Problems of labor constituted the first semester of William Zebina Ripley’s sequence on organized labor and capital. Trade unions were the focus of his labor course and corporations during the second semester.
His teaching assistant, Lauren Carroll, was a recent Harvard undergraduate who was to go on to Harvard Law School. A few details regarding Carroll’s life and subsequent career are included below.
The principal artifact for this post is the final examination for the course.
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Ripley’s teaching assistant:
Lauren Carroll
Lauren Carroll was appointed at the rank of assistant in economics. Boston Evening Transcript (Nov. 16, 1908), p. 12.
1886: born July 16 in Manhattan, New York City.
1906: A.B. Harvard College
1911: married Akrata von Schrader July 19.
1909: LL.B. Harvard Law School
1945: died in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
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Self-Report for the 15th anniversary
of the Harvard Class of 1906
At the time of our Decennial I was practicing law in New York City as a member of the firm of Gould and Wilkie. I was also serving my second term as a member of the New York Board of Aldermen. A rather diverse number of businesses required my attention after the death of my father in December, 1916, and finally compelled me to resign from the Board of Aldermen in the Summer of 1917. I continued my activity in the Republican Organization, however, and later served two terms as president of my Assembly District Republican Club, which has a membership of 1500 men and women.
Soon after the United States entered the Great War, the work of organizing the sale of Liberty Bonds over the counters of retail stores throughout Greater New York fell to my lot because my law firm represented several of the large department stores. This took practically all of my time during the 1st and 2d Liberty Loans. In December, 1917 I made a trip through Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and the Dakotas, for the purpose of assisting in the formation of War Savings Stamp organizations in those states. From February until May, 1918 I worked in the Publicity Department of the New York Liberty Loan Committee. I had charge of outdoor advertising in our Federal Reserve District during the 3d Loan, and at the same time supervised the newspaper advertising of the Department Stores Committee.
After the 3d Loan I was appointed Executive Secretary of the Capital Issues Committee for the New York Federal Reserve District. During the next six months our committee passed on many hundred different security issues submitted to it by private and public corporations. The various issues of stocks and bonds considered by the committee in our district aggregated nearly two billion dollars in par value. The above work naturally took me entirely away from the practice of law, and when the Capital Issues Committee disbanded some six weeks after the Armistice, I decided to take advantage of an opportunity to continue in the financial world with Messrs. Brown Brothers & Co. The business of that banking firm has brought me to the city of Brussels on this glorious Sunday afternoon, which finds me writing a dull summary of the past when we might be sipping Porto Rouge on the boulevards.
Member: University Club; Union League Club; Harvard Club of New York; Bar Association of the city of New York; National Republican Club; Harvard Club of Boston.
Source: Harvard Class of 1906. Quindecennial Report (1921), p. 61.
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Obituary
Lauren Carroll, lawyer, businessman and civic leader of New York City, and the father of Miss Kyra Carroll, an official of the local Red Cross organization, died on Wednesday in a nursing home at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., after an eight-month illness. He was 58.
A strong advocate after World War I of American entry into the League of Nations, he had in recent years supported the idea of world cooperation. He served as chairman of the New York State Committee for World Federation and in 1943 presided at a “Win the Peace” rally at Carnegie Hall.
In addition to the foregoing, another daughter, Miss Rosemary Carroll, a member of the staff of the OWI in London, and his wife, Mrs. Akrata von S. Carroll, are surviving.
Funeral services were held yesterday in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York.
Source: Press of Atlantic City, 31 March 1945, p. 2
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Problems of Labor:
previous semesters
1902-03
1903-04
1904-05
1905-06
1906-07
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Course Enrollment
Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Carroll. — Problems of Labor.
Total 67: 5 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 24 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 2 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 67.
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ECONOMICS 9a
Mid-Year Examination, 1907-08
- What is the difference between a “jurisdiction” and a “demarcation” dispute? Illustrate.
- Does the New Zealand or the Victorian legislation interfere more with the personal freedom of the individual workman? State concisely in what respects this holds good.
- Based on Massachusetts’ experience, what compensation in respect of production is alleged to have followed the progressive shortening of the hours of labor? Are any unforeseen social results possible if this be continued?
- What are the main provisions of the Canadian Act of 1907 concerning trades disputes?
- What if any is a possible defect in it, as of any similar legislation? Has Australia any experience of value concerning this matter?
- What is Webb’s attitude toward Employers’ Liability Laws? Outline his main argument.
- Would Workmen’s Compensation Acts meet this argument or not?
- When was Government insurance adopted in Germany—approximately? What political objects were in view? Have these been realized?
- State in three distinct propositions, what in your own opinion, are the principal defects of American trades unionism of the present day. What remedy for each, if any, may be suggested?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1907-08.
Image Source: Harvard University Archives. William Zebina Ripley [photographic portrait, ca. 1910], J. E. Purdy & Co., J. E. P. & C. (1910). Colorized and noise reduction by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.