In our continuing series of Get-to-Know-an-Economics-Ph.D., we meet a Radcliffe Ph.D. from 1940, Maxine Yaple Sweezy. Her dissertation was on the Nazi economy and incidentally she was the first wife of the American Marxian economist, Paul Sweezy. This post adds a few details about her life (she was a debater at Stanford) and career (minimum wage work). I take particular pride in finding youthful pictures of this economist of yore.
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Greatest Hit
In his historical retrospective of the concept of “privatization”, Germà Bel identifies Maxine Yaple Sweezy’s published Radcliffe dissertation, The Structure of the Nazi Economy (1941), as having introduced “reprivatization” into the vocabulary of economic policy.
Source: Bel, Germà. The Coining of “Privatization” and Germany’s National Socialist Party. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer, 2006), p 189.
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Encyclopedia entry
Pack, Spencer J. “Maxine Bernard Yaple Sweezy Woolston” in A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Robert W. Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand and Evelyn L. Forget (eds.). Cheltenham UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2000. pp. 472-475
Pack lists the following schools where Maxine Y. Woolston taught: Sarah Lawrence, Tufts, Vassar, Simmons, Haverford, Swarthmore, Wellesley, University of Pennsylvania, University of New Haven, with Bryn Mawr as the longest position.
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Basic life data
Born. 16 September 1912 [in Missouri].
Source: Social Security Claims Index, 1936-2007.
First marriage: Paul M. Sweezy and Maxine Yaple were married 21 March 1936 in Manhattan, New York.
Source: New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. Index to New York City Marriages, 1866-1937.
Second marriage: to William Jenks Woolston, lawyer (b. 30 Jan. 1908, d. 25 Dec. 1964) [date of marriage: 11 Mar 1944]
Source: Family Tree “Morris, Wells and collateral lines” at ancestry.com, though date of marriage is unsourced there and could not be verified.
Death. 29 April 2004. Last residence: New Haven, Ct.
Source: Social Security Claims Index, 1936-2007.
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American Economic Association Membership Listing, 1957
Woolston, Maxine Yaple, (Mrs. W. J.), R. 2 Harts Lane, Conshohocken, Pa. (1953) Bryn Mawr Col., lecturer, teach.; b. 1912; A.B., 1934, M.A., 1935, Stanford; Ph.D., 1939, Radcliffe Col. Fields 14bd, 12ab, 2. Doc. Dis. Nazi economic policies. Pub. Economic program for American economy (Vanguard Press, 1938); Structure of Nazi economy (Harvard Univ. Press, 1941); La Economia Nacional Socialista (translation) (Stackpole, 1954). Res. Wages at the turning points. Dir. Amer. Men of Sci. III.
Source: The American Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 4, Handbook of the American Economic Association (Jul., 1957), p. 329
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Women’s Debate Team at Stanford
From the 1932 Stanford yearbook page on the Women’s debate team: sometime around the end of February, 1932 Maxine Yaple and Lucile Smith debated with a team from the College of the Pacific the resolution “The United States should enact legislation provided socialized medical service”.
In 1933 a debating section of (male) athletes was assembled and in their second debate (“Resolved, That a separate college for women should be stablished at Stanford”) with Helen Ray and Maxine Yaple constituting the Women’s Team was called a draw.
For the source of the pictures used for this post, see the Image Source below.
Research Tip: The Stanford Daily student newspaper archive. Search on her last name “Yaple“.
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“Maiden” publication in the AER
Yaple, Maxine. The Burden of Direct Taxes as Paid by Income Classes. American Economic Review, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Dec., 1936), pp. 691-710.
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Rebecca A. Greene Fellowship at Radcliffe
Maxine Yaple Sweezy, A.B. (Stanford Univ.) 1933, A.M. (ibid.) 1934. Subject, Economics.
Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1936-37, p. 17.
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Political Book: An Economic Program for American Democracy
Contributors: Richard V. Gilbert; George H. Hildebrand Jr. ; Arthur W. Stuart; Maxine Yaple Sweezy ; Paul M. Sweezy; Lorie Tarshis and John D. Wilson. New York: Vanguard Press, 2nd printing, 1938
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Teaching appointment at Tufts
Mrs. Paul Sweezy (Maxine Yaple) has been appointed instructor in the department of economics at Tufts College for the year 1938-1939.
Source: Notes. American Economic Review, Vol. 28, No. 2 (June, 1938), p. 438.
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Economics at Radcliffe, 1939
(from the yearbook)
“Don’t you think he’s a little radical?”, a girl asked her tutor about one of his colleagues in the Ec. Department. The tutor roared with laughter and gave her The Coming Struggle for Power [by John Strachey, London, 1932] to read.
Ec. Professors like to refer to their colleagues and then tear into their arguments. They should have a contest sometime to see whose masterpiece could withstand concentrated criticism. We enjoyed Mason’s reference to his “friend”. We’ve entered with glee on Chamberlin’s campaign to exterminate the word “imperfect” competition and we almost had hysterics over William’s blasting of all economists from Keynes to Hajek [sic].
The life of the Ec. Professors is constantly being interrupted by the press. The Crimson demanded a profound statement on the effect of import duties on German goods before they would let Galbraith go back to sleep in the middle of the night. Since a group collaborated on a book called An Economic Program for American Democracy, “seven men and a blonde” is the favorite characterization of the Ec. Department by the press. The blonde is Mrs. Paul Sweezy.
Source: Radcliffe College. Upon a Typical Year… Thirty and Nine. Cambridge, MA (1939).
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First article carved from dissertation research
Maxine Yaple Sweezy. Distribution of Wealth and Income under the Nazis. Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov., 1939), pp. 178-184.
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Radcliffe A.M. conferred in June, 1939.
Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1938-39, p. 20.
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Ph.D. conferred in February, 1940
Maxine Yaple Sweezy, A.M.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, Industrial Organization and Control. Dissertation, “Nazi Economic Policies.”
Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1939-40, p. 22.
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Second article carved from dissertation research
Maxine Yaple Sweezy. German Corporate Profits: 1926-1938. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 54, No. 3 (May, 1940), pp. 384-398.
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Published Dissertation
Maxine Yaple Sweezy. The Structure of the Nazi Economy. Harvard studies in monopoly and competition, no. 4. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941.
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Vassar and then OPA
Maxine Y. Sweezy, assistant professor of economics at Vassar College, is on leave for the year 1942-43 to serve as senior economist for the Office of Price Administration in Washington.
Source: Notes. The American Economic Review, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 1942), p. 964.
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Bryn Mawr and Philadelphia City Planning Commission
“The Social Economy Department also has one new member, Miss Maxine Woolston Ph.D. Radcliffe and member of the City Planning Commission, Philadelphia, has entered the department as Lecturer.”
Source: The College News, Ardmore and Bryn Mawr, PA., Wednesday, October 9, 1946, p. 2.
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Return [?] to Bryn Mawr
Maxine Y. Woolston has been appointed lecturer in political economy at Bryn Mawr College for the current year.
Source: Notes. The American Economic Review, Vol. 40, No. 1 (March, 1950), p. 266.
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Publications in 1950
Economic Base Study of Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Planning Commission, 1950.
World Economic Development and Peace, American Association of University Women. Washington, D.C.: 1950. [30 pages]
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Course at Haverford
Maxine Woolston to Give Course “Urban Planning”
Sociology 38, a study of the modern urban community, will be taught this semester by Dr. Maxine (William Jenks) Woolston. Mrs. Woolston comes to Haverford from Bryn Mawr College with experience both as an educator and as a public administrator.
Planning Commissioner
She is currently a consultant for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and was a member of that commission from 1945 to 1948. During the five years previous Dr. Woolston served in turn with the OPA, the Foreign economic Administration, and the American Association of University Women.
Dr. Woolston received her A.B. and M.A. degrees in History at Stanford University in 1934. The following two years she attended the London School of Economics. In 1940 [sic] she went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned degrees of M.A. and Ph.D. in economics at Radcliffe-Harvard.
Source: Haverford News. Tuesday, February 13, 1951, p. 1.
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Textbook
Maxine Y. Woolston. Basic Information on the American Economy. Harrisburg, Pa., Stackpole Co., 1953. [186 pages]
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Minimum Wage Commission for Restaurant, Hotel, and Motel industries
“The state Labor and Industry Department has named a new nine-member board to recommend minimum wage rates for women and minors employed in the restaurant hotel and motel industries”. Dr. Maxine Woolston, of Bryn Mawr College and Mrs. Sadie T. M. Alexander, Philadelphia attorney were public representatives.
Source: The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, 16 July 1958, p. 1.
Image Sources: Maxine Yaple, portrait from Stanford University Quad Yearbook, 1932. Page. 160. Standing picture from the 1933 yearbook, p. 152.
2 replies on “Radcliffe/Harvard. Economics Ph.D. Alumna. Maxine Yaple Sweezy, 1940.”
A very well compiled entry on Yaple Sweezy Woolston, thanks!!
Did she have Ph.D advisors?
Minor flaws: the last digit in birthyear is missing; Woolston is spelled without ‘l’ twice.
John Strachey’s astonishing political career might have deserved a comment in view of the pertinent question asked.
Thanks again for spotting what slips through. Did not come across names of advisors.