The Relation of the Group to the Individual in Political Theory.” (With Professor Anderson.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Anderson, Carver, and Yeomans.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1917-18”.
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1926 Directory of Harvard Ph.D.’s
1918. Arens, Hermann Franklin [Economics].
Thesis title: The relation of the group to the individual in political theory.
A.B. Harvard University, 1907; A.M. Harvard University, 1913.
1918. Economics Expert, Babson Statistical Organization, Wellesley Hills, Mass.
1926. Editor, United Business Service Co. 210 Newbury St., Boston, Mass.
Sources:
Harvard University. Doctors of Philosophy and Doctors of Science Who have received their Degree in Course from Harvard University, 1873-1926, with the Titles of their Theses. Cambridge: 1926.
Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, Reports of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (available at the Harvard Archives Online Reference Shelf).
Image Source: Harvard Class of 1907. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report, Sixth Report. Norwood, Mass.: Plimpton Press, June 1932.