Category: Michigan

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Germany Michigan

Michigan. Philo Parsons’ gift of the Karl Heinrich Rau personal library, 1871

 

The fact that the University of Michigan’s library was able to acquire the personal library of the Heidelberg economics professor Karl Heinrich Rau (1792-1870) in 1871 and thereby  increase its holdings by an estimated 20-25% has fascinated me. I was curious to find out more about the man who paid $1200 (gold-basis) for Rau’s books and pamphlets. The collection is described and the story is told by Z. Clark Dickinson in his paper “The Library and Works of Karl Heinrich Rau” in  Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft/Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, Bd. 114, H. 4. (1958), pp. 577-593.

For this posting I include an image of one of the book labels from the collection, an announcement of the acquisition in the 1871 report of the President of the University of Michigan to the Board of Regents, and an excerpt from Philo Parsons’ brother’s privately printed Genealogy of the Family of Lewis B. Parsons. (Second) from 1900 that provides some biographical detail about Philo Parsons, who among other career accomplishments was the  founding president of the First National Bank of Detroit.

One puzzle remains. There was a small steamship (136 feet), owned by Selah Dustin and named the Philo Parsons, that ran a regular schedule between Detroit and the southern ports of Lake Erie, including Sandusky.  The Philo Parsons played a featured role in Civil War history after Confederate agents highjacked the side paddle wheel packet steamer in a failed plot to free confederate prisoners held on Johnson Island in Lake Erie, near Sandusky, Ohio. Why the ship bore that name is something I haven’t been able to figure out (yet). Perhaps the fact that Philo Parsons’ brother, Lewis B. Parsons, served as Major General in the U.S. Army during the Civil War as the Chief of Rail and River Transportation could have played a role? 

 

__________________________

THE “PARSONS LIBRARY.”

Until the beginning of the present year no considerable donation has ever been made to the University library. Since that time, however, a very large and valuable private library has been purchased and presented to the University by Philo Parsons, Esq., of Detroit. It consists of the entire collection of the late Professor Rau of Heidelberg, made during his long service of fifty years as Professor of Political Economy in Heidelberg University, and embracing all the most valuable literature contained in the European languages on political science and kindred topics. The number of volumes in this collection is 4034, and of pamphlets more than two thousand. While this munificent gift is of great importance on account of the intrinsic worth of the collection, it is not less valuable as an example which cannot fail to find imitators.

Many of the volumes, as is almost always the case in libraries of this kind, are unbound, or require rebinding before they can be placed on the shelves and catalogued. Mr. Parsons, I understand, has already made arrangements for the binding necessary to be done.

The Librarian has prepared a general description of this collection as a part of his report on the General Library. It is undoubtedly as nearly perfect as a library can be made on the specialty which it represents. And it was the well authenticated statement of this fact, which influenced the authorities at Yale to send an order for the purchase of it before it was known to have been secured for this University.

While, however, it possesses this specific character, it contains also a large number of works of inestimable value on other subjects. The most important of these is the series of volumes issued by the Academy of Vienna, and those on the original sources for the history of the house of Hapsburg; a work of great importance in the study of European history. The languages represented in the Parsons library are German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Greek, Hollandish, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Servian [sic], Polish, Hungarian, Russian, and the Slavic languages of the Lower Danube. A perfect university library must contain, first, all the standard literary productions, or classics, of all polite languages, and, second, all works in all languages necessary to the investigation and treatment of every special branch of science and learning. The building up of such a library is of itself a great work, not indeed to be perfected by one generation. Nothing, however, can contribute so much to its consummation as the acquisition from time to time, as opportunity may offer, of those complete topical libraries, so often collected in these days by eminent German and English savans, and not unfrequently offered for sale after their decease. At the same. time it should be observed that a university library which is known to be perfect even in one branch of knowledge, has gained much in the estimation of the literary public.

Source: President’s Report to the Board of Regents for the Year Ending June 30, 1871 published in Proceedings of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan from January, 1870, to January, 1876 (Ann Arbor, 1876), pp. 115-116.

__________________________

TRIBUTE BY JOSEPH L. DANIELS OF
OLIVET COLLEGE, MICHIGAN,
TO
PHILO PARSONS.

Mr. Philo Parsons was born at Scipio, N. Y., February 6th, 1817. He was the second in a family of ten children. His father, Lewis Baldwin Parsons, was born at Williamstown, Massachusetts, April 30th, 1793, and died at Detroit, Michigan, December 21st, 1855. He was a man of rare native gifts, uncommon energy and force of character, independent and positive in his religious belief, yet catholic and tolerant toward all. His whole life was one of systematic benevolence and he left most of his property for the founding of Parsons’ College at Fairfield, Iowa.

He was married November 10, 1814, to Miss Lucina Hoar, a member of the famous Hoar family which migrated to this country in 1640 and located at Concord, Massachusetts. She was born at Brimfield, Massachusetts, October 31st, 1790, and died at Gouveneur, New York, October 3d, 1873. Mrs. Parsons was a woman of even temperament and self-poise, a devoted mother, an intelligent and earnest Christian, maintaining a lively interest in affairs of church and state, even to the advanced age of 83 years. Her pastor, Reverend Joseph R. Page, describes her as a “Mother in Israel, and a model in all the relations of life and of all the Christian graces.”

From such an ancestry with a record traceable back to the founders of Massachusetts was Mr. Philo Parsons descended. His early years were spent in Gouveneur, Homer and Perry, New York. At the latter place he entered into business with his father under the firm name of L. B. Parsons & Son. And he also married there in 1843 Miss Ann Eliza Barnum, Their long and happy married life was terminated in 1893 by the death of Mrs. Parsons, Mr. Parsons following her three years later, dying at Winchenden, Massachusetts, January 20, 1896. Eight children were born to them, of whom seven survived their parents. In 1844, Mr. Parsons removed to Detroit, Mich., and entered upon the grocery business under the firm name of Parsons & James. A few years later he established a private bank. In 1861, when the Government created the National banking system as an aid in carrying on the war, Mr. Parsons was the leader in organizing the First National Bank of Detroit, and was its first president and for many years one of its directors. He did much to promote the commercial prosperity of Detroit. He entered heartily into the project for bringing the Wabash Railroad into the city, was an active member of the Board of Trade, and for a time its President. For many years he represented his own city in the National Board of Trade and was honored repeatedly as one of its Vice-Presidents. His discussions in these National Conventions show a wealth of information, a candor and breadth of view and a discrimination akin to prophesy. He was an ardent lover of his own city and State, and yet on one occasion explained his vote, apparently against their interests as “for the greatest good of the greatest number.”

Mr. Parsons was active in the municipal affairs of Detroit, and for a time was a member of its council. The State, too, more than once conferred upon him honors and trusts; notably as Commissioner to the Yorktown Centennial, and as chairman of the Commission to secure the statue of General Lewis Cass to be placed in the Capitol at Washington. He brought to this work all the enthusiasm of a lifelong friendship and a patriotic pride for the honor of his beloved State. The statue, almost vocal with life, crowned his many months of toil and effort, and was one of the joys of his life. He honored himself in honoring the State.

Yet political offices and honors he did not seek. He even declined to consider them when they merely appealed to his personal ambition. Too much Puritanic and Revolutionary blood flowed in his veins to ever regard public offices as anything but a sacred trust, a patriotic service. Mr. Parsons had a lively interest in agriculture, was an active member of the State Agricultural Society of Michigan and served most acceptably as its President. He was an enthusiast in horticulture and fruit culture, and found relaxation and pleasure in personal work in his own garden, one of the finest in Detroit. He was a royal entertainer and was never happier than when sharing the hospitality of his elegant home with his friends.

His benevolence was a matter of principle. He took special delight in aiding young men who were preparing for the work of the Christian ministry. He was one of the largest and most systematic givers to the cause of missions. He was an enthusiastic believer in education.

While several institutions were looking with eager eyes toward the Ram [sic, Rau is correct] Library at Heidelberg, Mr. Parsons bought and donated it in its entirety to the Michigan State University [sic, University of Michigan is correct]. In keeping with his father’s spirit, he was especially devoted to the Christian College. He early became interested in Olivet College, Michigan. For thirty-six years he was a member of its Board of Trustees. He built his name into the history and even the very walls of the College. Parsons Hall and the Parsons Professorship are honored words to-day. Not only his munificent gifts, but his wise counsels and his lifelong devotion to the work at Olivet are gratefully remembered. And no less were these deeds of benevolence a grateful remembrance to Mr. Parsons himself. They were his glory and joy in his later years of illness. He found a rich reward in the satisfaction of building himself into institutions of education and religion. Olivet College grew dearer to him. His home church, the First Congregational Church of Detroit, grew dearer. His beloved pastor and his intimate friends at Olivet received frequent letters full of gratitude and joy for what he had been permitted to do, and full of trust and hope in prospect of a blessed immortality. In this spirit, he entered into rest. His death was literally a sleep. He slept on earth to awake in Heaven.

Source:  Genealogy of the Family of Lewis B. Parsons. (Second).  Parsons-Hoar (St. Louis, 1900), pp. 48-51

 

 

Categories
Curriculum Michigan

Michigan. Prussian university as the model for higher education. Tappan, 1852-53

 

Digging around the history of economics instruction at the University of Michigan, I stumbled across the fact that the first President of the University of Michigan was a huge fan of the organization of Prussian education. Henry P. Tappan‘s extended statement of his vision for American colleges and universities can be read in his 1851 book University Education. One sees his ambition to restructure the University of Michigan along Prussian lines in the excerpt below taken from the  first catalogue published under Tappan’s  leadership in 1852-53.

There are several things that struck me when I read the 1852-53 Michigan catalogue:  counting Tappan, the University of Michigan’s faculty of science, literature and arts was all of eight professors; the entire undergraduate student body in 1852-53 was sixty students; undergraduates who passed the admissions examinations had to be at least fourteen years old to be enrolled; the B.A. and B.S. degrees both included a mandatory single term course in political economy in the junior year; reponsibility for the political economy courses at the collegiate (undergraduate) and university (graduate) levels was with the Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy (Henry P. Tappan).

______________________________________

First President of the University of Michigan

HENRY PHILIP TAPPAN was born at Rhinebeck on the Hudson, New York, April 18,1805. His father’s family was of Huguenot extraction; on his mother’s side he was Dutch. He entered Union College at the age of sixteen and was graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1825. Two years later he was graduated from the Auburn Theological Seminary and became associate pastor of the Dutch Reformed church in Schenectady, New York, for one year. He was next settled as pastor of the Congregational church at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. To this charge he took with him his newly married wife, a daughter of Colonel John Livingston, of New York. At the end of three years he was obliged to seek health and made a trip to the West Indies. On his return in 1832 he was elected professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy in the University of the City of New York. He had been a critic of the American college. He felt that it was not equal to the demands of American society, and now that he had become a teacher he began to study the problem more closely. He saw the need of better libraries and apparatus, better equipped faculties, and more freedom in the choice of studies; but his superiors were not yet prepared for his advanced ideas, and he resigned his chair. This was in 1838. He now turned his attention to authorship, at the same time conducting a private school. In 1839 appeared his “Review of Edwards’s Inquiry into the Freedom of the Will”; in 1840, “The Doctrine of the Will Determined by an Appeal to Consciousness”; in 1841, “The Doctrine of the Will Applied to Moral Agency and Responsibility”; in 1844, “Elements of Logic”; in 1851, a treatise on “University Education “; and in 1852, ” A Step from the New World to the Old and Back Again.” In 1852 he was invited to resume his former chair of Philosophy in the University of the City of New York, and the same year he was elected to the presidency of the University of Michigan. He accepted the call from Michigan and became the first President of the University, and Professor of Philosophy. He believed that a university worthy of the name must arise from the successive stages of primary and secondary schools. But these could be secured in completeness and perfection only by state authority, and by state and municipal appropriations derived from public funds and public taxation. These conditions he found partially established in the State of Michigan. Hope took possession of his heart, and he proceeded to create the American university according to his idea; but he moved faster than the circumstances would warrant, and after eleven years of labor he left the work to other hands. The seed he sowed took root, and in due time his controlling idea was embodied in practice, which was the university lecture and freedom in the choice of studies. A more detailed account of his work at Ann Arbor will be found in the chapter devoted to his administration. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Union College in 1845 and the degree of Doctor of Laws from Columbia in 1854. In 1856 he was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial Institute of France. On leaving Michigan in 1863 he went immediately to Europe. In Berlin, Paris, Bonn, Frankfort, Basel, and Geneva he found literary friends and cultivated circles glad to welcome him. He resided at Basel for some years, and finally purchased a beautiful villa at Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva, where he passed his declining years, and where he died November 15, 1881. He lies buried, with his entire family, high up on the vineclad slopes above Vevey, facing the lake, with its heavenly blue, and the glorious mountains of Savoy beyond. Thither more than one of his old Michigan boys have found their way in the after years to do homage at his tomb.

Source: Burke A. Hinsdale, History of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, 1906), pp. 217-218.

______________________________________

Reception of Tappan’s Vision of a University

President Tappan incurred much opposition and ridicule on account of his persistent advocacy of the German
ideal. “So much was this foreign school system the burden of his discourse that it brought upon him a storm of
censure and abuse from some of the journals of the state, whose editors were alarmed for the glory of the American eagle, or, possibly, were glad of a theme so potent to rouse the stout patriotism of their American hearts. Of all the imitations of English aristocracy, German mysticism, Prussian imperiousness, and Parisian nonsensities, he is altogether the most un-Americanized, the most completely foreignized specimen of an abnormal Yankee we have ever seen. Such was the style of the attacks made upon him, worth notice only as pointing to the source from which opposition came.” — History of the University of Michigan, Elizabeth M. Farrand, Ann Arbor, 1885, pp. 112-113.

Source: Burke A. Hinsdale, History of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, 1906) p. 86.

______________________________________

Excerpts from First Catalogue of Tappan Presidency

ORGANIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY.

THE system of Public Instruction adopted by the State of Michigan is copied from the Prussian, acknowledged to be the most perfect in the world.

Hence the Constitution ordains, first of all, that there shall be a Superintendent of Public Instruction, who “shall have a general supervision of public instruction.” This office corresponds in its general features to the Minister of Public Instruction in Prussia.

With respect to the Primary Schools, the Constitution has ordained that “a school shall be kept, without charge for tuition, at least three months in each year, in every school district in the State; and all instruction in said schools shall be conducted in the English language.” These schools it is designed to make as comprehensive and perfect as possible. To this end a system of Union Schools is going into operation, constituted by throwing together several District Schools. By this means the material of learning is increased, the course of study enlarged, and more competent teachers are provided.

The Union Schools will become the elementary classical and scientific schools preparatory to the Collegiate or Gymnastic Department of the University. This, too, is in accordance with the Prussian system, which makes the Primary Schools preparatory to the Gymnasia.

The Normal School, constituted for the education of Teachers, is an essential part of the Primary School system.

In the University, it is designed to organize all the Faculties with the exception of the Theological, which will be left to the different denominations. It is to be hoped, however, that schools of Theology will be established at Ann Arbor. In some departments of Theological science it may be possible for the different denominations to unite in establishing common professorships. In others they will naturally choose to have separate professorships. But every one will perceive, at once, the advantages to be derived from collecting all the learned Faculties in one place, where the students can enjoy the common benefit of the University library, and attend, at their pleasure, while engaged in particular professional studies, lectures on other branches of literature and science. Thus, too, a more general spirit of scholarship will be awakened, and a generous competition kept alive.

There are already organized two Faculties, that of Science, Literature and the Arts, and that of Medicine.

In the first named department, that grade of studies has been established which in our country is usually designated as the Collegiate or Undergraduate. This, in all our Colleges, corresponds in general to the course in the Gymnasia of Germany. In the University of Michigan, it is a cardinal object to make this correspondence as complete as possible. Hence, it is proposed to make the studies here pursued not only introductory to professional studies, and to studies in the higher branches of science and literature, but also to embrace such studies as are more particularly adapted to agriculture, the mechanic arts, and to the industrial arts generally. Accordingly, a distinct scientific course has been added, running parallel to the classical course, extending through the same term of four years, and embracing the same number of classes with the same designations. In this course, a more extended range of Mathematics will be substituted for the Greek and Latin languages. Students, who have in view particular branches as connected immediately with their pursuits in life, and who do not aim at general scientific or literary study, will be admitted to partial courses. The schools of Civil Engineering and Agricultural Chemistry will be among the partial courses.

The design of the Regents and Faculty is, to make the Collegiate or Gymnastic department as ample and rich as possible, and to adapt it to the wants of all classes of students that properly come within its range.

The classical and scientific courses, whether full or partial, will be conducted by the University Faculty of Science, Literature and the Arts.

But the Regents and Faculty cannot forget that a system of Public Instruction can never be complete without the highest form of education, any more than without that primary education which is the natural and necessary introduction to the whole. The Undergraduate course, after all that can be done to perfect it, is still limited to a certain term of years, and, necessarily, embraces only a limited range of studies. After this must come professional studies, and those more extended studies in Science, Literature and the Arts, which alone can lead to profound and finished scholarship. A system of education established on the Prussian principles of education, cannot discard that which forms the culmination of the whole. An institution cannot deserve the name of a University which does not aim, in all the material of learning, in the professorships which it establishes, and in the whole scope of its provisions, to make it possible for every student to study what he pleases, and to any extent he pleases. Nor can it be regarded as consistent with the spirit of a free country to deny to its citizens the possibilities of the highest knowledge.

It is proposed, therefore, at as early a day as practicable, to open courses of lectures for those who have graduated at this or other institutions, and for those who in other ways have made such preparation as may enable them to attend upon them with advantage. These lectures, in accordance with the educational systems of Germany and France, will form the proper development of the University, in distinction from the College or Gymnasium now in operation.

Such a scheme will require the erection of an observatory, a large increase of our library and our philosophical apparatus, and additional Professors. A great work, it will require great means: but when once accomplished, it will constitute the glory of our State, and give us an indisputable pre-eminence.

The Medical Department already established belongs to the University proper. Here instruction is carried on by lectures, and it is presumed that students, by the aid of these lectures the design of which is to present them a complete outline of medical science, and to direct them in their studies-by the study of learned works, and, availing themselves of all the preparations made for the thorough study of their profession, shall be enabled to compose the Theses and pass the examinations which are to test their scholarship and prove them worthy of being admitted as Doctors of Medicine.

Source: Catalogue of the Corporation, Officers and Students in the Departments of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, in the University of Michigan 1852-53 (Detroit, 1853), pp. 19-22.

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS.
FACULTY.

REV. HENRY P. TAPPAN, D.D.,
CHANCELLOR,
And Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy.

REV. GEORGE P. WILLIAMS, LL.D.,
Professor of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics.

ABRAM SAGER, A.M., M.D.,
Professor of Zoology and Botany.

SILAS H. DOUGLASS, A.M., M.D.,
Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology.

LOUIS FASQUELLE, LL.D.,
Professor of Modern Languages.

JAMES R. BOISE, A.M.,
Professor of the Greek Language and Literature.

ALVAH BRADISH, A.M.,
Professor of Fine Arts.

REV. E. O. HAVEN, A.M.,
Professor of Latin Language and Literature.

[…]

[In the Department of Literature, Science and Arts there were a total of 60 undergraduates (10 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 18 Sophomores  and 11 Freshmen)]

[…]

TERMS OF ADMISSION.

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS.—UNDERGRADUATE COURSE

  1. CLASSICAL COURSE. — No person will be admitted to this course unless he sustain a satisfactory examination in the following studies, namely: In English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic and Algebra through equations of the first degree; in the Latin Grammar, Caesar’s Commentaries, Cicero’s Select Orations, and six books of the Æneid of Virgil, or in some equivalent amount of classical Latin; in the Greek Grammar and the Greek Reader, or in some equivalent amount of classical Greek; in the writing of the Latin and Greek (with the accents); and in Grecian and Roman Geography.
  2. SCIENTIFIC COURSE. — The examinations for admission to this course will be particularly rigid in the following studies, namely: English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, and Algebra through equations of the first degree.
  3. PARTIAL COURSE. — Those who do not desire to become candidates for a degree, may be admitted to any part of the classical or scientific course, for such length of time as they may choose, in case they exhibit satisfactory evidence of such proficiency as will enable them to proceed advantageously with the studies of the class which they propose to enter.

No person shall become a candidate for admission to any of the above courses until he have completed his fourteenth year, nor without presenting satisfactory evidence of unexceptionable moral character.

[…]

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.—UNDERGRADUATES.

Classical Course

Scientific Course

FIRST YEAR

First term
Latin, English Language and Literature,
Greek, History,
Algebra. Algebra.

Second term
Algebra and Geometry, Algebra and Geometry,
Latin, History,
Greek. English Language and Literature

Third term
Geometry, Geometry,
Greek, French,
Latin. History.

SECOND YEAR

First term
Rhetoric, Rhetoric,
Trigonometry and Conic Sec., Trigonometry and Conic Sec.,
Latin or Greek. French.

Second term
Latin, German,
Rhetoric, French,

Greek.

 Mensuration, Navigation,[and Surveying].

Third term
Latin or Greek, German,
French, Descriptive and Analytical Geometry,
Natural Philosophy. Natural Philosophy.

THIRD YEAR

First term
Political Economy, Political Economy,
Natural Philosophy, Natural Philosophy,
French. German

Second term
German, Drawing, Perspective and Architecture,
Latin or Greek, Calculus,
French. Rhetoric.

Third term
German, Civil Engineering,
Astronomy, Mental Philosophy,
Latin or Greek. Chemistry.

FOURTH YEAR

First term
German, Civil Engineering,
Mental Philosophy, Mental Philosophy,
Chemistry. Chemistry.

Second term
Moral Science. Moral Science,
Mental Philosophy and Logic, Mental Philosophy and Logic,
Chemistry. Chemistry.

Third term
Moral Science, Moral Science,
Animal and Vegetable Physiology Animal and Vegetable Physiology,
Geology. Geology.

Lectures through the year, once each week, on Natural Theology and Evidences of Christianity, to all the classes.

Exercises in declamation and English composition, for each class, weekly, through both courses. Original declamations through the last two years.

[…]

UNIVERSITY COURSE.

This Course is designed for those who have taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts or the degree of Bachelor of Sciences, and for those generally who, by previous study, have attained a preparation and discipline to qualify them for pursuing it.

The Course will be conducted exclusively by lectures. Besides attending these the student will have full opportunity of availing himself of the library and all other means that can aid him in literary cultivation and scientific researches.

This Course, when completely furnished with able professors and the material of learning, will correspond to that pursued in the Universities of France and Germany.

The following scheme will present, in general, the subjects proper to such a course:

  1. Systematic Philosophy.
  2. History of Philosophy.
  3. History and Political Economy.
  4. Logic.
  5. Ethics and Evidences of Christianity.
  6. The Law of Nature — The Law of Nations — Constitutional Law.
  7. The Higher Mathematics.
  8. Astronomy.
  9. General Physics.
  10. Chemistry.
  11. Natural History.
  12. Philosophy.
  13. Greek Language and Literature.
  14. Latin Language and Literature.
  15. Oriental Languages.
  16. English Language and Literature.
  17. Modern Literature.
  18. Rhetoric and Criticism.
  19. The History of the Fine Arts.
  20. The Arts of Design.

[…]

OF DEGREES

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS.

The degree of Bachelor of Arts, in accordance with general usage, will be conferred on students who complete the Classical Course and pass the examinations in the same.

The degree of Bachelor of Sciences will be conferred on students who complete the Scientific Course and pass the examinations in the same. This title, borrowed from the French Colleges, has already been introduced into the Lawrence Scientific School, of Harvard, and into the University of Rochester, to mark the graduation of a similar class of students.

The degree of Master of Arts will not be conferred in course upon graduates of three years standing, but only upon such graduates as have pursued professional or general scientific studies during that period. The candidate for the degree must pass an examination before one of the Faculties. He must also read a Thesis before the Faculties of the University at the time of taking the degree.

[…]

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COURSES OF STUDY PURSUED IN THE UNIVERSITY

[…]

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY.

This study is conducted by the use of text books, accompanied with lectures. Essays on subjects connected with the course are read by the students and criticised by the professor. One is read at each recitation. Reference is made to the standard works of ancient and modern writers on philosophy.

A complete development of this branch of knowledge must necessarily be reserved for the University Course.

HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY

History, particularly that of the Greeks and Romans, is connected with the study of the ancient languages.

Political Economy is, at present, assigned to the Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy [Chancellor Rev. Henry P. Tappan, D.D.]. Instruction is here given, as in Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, by the use of text books, accompanied with lectures and by references to the standard works on Political Economy. The students are here also required to read original essays on subjects connected with the course.

 

Source: Catalogue of the Corporation, Officers and Students in the Departments of Medicine, Arts and Sciences, in the University of Michigan 1852-53 (Detroit, 1853), pp. 13, 23-26, 28, 30.

Image Source: Web transcription of Elizabeth S. Adams,  “Henry Philip Tappan Administration” in The University of Michigan, An Encyclopedic Survey in Four Volumes, Wilfred B. Shaw, editor, Volume 1, Part 1 (Ann Arbor, 1942),  pp.  39-52.

Categories
Michigan

Michigan. Economics within Political Sciences, 1843-1910

 

The Department of Economics at the University of Michigan emerged from the interdisciplinary pool of “Political Science” at the start of the twentieth century. The idea of a school of political science following a German model was quite like that of the Columbia Faculty of Political Science that was established ten months before the University of Michigan program (June 1881). Another account of the history of the Michigan economics department that goes forward to 1940 has been posted earlier. 

Political Science at the University of Michigan
[up to 1910]

In February, 1910, the Regents of The University of Michigan authorized Acting President Harry B. Hutchins to recommend a candidate for Professor of Political Science. The duties of the first Professor of Political Science at the University would be to give the courses previously taught by Dr. James B. Angell and to relieve the History Department of its instruction in the field of government. In April of that year, Jesse S. Reeves, assistant professor of political science at Dartmouth College, was appointed to this position.

Thus in September, 1910, the Department of Political Science was formally established as such at The University of Michigan. In its first school year the Department offered American Government (federal, state, and local), Municipal Government, Public International Law and History of American Diplomacy, plus a seminar in the History of Political Theory. During the year a total of 250 registrations were recorded.

Although the formal beginning of the Political Science Department occurred in 1910, the teaching of political science seems to have anticipated Regental action by as much as fifty years. The course of study in philosophy, as announced in the Catalog of 1843-44, was divided into three parts: (1) language and literature, (2) mathematics and physics, and (3) intellectual and moral science. Instruction in political science was included within intellectual and moral science. Professor Edward Thomson, later president of Ohio Wesleyan University, listed among the texts for his courses: Wayland’s Political Grammar and Political Economy and Story’s Commentaries on The Constitution. However, it appears that these studies were not continued and a return to them awaited the stimulus provided by President Henry Philip Tappan in 1852.

Under President Tappan interest in the general area of the social sciences was revitalized. This was due in part to his high educational ideals and broad intellectual interests and in part to his establishment of the university course. In his plan for a university or graduate course, President Tappan had made provision for twenty areas of study, two of which would be included in our present concept of political science: (1) history and political economy, and (2) the law of nature, the law of nations, and constitutional law.

The University System

Not only was Tappan a man of distinction as a scholar and a teacher, but he drew others with comparable qualities to the faculty. One of these was Andrew Dickson White who, when he was appointed in 1857, brought with him a manner of teaching which was new to the American college campus. Rather than using daily recitations, he introduced the lecture system and gave his students an introduction to historical criticism and original investigation. Through White’s concept of history the way was prepared for later emphasis on political studies.

Catalogs from the sixties stated that the effort of the History Department was threefold: (1) a review of general history; (2) an insight into the philosophy of history; and (3) a foundation for a thorough study of the political and constitutional history of our own country.

Instruction in the field of political science, as such, officially began in 1860, when the Regents voted to require the resident law professor to deliver a course of lectures on Constitutional Law and History to the senior class of the Academic Department. In 1861, Professor, later Judge, Thomas McIntyre Cooley began these lectures which were continued until 1865.

With the termination of Professor Cooley’s lectures, instruction in government was placed solely in the hands of the History Department. Professor Charles Kendall Adams, a graduate of Michigan, offered lectures on the Government of Great Britain, the Governments of Continental Europe, and the Political History of the United States.

In 1867 Professor Adams became chairman of the History Department, succeeding Andrew D. White. At this time the seniors were receiving, during the second semester, lectures on the Characteristics of the Constitution of the United States and the Growth of Liberty in England. In 1871-72, this course, given to seniors, was made an elective and extended to the length of a school year. The Catalog of that year explained that the course covered three subjects: growth of parliamentary government in England; constitutional history of the United States; and constitutional characteristics of the principal governments of Europe. Later the program provided English Constitutional History and American Constitutional History, both one semester courses.

In 1870, while Professor Henry S. Frieze was serving as Acting President, the library facilities in the field of political science were greatly enhanced by a gift, which was the first important addition made to the University library by a private donor. Philo Parsons, Esq., of Detroit, purchased for the University the library of Professor Karl Heinrich Rau of Heidelberg. It consisted of about 4,000 volumes and 5,000 pamphlets dealing with the science of government, political economy and related subjects. Mr. Parsons also volunteered to fill out important sets of books and periodicals that were found to be incomplete. This gift proved to be one of the major justifications for the subsequent establishment of a separate School of Political Science.

With the coming of President James B. Angell to the University in 1871, and due to his active interest in public and international affairs, a course in International Law was added to the curriculum. He himself taught it and at this time emphasized to the Regents the need for more extensive work in the “political sciences.” Later he also offered a course in Political Economy.

Seminar Instruction

President Angell, in his report of 1871-72, gave the first printed account of the seminar method of instruction which had been introduced by Adams. Shortly after this time, the same system was introduced at Harvard and other American universities. Adams patterned the seminar after the German method of instruction which he had observed during a visit to that country the previous year. During the second semester the seminar group, which was open to seniors and graduate students, studied the constitutional history of the United States and also dealt with the fundamental principles of political philosophy through the means of a comparative study of ancient and modern political constitutions.

Under the direction of Adams, the History Department developed and the curriculum was enlarged. Among the new courses offered were: Political Institutions, English and American Constitutional History, and Comparative European Government. President Angell added another course, History of Treaties, which with International Law, he continued to teach until 1910.

During his administration as president, Dr. Angell was called by the government to serve as Minister to the Ottoman Empire and to China. While President Angell was absent as Minister to China, action was taken by the Regents in June, 1881, to organize a School of Political Science within the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Although a similar school had been organized at Columbia ten months earlier, Michigan’s was the first in the West. The University Catalog stated “the aim of the School is to afford exceptional opportunities for students interested in public questions to specialize in History, Political Economy, International Law, and kindred subjects under guidance of their instructors.” On October 3, 1881, the new School opened with Professor Charles K. Adams as dean. Its faculty of seven included: President James B. Angell (Dr. Henry Carter Adams served in his absence), Professor Thomas M. Cooley, Professor Charles K. Adams, Assistant Professor Richard Hudson, Professor Edward S. Dunster, Assistant Professor Victor C. Vaughan, and Assistant Professor Volney M. Spalding.

The address Dean C. K. Adams delivered at the official opening presented a case for the advantages which their instruction in political science had brought to the practice of European governments. He proceeded to dispose of the argument that American political institutions were superior to those of Europe and that, therefore, America had no need of political science. The argument was revealing in its exclusive emphasis upon the practical benefits to be expected. He pointed out the areas which political science could help to improve and then summed up by saying:

It is for the purpose of aiding in the several directions that have been hinted at, and in others that would be mentioned if there were time, that the School of Political Science in the University of Michigan has been established. It finds its justification where the other schools of the University find theirs: in the good of the people and the welfare of the State.

Professor Hans J. Morgenthau in his “Reflections on the State of Political Science,” has noted Dean Adam’s address as illuminating in its outline of the purpose of political science and has commented that its growth was a response to the needs of the day. Professor Morgenthau wrote:

The first departments of political science in this country, then, did not grow organically from a general conception as to what was covered by the field of political science, nor did they respond to a strongly felt intellectual need. Rather they tried to satisfy practical demands, which other academic disciplines refused to meet. For instance, in that period the law schools would not deal with public law. It was felt that somebody ought to deal with it, and thus it was made part of political science. There was a demand for instruction in journalism, but there was no place for it to be taught; thus it was made part of political science. There was a local demand for guidance in certain aspects of municipal administration; and thus a course in that subject was made part of the curriculum of political science.

In other words, political science grew not by virtue of an intellectual principle germane to the field, but in response to pressures from the outside. What could not be defined in terms of a traditional academic discipline was defined as political science. This inorganic growth and haphazard character of political science is strikingly reflected in the curricula of the early departments of political science, such as those of Michigan, Columbia, and Harvard.

In 1881-82

In the 1881-82 Catalog, seven subject areas were listed in the political science program: history, political economy, international law, sanitary science, rights, social science, and forestry. Dean Adams stated in 1882 that he thought this was the first time that the courses in Rights and Forestry had been offered in any university. It was intended that the course content and the method of instruction would be the same as those offered in the schools of political science at Paris, Leipzig, Tubingen and Vienna. H. B. Adams remarked “the courses were not required as at Columbia, and the plan was like the elective system of German universities.”

In his The Relations of Political Science to National Prosperity, Dean Charles K. Adams outlined the program:

A prominent place was to be given to studies in history, such as general history, history of political institutions, recent political history of Europe, and the political and constitutional history of England and of the United States. Courses in political economy were also included in the program. “Social Science” was to deal with crime prevention and public welfare service. A course in Political Ethics was also outlined to furnish the proper basis for judging the relations of the individual to the state, as well as of nation to nation. Allied to this and crowning the whole were to be courses on: The Idea of the State; Nature of Individual, Social and Political Rights; History of Political Ideas; Government of Cities; Theories and Methods of Taxation; Comparative Constitutional Law; Comparative Administrative Law; Theories of International Law; and History of Modern Diplomacy.

School of Political Science

Students to be admitted to the new School must have completed two years of study in the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts—sixty hours—including all the work for the first two years of the program prescribed for a bachelor’s degree. Students from other institutions who had done an equivalent amount of work were also accepted as candidates. Although the new School was organized under the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, it was not limited to undergraduate study. All degree candidates were required to write examinations at the close of each semester; also, they were to appear before a committee of the faculty to present and defend a thesis showing evidence of original research and, finally, pass an examination in three areas of study, a major and two minors. A student who completed all these requirements was recommended for a Doctor of Philosophy degree. No specification was made in regard to time except that no one would be recommended in less than three years after enrollment in the School. A year later, in 1882-83, provision was made for obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The new School was successful in developing interest in its program. The first year a total of 889 registrations were listed in the nineteen courses offered—481 during the first semester and 408 the second.

In 1882, the library received another sizeable gift which furthered the study of political science. Mr. J. J. Hagerman of Colorado Springs gave the University 2,000 volumes, including works on political and constitutional history and methods of local government in Europe and America, plus a collection of great serial publications. The following year Cooley offered a course on Comparative Administrative Law with special emphasis on local government, using these materials.

Under the leadership of Angell, Adams and Cooley, the School of Political Science attracted considerable attention, both in the United States and in Europe. During those years Michigan shared with Columbia and Johns Hopkins pre-eminence among the universities of the United States for training in the field of political science—a pre-eminence that was to lapse before blossoming again.

Electives

The University System of study, which had been an integral part of the School of Political Science, survived the School by a number of years. Immediately upon establishment, the School pointed the way to a freedom of study, permitting greater concentration with large concessions to the student’s choice, both of subjects and methods. Various faculty members began to argue that areas other than political science should be accorded these advantages. There was the feeling that this system was an approach to the German universities with their distinction between preparatory and graduate or genuine university work. Within this plan of study the student would be granted a bachelor of arts degree if his examination at the end of four years proved to be satisfactory. The student might be granted a master of arts degree if he wrote a brilliant examination and presented a meritorious thesis. Making the distinction between a “satisfactory” and a “brilliant” examination was, of course, the source of some of the difficulties that arose.

From the outset, the School progressed and appeared promising; however, its position as a graduate school with its own dean, organized within the framework of an undergraduate school, was indeed awkward. Faculty members of the School of Political Science were also serving in other departments of the University, and the establishment of the School necessitated a revision of the prevailing rules regarding doctor’s degrees. Conditions, it was said, “produced numerous conflicts and misunderstandings and various exhibitions of human nature in its less endearing forms.”

In spite of the administrative difficulties, the School continued until 1887-88. The Catalog for that year noted: “Since the establishment, in 1881, of the School of Political Science, experience has shown that, under the flexible elective system now in force in this Department, instruction in the studies peculiar to such a school may be provided without maintaining any sharply defined independent organization.”

An announcement in the Catalog the following year read: “It has been found unnecessary to retain an independent School of Political Science, under the form of organization described in the calendars of previous years.”

In addition to the above mentioned difficulties, there had been other circumstances that contributed to the disappearance of the School. C. K. Adams resigned in 1885 to accept the presidency of Cornell. T. M. Cooley succeeded him as dean; however, he also left the University in 1887 to become chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission when it was established during that year. It seems that no one on the faculty was interested in accepting responsibility for carrying on the School after that time.

The feeling seemed to be that the plan for a School of Political Science was premature; however, this did not halt the teaching of many of the subjects under the prior purview of the former School. The history courses continued to be predominantly constitutional. Semester courses in International Law and the History of Treaties were still taught by President Angell. The changing of some titles to include “institutions” was the chief difference in the next few years.

Instruction in Constitutional Law and Political History of the United States was started by McLaughlin in 1891 and continued beyond 1900. This was also the period when Comparative Constitutional Law, as taught by Richard Hudson, was introduced to the Michigan campus.

In 1892, Fred M. Taylor and Charles Horton Cooley came to the University to instruct in the field of political economy. Encouraged by H. C. Adams, Cooley offered courses in sociology which were so successful that in 1895-96 the name of the Department was changed to Political Economy and Sociology.

During the following years another notable man gave instruction in the field of political science. John Dewey, who had come to the University to work in philosophy and psychology, gradually turned his psychology courses over to his younger colleagues and interested himself in ethical and social problems. He offered courses in the Theory and Institutions of Social Organization, Special Studies in the History of Political Philosophy (topic changed each year). Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century, and Political Philosophy or Ethics of Human Relations.

In 1896-97, a new course was added to the program by Hudson—first semester, Municipal Government in Great Britain and second semester. Municipal Government in Continental Europe.

With the disappearance of the University System which President Tappan had instituted in 1852, instruction in the subjects of political science was taken over by the History Department. In spite of this relegation, political science was consistently receiving more attention. In 1900, the history courses were officially announced under two topics: history and government. At this time the work of government was placed under the direction of John A. Fairlie, who was then appointed Professor of Administrative Law. He gave instruction in Municipal Administration, while courses in American Constitutional Law and Political Institutions were taught by Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin. In addition to these Undergraduate Studies graduate research courses in these fields were also given.

The ten years prior to the establishment of the present Political Science Department witnessed an ever increasing amount of activity which portended the final separation of the master discipline. Some of the more outstanding activities were: 1900-01, the formation of a Political Science Club; 1902-09, the evolution of Political Economy, Industry, Commerce and Sociology as a separate department; 1909-10, a further change in departmental title to Political Economy and Sociology.

[…]

Source: Gerald Eitig Faye,  Political Science at the University of Michigan 1910-1960 (Ann Arbor, Michigan: 1960?).

Image Source: “Who Was James Angell” by James Tobin [not the Yale economist!] in Michigan Today, July 29, 2013.

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Size distribution of graduate and undergraduate programs in economics. U.S., 1963-65

 

 

These are the last two statistical tables from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of leading economics departments in the U.S. intended to provide orientation for departmental chairpersons in salary negotiations. Today’s posting gives the numbers of undergraduate and graduate majors reported by 29 departments. 

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67. Those first five reports from The Cartel provide distributions of median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

____________________

 

TABLE 7c
Graduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions:

 

1963-64 1964-65 1965-66
(Estimate)
300 and over 2 2

1

200-299

 0 0 2
150-199 3 4

5

100-149

 6 5 6
80-99 4 4

3

60-79

 5 7 5
40-59 6 4

4

20-39

 2 1 0
1-19 1 1

1
Number of departments reporting:

29

 28

27
Total number of students:

2,963

 3,057

3,118

____________________

 

TABLE 8C
Undergraduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions

 

1963-64 1964-65
300 and over 4

4

250-299

 1 1
200-249 3

2

150-199

 4 6
100-149 8

5

80-99

 1 1
60-79 2

1

40-59

 2 3
20-39 1

1

1-19

 1

1
Number of departments reporting:

27

25
Total number of students:

4,550

4,312

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: quick meme website.

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Economics Professors’ Salaries by Rank (6), 1965-66

 

 

This is the sixth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. In the previous five tables The Cartel reports median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. In this posting we have Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 6c

Salaries of Economists (9-10 month, academic year, 1965-66) in 27 of the 29 Departments of Economics (The Cartel):
N = Number of Persons

MID POINT OF RANGE PROFESSORS ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
26,750/and over 2
26,500 0
26,000 2
25,500 1
25,000 8
24,500 0
24,000 4
23,500 2
23,000 7
22,500 2
22,000 12
21,500 7
21,000 10
20,500 5
2,0000 22
19,500 10
19,000 13
18,500 11
18,000 24
17,500 8
17,000 19
16,500 23
16,000 27
15,500 20 1 0
15,000 21 2 1
14,500 14 2 0
14,000 22 10 0
13,500 10 12 0
13,000 10 13 1
12,500 7 18 2
12,000 6 20 1
11,500 3 21 7
11,000 3 13 9
10,500 0 18 18
10,000 0 9 35
9,750 1 9
9,500 2 28
9,250 1 11
9,000 0 24
8,750 0 8
8,500 0 13
8,250 2
8,000 15
7,750 1
N=335 N=143 N=185

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  “Me and my partner” by C. J. Taylor on cover of Punch, December 25, 1889. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

 

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Expected New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (5), 1966/67

 

 

This is the fifth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 5c give figures for the anticipated range of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” for the coming academic year (1966-67) across the departments reporting. Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The previous posting has the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

The copy of this table in the Johns Hopkins University archives has a useful handwritten addition. It is noted that the median lower bound of the range is $9,250 and the median higher bound of the range is $10,000. Thus one might say a measure of the range of the anticipated, as of December 1965), 9-10 month salary offers for “freshly completed PhDs” for 1966-67 was ($9,250 — $10,000), though such a range was not necessarily anticipated by any one of the 27 departments responding to that question.

Compared to Table 4c, this table tells us that the range of offers for “freshly completed PhDs” was anticipated to move up $250 about a 2.67% nominal increase from 1965-66 to 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 5c
Departments Expect to Have to Offer to Get
“Freshly Completed PhD’s for Next Year, 1966-67

 

MID-POINT OF RANGE

 FROM TO
13,000 0

0

12,500

 0 0
12,000 0

1

11,500

 0 0
11,000 0

6

10,500

 0 7
10,000 5

6

9,750

 0 0
9,500 8

4

9,250

 1 0
9,000 8

2

8,750

 1 0
8,500 1

1

8,250

 0 0
8,000 3

0

N=

 27

27

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  Caption under the drawing: “No class of labor feels the grip of grinding monopoly more than our underpaid, overworked ball-players.”  “The base-ball Laocoon” by L. M. Glackens. Cover of Punch, May 14, 1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (4), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the fourth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 4c give figures for the distribution of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” across the departments reporting. Previous postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The next posting has the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

______________________

TABLE 4c
Entering Salaries of “Freshly Completed PhD’s” of New Staff Members
in the Fall of 1965-66 1964-65

 

MINIMUM MEDIAN MAXIMUM
MID-POINT OF RANGE 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66

1964-65

Over 10,999

 0 0 0 0 1 0
10,500 0 0 0 0 2

1

10,000

 2 0 4 3 7 0
9,750 2 0 4 0 1

0

9,500

 4 1 2 0 2 4
9,250 1 2 3 3 1

3

9,000

 3 6 0 5 3 6
8,750 1 1 3 5 0

1

8,500

 4 5 3 5 2 5
8,250 1 1 0 2 0

1

8,000

 2 3 1 0 1 0
7,750 0 0 0 0 0

1

7,500

 0 1 1 2 0 1
7,250 1 1 0 0 0

0

N=

 21 21 21 25 20 23
Median $9,000 $8,500 $9,250 $8,750 $9,750

$9,000

Mean

 $8,952 $8,583 $9,190 $8,820 $9,600

$8,913

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

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Assistant Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (3), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the third table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 3c give figures for the distribution of assistant professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors and the distribution for associate professors. The next posting has the distribution for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Assistant Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 0

1

11,000

 0 0
10,500 3

0

10,000

 7 1
9,750 2

0

9,500

 6 6
9,250 3

2

9,000

 4 5
8,750 1

6

8,500

 1 2
8,250 1

3

8,000

 1 2
7,750 0

0

7,500

 0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

 29 29
Median $9,500

$8,900

Mean

 $9,402

$8,936

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Assistance Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 4

1

11,000

 3 2
10,500 8

5

10,000

 7 3
9,750 2

2
9,500 3 4
9,250 0

3

9,000

 1 3
8,750 1

3

8,500

 0 0
8,250 0

2

8,000

 0 0
7,750 0

0

7,500

 0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

  

29

  

29
Median $10,250

$9,500

Mean

 $10,333

$9,575

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assistant Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66 1964-65
Over 10,749 0

1

10,500

 1 0
10,000 5

0

9,750

 2 0
9,500 4

3
9,250 7 1
9,000 2

8

8,750

 4 3
8,500 1

5

8,250

 2 3
8,000 1

1

7,750

 0 2
7,500 0

1

7,250

 0 1
N= 29

29

Median

 $9,300 $8,800
Mean $9,251

$9,063

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: Brussells conference, cartel magnate (detail). Postcard from 1902. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Associate Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (2), 1964/5-1965/66

 

This is the second table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 2c give figures for the distribution of associate professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors. Future postings include the actual salary distributions for assistant professors and freshly completed PhD’s 1964/65 and 1965/66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Associate Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 13,749 3 0
13,500 2 0
13,000 2 1
12,500 6 3
12,000 5 2
11,500 4 3
11,000 3 11
10,500 2 4
10,000 0 0
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
N= 27 27
Median $12,000 $11,000
Mean $12,173 $11,093

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Associate Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 16,249 0 1
16,000 1 0
15,500 1 0
15,000 2 0
14,500 2 0
14,000 5 2
13,500 6 4
13,000 4 6
12,500 3 3
12,000 0 4
11,500 1 3
 [sic, cell empty] 1 2
 [sic, cell empty] 0 1
N= 26 26
Median $13,000 $12,186
Mean $13,082 $12,159

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assoc Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
14,500 0 0
14,000 1 0
13,500 0 0
13,000 4 1
12,500 4 1
12,000 2 2
11,500 3 2
11,000 7 8
10,500 3 4
10,000 2 4
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
9,250 0 0
9,000 0 0
8,750 0 1
8,500 0 0
N= 26 26
Median $11,265 $10,775
Mean $11,640 $10,760

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: “The monopolists’ may-pole” by F. Opper.  Centerfold of Puck, vol. 17, no. 425 (April 29, 1885). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

Categories
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Professors’ salaries in U.S. economics departments (1), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

From my March 2017 expedition to the Johns Hopkins University archives’ collection of material from the Department of Political Economy, I came across one of those documents that help to provide an empirical baseline for the history of the market for economics professors. It is worth savouring the sets of tables one by one. In all, this so-called “cartel” summary with information collected from 29 departments in October 1965 consists of eight sets of tables.

On the last page of this summary for full-professor salaries can be found the name of the presumable compiler of the tables: Francis M. Boddy, Graduate School, University of Minnesota. It is dated December 21, 1965.

Two documents later in the same folder I found the list of 30 members of the Chairmen’s Group, dated December 13, 1965. With 29 responses to the salary questionnaire from which the “cartel” data have been assembled, it leaves only to guess which department did not report back to the “cartel”. I do believe that the ironic self-designation of cartel is not entirely contrary to functional fact here.

The salary distributions across the participating departments for associate professors, assistant professors, and for the starting salaries for newly minted Ph.D. hires have been posted in the meantime. Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

___________________________________

About Francis M. Boddy

Boddy, Francis M, 1115 Bus. Admin., West Bank, Dept. of Econs., U. of Minn., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: Office (612)373-3583;Home (612)926-1063. Fields: 020, 610. Birth Yr: 1906. Degrees: B.B.A., U. of Minn., 1930; M.A., U. of Minn., 1936; Ph.D., U. of Minn., 1939. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. Emer. Of Econs., U. of Minn. At Twin Cities. 1975-. Concurrent/Past Positions: Acting Exec. Secy., Bd. Of Investment, State of Minn., 1978-79; Assoc. Dean of Grad. Sch. U. of Minn., 1961-73.

Source: “Biographical Listing of Members.” The American Economic Review 71, no. 6 (1981): p. 67.

___________________________________

Research Hint:
Boddy’s data go back to 1957/58

“I have, over the past six years, conducted an informal survey of some 30 of the leading departments of economics in the country, defined largely as being those departments which have been major producers of Ph.D.’s in economics.”

Source:  Boddy, Francis M. “The Demand for Economists.” The American Economic Review 52, no. 2 (1962): 503-08.

 

Also of interest from about the same time is the AER Supplement:

Tolles, N. Arnold, and Emanuel Melichar. “Studies of the Structure of Economists’ Salaries and Income” The American Economic Review 58, no. 5 (1968):

___________________________________

MEMBERS OF THE CHAIRMEN’S GROUP, 1965-66
December 13, 1965

  1. Professor Gerard Debreu
    University of California
    Berkeley, California 94720
  2. Dean R. M. Cyert
    Carnegie Institute of Technology
    Pittsburgh 13, Pennsylvania
  3. Professor Arnold C. Harberger
    University of Chicago
    1126 East 59th Street
    Chicago 37, Illinois
  4. Professor Carl McGuire
    University of Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
  5. Professor William Vickrey
    Columbia University
    New York 27, New York
  6. Professor Douglas F. Dowd
    Acting Chairman
    Cornell University
    Ithaca, New York
    (Professor Frank H. Golay, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  7. Professor Robert S. Smith
    Duke University
    Durham, North Carolina
  8. Professor John Dunlop
    Harvard University
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
  9. Professor John F. Due
    University of Illinois
    Urbana, Illinois 61803
  10. Professor George Wilson
    Indiana University
    Bloomington, Indiana 47405
  11. Professor Karl A. Fox
    Iowa State University
    Ames, Iowa 50010
  12. Professor Carl F. Christ
    Johns Hopkins University
    Baltimore, Maryland
  13. Professor Robert F. Lanzilotti
    Michigan State University
    East Lansing, Michigan
  14. Professor Warren L. Smith
    University of Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
  15. Professor E. Cary Brown
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Cambridge 39, Massachusetts
  16. Professor Emanuel Stein
    New York University
    New York 3, New York
  17. Professor John Turnbull
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
  18. Professor Ralph W. Pfouts
    university of North Carolina
    Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  19. Professor Robert Eisner
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Illinois
  20. Professor Paul G. Craig
    Ohio State University
    Columbus, Ohio
  21. Professor Irving B. Kravis
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia 4, Pennsylvania
  22. Professor Richard A. Lester
    Princeton University
    Princeton, New Jersey
  23. Dean Emanuel T. Weiler
    Purdue University
    Lafayette, Indiana
  24. Professor Lionel McKenzie
    University of Rochester
    Rochester 20, New York
  25. Professor Edward S. Shaw
    Stanford University
    Stanford, California
  26. Professor Carey Thompson
    University of Texas
    Austin, Texas
  27. Professor James W. McKie
    Vanderbilt University
    Nashville, Tennessee
  28. Professor Alexandre Kafka
    Acting Chairman
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    (Professor Warren Nutter, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  29. Professor David B. Johnson
    University of Wisconsin
    Madison, Wisconsin
  30. Professor Raymond Powell
    Yale University
    New Haven, Connecticut

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

___________________________________

 

CARTEL
SUMMARY of the October-1965 Questionnaire to Departments of Economics in the United States

SUMMARY of the salary (1965-66 and 1964-65 academic years, 9-10 month basis) and other data of 29 (out of 29) Departments of Economics. N = Number of Departments reporting.

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 20,249

 2 1
20,000 4

0

19,500

 0 1
19,000 3

1

18,500

 2 3
18,000 2

1

17,500

 3 1
17,000 2

4

16,500

 2 4
16,000 1

4

15,500

 2 0
15,000 2

1

14,500

 0 2
14,000 3

1

13,500

 0 1
13,000 1

4

N=

 29 29
Median $17,500

$16,500

Mean

 $17,377

$16,319

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)

Average Salaries
“Superior Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 23,749

 3 1
23,500 2

0

23,000

 0 0
22,500 3

0

22,000

 1 2
21,500 4

3

21,000

 1 2
20,500 4

2

20,000

 0 3
19,500 2

2

19,000

 2 4
18,500 1

0

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

2

17,000

 0 0
16,500 2

1

16,000

 0 4
15,500 0

1

15,000

 0 0
14,500 0

1

14,000

 0 0
N= 29

29

Median

 $20,600 $19,500
Mean $20,677

$19,093

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)

Average Salaries
“Average Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 18,749

 4 2
18,500 0

1

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

1

17,000

 3 1
16,500 3

2

16,000

 5 8
15,500 1

4

15,000

 2 1
14,500 1

1

14,000

 2 0
13,500

2

2

13,000

 1 4
12,500 1

0

12,000

 0 1
11,500 0

0

N=

 29 29
Median $16,100

$15,390

Mean

 $16,192

$15,119

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image: From left to right: Monopolies, Uncle Sam, Trusts.

Taylor, Charles Jay, Artist. In the hands of his philanthropic friends / C.J. Taylor. , 1897. N.Y.: Published in Puck, March 10, 1897. . Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . (Accessed May 12, 2017). https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647652/