Department of Economics records, 1915-2016
Summary Information
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- UA#0283
- Bib ID:
- 6947927 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- Columbia University. Department of Economics
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 24.96 linear feet (9 document boxes, 7 record cartons, 2 oversize boxes and 17 index card boxes)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
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All administrative records of the University are restricted for 25 years from the date of creation. Certain records related to students and University personnel are restricted for 75 years from the date of creation.
The following boxes are located offsite: Boxes 1-8. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Description
Summary
This collection consists of the records relating to the faculty and curriculum of the Department of Economics, primarily during the 1940s and 1950s, when prominent faculty members included James Angell, Arthur Burns, Carter Goodrich, Carl Shoup, Horace Taylor and William Vickerey. The collection also includes Carl Shoup's records from when the School of Business was administratively under the Department of Economics. There are also materials from Donald Dewey's courses: outlines, reading lists, exams, etc.
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Series IV: Graduate student cards, 1920s-2000s
Graduate students enrolled in the Department of Economics were asked to complete an information card, which was kept by the department. The information collected on the cards varies (the template changes over the years) but for the most part, the card includes information about the student's background, academic record, research interests, and future plans. The cards were updated by the office staff and include information about the students' lives after they left Columbia. Starting in the 1930s, the cards may include a copy of the student's registration photograph. Cards are organized alphabetically by the student's last name.
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Series V: Faculty files, 1928-2016
This series contains the faculty or personnel files kept at the Department of Economics office. For each faculty member, the folder may include a c.v., lists of publications, syllabi, correspondence, a photograph, but also more routine employment records such as appointment letters, tax forms, visa applications, affirmative action clearance forms, ad hoc committee information, office space requests, etc. There is also information about leave replacements, obituaries and memorial services. Records related to University personnel are restricted for 75 years from the date of creation.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in five series.
- Series I: Department records, 1915-1966
- Series II: Carl Shoup papers, 1931-2000
- Series III: Donald Dewey papers, 1959-1992
- Series IV: Graduate student cards, 1920s-2000s
- Series V: Faculty files, 1928-2016
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
All administrative records of the University are restricted for 25 years from the date of creation. Certain records related to students and University personnel are restricted for 75 years from the date of creation.
The following boxes are located offsite: Boxes 1-8. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Single photocopies 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.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Department of Economics records; Box and Folder (if known); University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Selected Related Material at Columbia University
Faculty of Political Science records, 1890s-1960s; Graduate School of Business records, 1910s-2010s.
Accrual of Records
Additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Series I was a gift of the Columbia University Department of Economics, 1967. Series II was received as a gift from Carl Shoup in 1991. The Tax Mission to Japan materials in Series II were donated by Ellen Ruth Meyer in December 2021. Series III was a gift of Donald Dewey in 2000. Series IV and V were tranferred from the Department of Economics in August 2021.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Joanna Rios. Finding aid written by Joanna Rios in February 2019. Series IV was processed by Joanna Rios, August 2021. Series V was processed by Joanna Rios, September 2021. Series II: Tax Mission to Japan records were processed by Joanna Rios, December 2021.
Revision Description
2019-02-10 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
2021-09-02 Added Series IV: Graduate student cards. (JR)
2021-09-21 Added Series V: Faculty files (JR)
2021-12-10 Added Tax Mission to Japan materials to Series II: Carl Shoup papers, 1931-2000 (JR)
Biographical / Historical
Columbia was among the first American colleges to offer instruction in economics. Reverend John McVickar CC 1804 began teaching political economy as early as 1821 and, by 1825, he published the first American textbook on the subject. McVickar taught the class for almost forty years. In 1876, John W. Burgess joined the faculty and he brought along his former student Richmond Mayo-Smith as the Professor of History and Political Science. Mayo-Smith's appointment was the first in the College's history which was made primarily on the candidate's qualifications in political economy.
The department can be said to have started when, in addition to Professor Mayo-Smith, Columbia appointed Edwin R. A. Seligman CC 1879, LLB 1884 and PhD 1885 as a lecturer in Political Economy. By 1890, the two-man department doubled in size with the addition of the sociologist Franklin H. Giddings and the economic theorist John Bates Clark. Originally named the Department of Political Economy and Social Science, Seligman changed the name to the Department of Economics and Social Science in 1892. They offered general courses for undergraduates as well as an integrated curriculum leading to graduate work. They also attracted students from the School of Law, Teachers College and the theological seminaries.
While working on Business Cycles, Wesley C. Mitchell decided to resign from the University for California and to move to New York, the center of the financial world. At Columbia he took a nominal salary so that he could confine his teaching to only one course on his current research interests, which became one of the most famous courses in the department's history. Students would transcribe Prof. Mitchell's lectures and sell mimeograph copies to fellow students, students at other institutions, and even professionals. The department played an important role in the development of the Contemporary Civilization course, a merging of history and social sciences for the first two years of college work. Edward VanDyke Robinson was brought in 1915 to teach primarily undergraduates in the College, but it was William E. Weld, who became the first full Professor of Economics attached to Columbia College in 1928.
The establishment of the School of Business in 1916 was a welcome event for the Department and both would remain close administratively. In fact, from 1931 to 1940 Roswell C. McCrea served concurrently as executive officer of the Department and dean of the School. Similarly, when the School of International Affairs (now known as the School of International and Public Affairs) opened in 1946, the Department grew to meet the needs of SIA students, who were required to take general courses in international economics, trade and finance.
After the founding fathers of the department retired or passed away in the 1930s, they left the department in the hands of a new generation of pioneers in the field including Arthur Frank Burns, Carter Goodrich, Robert M. Haig, Harold Hotelling, Carl Sumner Shoup, and William Vickrey.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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