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Columbia Economists Gender Social Work Third Party Funding Vassar

Columbia. Economics Ph.D. alumna, Sydnor Harbison Walker, 1926

 

Sydnor Harbison Walker was a budding labor economist who became an important grants administrator/manager with the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial and later the Rockefeller Foundation. Her 1926 Columbia University dissertation was on the economics of social work, which like home economics, provided an academic harbor within economics for not a few women economists of the time.

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Life of Sydnor Harbison Walker

Born: 26 September 1891 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Parents: Walter and Mary Sydnor Perkins Walker.

1913. A.B. from Vassar with honors

Taught English and Latin at private schools in Louisville, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

1917. M.A. University of Southern California.

Thesis: “The General Strike with Particular Reference to Its Practicability as Applied to American Labor Conditions

1917. Poughkeepsie City director listing as “assistant Vassar College”.

1918-19. Poughkeepsie City director listing as “instructor Vassar College”.

1919-21 [ca.]. Philadelphia.

Personnel work at Scott Company in Philadelphia [where she met Beardsley Ruml, see below].
Personnel work at Strawbridge & Clothier in Philadelphia.

1921-23. American Friends Service Committee.

One year of relief work in Vienna
Followed by one year in Russia with the American Friends Service Committee.

1924-1929. Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund.

Recruited by Beardsley Ruml as “research associate” in June 1924.

1926. Economics Ph.D. from Columbia University. Henry Seager, principal adviser.

Dissertation published: Social Work and the Training of Social Workers. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1928.

1929-1943. Rockefeller Foundation (absorbed the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund in 1929).

1933. Promoted to associate director

1934. Sydnor H. Walker, “Privately Supported Social Work,” in Recent Social Trends in the United States, ed. President’s Research Committee on Social Trends (New York: Whittlesey House, 1934), pp. 1168-1223.

1937. Appointment to acting director of the Social Science Division.

1939. Voted to the board of trustees of Vassar. Resigned October 1942 due to illness.

1941. October. Contracted a spinal infection, involving a paralytic illness that “permanently confined her to a wheel chair”. She had been elected to be president “of a prominent woman’s college” but the illness forced her to decline the honor.

1943. Resigned from the Rockefeller Foundation.

1945. Edited a volume for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, New York City. “The first one hundred days of the atomic age, August 6-November 15, 1945”.

1948. Appointed assistant to Sarah Blanding, president of Vassar.

1958. Retired from Vassar.

Died: 12 December 1966 in Millbrook, New York, leaving a bequest of $10,000 to Vassar College.

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Walker’s principal biographer

Amy E. Wells. Considering Her Influence: Sydnor H. Walker and Rockefeller Support for Social Work, Social Scientists, and Universities in the South.  pp. 127-147. Chapter 5 in Andrea Walton (ed.). Women and Philanthropy in Education.  Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.

_________. Sydnor Harbison Walker. American National Biography Online. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

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Vassar Memorial Minute
Walker, Sydnor Harbison, 1891-1966

Miss Sydnor Harbison Walker, Vassar alumna, faculty member, trustee and Assistant to the President, died December 12, 1966, at her home in Millbrook, New York, at the age of 75. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Walter and Mary Sydnor Perkins Walker.

After attending Louisville schools, Miss Walker came to Vassar and was graduated in 1913 with honors. Economics was her major interest and she returned to Vassar to teach it in 1917, with an M.A. from the University of Southern California. Professor Emeritus Mabel Newcomer, a young colleague at the time, writes that “her quick wit and gaiety made her well liked among students in the residential hall where she lived ….. as a teacher she exhibited these same qualities, combined with clarity of thought and expression …. although she could be sharply critical of the careless and the dilatory.”

In 1919 Miss Walker decided that she needed some practical experience and went to work for a pioneering firm of industrial relations consultants where she wrote their weekly news letter. Three members of this young firm became college presidents and some years later Miss Walker herself was on the way to the presidency of a prominent college for women. A fourth member of the firm was Beardsley Ruml.

In 1921 Miss Walker engaged in the relief work of the American Friends Service Committee, first in Vienna and later in Russia. In a letter to President Emeritus MacCracken, she vividly describes her experience.

“We are now feeding about 15,000 a week through our depots, and we are supplying clothing to nearly 3,000. Our work is done on an individual case basis, which we think to be the soundest, not only from a social point of view, but because we believe that method essential for the creation of a spirit of international good-will — at no time a secondary object in our program… In addition to the feeding and clothing…. we are teaching mothers to care for their babies through the welfare centers; we are supporting a score of hospitals and other institutions for children; we have restocked farms with poultry and cattle and are helping farmers to build up permanent food resources for the city; and we are assisting materially in such constructive Austrian enterprises as the building of suburban land settlements and the creation of a market abroad for the art work of many gifted persons…we feel that we are a real part of the life of the city and not a superimposed group of relief workers.”

It is not hard for those who knew Miss Walker to visualize her presiding over relief work in the Imperial Palace of the Hofburg, whose stately corridors were cheerless and deserted save for these activities.

Returning to America in 1924, Miss Walker combined her interests in industrial relations with social welfare and education by becoming a research assistant at the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund in New York. In the meantime she received her doctorate in economics from Columbia University in 1928 with a dissertation on “Social Work and the Training of Social Workers.”

When the Rockefeller Foundation absorbed the Spelman Fund in 1929, Miss Walker began her association of twenty years with the Foundation. She moved from the research department to the position of Associate Director of the Social Sciences Division and finally became its Acting Director. While there she developed a program of international relations involving considerable travel in Europe and South America in very responsible positions. In 1933 she collaborated in the preparation of the report of President Hoover’s Committee on Social Trends, contributing a chapter entitled, “Privately Supported Social Work.”

In 1939 Miss Walker was proposed for trustee of Vassar College by the Faculty Club and she was elected by the board. Again quoting Miss Newcomer, “her contribution as a Vassar trustee was very real….Her experience on the faculty and as a student, and her current work in the Rockefeller Foundation, had given her a real understanding of the problems of the college and enabled her to offer constructive criticism and suggestion for change.”

Her resignation as trustee occurred in October 1942, and came because of a crippling illness which led eventually to her permanent confinement to a wheel chair. A friend and fellow alumna described her long battle against mistaken diagnoses, official predictions of helplessness and the end of her career.

“Sydnor simply rejected the idea of permanent immobility…. for a person who never knew what fatigue meant, who never could understand inactivity, either mental or physical, nothing could have been more tragic than paralysis.”

When Miss Walker realized that complete recovery was impossible, on her own initiative she went to one of the first rehabilitation clinics in New York and learned to help herself to a remarkable degree. Also she wrote, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation published in 1945, a report entitled “The First Hundred Days of the Atomic Age.”

In 1948 another opportunity to serve Vassar came to Miss Walker when Miss Blanding named her Assistant to the President. She returned to live in Metcalf House and became an active participant in Vassar’s development. Miss Blanding knew her as “a brilliant woman who never lost her zest for life nor her interest in things of the mind. She was a voracious reader and stimulating companion.”

After Miss Walker’s retirement in 1957, she bought a large colonial house in Millbrook, reminiscent of her native Kentucky. There she continued her vital interest in Vassar and in the many friendships she had made throughout her rich and colorful life.

Respectfully submitted,

Josephine Gleason
Clarice Pennock
Verna Spicer
Winifred Asprey, Chairman

Source: Online collection published by Vassar College Libraries. Faculty meeting minutes: XVIII-334-336.

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From The Rockefeller Foundation: A Digital History.

Sydnor H. Walker worked with the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial (LSRM) and the Rockefeller Foundation’s (RF) Division of the Social Sciences, helping to shape research in the social sciences over the course of two decades.

Walker was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1891. She received an A.B. in economics from Vassar College in 1913 and an M.A. from the University of Southern California in 1917.

She returned to Vassar in 1917, where she served as an instructor in economics. A colleague commented that Walker was appreciated by the students for “her quick wit and gaiety…although she could be sharply critical of the careless and the dilatory.”[1] In 1919 Walker left her teaching position to join an industrial relations consulting firm headed by Beardsley Ruml. She subsequently went abroad to Vienna and Russia to aid in European relief with the American Friends Service Committee.

Upon her return to the U.S. in 1924, Walker was recruited by Ruml to work for the LSRM as a research associate. She was a staunch advocate of using scientific and standardized methods to conduct research in the social sciences. While working for the LSRM, Walker continued her studies at Columbia University, receiving her Ph.D. in economics in 1928. Her dissertation, “Social Work and the Training of Social Workers,” was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1928.

When many of LSRM’s programs were consolidated with the RF in 1929 and a new Division of the Social Sciences created, Walker became Assistant Director of the division. She was promoted to Associate Director in 1933 and Acting Director in 1937. Among her interests at the RF, she was a proponent of improving the teaching of social work and the administration of social welfare programs. Her grant-making extended to many southern universities. She also contributed to the development of the social sciences outside the U.S., working with grantees in Europe and Latin America.

Resigning from the RF in 1943 for health reasons, she worked on a report for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, “The First Hundred Days of the Atomic Age,” which was published in 1945.

She served as a trustee for Vassar College from 1939-1943 and was appointed assistant to the president of Vassar College in 1948, a position she held until 1957.

Sydnor H. Walker passed away in 1966. Former Vassar College President, Sarah Blanding, called her “a brilliant woman who never lost her zest for life nor her interest in things of the mind.”[2] Her officer diaries are available to researchers at the Rockefeller Archive Center (RAC) and additional papers are in the Biographical Collection at the Vassar College Libraries.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[1] Josephine Gleason et al. “Sydnor Harrison Walker: A Memorial Minute,” Vassar Faculty Meeting, December 1966, Biographical Files Collection, Vassar College Archives, Vassar Libraries.

[2] Gleason et al.

Source: Webpage, The Rockefeller Foundation: A Digital History. People/Sydnor H. Walker. Also the source for the portrait of Sydnor H. Walker used above.

 

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Economists Gender Harvard NBER Radcliffe Smith Vassar

Radcliffe.Economics Ph.D. Alumna, Dorothy Carolin Bacon, 1928

 

This post began after I noticed that it has been some time since I posted biographical and career information for a economics Ph.D. alumna. I figured it would be good to search for a candidate that Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has already caught in an earlier archival trawling expedition but for whom the details of post-doc life had not been added. Dorothy Carolin Bacon was awarded her Radcliffe economics Ph.D. in 1928 and the following item was what I had to start with.

Dorothy Carolin Bacon.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 26, 1927.
Committee: Professors Persons (chairman), Carver, Crum, Gay and Holcombe.
Academic History: Simmons College, 1918-19; Radcliffe College, 1919-22, 1923-24, 1926-. A.B., Radcliffe, 1922; A.M., ibid., 1924. Assistant in Economics, Vassar College, 1924-25. Instructor in Economics, ibid., 1925-26.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Sociology. 3. History of Political Theory. 4. Statistics. 5. Economic History. 6., Money, Banking and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking and Crises.
Thesis Subject: A Study of the Dispersion of Wholesale Commodity Prices, 1890-1896.  (With Professor Persons.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1926-1927”.

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One of the items that came up after searching for a Google search was an advertisement for her handwritten Radcliffe student journal notes from her Physics course in 1922. Besides being surprised to see a list price of $750.00 for this notebook, I was intrigued by the relatively detailed information provided about Dorothy Bacon. While everything about the text struck me as fully plausible, I thought it worth some due diligence to confirm what I could from the bookseller’s bio-blurb. I have added links wherever possible to sources that confirm the details below. It would appear that information from the above item in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror as well as from the Dzuback chapters in Madden and Dimand (eds.)  and Margaret A. Nash (ed.) have provided some (or even much) of what was included in the D. Anthem advertisement that follows.

The section on Smith College in Mary Ann Dzuback’s chapter “Women economists in the academy: struggles and strategies, 1900-1940” in the Routledge Handbook of the History of Women’s Economic Thought, Kirsten Madden and Robert W. Dimand (eds.) provides information on Dorothy Bacon from the faculty files of the Smith College Archives [Office of President William Allan Neilson Files, Box 364, Folder 34]:

Bacon came to Smith a year before finishing her Ph.D. at Radcliffe in 1928. She took research and service sabbatical leaves to work for the Works Progress Administration and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the 1930s. She focused her research on money flows during the 1930s, cost price problems, and the development of federal level credit institutions. By the 1940s, she was working with the federal Office of Price Administration. By the 1950s, she was consulting with the Brookings Institution, had been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and received grants from the SSRC. She published a monograph on the recent economic history of five towns around Northampton, Massachusetts, in the late 1930s, and was completing a book on the development of Philippine credit institutions by 1970.

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Another paragraph by Mary Ann Dzuback

From: Mary Ann Dzuback. Chapter 7. Research at Women’s Colleges, 1890-1940. Women’s Higher Education in the United States (Historical Studies in Education), edited by Margaret A. Nash. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

Dorothy Bacon (1927–54) arrived in 1928, eventually taking an endowed chair. She investigated the flows of currency during the Depression, cost price problems, and the growth of credit institutions, and was in great demand by private research agencies and the federal government. A sometime consultant with the National Bureau of Economic Research, in the 1920s and 1930s she worked with a range of government and research agencies. She was awarded grants by the Social Science Research Council and published regularly. Bacon’s record of research and service, and her sabbaticals, suggest that women social science scholars at Smith were encouraged to use their research to inform policy at the federal and international levels.

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From: Advertisement for “Economist Dorothy Bacon’s 1922 Physics 2 Journal from Radcliffe College (1922)

Dorothy Carolin Bacon was born in 1902 to George Preston Bacon, a professor of Physics and Dean of both the Tufts Engineering School and the Bromfield-Pearson School, and Hannah Churchill Bacon, a trained nurse. Her sister, Ruth Bacon, also attended Radcliffe College and later became the first female officer of a State Department geographical bureau (Bureau of Eastern Affairs). Bacon attended Simmons College from 1918-19 before transferring to Radcliffe, the former women’s liberal arts college that fully merged with Harvard in 1999. She earned her B.A. (1922), M.A. (1924) and Ph.D (1927) [sic, 1928] there with her dissertation concerning A Study of the Dispersion of Wholesale Commodity Prices, 1890-1896. While at Radcliffe she also worked for the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Research and Analysis [as a Statistical Clerk starting 1 July 1922earning an annual salary of $1600 before resigning [May 10] in 1923.

She was hired as an assistant professor [sic, “Assistant” is a lower rank than “Assistant Professor”] in economics at Vassar in 1924 [cf. AER, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Dec. 1924), p. 829 “Miss Dorothy C. Bacon is assistant in economics at Vassar College.”], but was recruited by Esther Lowenthal, Dean of the Faculty and chair of the economics department at Smith, to join Smith’s faculty in 1927. At Smith she focused her research on money flows during the 1930s, cost price problems, and the development of credit institutions at the federal level. In 1930, she was one of three research associates selected for the National Bureau of Economic Research where she studied the relation of current stock prices to earnings per share from the twenty corporations comprising the Index of Industrial Stock Prices of the Harvard Economic Service. Her monograph, Recent Economic History of the Five Towns (1937) was published by the Works Progress Administration. In 1942, Bacon left her post at Smith [sic, only temporary leave] to work under Leon Henderson at the Office of Price Administration. It was there that she wrote a study of the scrap metal market in Syracuse, NY. By the 1950s, she was consulting with the Brookings Institution and was publishing her research in the Review of Economic Statistics, the Journal of the American Statistical Association and the National Encyclopedia. She appears to have never married [she wasn’t]  and when she died in 1998 she was buried at Shawsheen Cemetery in Bedford, MA, alongside her parents and sister.

Source: D. Anthem, Bookseller advertisement for “Economist Dorothy Bacon’s 1922 Physics 2 Journal from Radcliffe College (1922) [posted price: $750.00!]

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A.E.A. Biographical Listing, 1969

BACON, Dorothy Carolin, academic; b. Beloit, Wis., 1902; student Simmons Coll., 1918-19; A.B., Radcliffe Coll., 1922, A.M., 1924, Ph.D., 1928. FIELDS 2c, 5e, 4a. Research asso., Nat. Bur. Econ. Research, 1930-31; formerly sr. research asso., Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp.; fed. Dir. Research project, Work Progress Adm., 1935-36; asst. div. economist, food price div., OPA [Office of Price Administration], 1943-47, OPS [Office of Price Stabilization], 1951; Fulbright prof., U. Philippines, 1956-57; mem. Faculty, Smith Coll. Since 1927, prof. since 1938, Robert A. Woods prof. since 1956. ADDRESS Smith Coll., 115 Elm St., Northampton, MA 01060.

Note. Fields: 2c (Economic Development Studies); 5e (General International Economics); 4a (Monetary and Financial Theory and Institutions).

SourceThe American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 6, 1969. Handbook of the American Economic Association (January 1970), p. 17.

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Bachelor of Arts, Radcliffe (1922)

With Distinction in Special Subjects
Cum Laude

Dorothy Carolin Bacon [of] Medford. In Mathematics.

Source: Report of the Dean in Annual Report of Radcliffe College for 1920-1923, p. 43.

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Master of Arts, Radcliffe (1924)

Dorothy Carolin Bacon, A.B.

Source: Report of the Dean in Annual Report of Radcliffe College for 1923-1924, p. 31.

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Doctor of Philosophy, Radcliffe (1928)

Dorothy Carolin Bacon A.M.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Money and Banking. Dissertation, “Maladjustment of Prices with Special Reference to the Wholesale Prices of Commodities in the United States; 1890-1896”

Source:  Report of the Dean in Annual Reports of Radcliffe College for 1927-1928, p. 23.

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Publications of Dorothy C. Bacon

A Monthly Index of Commodity Prices, 1890-1900. Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 8, No. 4 (October 1926), pp. 177-83.

The Significance of Fixed-base and Link Relatives in Studies of Price Stability: A Comment on the Behavior of Prices. Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 23 (September 1928), pp. 274-81.

Maladjustment of Prices with Special Reference to the Wholesale Prices of Commodities in the United States, 1890-1896. Ph.D. thesis, Radcliffe College.

Encyclopedia articles in the National Encyclopedia.

Recent Economic History of Five Towns. Northampton, Mass.: Smith College, 1937.

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Vital Dates and Miscellaneous Information

Born:  25 February 1902 in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Last Residence: Niceville, Okaloosa, Florida [Socal Security death index].

Died: 8 November in Meriden, New Haven County, Connecticut. [Apparently visiting: the Connecticut Death Index notes her address 2475 Virginia, Residence Andover, District of Columbia].

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Image Source: Senior year picture of Dorothy Carolin Bacon in the  Radcliffe Year Book 1922, p. 23.

 

 

 

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United States. Courses of Study of Political Economy. 1876 and 1892-93.

 

The first article in the inaugural issue of The Journal of Political Economy, “Courses of Study in Political Economy in the United States in 1876 and in 1892-93,” was written by the founding head of the University of Chicago’s department of political economy, J. Laurence Laughlin. This post provides Laughlin’s appendix that provided information about economics courses taught in 65 colleges/universities in the United States during the last quarter of the 19th century. The bottom line of the table is that “aggregate hours of instruction in 1892-3 [were] more than six times the hours of instruction given in 1876”.

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How little Political Economy and Finance were taught only fifteen years ago, as compared with the teaching of to-day, must be surprising even to those who have lived and taught in the subject during that period…. At the close of the war courses of economic study had practically no existence in the university curriculum; in short, the studious pursuit of economics in our universities is scarcely twenty years old. These considerations alone might be reasons why economic teaching has not yet been able to color the thinking of our more than sixty millions of people. But about the close of the first century of our national existence it may be said that the study of Political Economy entered upon a new and striking development. This is certainly the marked characteristic of the study of Political Economy in the last fifteen years. How great this has been may be seen from the tables giving the courses of study, respectively, in about 60 institutions in the year 1876 and in 1892-3. (See Appendix I.) The aggregate hours of instruction in 1892-3 are more than six times the hours of instruction given in 1876.” [Laughlin, p. 4]

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Courses of Study in Political Economy in the United States in 1876 and in 1892-93.

Note: Returns could not be obtained from Johns Hopkins University, Amherst College, and some other institutions.

Institution.

Description of Courses.

1876.

1892-3.

No. hours per week.

No. weeks in year. No. hours per week.

No. weeks in year.

University of Alabama.

Text Book and Lectures, Senior Year

Finance and Taxation

4

2

36

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 216
Boston University. Principles of Political Economy 3 20
[Total hours of instruction per year] 60
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.

Elementary (Required)

Advanced (Elective)

5

14

4

4

12

10

[Total hours of instruction per year] 70 88
Brown University, Providence, R. I.

Elementary

History of Econ. Thought

Advanced Course

[2nd] Advanced Course

Seminary of History, Pol. Sci., and Pol. Econ.

16-17

3

3

3

3

2

33-34

11-12

11

11

23

[Total hours of instruction per year] 40-42½ 242-250
University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. 1.     Introductory Political Economy

2.     Descriptive Political Economy

3.     Advanced Political Economy

4.     Industrial and Economic History

5.     Scope and Method

6.     History of Political Economy

7.     Unsettled Problems

8.     Socialism

9.     Social Economics

10.   Practical Economics

11.   Statistics

12.   Railway Transportation

13.   Tariff History of U.S.

14.   Financial History of U.S.

15.   Taxation

16.   Public Debts

17.   Seminary

5

4

5

4

4

5

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

12

12

12

24

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

12

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 996
Colby University, Waterville, Maine.

Elementary [1st]

Elementary [2nd]

Theoretical

Historical

5

7

2

2

4

4

13

10

13

10

[Total hours of instruction per year] 35 138
Columbia College (School of Political Science, New York City. 1.     Principles of Political Economy (Element.)

2.     Historical Practical Political Economy (Advanced)

3.     History of Economic Theory (Advanced)

4.     Public Finance (Adv.)

5.     Railroad Problems (Adv.)

6.     Finan. History of U.S. (Adv.)

7.     Tariff History of U.S. (Adv.)

8.     Science of Statistics (Adv.)

9.     Communism and Socialism (Adv.)

10.   Taxation and Distribution (Adv.)

11.   Seminarium in Political Economy (Element.)

12.   Seminarium in Public Finance and Economy (Adv.)

13.   Law of Taxation (Adv.)

3 and 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9
given in alternate years.

2

 

 

 

17

 

 

 

2

 

3

2

 

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

 

 

2

2

17

 

34

34

 

34

25

34

17

34

34

17

34

 

34

17

[Total hours of instruction per year] 34 764
Columbian University, Washington, D.C. Elements of Political Economy 5 8
[Total hours of instruction per year] 40
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 1.     Elementary Political Economy

2.     Advanced Political Economy

3.     Finance

4.     Financial History

5.     Railroad Problems

6.     Currency and Banking

7.     Economic History

8.     Statistics

2

11

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

34

34

34

13

11

10

34

34

[Total hours of instruction per year] 22 408
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. 1.     Elementary

2.     Advanced

3.     Advanced Finance and Tariff

6

6

6

6

6

6 2/3

4 1/6

3 1/3

[Total hours of instruction per year] 36 85
University of Denver, Col. 1.     Ely’s Introduction

2.     Ingram’s History

3.     Gilman’s Profit-Sharing

4.     Ely, Labor Movement in America

5.     Kirkup’s and Rae’s Socialism

6.     Finance and Taxation

7.     International Commerce

2

1

1

2

2

4

2

15

5

5

5

5

5

5

[Total hours of instruction per year] 90
DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.

Economics (Elementary)

Seminarium (Advanced)

4

12

4

2

18

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 48 144
Drury College, Springfield, Mo. Elementary Course 5 6 5 12
[Total hours of instruction per year] 30 60
Emory College, Oxford, Ga. Jevons’ Text, and Lectures. 5 12
[Total hours of instruction per year] 60
Franklin and Marshall College. Political Economy, (Walker’s) 2 15 2 20
[Total hours of instruction per year] 30 40
Georgetown College, Ky. 1.     General Economics

2.     Special Topics

5

15

3

3

20

20

[Total hours of instruction per year] 75 120
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1.     Introductory

2.     Theory (Advanced)

3.     Economic History from 1763

4.     Railway Transportation

5.     Tariff History of U.S.

6.     Taxation and Public Debts

7.     Financial Hist. of U.S.

8.     Condition of Workingmen

9.     Economic Hist. to 1763

10.   History of Theory to Adam Smith

Seminary

3

3

30

30

3

3

3

3

2

3

2

3

3

2

2

30

30

30

15

15

30

15

30

30

15

30

[Total hours of instruction per year] 180 735
Haverford College, Pa. Economic Theory 2 40
[Total hours of instruction per year] 80
Howard University, Washington, D. C. Elementary 5 10 5 10
[Total hours of instruction per year] 50 50
Illinois College and Whipple Academy, Jacksonville, Ill. Newcomb’s Polit. Economy, Seniors 5 15
[Total hours of instruction per year] 75
University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill. Senior Class 5 11 5 11
[Total hours of instruction per year] 55 55
Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa.

Political Economy

Taxation

Railroad Problems

Socialism

5

10

3

3

3

3

37

14

12

11

[Total hours of instruction per year] 50 222
State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Elements of Economics

Currency and Banking

Industrial Revolutions of 18th Century

Recent Econ. History and Theory

Railroads, Pub. Regulation of

Seminary in Polit. Econ.

5

 

14

 

5

5

2

 

2

2

1

14

11

14

 

11

10

35

[Total hours of instruction per year] 70 230
Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kan. Elementary, 4th year 5 8 5 11
[Total hours of instruction per year] 40 55
Kansas State University, Lawrence, Kansas. 1.     Elements of Political Economy

2.     Applied Economics

3.     Statistics

4.     Land Tenures

5.     Finance

5

19

5

3

2

2

2

19

19

19

19

19

[Total hours of instruction per year] 95 266
Lake Forest University, Lake Forest, Ill. 1.     Elementary

2.     Advanced

3

11

3

3

16

13

[Total hours of instruction per year] 33 87
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass. 1.     Political Economy, Elem., Junior Year

2.     Financial Hist. of U.S., Jun. and Sen. Year

3.     Taxation, Junior and Senior Year

4.     History of Commerce

5.     History of Industry, Junior and Senior Year.

6.     Socialism, etc. (Option), Jun. and Sen. Year

7.     History of Economic Theory (Opt.), Senior

8.     Statistics and Graphic Methods, Junior

9.     Statistics and Sociology (Option) Senior

2

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

3

3

 

3

3

 

3

2

 

2

3

15

15

 

15

15

 

15

15

 

15

15

[Total hours of instruction per year] 30 375
Michigan Agricultural College. Primary Course 5 12
[Total hours of instruction per year] 60
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 1.     Elements of Political Economy

2.     Elements of Political Economy

3.     Hist. Devel. of Industr. Society

4.     Finance

5.     Problems in Pol. Econ

6.     Transportation Problem

7.     Land Tenure and Agrarian Movements

8.     Socialism and Communism

9.     Currency and Banking

10.   Tariff History of U.S.

11.   Indust. and Comm. Develop. of U.S.

12.   History of Pol. Econ.

13.   Statistics

15.   Economic Thought

16.   Labor and Monopoly Problems

17.   Seminary in Finance

18.   Seminary in Economics

20.   Social Philosophy with Economic Relations

21.   Current Econ. Legislation and Literature

 

18

 

3

4

3

4

4

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

1

 

2

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

18

 

18

[Total hours of instruction per year] 45 756
Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. 1.     Elementary (Junior Class)

2.     Advanced (Senior Class)

3.     Finance (Senior Class)

4.     Seminary

4

4

10

10

3

2

2

1

35

21

14

21

[Total hours of instruction per year] 80 196
University of Minnesota. 1.     Elementary

2.     Advanced

3.     Am. Pub. Economy

4.     Undergraduate Seminary

5.     Graduate Seminary

5

13

4

4

4

2

1

13

13

10

23

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 65 226
University of Mississippi, University, Miss. Advanced 5 30
[Total hours of instruction per year] 150
Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.

Polit. Econ. (General)

Polit. Econ. Seminary

4

2

12

12

[Total hours of instruction per year] 72
College of New Jersey at Princeton.

Pol. Econ. (Elem., Elective)

Pol. Econ. (Elem., Required)

Finance (Elective)

Historics—Econ. Semin.

2

13

2

2

2

16

16

15

[Total hours of instruction per year] 26 94
College of the City of New York. 16
[Total hours of instruction per year] 48*
New Hampshire College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Hanover, N. H. Elementary—Perry or Walker 4 10-12 5 10
[Total hours of instruction per year] 48 50
Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. 1.     Elementary Polit. Econ.

2.     Advanced Polit. Econ.

3.     Finance

4.     History Econ. Thought

5.     Economic and Social Problems

6.     “Money,” etc.

5

12

5

5

3

3

3

2

11

12

25

13

12

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 60 337
Ohio State University.

Elementary

Advanced

Finance

Seminary (Indust. History)

2

2

2

2

38

26

12

38

[Total hours of instruction per year] 228
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. 4 12 4 12
[Total hours of instruction per year] 48 48
Penn. Military Academy, Chester, Penn. Elementary 5 13
[Total hours of instruction per year] 65
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton, School of Finance and Economy, Philadelphia, Penn. 1.     Grad. Course in Finance

2.     Grad. Course in Theoretical Polit. Econ.

3.     Grad. Course in Statistics

4.     Elem. Course in Finance

5.     Elem. Course in Theoret. Polit. Econ.

6.     Elem. Course in Statistics

7.     Elem. Course in Practical Polit. Econ.

8.     Course in Money

9.     Course in Banking

10.   Advanced Course in Political Economy

11.   Economic History of Europe

12.   Grad. Course in Practical Polit. Econ.

13.   Econ. and Fin. History of U.S.

14.   Grad. Econ. History of the U.S.

15.   Grad. English Econ. History from 13th to 17th century

16.   Modern Econ. History.

 

 

1

2

3

3

2

2

2

2

1

2

3

2

2

4

 

3

3

30

30

30

30

30

15

15

15

30

30

30

30

30

30

 

30

30

[Total hours of instruction per year] 1020
Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. Elementary Course 3 19
[Total hours of instruction per year] 57
Randolph Macon College, Ashland, Va. Elementary 2 32 2 32
[Total hours of instruction per year] 64 64
University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.

Elementary

Econ. Polit. History U.S.

5

14

5

1

14

20

[Total hours of instruction per year] 70 90
Rutger’s College. Polit. Econ. (Elementary) 3 12 4 22
[Total hours of instruction per year] 36 88
Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Elementary Course

Adv. Course in Theory

Seminarium

Practical Studies

3

12

3

3

2

2

14

14

10

12

[Total hours of instruction per year] 36 128
South Carolina College, Columbia, S.C.

Polit. Econ. Senior Class

Applied Polit. Econ.

2

2

40

20

[Total hours of instruction per year] 120
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Penn.

Polit. Econ. (Walker)

Finance

Protection and Free Trade

Money and Banking

History of Econ. Theories

4

4

4

4

4

20

10

10

10

10

[Total hours of instruction per year] 240
Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.

Elementary

Finance

Industrial Development since 1850

Seminary

3

2

2

2

14

10

12

38

[Total hours of instruction per year] 162
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.

Elementary

Advanced (Post-Graduate)

3

2

20

Varies

[Total hours of instruction per year] 100?
University of Texas, Austin, Texas. General 3 36
[Total hours of instruction per year] 108
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.

Elementary

Advanced

Finance

4

13

3

4

2

17

17

17

[Total hours of instruction per year] 52 153
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Political Economy, Elementary

Political Economy, Advanced

3

36

3

3

36

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 108 216
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.

Principles of Economics

Economic History

Railroads, Trusts, and Relation of State to Monopolies

Labor Problem and Socialism

Seminary

 

 

3

3

2

 

2

2

18

18

18

 

18

18

[Total hours of instruction per year] 216
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

Elementary

Advanced

3

2

20

20

[Total hours of instruction per year] 100
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Theory of Economics

Science of Society

3

26

3

16

16

[Total hours of instruction per year] 78 88
Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa. Political Economy 3 11 3 16
[Total hours of instruction per year] 33 48
Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.

Elementary

Advanced

3

3

14

26

[Total hours of instruction per year] 120
Washington University, St. Louis. Prescribed Course 3 20 3 20
[Total hours of instruction per year] 60 60
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.

Industrial History

Economic Theory

Statistics (Seminary)

Socialism (Seminary)

3

3

3

3

18

18

18

18

[Total hours of instruction per year] 216
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.

General Introductory (Sen.)

General Introductory (Jun.)

Economic Problems

36

2

3

2

36

18

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 54 198
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Elementary Pol. Economy

Advanced Pol. Economy

2

2

14

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 100
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. Political Economy 6 14 3 15
[Total hours of instruction per year] 84 45
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

Econ. Seminary

Distribution of Wealth

History of Pol. Econ.

Money

Public Finance

Statistics

Recent Econ. Theories

Synoptical Lectures

Outlines of Economics

2

5

5

5

3

3

3

1

4

37

14½

12

10½

37

12

14½

15

37

[Total hours of instruction per year] 612½
Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

Pol. Econ.**—Elem. (2)

Pol. Econ.—Adv. (3)

Economic History (2)

Finance, Public (2)

Finance, Corporate (2)

Mathematical Theory (1)

Seminary Instruction (2)

3

2

 

36

36

36

4

3

4

2

3

1

1

36

36

36

36

36

36

36

[Total hours of instruction per year] 180 648

* [College of the City of New York] A few hours additional are given in the work of the Department of Philosophy; the whole number amounting to some 52 or 53.

** [Yale University] Figures in brackets represent numbers of courses under each head.

SourceAppendix I to “The Study of Political Economy in the United States” by J. Laurence Laughlin, The Journal of Political Economy, vol. 1, no. 1 (December, 1892), pp. 143-151.

Image Source:  J. Laurence Laughlin drawn in the University of Chicago yearbook Cap and Gown (1907), p. 208.

 

 

Categories
Economists Gender Home Economics Johns Hopkins Vassar

Johns Hopkins University. Economics Ph.D. Alumna, social economist/home economist, Helen Potter, 1942

 

Looking for examination artifacts to transcribe, I went through my files for the Johns Hopkins University Department of Political Economy and decided (arbitrarily) to sample from the 1941-42 academic year’s graduate examinations. The exams in the folder were tailored as exit exams for those candidates for the PhD  who had completed dissertations. The name of the PhD candidate for two of the exams (transcribed in the next post) was Helen Potter. I figured this was serendipity begging for an addition to the Meet-an-economics-PhD-alumna/us gallery. And so the hunt was on to find out what ever became of Helen Potter.

While I have not been able to double-check every academic claim listed in the materials included below, in particular confirmation of degrees from New York University and Purdue (perhaps honorary), the main stations of Helen Potter’s professional career can indeed be verified. One may presume her 1969 AEA biographical listing would have included an assistant professorship at Johns Hopkins, if she ever had one (It doesn’t! But her Lafayette obituary does.).

Helen Potter, a 1933 Vassar graduate, almost immediately became active in the newly founded Catholic Economists’ Association (later re-named Association for Social Economics) upon receiving her PhD from Johns Hopkins in 1942. Her service included decades of editorial work for the Association’s journal as well as the establishment of the Helen Potter award in 1975 which turns out to harvest most of the Google-hits found when conducting a search on her name. The Association for Social Economics can be fairly characterised as one of the older heterodox bins of economics. Ultimately Helen Potter was able to return home to Lafayette, Indiana for a professorship in Home Management and Family Economics at Purdue University.

Helen Potter’s papers at Purdue: included in the collection of her father’s (Andrey A. Potter) papers:   Personal Papers of Dr. Helen C. Potter, ca. 1920’s-1986

Fun-fact: Helen Potter’s parents were personal friends of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth of Cheaper by the Dozen fame. Frank Gilbreth, a scientific management guru, was a colleague of Helen’s father on the faculty at Purdue University.

___________________________

AEA Biographical Listing 1969

POTTER, Helen Catherine, academic; b. Manhattan, Kan., 1911; A.B., Vassar Coll., 1933; Ph.D., Johns Hopkins U., 1942. DOC. DIS. Federal Protection for the Consumer, an Economic Analysis, 1942; History of Life Insurance Companies in the U.S., 1934 [published in volume 8 of the Vassar Journal of Undergraduate Studies].  FIELDS 10b, 4a, 6b. PUB. “Consumption,” Chapt. 27, Modern Econs., 1952; Money Management and Mental Health, Jour. of Psychiatric Therapy, 1969; Guidelines for Consumer Education-one of authors of this curriculum guide line for high schools of Illinois, 1969. RES. Evaluation of Consumer Education Today—Purdue Grant from U.S. Office of Ed.; Family Financial Management—Grant Purdue Experiment Station. Asso. prof. econs., Seton Hill Coll., 1943-51; asso. specialist family econs., U. Calif., Davis, 1951-53; asso. prof. fin., Loyola U., 1953-68; prof. family econs., Purdue U. since 1968. ADDRESS 517 Russell St., W. Lafayette, IN 47906.

Source: Biographical Listings of Members, The American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 6, 1969 Handbook of the American Economic Association (Jan., 1970), p. 349.

___________________________

PURDUE STUDENT KILLED IN WRECK NEAR LAFAYETTE
(September 1933)

Raymond H. Hilb, 21, of Chicago, a Senior in the mechanical engineering school at Purdue, was instantly killed, and Miss Helen Potter, 18, student at the Lafayette Business College was severely injured last Friday night on the new Delphi-Lafayette paved road, 25, when an automobile in which they were riding with two other persons, was struck by another car driven by George Weckerly, of Delphi, and occupied by Glen Clark, 16-year-old high school student, and Misses Dorothy Gerbens and Mildred Bowman, Delphi high school students. According to Clark’s version of the accident the car in which Hilb was riding drove onto the highway from the Black and White filling station and barbecue, where the car had been filled with gasoline. It was hit in the rear by the car driven by Weckerly. The collision came with terrific force and Hilb was thrown to the pavement, suffering a fractured skull. In the car with Hilb and Miss Potter were Bernard Amber of Gary, and Miss Mary Mitchell, of Lafayette. Hilb was manager of the Purdue University base ball team and was very popular on the college campus.

Source: Flora Hoosier Democrat of Flora, Indiana (September 23, 1933).

___________________________

Work for the National Catholic Community Service
(& Consumers League of NY, BLS, Wells College, Western College)

“Miss Helen Potter, West Lafayette, Ind., has recently taken up her duties as Resource Secretary for the Division.” [Women’s Division of the National Catholic Community Service]…”Miss Potter has served as field worker for the Consumers League of New York, Social Economist in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Instructor of Economics at Wells College Aurora, N.Y., and Western College, Oxford, O.”

Source: Catholic News Service, Newsfeeds, 30 June 1941.

___________________________

Ph.D. 1942, Johns Hopkins University

Helen Potter of the District of Columbia, A.B. Vassar College, 1933.

Political Economy. Thesis: “Federal protection for the consumer: an economic analysis”.

SourceJohns Hopkins University Commencement. June 2, 1942.

___________________________

Miss Potter Joins Purdue Faculty as Prof
(Feb. 21, 1968)

Miss Helen C. Potter has been appointed professor in the Department of Home Management and Family Economics at Purdue university effective Sept. 1.

Miss Potter, a native of Kansas, grew up in West Lafayette where her parents, Dean Emeritus and Mrs. A. A. Potter, still reside. She received her AB degree at Vassar College and her PhD degree from Johns Hopkins University in Political Economy.

She is professor in the Department of Finance at Loyola University in Chicago. Prior to her appointment to Loyola, Miss Potter taught at the University of California at Davis; Seton Hill College in Pennsylvania; Western College in Ohio, and Wells College in New York.

She has been an associate economist in the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She also has been associated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor.

[…]

Source:   Journal and Courier of Lafayette, Indiana (Feb. 21, 1968), p. 26.

___________________________

Prof. Helen Potter Comes Home to Teach
(Dec. 4, 1968)

[…]

Prof. Potter grew up in West Lafayette where her father — Dean Emeritus A. A. Potter — still resides. She received her AB degree at Vassar and her PhD from Johns Hopkins University in political economy.

Presently, she is a professor in the Department of Home Management and Family Economics at Purdue, but the road home for her was a long one by way of New York, California and Washington, not to mention a great portion of the Midwest where she taught or consulted in the exciting and complex world of finance.

Her professional experience includes many years as a professor of economics, at several American universities including Loyola of Chicago. In addition she has had government posts with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor.

What’s a professor of finance doing in Purdue’s School of Home Economics? “It’s simple,” explains Miss Potter. “Consumer economics and the relations between business and customer are extremely important parts of our curricula.”

At the core of this education it is the individual who looks at himself to see what he wants out of life and how he can most effectively attain it. “It teaches the consumer how to make decisions for using limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants,” says the fragile looking professor who’s spent the last 15 years teaching male executives from some of the largest businesses about their dependence on society and their reciprocal responsibilities.

Equally important to Miss Potter is teaching the consumer how to use his time, energy and money to obtain a better life. “While showing him the relevance of economic principles to personal economic competence, it gives him the basic understanding which is a requisite for citizenship,” she added.

[…]

In addition to her teaching, Prof. Potter is involved in the research assignment of cataloging present consumer education in this country — a gigantic task. For her, it is tremendously exciting. “You might even say it’s a hobby,” she muses, “for all my life I’ve collected materials in consumer education.”

Looking thoroughly relaxed, surrounded by hundreds of volumes on property insurance, statistical methods and investments, the animated professor speaks warmly about her homecoming. “I’ve found life here very exciting both in the community and at the university. The inter-disciplinary activity among the schools is splendid, and I find my students to be the best I’ve ever had.”

Having taught men for so many years, Miss Potter had the notion that women would be less interested in the subject matter and that they would be weighted down with insurmountable family problems, since all are graduate students some returnees with growing children and much family responsibility. Instead, she finds them hardworking, studious and dedicated.

[…]

SourceJournal and Courier of Lafayette, Indiana (Dec. 4, 1968), p. 12.

___________________________

Helen C. Potter, 75, retired Purdue professor
Obituary (October 23, 1986)

Helen C. Potter, 75, a, retired professor of home management and family economics at Purdue University, died at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday in St. Elizabeth Hospital, where she had been a patient one week. Miss Potter, 814 S. 14th St., was the daughter of the late Professor A.A. and Eva Burtner Potter. He was a former dean of engineering at Purdue. The new engineering building was named in his honor.

Miss Potter was born March 18, 1911, in Manhattan, Kan. She received degrees from Vassar College, Johns Hopkins University, New York University and Purdue. She graduated from West Lafayette High School in 1928.

She taught and lectured at the University of California, Davis, was an associate professor and chairman of -the department of economics at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pa., was assistant professor at St. Francis College in Lafayette, was an instructor and chairman of the department of economics at Western College in Oxford, Ohio, was an assistant professor in the Department of political economy at Johns Hopkins University.

She also was an assistant at the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore, taught at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y., and was an associate professor in the Department of Finance at Loyola University.

Besides her teaching responsibilities, Miss Potter spent one year at the Library of Congress doing research on economics, worked for the Better Business Bureau in Pittsburgh, Pa., was an associate economist of human nutrition and home economics for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., was a statistician and director of personnel for the National Catholic Community Service, and was a junior social economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

She organized and served as chairman of the Tippecanoe Consumers Council, worked with the League of Women Voters, National Council of Catholic Women, the American Association of University Women, and was active in the National Association for Social Economics.

Miss Potter was a member of St. Boniface Catholic Church, Mary L. Mathews Home Economics Club and the Parlor Club. She also served as deanery president of the National Council of Catholic Women in the Lafayette Diocese.

Surviving is a brother, James G. Potter of Indialantic, Fla.

Source: Journal Courier of Lafayette, Indiana (October 23, 1986), p. 22.

___________________________

A Memorial Tribute from the Association for Social Economics

Member of the first (May 1948) board of editors of the journal Review of Social Economy, associate editor up to her death October 21, 1986. Also an official portrait Helen C. Potter in included with the brief note.

Source: IN MEMORIAM.” Review of Social Economy 45, no. 3 (1987).

___________________________

Helen C. Potter Scholarship, Johns Hopkins University

This scholarship is awarded to students in the field of political economy.

________________________

Helen Potter Award of the the Association for Social Economics

The Helen Potter Award was created and endowed in 1975. It is presented each year to the author of the best article in the Review of Social Economy by a promising scholar of social economics. Award recipients receive a plaque and a $500 prize.

Recent recipients:

2019 Céline Bonnefond & Fatma Mabrouk
2018 C. W. M. Naastepad & Jesse M. Mulder
2017 Michael J. Roy & Michelle T. Hackett
2016 Caroline Shenaz Hossein
2015 Karen Evelyn Hauge
2014 Peter-Wim Zuidhof
2013 Ayman Reda
2012 Pavlina Tcherneva
2011 Adel Daoud
2010 Aurelie Charles
2009 Huascar F. Pessali
2008 Sebastian Berger
2007 Nuno Martins
2006 Mark Hayes
2005 Benedetta Giovanola
2004 Ellen Mutari
2003 Geoffrey E. Schneider
2002 Stephen T. Ziliak
2001 Wilfred Dolfsma
2000 John E. Murray

Source: The Association for Social Economics website.

 

Image Source:  Portrait of Helen C. Potter, A.B., Instructor of Social Science.  Western College for Women (Oxford, Ohio) Yearbook, Multifaria 1941.

Categories
Amherst Barnard Berkeley Brown Chicago Colorado Columbia Cornell Dartmouth Duke Harvard Illinois Indiana Iowa Johns Hopkins Kansas M.I.T. Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Carolina Northwestern NYU Ohio State Pennsylvania Princeton Radcliffe Rochester Stanford Swarthmore Texas Tufts UCLA Vassar Virginia Washington University Wellesley Williams Wisconsin Yale

U.S. Bureau of Education. Contributions to American Educational History, Herbert B. Adams (ed.), 1887-1903

 

I stumbled across this series while I was preparing the previous post on the political economy questions for the Harvard Examination for Women (1874). I figured it would be handy for me to keep a list of links to the monographs on the history of higher education in 35 of the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. Maybe this collection will help you too.

Contributions to American Educational History, edited by Herbert B. Adams

  1. The College of William and Mary. Herbert B. Adams (1887)
  2. Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia. Herbert B. Adams (1888)
  3. History of Education in North Carolina. Charles L. Smith (1888)
  4. History of Higher Education in South Carolina. C. Meriwether (1889)
  5. Education in Georgia. Charles Edgeworth Jones (1889)
  6. Education in Florida. George Gary Bush (1889)
  7. Higher Education in Wisconsin. William F. Allen and David E. Spencer (1889)
  8. History of Education in Alabama. Willis G. Clark (1890).
  9. History of Federal and State Aid to Higher Education. Frank W. Blackmar (1890)
  10. Higher Education in Indiana. James Albert Woodburn (1891).
  11. Higher Education in Michigan. Andrew C. McLaughlin. (1891)
  12. History of Higher Education in Ohio. George W. Knight and John R. Commons (1891)
  13. History of Higher Education in Massachusetts. George Gary Bush (1891)
  14. The History of Education in Connecticut. Bernard C. Steiner (1893)
  15. The History of Education in Delaware. Lyman P. Powell (1893)
  16. Higher Education in Tennessee. Lucius Salisbury Merriam (1893)
  17. Higher Education in Iowa. Leonard F. Parker (1893)
  18. History of Higher Education in Rhode Island. William Howe Tolman (1894)
  19. History of Education in Maryland. Bernard C. Steiner (1894).
  20. History of Education in Lousiana. Edwin Whitfield Fay (1898).
  21. Higher Education in Missouri. Marshall S. Snow (1898)
  22. History of Education in New Hampshire. George Gary Bush (1898)
  23. History of Education in New Jersey. David Murray (1899).
  24. History of Education in Mississippi. Edward Mayes (1899)
  25. History of Higher Education in Kentucky. Alvin Fayette Lewis (1899)
  26. History of Education in Arkansas. Josiah H. Shinn (1900)
  27. Higher Education in Kansas. Frank W. Blackmar (1900)
  28. The University of the State of New York. History of Higher Education in the State of New York. Sidney Sherwood (1900)
  29. History of Education in Vermont. George Gary Bush (1900)
  30. History of Education in West Virginia. A. R. Whitehill (1902)
  31. The History of Education in Minnesota. John N. Greer (1902)
  32. Education in Nebraska. Howard W. Caldwell (1902)
  33. A History of Higher Education in Pennsylvania. Charles H. Haskins and William I. Hull (1902)
  34. History of Higher Education in Colorado. James Edward Le Rossignol (1903)
  35. History of Higher Education in Texas. J. J. Lane (1903)
  36. History of Higher Education in Maine. Edward W. Hall (1903)

Image Source: Cropped from portrait of Herbert Baxter Adams ca. 1890s. Johns Hopkins University graphic and pictorial collection.

Categories
Economists Gender Harvard Radcliffe Vassar

Harvard/Radcliffe. Economics Ph.D. alumna, Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith, 1925

 

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is conceived as a long-term project. I am seeking artifacts and information about the curriculum that has shaped young economists as well as the about the “products” of the curriculum, i.e. the undergraduate economics majors and Ph.D. graduates.

Yesterday I randomly went into the annual report of the President of Radcliffe College to begin to follow another career of a woman Ph.D. in economics. And so the post for today was born. Who was Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith, Radcliffe Ph.D. 1925?

The first item below is  all that is easy to know about her biography and career. From that point it takes some digging into genealogical archives (www.ancestry.com) and luck. Her vital dates: b. January 7, 1870 in Hartford, Connecticut; d. August 31, 1955 in Manitawoc, Wisconsin. She was married right out of college to William Erastus Beckwith [b. October 17, 1870 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; d. June 26, 1904 in Wailuku, Hawaii] on July 2, 1900 in Lorain County Ohio. The couple moved to Hawaii where William was a “clerk at Custom House” at least as early as 1898. In 1905 she was living alone as a teacher at the Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y. In the U.S. Census of 1910 she was recorded as a widow, living in Cleveland, Ohio as a boarder (April 16, 1910). To make things more complicated I have found a ship manifest that indicates Ethelwynn Beckwith was a cabin passenger, designated as “married”, on a ship from Yokohama (!) that arrived in Honolulu September 16, 1910 (with her ultimate destination given as San Francisco). We can go on to follow the young woman mathematician moving from Bryn Mawr to Western Reserve University to Göttingen in Germany and to Vassar before going for her graduate work at Radcliffe. From mathematics to economics, but then back to mathematics and astronomy at the Milwaukee women’s Downer College. 

So why didn’t Ethelwynn do mathematics at Radcliffe? I’ll leave that to a historian of U.S. mathematics. Feel free to leave a comment below.

The maternal genealogy of William Erastus Beckwith (p. 80) is covered back to 1635. The best I can determine through the ancestry.com, William Erastus Beckwith was no close relation to Holmes Beckwith (Columbia Ph.D., 1913).

___________________

Radcliffe Ph.D., 1925

Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith, A.M.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Statistics. Dissertation, “Inequalities in the Distribution of Income, their Meaning and Measurement.”

Source: Radcliffe College. Report of the President of Radcliffe College 1924-25, p. 26.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Dissertation included in the bibliography of Arthur Lyon Bowley (ed.) Studies in the National Income, 1924-1938 (Cambridge UK, 1942), p. 218.

___________________

C.V. through 1925

Ethelwynn R. Beckwith, A.B., M.A. Assistant Professor of Mathematics

A.B., Oberlin, 1900; [Ph.B.]
M.A., Western Reserve University, 1909;
Principal of Wauluku, Hawaiian Islands, 1902-03
Teacher of Mathematics, Emma Willard School, 1905-07 [Troy, New York]
Graduate Student, Bryn Mawr, 1907-08
Graduate Student, Western Reserve University, 1908-09
Graduate Student, University of Göttingen, 1912-13
Instructor, Western Reserve University, 1913-17; Assistant Professor, 1917-20
Acting Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Vassar, 1921-.
Member Mathematic Association of America.

Source: Vassar College Yearbook, The 1922 Vassarion, vol. 34. p. 25.

Note:  In the Poughkeepsie City Directory of 1925, Ethelwynn R. Beckwith was still listed as assistant professor at Vassar.

___________________

Downer College (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy
1925-1947

Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisconsin) Archives

Milwaukee-Downer College People Files, 1850-1964. Series 1: A-L
Folder 15: Beckwith, Ethelwynn Rice, professor of Mathematics 1925-1947.

Finding aid on line.

___________________

Died as a result of an automobile accident

From a Sheboygan Press (Wisconsin) article published Saturday, August 27, 1955.

Mrs. Ethelwynn R. Beckwith, 77, of 2827 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee…was reported still in critical condition this morning at Holy Family Hospital in Manitowoc.

A retired professor of mathematics and astronomy at Milwaukee-Downer College, Mrs. Beckwith was still unconscious 28 hours after the accident. She sustained a skull fracture.

Driver of the other car, Louis Leischow, 66, of Forestville, died several hours after the accident. The coroner attributed death to a crushed chest.

Killed outright in the two-car collision was Miss Elizabeth Rossberg, 67, of 2512 E. Harford Ave., Milwaukee…

…The accident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. Friday [August 26] when cars driven by Leischow and Mrs. Beckwith collided head on on Highway 141, 1 1/2 miles south of Newton.

Sheriff deputies said the crash occurred when Mrs. Beckwith’s northbound car veered across the center line into the path of an auto driven by Leischow.

Miss Rossberg, professor of German at Milwaukee-Downer since 1912 and chairman of the curricula committee of the women’s college, was a passenger in the Beckwith auto.

She and Mrs. Beckwith had left Milwaukee early Friday morning to spend a week with friends near Ellison Bay in Door County, according to officials of the college….

___________________

Image Source: Two faculty portraits of Ethelwynn Rice Beckwith from the Yearbook for Wilwaukee-Downer College, Cumtux (1930, 1931).

Categories
Amherst Brown Bryn Mawr Columbia Cornell Harvard Indiana Johns Hopkins Michigan Nebraska Pennsylvania Princeton Smith Vassar Wellesley Williams Yale

Economics Courses at 17 U.S. Colleges and Universities 1890-91

COURSES IN ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SCIENCE,
AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
[1890-91]

Amherst College
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
Columbia College
Cornell University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Indiana University
University of Michigan
University of Nebraska
College of New Jersey (Princeton)
University of Pennsylvania
Smith College
Vassar College
Wellesley College
Williams College
Yale University

 

AMHERST COLLEGE, AMHERST, MASS.

Department of History and Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

History.—The first course extends through Junior year. It begins with an introductory outline of ancient history, in which the aim is acquaintance with the contributions of each period and people to general civilization. In the fuller study of mediaeval and modern history which follows the same aim is pursued. The political development of England and the United States receives particular attention. The second course extends through the first and second terms of Senior year. Its theme is the political and constitutional history of the United States. In each course the means of instruction are text-books, lectures, regular and frequent examinations, abstracts and essays upon topics assigned each student.

Political Economy.—The course extends through Senior year. The first term is devoted to theoretical political economy ; the second to the Labor Question, Socialism, and the relations of the state to transportation; the third to Finance, the Principles of Taxation, Public Credit, and Tariffs.

International Law.—This study is one of the electives of the third term of Senior year.

The methods of instruction in political economy and international law are like those in history.
Annual tuition fee, full college course, $110.
No scholarships nor prizes in department above mentioned.

 

BROWN UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE, R. I.

Department of History and Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

HISTORY.

(4) Political and Constitutional History of European and American States during recent years. 3 hrs., first half-year, Seniors, Prof. Jameson.
(5) History of International Law during recent years. 3 hrs., second half-year, Seniors, Prof. Jameson.
And four Honor Courses.

POLITICAL ECONOMY

(1) Elementary Course. 3 hrs., first half-year, Seniors, Mr. Fisher.
(2) Advanced Course. 3 hrs., second half-year, Seniors, Mr. Fisher.
And Honor Courses.

Tuition fee, $100.
The University has about one hundred scholarships, details concerning which can be learned from the Registrar.

 

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE, BRYN MAWR, PA. (For Women.)

Programme for 1891 includes:

POLITICAL SCIENCE:
MINOR COURSE.

First Semester.—Political Economy.
Second Semester.—Political Institutions.

MAJOR COURSE.

First Semester.—Advanced Political Economy, Administration.
Second Semester.—International Law, and in alternate years Political Theories.

GRADUATE COURSE INCLUDES:

Modern Theories of Sociology. Franklin H. Giddings, Associate in Political Science.

Tuition irrespective of number courses attended, $100 a year.
Five fellowships are awarded annually, none, however, in foregoing studies. They entitle the holder to free tuition, a furnished room in the college buildings, and $350 yearly.

 

COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW YORK CITY.

University Faculty of Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

HISTORY.

(1) Mediaeval History. 2 hours a week, 1st session, Prof. Dunning.
(2) Modern History to 1815. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Goodnow.
(3) Modern History since 1815. 2 hours a week, 1st session, Prof. Munroe Smith.
(4) Political and Constitutional History of Europe. 4 hours a week, 1st session. Prof. Burgess.
(5) Political and Constitutional History of England to 1688. 2 hours a week, 1st session, Prof. Osgood.
(6) Political and Constitutional History of England since 1688. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Osgood.
(7) Political and Constitutional History of the United States. 4 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Burgess.
(8) History of New York State. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Mr. Whitridge.
(9) History of the Relations Between England and Ireland, 1 hour through the year, Prof. Dunning.
(10) Historical and Political Geography. 1 hour through the year, Prof. Goonnow
(11) Seminarium in European History. 2 hours through the year, Prof. Osgood.
(12) Seminarium in American History. 2 hours through the year. Prof. Burgess.

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(1) Elements of Political Economy. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Osgood.
(2) Historical and Practical Political Economy. 3 hours per week through the year, Prof. R. M. Smith.
(3) History of Economic Theories. 2 hours through the year, Prof. Seligman.
(4) Socialism and Communism. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. R. M. Smith.
(5) Science of Finance. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. Seligman.
(6) Financial History of the United States. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. Seligman.
(7) Tariff History of the United States. 2 hours per week, 2d session, Prof. Seligman.
(8) State and Local Taxation. 1 hour per week through the year, Dr. Spahr.
(9) Statistics, Methods, and Results. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. R. M. Smith.
(10) Railroad Problems. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. Seligman.
(11) Ethnology. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. R. M. Smith.
(12) Seminarium in Political Economy. 2 hours per week through the year, Profs. R. M. Smith and Seligman.
(13) Seminarium in Finance. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. Seligman.
(14) Seminarium in Social Science and Statistics. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. R. M. Smith.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW.

(1) Comparative Constitutional Law of Europe and the United States. 3 hours per week. Prof. Burgess.
(2) Comparative Constitutional Law of the Commonwealths of the United States. 2 hours per week, 2d session, Dr. Bernheim.
(3) Administrative Organization and the Civil Service of Europe and the United States. 3 hours per week, 1st session, Prof. Goodnow.
(4) Administrative Action: Police Power, Education, Public Charity, Transportation, etc. 3 hours a week, 2d session. Prof. Goodnow.
(5) Local Government. 2 hours a week, 1st session. Prof. Goodnow.
(6) Municipal Government. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Goodnow.
(7) Law of Taxation. 1 hour through the year, Prof. Goodnow.
(8) City and State Politics. 1 hour per week through the year, Dr. Bernheim.
(9) Seminarium in Constitutional Law. 2 hours a week through the year, Prof. Burgess.
(10) Seminarium in Administrative Law. 2 hours a week through the year, Prof. Goodnow.

DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

(1) General History of Diplomacy. 2 hours per week, 1st session, Pi of. Burgess.
(2) Diplomatic History of the United States. 2 hours per week, 2d session, Dr. Bancroft.
(3) Principles of International Law. 2 hours per week, 2d session, Prof. Burgess.
(4) Seminarium in International Law. 2 hours per week through the year. Prof. Burgess and Dr. Bancroft.

LEGAL HISTORY AND COMPARATIVE JURISPRUDENCE.

(1) History of European Law to Justinian. 2 hours a week, 1st session, Prof. Munroe Smith.
(2) History of European Law from Justinian to the present day. 2 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Munroe Smith.
(3) Comparative Jurisprudence. 2 hours a week through the year, Prof. Munroe Smith.
(4) International Private Law. 1 hour per week through the year. Prof. Munroe Smith.
(5) Seminarium in Comparative Legislation. 2 hours a week through the year, Prof. Munroe Smith.

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.

(1) History of Political Theories, Ancient and Mediaeval. 3 hours a week, 1st session. Prof. Dunning.
(2) History of Modern Political Theories. 3 hours a week, 2d session, Prof. Dunning.
(3) Seminarium in Political Theories of the 19th Century. 2 hours per week through the year, Prof. Dunning.

 

Some of the foregoing courses are given only in alternate years. During 1891-92 several new courses will be offered in History and in Sociology.

The course of study covers three years. The degree of A. B. or Ph.B. is conferred at the end of the first year, A.M. at the end of the second, and Ph.D. at the end of the third.
Tuition fee $150 a year, reducible on application to $100. Tuition fee for special courses, $10 for each one-hour course. Twenty-four University Fellowships of $500 each with free tuition, designed to foster original research, are awarded to advanced students in the University. A proportionate number are allotted to the Faculty of Political Science. Four additional fellowships of $250 each, with free tuition, are awarded annually to advanced students of Political Science. Three prize lectureships of $500 each for three years are awarded to graduates in Political Science.

For further information address the Registrar.

 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, ITHACA, N. Y.

Department of History and Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

HISTORY.

(4) Political and Social History of Europe During the Middle Ages. 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Burr.
(5) Political and Social History of Europe from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Burr.
(6) Political and Social History of England from the Saxon Invasion to the Close of the Napoleonic Wars. 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Burr.
(7) Political, Social, and Constitutional History of Europe from Beginning of French Revolution of 1789 to the Franco-German War of 1870. 1 hr. thrice a week. Several lectures in this course from ex-Pres. White and Pres. Adams.
(12) American Constitutional History and American Constitutional Law. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Tyler.
(13) American Historical Seminary for Seniors and Graduates, and for Juniors and Seniors. The original investigation of subjects in American Constitutional History. 2 hrs. a week, Prof. Tyler.
(14) History of Institutions. Fall term: General principles of political organization. Winter term: Growth of the English Constitution. Spring term: Methods of municipal administration. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Tuttle.
(15) International Law and History of Diplomacy. 1 hr. twice a week, Prof. Tuttle.
(16) Literature of Political Science. 1 hr. a week, Prof. Tuttle.
(17) General Seminary. Study, from the sources, of obscure political and historical questions. 2 hrs. a week, Prof. Tuttle.

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(19) Elementary course. Principles of Political Economy. Banking. Financial Legislation of the United States. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Laughlin.
(20) Advanced Course. Discussion of economic writers and systems. Investigation of current economic topics: Bimetallism, Shipping, Railway Transportation. 1 hr. twice a week. Prof. Laughlin.
(21) History of Tariff Legislation of the United States. 1 hr. a week, Prof. Laughlin.
(22) Economic seminary. hrs. a week, Prof. Laughlin.

SOCIAL SCIENCE.

(26) Social Science, including the History and Management of Charitable and Penal Institutions. 1 hr. a week, Prof. Collin.

 

Tuition fee, $125 a year.

Fellowships, eight in number, yielding $400 for one year, or in cases of remarkable merit for two years, are offered for high proficiency in advanced study, without special reference to foregoing departments.

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

Department of Political Economy, 1890-91, includes:

PRIMARILY FOR UNDERGRADUATES

(1) First half-year: Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. Second half-year: Division A (Theoretical)—Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. Cairnes’ Leading Principles of Political Economy. Division B (Descriptive)—Money, Finance, Railroads; Social Questions; Laughlin’s History of Bimetallism. Dunbar’s Chapters on Banking. Hadley’s Railroad Transportation. Lectures. 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Taussig, assisted by Mr, Cole.

All students in Course 1 will have the same work during the first half-year, but will be required in January to make their election between Divisions A and B for the second half- year. The work in Division A is required for admission to Course 2.

(4) Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. Lectures and written work. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Dunbar, assisted by Mr. Cole.

COURSES FOR GRADUATES AND UNDERGRADUATES.

(2) History of Economic Theory. Examination of Selections from Leading Writers. Socialism. 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks.
(3) Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. 1 hr. twice a week (first half-year), counting as a half course, Mr. Brooks.
(6) History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. Half course. 1 hr. thrice a week (second half-year). Asst. Prof. Taussig.
(8) History of Financial Legislation in the United States. 1 hr. twice a week (second half-year), counting as a half-course, Prof. Dunbar.
(7) Public Finance and Banking. Leroy-Beaulieu’s Science des Finances. 1 hr. twice a week, Prof. Dunbar.
(9) Railway Transportation. 1 hr. twice a week (second half-year), counting as a half- course, Asst. Prof. Taussig.

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES.

(20) Courses of Research.—Advanced Study and Research. Prof. Dunbar and Asst. Prof. Taussig.

 

Department of History, 1890-91, includes among Courses for Undergraduates:

(2) Constitutional Government (elementary course). Half course. 1 hr. thrice a week (first half-year), Prof. Macvane.
(9) Constitutional History of England to the Sixteenth Century. 1 hr. thrice a week, Dr. Gross.
(13) Constitutional and Political History of the United States (1783-1861). 1 hr. thrice a week, Asst. Prof. Hart.
(15) Elements of International Law. History of Treaties. 1 hr. thrice a week, Dr. Snow.
(22) Constitutional History of England to the Tudor Period, with attention to the sources. Dr. Gross.
(25) English Constitutional History from the Tudor Period to the Accession of George I. Mr. Bendelari.
(26) History of American Institutions to 1783. Asst. Prof. Channing.
(27) Constitutional Development of the United States. Discussion of Constitutional principles in connection with historical questions. Asst. Prof. Hart.
(29) Constitutional History of England since the Accession of George I. Second half- year. Prof. Macvane and Asst. Prof. Channing.
(30) Federal Government: historical and comparative. 1 hr. thrice a week (first half- year), Asst. Prof. Hart.
(31) Leading Principles of Constitutional Law: selected cases, American and English. 1 hr. thrice a week (second half-year), Prof. Macvane.
(32) The Historical Development of International Law. Dr. Snow.

And among Courses of Research:
(20b) The History of Local Government During the Middle Ages, especially in Great Britain: Seminary. Dr. Gross.
(20c) English History in the Period of the Long Parliament: Seminary. Mr. Bendelari.

The full annual tuition fee of a graduate student is $150. If a student has a degree in Arts, Letters, or Science, he enters the Graduate School, and finds any Courses in Political Science open to him which there is prima facie reason to suppose him prepared to take. If he has no degree he must apply for admission as a Special Student. Good cases are always favorably acted upon. The tuition fees of special students are: For any full elective course, $45; for a half course, $25 a year.

Among Fellowships are: One having income $450, for the study of Political Economy; another, income $500, for the study of Social Science; another, income $450, for the study of Ethics in its relation to Jurisprudence or to Sociology; another, income $450, assigned to students of Constitutional or International Law.

 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MD.

Department of History and Politics, 1890-91, includes:

GRADUATE AND ADVANCED COURSES.

(1) The Seminary of History and Politics for original investigation in American Institutional, educational, economic, and social history. Two hours weekly through the year, Dr. Herbert B. Adams.
(2) Early History of Institutions and Greek Politics. Two hours weekly, first half year. Dr. Herbert B. Adams.
(3) History of Prussia, devoting particular attention to the economic, administrative, and educational reforms instituted by Baron vom Stein. Herbert B. Adams.
(4) Lectures on Historical and Comparative Jurisprudence. Two hours weekly, through the year, Mr. Emmott.
(5) Finance and Taxation, giving special attention to taxation in American states and cities, and reviewing the tariff legislation of the United States. Two hours weekly, through the year, Dr. R. T. Ely.
(6) Economic Conference. Three out of four of these treat Adam Smith and his English and Scotch predecessors. The fourth is devoted to recent economic periodical literature. One evening each week, Dr. R. T. Ely.
(7) Dr. Woodrow Wilson gives twenty-five lectures upon Administration, beginning a new three-year series. The lectures of 1891 cover general questions of Public Law as connected with Administration, and examine the question of a professional civil service.
(8) Mr. J. M. Vincent lectures on courses of history and science of historical investigation.
(9) Dr. C. L. Smith lectures on social science.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES.

(1) Greek and Roman History. Three hours weekly, from January until June.
(2) Outlines of European History (substitute for Course 1). Three hours weekly, from January until June, with Dr. C. L. Smith.
(3) History, Minor course: Herodotus and Thucydides, in translation. Weekly through the year, with a classical instructor.
(4) History, Minor course: Livy and Tacitus, in the original. Four times weekly, with classical instructors.
(5) History, Major course: Church History; Mediaeval and Modern Europe. Daily through the year, with Dr. Adams and Dr. C. L. Smith.
(6) Political Science, Minor course: introduction to Political Economy. Daily through the year, with Dr. Ely.
(7) Political Science, Major course: International Law and Diplomatic History; English and American Constitutional History. Daily, with Dr. Adams and Mr. Emmott.

Fee for tuition, Full University Course, $125 a year. Special students, not candidates for a degree, can follow certain courses, not exceeding five lectures weekly (of which a list may be seen in Treasurer’s office), on payment of $50 a year.

Twenty Fellowships, each yielding $500, but not exempting holder from charges for tuition, are annually awarded in the University. These are bestowed almost exclusively on young men desirous of becoming teachers of science and literature, or who propose to devote their lives to special branches of learning. There are also twenty scholarships of $200 each annually; and in addition, scholarships for candidates from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia, details concerning which are given in the University Register.

 

INDIANA UNIVERSITY, BLOOMINGTON, IND.

Department of History, Economics and Social Science, 1890-91, includes:

HISTORY.
PROF. EARL BARNES.

English Constitution and its History. 1st and 2d terms, daily.
History of the Constitution of the United States, 1774-1789. 1st term, daily.
American Political History, 1789-1890. Politics and Administration. 2d term, daily.

ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
PROF. J. W. JENKS.

Political Economy. 3 times a week, 1st and 2d terms.
Politics, elementary. Twice a week, 1st and 2d terms.
History of Political Economy. 5 times a week, 3d term.
Introduction to Sociology. 3 times a week, 1st term.
Introductory Course in Statistics. Twice a week, 1st term.
Social Problems. 5 times a week, 2d term.
History of Political Ideas. 5 times a week, 3d term.
Comparative Politics. Daily, 1st term.
Finance. 3 times a week, 2d and 3d terms.
Economic Seminary, for advanced students. Once a week, two-hour sessions.

Tuition free. A silver medal is offered annually by the Cobden Club, London, for the best work in Political Economy, Senior Class.

 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR.

Departments of Political Economy, International Law, History, and Philosophy, 1890-91, includes:

POLITICAL ECONOMY
First Semester.

(1) Principles of Political Economy. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Adams.
(3) Principles of the Science of Finance. 1 hr. twice a week, Prof. Adams.
(5) History of Economic Thought. 1 hr. a week, Prof. Adams.
(9) Seminary in Economics. 2 hrs. a week, Prof. Adams.
(11) Foreign Relations of the United States. 1 hr. twice a week, Mr. Hicks.

Second Semester.

(2) Unsettled Questions in Political Economy. 1 hr. thrice a week, Prof. Adams.
(4) Social and Industrial Reforms. 1 hr. twice a week, Prof. Adams.
(6) Tariff Legislation in the United States. 1 hr. a week, Mr. Hicks.
(10) Seminary in Economics. 2 hrs. a week, Prof. Adams.
(12) Foreign Relations of the United States. 2 hrs. a week, Mr. Hicks.

 

INTERNATIONAL LAW.
First Semester.

(1) Lectures on International Law. 1 hr. twice a week, Pres. Angell.

Second Semester.

(2) History of Treaties. 1 hr. twice a week, Pres. Angell.

 

HISTORY.
First Semester.

(3) Constitutional History of the United States. 1 hr. twice a week, Asst. Prof. Laughlin.

(5) Constitutional Law of the United States. 1 hr. twice a week, Asst. Prof. Laughlin.

(11) Seminary. Constitutional History of the United States. 2 hrs. a week, Asst. Prof. Laughlin.

(12) Comparative Constitutional Law. 3 hrs. a week, Prof. Hudson.

Second Semester.

(1) Political and Constitutional History of England. 1 hr. thrice a week, Mr. McPherson.

(4) Constitutional History of the United States. 1 hr. twice a week, Asst. Prof. Laughlin.

 

PHILOSOPHY.
Second Semester.

(13) Seminary. Studies in the History of Political Philosophy. Prof. Dewey.

The fees are: matriculation, for citizens of Michigan, $10; for others, $25. Annual fee in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, in which foregoing studies are included, $20 for citizens of Michigan, $30 for others.

No scholarships. The one fellowship is for proficiency in Greek and Latin.

 

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN.

Department of Economic and Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

(1) Political Economy: General study of the subject, with the use of some text as Walker, Ely, or Andrews. Lectures on the character and history of the science, and on specific application of its principles to practical affairs. Topical reports from students required, and exercises assigned in the use of statistics. Junior or Senior Year; First and second terms, three hours.
(2) Taxation ; text and lectures. Junior or Senior Year: Third term, three hours.
(3) International Law: Outline study of the subject, with text. Third term, three hours.
(4) Municipal Administration: Comparative study of the City Governments of the present time, with especial reference to American practice in the administrative branches. First and second terms, two hours.
(5) Constitutional Law: A study of Cooley’s text-book, and lectures on the industrial bearings of the complex limitations imposed by our State and local constitutions. Third term, three hours.
(6) Private Corporations: First term, a comparative and historical view of corporation law in its economic aspects; second term, Railroad Problems; third term, Special reports on assigned topics involving original research. Whole year, two hours.
(7) Charities and Corrections: Lectures, study of reports of the State Boards and of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, and visits to the charitable and penal institutions of the vicinity; third term, three hours.
(8) Methods of Legislating; A comparative view of the rules and practice of modern legislative assemblies, with special reference to the machinery of congressional and legislative action in the United States; first term, one hour,

All the above are taught by Associate Professor Warner. In the other departments Professor Kingsley offers a course in Anthropology, and many of the courses in History deal with the historical aspects of economic and industrial problems, and with the History of Institutions.

The terms of the year are respectively 14, 11, and 11 weeks. No scholarships. No fees.

 

COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, PRINCETON, N. J.

Departments of History and Political Science, and Jurisprudence and Political Economy, 1890-91, include:

HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE.
PROF. SLOANE.

(7) Constitutional and Political History of England since 1688. 2 hrs. a week, 1st term. Open to Juniors and Seniors.
(8) American Political History. 2 hrs. a week, 2d term. Open to Juniors and Seniors.
(9) Comparative Politics. Origin and Theory of the State. 2 hrs. a week, 1st term. Open to Seniors.
(10) History of Political Theories. 2 hrs. a week, 2d term. Open to Seniors.
(11) Contrasts between Parliamentary and Congressional Governments. 2 hrs. a week, 1st or 2d term. Open to Graduate Students.

JURISPRUDENCE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.
PROF. WOODROW WILSON.

(1) In Public Law, its evidence as to the nature of the state and as to the character and scope of political sovereignty. 2 hrs. a week, 1st term, alternate years. Junior and Senior elective.
(3) American Constitutional Law, state and federal. 2 hrs. a week, 2d term, alternate years. Junior and Senior elective.
(5) Administration. 2 hrs. a week, 2d term, alternate years. Senior elective, and open to Graduate Students.
(7) Political Economy: Elementary course. Walker’s Elementary Political Economy, and lectures. 2 hrs. a week, 2d term. Required of Juniors.
(8) Political Economy: Advanced course. 2 his. a week, 1st term. Senior elective.

 

Academic tuition fee, $100 per an.

Admission to special courses on terms detailed in College Catalogue, p. 26.

A fellowship of $500 annually is offered in Social Science. Several fellowships in other departments of the academic course are also offered.

Among prizes are: Annual interest on $1000 for best examination. Senior class, Political Science; same, Political Economy; $50, American Political History; annual interest on $1000, best debater, American Politics.

 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Wharton School of Finance and Economy, 1890-91, includes:

HISTORY.

(3) Constitution of the United States. 2 hrs. each week, Prof. Thompson.
(4) Political and Social History of Europe since 1760. 3 hrs., Mr. Cheyney.
(6) Economic and Social History of Europe singe 1789. 2 hrs., Mr. Cheyney.
(7) American Political and Social History, Colonial. 3 hrs., 1st term, Prof. McMaster.
(8) Church and State in America. 2 hrs., 1st term, Prof. Thompson.
(9) American Political and Social History (Washington to Jackson). 3 hrs., 2d term, Prof. McMaster.
(10) Economic History of the United States. 2 hrs., 2d term, Prof. Thompson.
(13) American Political and Social History (1825-1889). 4 hrs., 1st term, Prof. McMaster.
(14) American Constitutional History (1776-1889). 3 hrs., 2d term. Prof. McMaster.

ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.

(1) Political Economy, elementary. 3 hrs., 1st term, Prof. Patten.
(2) Currency and Banking. 3 hrs., 2d term, Prof. Patten.
(3) Social Science. 2 hrs., Prof. Thompson.
(4) Social Science, advanced. 3 hrs., 1st term. Prof. Thompson.
(5) Political Economy, advanced, 3 hrs., 1st term. Prof. Patten.
(6) Political Economy, History of. 3 hrs., 2d term, Prof. Patten.
(7) Revenue System in the United States and leading foreign countries. 2 hrs., 1st term, Prof. James.
(8) History and Theories of. Public Finance, especially of Taxation. 2 hrs., 2d term, Prof. James.
(9) Statistics. 2 hrs., 2d term, Dr. Falkner.

PUBLIC LAW AND POLITICS.

(1) Constitution of the United States. 3 hrs., 1st term, Prof. James.
(2) State Constitutional Law. 2 hrs., 2d term. Dr. Thorpe.
(3) History and Theory of the State. 1 hr., 2d term, Prof. James.
(4) Constitutions of leading foreign countries. 2 hrs., 2d term, Prof. James.
(5) Public Administration in the United States. 2 hrs., 1st term, Prof. James.
(6) Public Administration in leading foreign countries. 2 hrs., 2d term, Prof. Jamss.

SEMINARIES.

(1) In Political Science. Prof. James.
(2) In Political Economy. Prof. Patten.

 

Fees, $150 a year for undergraduate work, and the same for graduate work without the fee for examination for advanced degree.

Five honorary scholarships are granted to graduates of any reputable American college; these make free all instruction in the graduate work of the University relating to subjects studied in the Wharton School.

The Wharton School is a unique endeavor to introduce a business course into the body of advanced college work, to make the college mean at least as much to the business man as to the professional classes.

 

SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS. (For Women.)

Course for 1890-91 includes:

POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, ETC.
PROF. J. B. CLARK.

Political Economy, Lectures, with use of Laughlin’s Political Economy and Clark’s Philosophy of Wealth. Senior year, fall term.
Political Economy and Political Science, with special readings. Winter term
Political History of the United States, and Political Economy, Lectures. Summer term.

 

Tuition fee for all students, regular, special and graduate, $100 a year.

Annual scholarships of $50 and $100 each have been established to assist meritorious students.

 

VASSAR COLLEGE, POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y. (For Women.)

The Department of History and Economics, 1890-91, includes:

In the Senior year an advanced course is offered for the critical study of the origin and development of the English and American constitutions and a comparative study of the existing political institutions of the two countries.

In American history the work includes the study of the government of the individual colonies, the different attempts, to form a union, and the adoption of the present constitution.

(1) Principles of Economics. Recitations from Walker’s Political Economy and Jevons’ Money and the Mechanism of Exchange. First semester, elect for Seniors. Associate Professor Mills.
(2) Advanced Course. Special topics. Lectures and investigation. Second semester, elective for Seniors who have had Course 1. Associate Professor Mills.

 

Tuition, day students, $115 a year.

Several scholarships are offered, particulars of which are given in Calendar.

 

WELLESLEY COLLEGE, WELLESLEY, MASS. (For Women).

The Department of History, Political Science, and Political Economy, 1889-90, includes:

HISTORY.

(1) Political History of England and the United States: England, first semester; United States, second semester.

(4) Constitutional History of England and United States: England, first semester, Coman’s Outlines; United States, second semester. Hart’s Outlines.

(6) Political Science: lectures on Grecian and Roman methods of government, twice a week, first semester; lectures on the history of political institutions, twice a week, second semester.

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(1) Economic Science, first semester. Authorities, Mill, Marshall, Walker.

(2) Economic and Social Problems, second semester. Lectures and special topics.

No text-books are used. Each class is provided with printed outlines, and adequate references to the best authorities. Lectures are given where guidance is needed, but the student is made responsible for a large amount of independent library work.

Tuition, $150 a year.

There are more than twenty scholarships, details of which are given in calendar.

 

WILLIAMS COLLEGE, WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.

Department of Political Economy and Political Science, 1890-91, includes:

Political Economy is a prescribed study, running through the 2d and 3d terms (33 weeks). 3 times a week, Prof. A. L. Perry.
Political Science is an elective study, running through all the terms beginning with the 1st of Junior Year. The basis of instruction is the text of the Constitution, interpreted in the light of decisions of the Supreme Court. Prof, A. L. Perry.
In 3d term of Senior Year two hours a week are given to Sociology. Prof. J. Bascom.

History includes principles and methods of historical study as applied to the politics and institutions of Europe.

 

Fee for tuition, per year, $105.

Perry prizes, $50 and $25 respectively, are awarded in History and Political Science.

The Cobden Club, of London, offers a silver medal annually for the highest proficiency in Political Economy.

 

YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CONN.

Departments of Political Science and Law and History, 1890-91, include:

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

(10) Political Economy, its elements, recent financial history of the United States, with lectures on elementary principles. 2 hrs., both terms. Prof. Sumner.
(11) Political Economy. A one-year course planned to give a comprehensive knowledge of essentials to those whose chief interest lies in other departments of study. 3 hrs., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Sumner.

(Courses 12 to 15 are open only to those who have taken Course 10.)

(12) Advanced Political Economy. 2 hrs., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Sumner.
(13) Finance. 1 hr., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Sumner
(14) School of Political Economy, for those who make this their chief study during the year. Prof. Sumner and Dr. Schwab.
(15) Social Science, an elementary course. 1 hr., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Sumner.
(16) Industrial History of the United States since 1850. Open only to those who have already studied Political Economy. 2 hrs., first term (Seniors), Prof. Hadley.
(17) Modern Economic Theories. 2 hrs., 2d term (Seniors), Prof. Hadley.

LAW.

(18) Includes constitutional and international law. Open only to those who take Course 19. 2 hrs., 2d term (Seniors), Prof. Phelps.
(19) Jurisprudence. Includes law in its relation to the origin, development and government of political society, nature and origin of legal rights, and principles of the law governing rights in land. 2 hrs., 1st term (Seniors), Prof. Robinson.

HISTORY.

(20) History of Europe since 1789, mainly political. 2 hrs., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Wheeler.
(21) English History, political and constitutional. 3 hrs., both terms (Seniors), Prof. Wheeler.
(22) American History. In the national period special attention is given to the rise and progress of political parties. 2 hrs., both terms (Juniors), Prof. C. H. Smith.
(23) American History. Study of the Constitution and Supreme Court interpretations. 2 hrs., both terms (Seniors), Prof. C. H. Smith.
(24) Europe from 1520 to 1789. With special attention to political history. 2 hrs., both terms, Prof. Adams.

The foregoing are among the elective courses. Juniors select nine hours per week, and Seniors select fifteen. The no. of hrs. specified means hrs. per week.

 

The fee for graduate instruction is generally $100 per annum, but may be more or less according to the course pursued. A variety of fellowships and prizes are offered, none, however, specifically in foregoing courses.

________________________

Source: The Society for Political Education. The Reader’s guide in Economic, Social and Political Science, being a classified bibliography, American, English, French and German, with descriptive notes, author, title and subject index, courses of reading, college courses, etc., R. R. Bowker and George Iles, eds. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1891, pp. 129-137.