Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Charles Austin Beard collection
Beard, Miriam, 1901-1983
Beard, William
14325838
MS#1958
English
/repositories/2/resources/6304
3 linear feet
7 document boxes
1911-1976
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is located on site.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase, 2018.
Biographical / Historical
Charles Austin Beard (November 27, 1874 – September 1, 1948) was a leading American historian and progressive social thinker during the first half of the 20th century. He was a history professor at Columbia University but resigned in 1917 over what he considered the violation of civil liberties in the removal of pacifist Professors Dana and Cattell. Together with his wife, Mary Ritter, he was involved in the founding the New School for Social Research.
Biographical / Historical
In works such as
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1913) and Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy (1915), he stressed the part played by economic self interest in the development of American institutions and history. With his wife, Mary Ritter Beard, he authored the classic text book, The Rise of American Civilization (1927).
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Charles Austin Beard Collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Scope and Contents
A significant and sizeable archive of primary materials relating to the career of Charles A. Beard, compiled in the 1970s by Miriam (Beard) Vagts and William Beard. The collection includes more than 300 original letters, manuscripts, and printed material.
Conditions Governing Use
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Accruals
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Constitutional history -- United States
Historians -- United States -- 20th century
Economic history
Academic freedom
Progressivism (United States politics)
Historiography
Social scientists
Beard, Charles A (Charles Austin), 1874-1948
Beard, Mary Ritter, 1876-1958
Stone, Harlan Fiske, 1872-1946
Brandeis, Louis Dembitz, 1856-1941
Black, Hugo LaFayette, 1886-1971
Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965
Roosevelt, Franklin D (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974
Berle, A. A (Adolf Augustus), 1866-1960
Bowen, Catherine Drinker, 1897-1973
Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947
Commager, Henry Steele, 1902-1998
Coudert, Frederic R (Frederic René), 1871-1955
Croce, Benedetto, 1866-1952
Cross, Wilbur L (Wilbur Lucius), 1862-1948
Durant, Will, 1885-1981
Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Jr., 1902-1985
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
Rogers, Lindsay, 1891-1970
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
Series I: Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233566A:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233567Alfred A Knopf Inc./repositories/2/archival_objects/12335684 December 194411Scope and Contents(Re. Henry Seidel Cancy)
Amery, L. S./repositories/2/archival_objects/12335693 January 195512Scope and Contents(Re. U.S. economic policy post WWII)
B:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233570Baldwin, Hanson W. (NY Times Military Editor)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335719 April 194613Scope and Contents(Re. Vagts' "Landing Operations")
Barnes, Harry Elmer/repositories/2/archival_objects/123357212 August 1946-3 July 194814Scope and Contents(Re. Roosevelt and WWII)
Barton, Bruce/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335738 May 194515Baruch, Bernard M./repositories/2/archival_objects/123357411 & 14 May 192716Scope and Contents(Re. profits made in war)
Bayley, W. C./repositories/2/archival_objects/12335755 November 191717Scope and Contents(Re. teaching American history in elementary schools)
Beard, Charles A. to various recipients/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335761935-1945129Beard, Daniel Carter (Boy Scouts of America)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123357726 October & 23 November 193818Scope and Contents(Re. list of early Americans responsible for molding American thought)
Beard, Jack to Miriam Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/123357827 July 197019Scope and Contents(Re. his mother and flying his plane in 1933)
Beard, William to Miriam Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335791970-1978110Becker, Carl/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335801938-1943111Bemis, Samuel Flagg/repositories/2/archival_objects/123358128 May 1947112Benton, Elbert J./repositories/2/archival_objects/123358230 October & November 5 1917113Berger, Doris (US Week)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123358325 February 1941114Berle, Adolf Augustus, Jr./repositories/2/archival_objects/123358428 September 1938339Beveridge, Albert J./repositories/2/archival_objects/123358510 October 1917115Black, Hugo L. (Justice)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335867 January 1942-18 November 1943116Bone, Homer T. (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233587April 1938117Borah, William E. (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123358816 February 1938118Borchard, Edwin M. (Yale Law)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335891 March 1938-3 May 1945119Bowen, Catherine Drinker/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359019 April 1944 & 16 October 1970120Bowman, Isaiah (Johns Hopkins)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359131 May 1940-20 May 1941121Boyd, Julian P. (Librarian, Princeton)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359231 January -1 July 1948122Brandeis, Louis (Supreme Court)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359316 March 1934123Brecht, Arlold to Dr. Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359411 November 1968124Scope and Contents(In German)
Brodney, Spencer/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359517 February 1936-22 August 1944125Scope and Contents(re. Roosevelt)
Brooks, Robert C. (American Political Science Association)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12335961917126Brooks, Van Wyck/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359712 February 1947127Bruncken, Ernest (Library of Congress)/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233598May 1913128Butler, Nicholas Murray/repositories/2/archival_objects/123359918 February 1913-2 May 194421Butterfield, Victo L. (Wesleyan University)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123360011 May 194522Byrns, Joseph W./repositories/2/archival_objects/123360120 & 26 August 194623Scope and Contents(re. Cordell Hull)
Byrnes, James F./repositories/2/archival_objects/123360224 February 194724C:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233603Capper, Arthur (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123360425 February 194125Case, Francis (Congress)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123360511 October 194326Castle, William R./repositories/2/archival_objects/123360611-21 January 194627Castle, William R./repositories/2/archival_objects/123360725 January 194628Scope and Contents(with his revised "Note to Chaper VI" of Beard's manuscript)
Chandler, Edward H. (the Twentieth Century Club)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123360823 October 191729Chantland, William T. (Federal Trade Commission)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123360923 January 1930210Clark, Tom C. (Attorney General)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123361014 July 1947211Scope and Contents(re. definition of "subversive")
Clark, William P./repositories/2/archival_objects/123361114 December 1925212Scope and Contents(re. "Economics Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy")
Coblentz, E. D./repositories/2/archival_objects/123361231 May 1945213Director of Naval School (Columbia University)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336137 June 1944214Commager, Henry Steele/repositories/2/archival_objects/123361413 & 19 September 1937215Scope and Contents(re. "Constitutional History" by Andrew C. McLaughlin)
Cook, Jeffey W. to Miriam Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/123361523 December 1970216Coudert, Frederic R./repositories/2/archival_objects/123361628 April 1913217Counts, Geroge S. (Southern Illinois University) to Miriam Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/123361711 May - 5 June 1970218Crane, Robert T./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336183 February 1941219Croce, Benedetto/repositories/2/archival_objects/123361924 June 1933 & 12 May 1947220Scope and Contents(in Italian)
Cross, Wilbur L. (CT Governor)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123362023 August 1933 - 20 April 1936221Cunningham, Owen/repositories/2/archival_objects/123362129 April 1948222Curran, Fred/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233622223Cushman, Robert E./repositories/2/archival_objects/123362310 April 1945224Cutting, Bronson M. (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336248 January 1930225D:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233625Daniels, Josephus (Ambassador to Mexico)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123362621 September 1934226Davidson, Eugene (Yale University Press)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336278 May 1939227Dept. of History. State University of Iowa/repositories/2/archival_objects/123362814 December 1917228Dewey, John/repositories/2/archival_objects/123362917 December 1917229Dickinson, John/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336306 March 1931230Dooman, Eugene H./repositories/2/archival_objects/123363118 May & 22 June 1948231Duffus, R.L. (NY Times)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336328 June 1939232Durant, Will/repositories/2/archival_objects/123363314 October 1917233Dykstra, C.A. (University of Wisconsin)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336347 December 1942234E:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233635Ely, Robert Erskine (League for Political Education)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123363625 October 1917235Engelking, L.L. (NY Herald Tribune)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336371944236Estelle, Larry to Mary Beard/repositories/2/archival_objects/123363820 October 1954237F:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233639Fackenthal, Frank D. (C.U. Provost)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123364015 March & 27 April 194431Farley, James A. (CocaCola Chairman of the Board)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123364120 June 1945-4 August 194832Farrand, Max (Yale University)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336422 May 191333Fay, Sidney Bradshaw (Smith College)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336439 November 192834Fenton, Frank P. (American Federation of Labor)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123364427 January 194835Ferguson, Homer (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123364511 October 194736Flack, Horace E./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336464 November 191137Scope and Contents(re fourteenth ammendment)
Fosdick, Harry Emerson (Riverside Church)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123364710 April 194238Fosdick, Raymond B./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336488 February 191639Frank, John P./repositories/2/archival_objects/123364928 August 1944 & 25 June n.y.310Frankfurter, Felix/repositories/2/archival_objects/123365030 April 1943 & 21 January 1948311Freedman, I/repositories/2/archival_objects/123365113 October 1917312G:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233652Galloway, George B./repositories/2/archival_objects/123365321 May 1947313Goodknow, Frank J. (Johns Hopkins)/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233654314Galton, Lawrence N./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336556 March 1944315Graham, Howard Jay/repositories/2/archival_objects/123365629 January 1939316Greenfield, Kent Roberts/repositories/2/archival_objects/123365731 May 1940317H:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233658Harvard Law/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336595 May 1931318Scope and Contents(re. "10 Milestones in the History of Privale Law")
Hawkes, Mary (C.U. Dean)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336604 January 1918319Scope and Contents(re. "Fraser incident")
Hearst, William Randolph to E. D. Coblentz/repositories/2/archival_objects/123366121 January 1932320Scope and Contents(re. "Politics shouldn't be a Shell Game") (Typed copy)
Hagemann, Werner (New School)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123366219 April-18 November 1934321Scope and Contents(re. his "Entlarvte Geschichte")
Hoag, G. C. (Proportional Representation League)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123366324 October 1917322Hughes, Rupert/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336648 March 1937323J:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233665Johns Hopkins University telegram to Senator Walter George/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336665 February 1941324Scope and Contents(re. Lend-lease Bill; sent to Beard by Harold Cherniss)
K:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233667King, Judson (National Popular Government League)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336689 & 11 October 1917325Krock, Arthur (NY Times)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336698 January 1941326Scope and Contents(re. Beard's war with Japan prediction in 1933)
L:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233670L.K.7./repositories/2/archival_objects/123367123 November 1921327Lindberg, Charles A./repositories/2/archival_objects/123367220 March 1945-21 August 1948328Scope and Contents(typed copy)
Lodge, Henry Cabot, Jr./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336733 July 1947329M:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233674Macfarland, Charles S./repositories/2/archival_objects/123367514 May 1940330March, Alton/repositories/2/archival_objects/123367615 October 1917331Mencken, H. L./repositories/2/archival_objects/123367720 May 1939332O:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233678O'Rourke, Grace (for Dr. Bradley)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123367920 August 1940333P:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233680Palmer, Paul (The American Mercury)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123368112 May 1927334Patterson, J. M. (The News)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123368216 May 1945335Phelps, William Lyon (Yale University)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123368321 November 1935336Pratt, Frances (Foreign Policy Association)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123368429 August 1934337Scope and Contents(Includes copies of letters from Rudolph Katz to Alfred Vagts)
Putman, James/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336854 December 1932338R:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233686R.W.M. (Assistant Secretary of State)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336879 January 1936339Scope and Contents(re. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission)
Ratcliffe, Richard P. to Miriam Vagts/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336883 August 1973340Ritter, Halsted L./repositories/2/archival_objects/123368924 October 1917341Rogers, Lindsay/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336908 May n.y.342Rodgers, J. Woowall (American and Planning and Civic Association)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369110 February 1948343Roosevelt, Franklin/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369215 January 1936344Scope and Contents(re. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission)
Russell, H. D./repositories/2/archival_objects/12336939 August 1947345S:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233694S____ and A. A. Young (War Trade Board)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369522 September - 6 November 191741Scope and Contents(re. Academic Freedom in Time of War)
Sinclair, Upton/repositories/2/archival_objects/12336967 August 193942Smith, G. Herbert (willamette University)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369721 May 194343Stangeland (NJ State Chamber of Commerce)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369821 September & 9 October 191744Seppel, F. P. (War Department)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123369923 & 25 October 191745Stewart G. W. (State University of Iowa)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370026 November 191746Stone, Harlan Fisk (Supreme Court)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370113 March 1934 - 13 November 194547Sullivan, Mark (Collier's)/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370217 October 191748Symonds, Maurice to J. M. Peterson/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370316 May 194549T:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233704Taylor, Helen K./repositories/2/archival_objects/123370527 March 1944410Triplett, Norman/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370611 October 1917413V:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233707Vagts, Miriam to various/repositories/2/archival_objects/123370825 July 1970 - 8 January 1971411W:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233709Witham, W. Tasker/repositories/2/archival_objects/123371031 August 1945412Wildman, Murray Shipley/repositories/2/archival_objects/123371126 November 1917414Works, John D. (US Senate)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337125 May 1913415Y:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233713Yale University Press to "Uncle Charlie"/repositories/2/archival_objects/123371429 July 1948422Series II: Manuscripts/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233715By Beard:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233716"The Big Railway Wreck" by Charles A. Beard/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233717418Scope and Contents(Photocopy from Hoover Institute)
"American Nationalism the Foe of Peace and Prosperity for the Whole World"/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233718194461Scope and Contents(A report on the formula for The Reader's Digest)
"An Unforgettable Woman"/repositories/2/archival_objects/123371962Scope and Contents(About Beard's grandmother, Sarah Payne)
"Report to Governor Cross on Milk Situation"/repositories/2/archival_objects/123372029 August 193363Lectures on "The Scope of Politics" at The Bureau of Municipal Research/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233721191864"Note on Pearl Harbor"/repositories/2/archival_objects/123372269Columbia Resignation:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233723"Columbia Controversy" manuscript material/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233724421Essay by Beard on the Columbia University and the Great War/repositories/2/archival_objects/123372568Columbia University Special Committee on Subversive Beliefs or Disloyalty/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233726191766Scope and Contents(Includes manuscripts, reports, and photocopies)
"Statement of Facts in the Matter of the Committee of Education of the Board of Education of trustees of Columbia University and professor Charles A. Bead"/repositories/2/archival_objects/123372767Research Photocopies:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233728Photocopies of Raymond Moley correspondence from the Hoover Institute Archives/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337291934-1936416"Debts and Credits: An Economic Balance Sheet Drawn Up to Meet Political Necessities" by W. Y. Elliott/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233730417Scope and Contents(Photocopy from Hoover Institute)
Notes as to Military Record of Colnel Edward David/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233731419Scope and Contents(Photocopy from Hoover Institute)
Photocopies of correspondence from Harvard and other institutions/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233732420Biography of Charles A. Beard:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233733Original manuscrips (ca 1000pp)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337345Scope and Contents(Includes notes, drafts of chapters, photocopies, and other archival materials compiled for Vagts's biography of C.A.B. The manuscript appears to be fragmentary, with only a few chapters having proceeded to the finished stage. Materials arranged as received, many pages clearly out of sequence; completeness impossible to gauge but still a substantial archive of primary biographical material relating to Beard. )
Meetings:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233735Meeting of the Commission on Direction American Historical Association Investigation of the Social Studies in the Schools/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337367-8 May 193165Series III: Off Prints, Reprints, Clippings, Photographs, and Books/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233737"What Can Government Do To Prevent and Relieve Unemployment?" by Robert F. Wagner and Charles A Beard. University of Chicago Press/repositories/2/archival_objects/123373819327"Issues of Foreign Policy" by Charles A. Beard. University of Chicago Press/repositories/2/archival_objects/123373919327"Issues of Domestic Policy" by Charles A. Beard. University of Chicago Press/repositories/2/archival_objects/123374019327"The Idea of Let Us Alone" by Charles A. Beard. Virginia Quarterly Review/repositories/2/archival_objects/123374119397"Giddy Minds and Foreign Quarrels" by Charles A. Beard. Harpers Magazine/repositories/2/archival_objects/123374219397"Roosevelt's Place in History" by Charles A. Beard. Events/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233743February 19387"A Memorandum on Social Philosophy" by Charles A. Beard. Journal of Social Philosophy/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233744October 19397"Wirtschaft und Regierung den Vereinigten Staaten" by Charles A. Beard/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337457"Limitations to the Application of Social Science in Recent Social Trends by Charles A. Beard. Social Forces/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233746May 19337"Time, Technology, and the Creative Spirit in Political Science" Edited by Charles A. Beard/repositories/2/archival_objects/123374719277"The Individual and the Group in Marxist Theory" by John D. Lewis/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233748October 19367"The Struggle against the Historical Blackout" by Harry Elmer Barnes/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337497Scope and Contents(Includes the poem "Tribute to Charles Austin Beard" by Eugene Davidson
"The Predicament of History" by Eugen Rosenstock-Hussy/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233750February 19357"Causes of Revolution" by Louis Gottschalk/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233751July 19447"Social Change v. The Constitution" by Charles A. Beard/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233752July 19367AHA Newsletter/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233753June 19707"Charles Beard, Conneticut Farmer" by Albert Vagts in CLIO/repositories/2/archival_objects/123375419767"Charles A. Beard's Recollictions of Henry County, Indiana" Editied by Clifton J. Phillips/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233755March 19597Ritter Family - With Sketch of Eli Foster Ritter/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337567"The Relativity of History" by C. Vincent Confer in The Hellenist/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233757May 19347Clippings and articles (ca. 200 items)/repositories/2/archival_objects/12337587Photographs:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233759Photograph of Frances Perkins giving a speech/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233760610Photograph of an unidentified young boy/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233761610Books:/repositories/2/archival_objects/1233762Charles A. Beard: An Appraisal. Edited by Howard K. Beale. University of Kentucky Press/repositories/2/archival_objects/123376319547Scope and Contents(The copy owned by Mary Beard and marked by her. With a photograph of Charles A. Beard inside the front cover)
Charles A. Beard: An Appraisal. Edited by Howard K. Beale. University of Kentucky Press/repositories/2/archival_objects/123376419547Scope and Contents(Inscribe to Mary Beard by Howard K. Beale, 8 April 1954)
Scope and Contents(Inscribed to Eileen O'Daniel Eddy by Mary Ritter Beard, 31 October 1954)