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COLLECTION Identifier: HUG 4823

Papers of F. W. Taussig

Abstract

The Papers of F. W. Taussig, 1879-1946, chiefly consists of correspondence documenting Taussig's research on capital earnings and other subjects while a professor econimics at Harvard; and personal items including a scrapbook and photographs. The collection also includes Taussig's correspondence relating to his service to President Woodrow Wilson as an econimic adviser and chairman of the U.S. Tariff Commission, and his correspondence with Harvard faculty about the Walsh-Sweezy Harvard temination case, 1937-1939.

Dates

  • Creation: 1879-1946

Creator

Researcher access

Open for research.

Extent

7.86 cubic feet (22 document boxes, 2 pamphlet binders, 2 folders, 1 volume)

Collection consists of correspondence about Taussig's research on capital earnings and other subjects; a scrapbook; and photographs, including two group portraits, one of the Price-Fixing Commision, 1917, and another of the American delegation to Paris in 1919. Also includes correspondence relating to President Woodrow Wilson, 1917-1919, and Taussig's correspondence with Harvard faculty about the Walsh-Sweezy Harvard temination case, 1937-1939. Taussig was Chair of the United States Tariff Commission and part of the Price-Fixing Committee of the War Industries Board during the Wilson administration.

Biographical note on F. W. Taussig

American economist F. W. (Frank William) Taussig (1859-1940) was a professor of economics at Harvard University specializing in industrial economics and an econimic adviser to United States president Woodrow Wilson. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Taussig attended Washington University in St. Louis for one year before transferring to Harvard and graduating as a member of the Class of 1879. Following graduation, Taussig began gradudate studies at Harvard in both economics and law, receiving a doctorate in economics in 1883 and completing his law degree in 1886. Taussig was named assistant professor of econimics at Harvard in 1886 and was appointed full professor of political economy in 1892. While teaching at Harvard, Taussig's research focused on commercial policy, international trade, and value and distribution. His textbook published in 1911, Principles of Economics, was widely read in college economics courses. From 1917 to 1920, Taussig took a leave of absence from Harvard to become President Woodrow Wilson's first chairman of the U.S. Tariff Commission. Taussig resigned from this position in 1919 to accompany Wilson to the Versailles Peace Conference where he served as an official economic adviser.

Taussig was married twice. He first married Edith Thomas Guild in 1888, and the marriage produced four children, including pediatrician and cardiologist Helen B. Taussig. After his first wife's death in 1910, Taussig later married Laura Fisher.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in aranged in 12 series:

  1. Papers, subject folders, A-Z, 1897-1928 (HUG 4823.4)
  2. Correspondence, A-Z, circa 1890-1925, 1946 (HUG 4823.4.5)
  3. Correspondence, A-Z, circa 1919-1937 (HUG 4823.5)
  4. Correspondence on Social Origins of Business Leaders Investigation, 1928-1931 (HUG 4823.7)
  5. Capital Earnings Research correspondence and related records, 1924-1925 (HUG 4823.8)
  6. Exploration in Economics -- Notes and essays in honor of F. W. Taussig, 1936 (HUG 4823.10)
  7. Correspondence relating to Woodrow Wilson, 1917-1919 (HUG 4823.15)
  8. Papers re3lating to the J. Raymond Walsh- Alan R. Sweezy Case, 1937-1939 (HUG 4823.18)
  9. Scrapbook, 1875-1898 (HUG 4823.31)
  10. Reprints, pamphlets, etc., A-Z, 1896-1941 (HUG 4823.72)
  11. Photographs from Taussig's Harvard Class of 1879 Class Album, 1879 (HUG 4823.75 p PF)
  12. Group portraits of Price-Fixing Commission, 1917, and the American delegation to the Treaty of 1919, Paris (HUG 4823.75 p)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Papers of F. W. Taussig were acquired through several donations and transfers. Acquisition information, where available, is noted at the series level.

Related Materials

The Harvard University Archives holds:

  1. Harvard College Class of 1879 Class Album (HUD 279.04)
  2. Harvard University Department of Economics records from chairmanship of Harold Hitchings Burbank (UAV 349.10): https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/hua17018/catalog
  3. Harvard University Corporation Committee of Eight Report on the terminating appointments of Dr. J. R. Walsh and Dr. A. R. Sweezy, 1938 May 24 (UAI 10.500 and HUA 938.69)
  4. [Comment upon the Walsh-Sweezy case], 1937 (HUA 937.3)
  5. Clippings relating to the Walsh-Sweezy case, 1937 (HUA 937.92)

Inventory update

This document last updated 2021 December 9.

Processing Information

This finding aid was created by Jennifer Pelose in April 2020. Information for this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories, reference sources, and container management data. The collection was not re-examined.

Title
Taussig, F.W. (Frank William), 1859-1940. Papers of F. W. Taussig, 1879-1946 : an inventory
Author
Harvard University Archives
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua31020

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

Contact:
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