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University of Chicago Library

Guide to the James Laurence Laughlin Papers 1885-1914

© 2006 University of Chicago Library

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Laughlin, James Laurence. Papers

Dates:

1885-1914

Size:

.5 linear ft. ( 1 box)

Repository:

Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

J. Laurence Laughlin (1850-933), Professor of Political Economy, editor of the Journal of Political Economy. The J. Laurence Laughlin Papers consist of a small collection of writings, correspondence, lectures notes and miscellany. The primary focus of the collection centers on two economic controversies in which Laughlin was involved concerning U. S. silver monetary policy and the legality and benefits of labor unions.

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Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Laughlin, James Laurence. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

James Laurence Laughlin was born on April 2, 1850 in Deerfield, Ohio. In the fall of 1869 he entered Harvard College and was graduated summa cum laude in history in 1873. He continued the study of history under Henry Adams at Harvard. He also taught at Hopkinson's Classical School in Boston. In 1876 he received his Ph. D. degree for his thesis on "The Anglo-Saxon Legal Procedure."

In the fall of 1878 Laughlin was appointed instructor of political economy at Harvard. After receiving graduate training in economics, he was appointed an assistant professor at Harvard (1883-1888); during this period, Laughlin organized and sponsored the Political Economy Club. He also completed his History of Bimetallism in the United States in 1885. In 1888 Laughlin left Harvard and became president of the Manufacturer's Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia. He accepted a professorship in Political Economy at Cornell University in 1890.

Two years later President Harper appointed Laughlin Head Professor of Political Economy at the new University of Chicago. At Chicago, Laughlin introduced the seminar as a method of instruction and founded the Journal of Political Economy. In 1894, Laughlin proposed that the University establish a School of Commerce and Industry. The new professional school, which began undergraduate instruction in 1898, evolved into the Graduate School of Business.

In 1916 Laughlin became Professor Emeritus. He moved to East Jaffery, New Hampshire, where he completed his Credit of Nations, published in 1918. He also wrote numerous magazine articles, largely on labor questions, including "Monopoly of Labor." He died on November 28, 1933.

Scope Note

The J. Laurence Laughlin Papers consist of a small collection of writings, correspondence, lectures notes and miscellany. The primary focus of the collection centers on two economic controversies in which Laughlin was involved concerning U. S. silver monetary policy and the legality and benefits of labor unions.

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Subject Headings

INVENTORY

Box 1   Folder 1

Correspondence 1885-1898

  • J. B. Aldrich
  • N. (?) B. Anderson
  • C. Schurz
  • James F. Colby
  • S. Newcomb
  • Henry E. Sawyer
  • H. H. Kohlsaat
  • C. A. Woods to H. H. Kohlsaat
  • H. H. Kohlsaat
  • H. W. Hawley
  • William S. Poppleton to H.H. Kohlsaat
  • Edw. A. Temple
  • Horace White Stuart C. Wade
  • Stuart C. Wade
  • Edward Ericson
  • Eugene F. Baldwin
  • L. F. Houghton
  • Rozel Weissinger
  • J. M. Hagar
  • H. W. Van Sendry (?)
  • Wm. H. Fitch
  • J. T. Beem
  • E. A. Congdon
  • C. McAuliff
  • M. Fell, Jr.
  • Thomas F. Byron
  • Clark Conkling
  • Edw. S. Elliott
  • D. A. Orebaugh to Editor [of the Time Herald] to be passed on to Laughlin
  • W[illiam] J. Fischer
  • John Serrigan Bell
  • R.E. Preston(?) (Director of the Mint, 1895)
  • "S.T." to H.H. Kohlsaat
  • Richard W. Knott
  • Horace Rublee
  • A.D. Noyes
Box 1   Folder 2

Correspondence 1903-1914

  • Mathias von Holst to Carl Marr
  • Carl Marr to Mathias von Holst
  • Carl Marr
  • Carl Marr
  • E.E. Prussing
  • Laughlin to John A. Cook
  • A. M. Wergeland
  • Nicholas Murrary Butler
  • Laughlin to F. Burdick
  • Laughlin to Ellery Sedgewick
  • Albert Farwell Bemis
  • Laughlin to Albert F. Bemis
  • Laughlin to H.L. Gregory
  • A.C. Dutton
  • Laughlin to Ellery Sedgewick
  • Laughlin to A.C. Dutton
  • Laughlin to Ellery Sedgewick
  • Laughlin to Jerome D. Greene
  • Laughlin to C. B. Spencer
  • Arthur T. Lyman
  • Laughlin to Arthur T. Lyman
  • A. C. Kingsford
  • Laughlin A.C. Kingsford
  • W.R. Ingalls
  • Laughlin to W. R. Ingalls
  • Laughlin to Rev. John O. Grady
Box 1   Folder 3

Manuscript, "Monopoly of Labor"-holograph draft

Box 1   Folder 4

Manuscript, "Monopoly of Labor"-holograph draft and typescript draft

Box 1   Folder 5

Manuscript, "Monopoly of Labor"-holograph draft and outline

Box 1   Folder 6

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Preface

Box 1   Folder 7

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter I

Box 1   Folder 8

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter II

Box 1   Folder 9

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter III

Box 1   Folder 10

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter IV

Box 1   Folder 11

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter V

Box 1   Folder 12

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Chapter VI

Box 1   Folder 13

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Appendix I

Box 1   Folder 14

Manuscript, Credit of the Nations [1918]-Miscellaneous drafts

Box 1   Folder 15

Lecture notes from Samuel Eliot's course Nineteenth Century taken by J. Laurence Laughlin

Box 1   Folder 16

Instructors grade book: "Railways, 1891-1892"

Box 1   Folder 17

Miscellaneous texts

  • "Fifty Books on Bimetallism, Free Coinage of Silver, Paper-Mondy, and Banking. Selected and Described by Prof. J. Laurence Laughlin," pamphlet, after 1895
  • "Our Currency: What are its Defects?... A Discussion before the Commercial Club of Chicago," October 27, 1894
  • "The Sunset Club, Chicago," proceedings, December 6, 1894
  • "Professor Laughlin to the Doctors of Philosophy," address to the Association of Doctors of Philosophy, June 6, 1916
  • Scheme for the Department of Political Economy and Finance in Cornell University, Presented to the Board of Trustees," March 2, 1891
  • "Is the Gold Law a Failure?" The Economist, July 14, 1900
Box 1   Folder 18

"To the President and Trustees of the University of Chicago," draft of open letter from faculty in the Social Sciences requesting additional University support, circa 1907