Finding Aids

Economics and Business

American Paper Currency. Collection

Contains American paper currency (1748-1899), including examples from the Colonial, Continental, and Civil War periods. Includes currency that was transferred from the Reuben T. Durrett Collection.

Asher, Louis E.. Papers

Advertising executive and businessman. Contains correspondence, advertising materials, and photographs relating primarily to Asher's activities while working at Sears, Roebuck and Company. Correspondents include Julius Rosenwald and Richard W. Sears.

Bell, Laird. Papers

Laird Bell, attorney and member of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees. Bell practiced law in Chicago and was involved in a number of civic and corporate organizations. The collection contains documents from his service on the University of Chicago Board of Trustees as well as on several postwar economic projects of the U.S. government

Benton, William. Papers

William Benton (1900-1973) was an advertising executive, publisher, university administrator, U.S. senator and diplomat. Contains personal and professional correspondence, reports, legal documents, account books, diaries, manuscripts, speeches, research notes, transcripts of radio and television broadcasts, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, awards, and mementos. Papers highlight Benton's business and investment successes as well as his contributions to education and public affairs. Includes material relating to Encyclopaedia Britannica (1941-1973); Encyclopaedia Britannica Films (1939-1973); America First Committee; the Committee for Economic Development (1942-1973); Muzak (1941-1973); Benton & Bowles (1925-1973); the U.S. State Department (1941-1973); UNESCO (1946-1973); the McCarthy era; the establishment of Voice of America; the University of Chicago Board of Trustees; the Benton Foundation (1958-1973) commitments to Brandeis University, the University of Bridgeport, the University of Connecticut, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, and the American Shakespeare Festival; and Connecticut and national politics (1948-1973).

Blair, James. Collection

James Blair, correspondent for Philadelphia mercantile house, Stewart, Nesbitt & Co., operating primarily out of the Caribbean island of Dominica in the late 18th century. This collection contains letters written Blair from 1781 to 1792. Also included in the collection is a letter from William Lawrence to Alexander Nesbitt.

Blatchford, E.W. Hog Raising and the Pork Packing Industry in America

Scrapbook of correspondence, completed questionnaires, draft reports, and news clippings. Material relates to the investigation of the American pork industry by a special committee appointed by the President of the United States

Blum, Walter J. Papers

Walter J. Blum (1918-1994), A.B.’39, J.D.’41 University of Chicago, spent the bulk of his career at the University of Chicago Law School. He was appointed assistant professor in 1946. A well-respected and widely published expert in the fields of tax law, insurance, bankruptcy, and corporate reorganization, Blum often lent his expertise to both the United States government and private organizations. The Papers cover many different aspects of Blum’s professional career: scholarly writings and research, teaching materials, extensive correspondence, and materials related to his recurring role as a consultant to both public and private organizations.

Bowman, Mary Jean. Papers

Mary Jean Bowman (1908-2002) University of Chicago economist best known for her work on the economics of education. The Mary Jean Bowman papers contain published work by Bowman as well as manuscript drafts, notes, and research and teaching materials. The collection also includes reprints and manuscripts by other scholars, correspondence, and some personal files.

Carter, Henry Kendall. Papers

The Henry Kendall Carter Papers (1823-1880, bulk 1840-1870) are made up of business documents, primarily concerning Carter's time in New Orleans (circa 1842-1874), personal and business correspondence, and personal memo books and diaries (1850-1878). Together, these items shed light on business life in Antebellum New Orleans, and on the realities of personal and business life in a divided country during the Civil War.

Chandler, David. Collection

David Chandler (fl. 1838-1857) was a shopkeeper in Newburgh, New York in the mid-1800s. This collection contains a number of account books and journals kept between 1838 and 1857.

Chicago Association of Commerce. Industrial Department. Report

General report of the Chicago industrial area: a review of 1944, prepared by the Industrial Department of the Chicago Association of Commerce, formerly in one volume. Crerar Manuscript 401.

Coase, Ronald H. Papers

Ronald H. Coase (1910-2013) was an influential economist and one of the founders of the field of law and economics. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in 1991 in recognition of his work on transaction costs, firms, property rights, and institutional economics. Coase held positions at the London School of Economics, the University of Buffalo, and the University of Virginia before finishing his career at the University of Chicago Law School. His work covered a wide range of topics, including public utilities, the post office, broadcasting, lighthouses, and the economic development of China. This collection primarily documents Coase’s research, writing, and correspondence with colleagues. It includes drafts, typescripts, reprints, text of lectures, notes, reports, letters, and research files. Also included are photographs, clippings, personal ephemera, artifacts, and copies of academic journal articles. The collection ranges in date from 1805-2013, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950-2010.

Cone, Fairfax M. Papers

Fairfax Cone rose from copy editor at the Lord and Thomas ad agency to partner in Foote, Belding and Cone. The Papers contain correspondence, business and organizational files, speeches and photographs.

Container Corporation of America. Collection

Seven sets of prints from advertisements produced by the Container Corporation of America between 1950 and 1964. The prints were published in three- to four-year groups and all belong to the Great Ideas of Western Man series which ran from 1950-1975. Each poster pairs a quote from a historical figure with a commissioned artwork inspired by that quote.

Dewey, Donald J. Collection of Frank Knight

Donald J. Dewey (1923-2002) was a professor of economics at Duke University and Columbia University. He earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago in 1943. The materials in this collection were gathered by Dewey in preparation for an article he wrote on economist Frank H. Knight: "Frank Knight before Cornell: some light on the dark years," Research in the History of Economic Thought & Methodology 8 (1990): 1-38.

Director, Aaron. Papers

Aaron Director was a professor in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago from 1946 to 1965. His papers include correspondence, notes, and drafts of essays, lectures, and policy statements spanning the years 1932 to 1994. Much of the correspondence focuses on American monetary policy and administrative matters regarding the Journal of Law and Economics. The series covering Director’s research and writing includes a broad range of notes, drafts, annotations, and academic materials. Additionally, the Aaron Director Papers include a series devoted to materials attributed to the economist and Nobel Laureate George J. Stigler. Director and Stigler frequently collaborated on works of economic theory, and Director preserved a significant collection of Stigler’s papers. These materials include notes, drafts, and publications produced over the length of Stigler’s tenure at the University of Chicago.

Douglas, Paul H. Papers

Paul H. Douglas, economist, author, professor, senator. The Paul H. Douglas Papers consist of letters from Douglas to Gregg and Julia Lewis (1938-1946), reprints of his articles, and a miscellaneous collection of photographs, notes, and other materials relating to Douglas.

French Currency. Collection

The French Currency Collection contains monetary notes and short manuscripts on the history of French Revolutionary paper moneys. This collection includes assignats, promesses de mandats, and billets de confiance. The French Currency Collection dates from 1791 to 1796.

Hamilton, Earl J. Papers

Earl J. Hamilton, professor, economist, writer. The Earl J. Hamilton Papers consist of correspondence (1953-1957), corrected page proofs for War and Prices in Spain (1927) and Money, Prices, and Wages in Valencia, Aragon, and Navarre, 1350-1500 (1935), typescripts, reprints, and memorabilia.

Historical Manuscripts. Collection

The Historical Manuscripts Collections contains correspondence and other brief manuscripts documenting personal, scholarly, business, government, and religious affairs, written by an array of authors, primarily from North America and Western Europe. The manuscripts date from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries.

Hooper, Frances. Papers

Frances Hooper (1892-1986) was a journalist and advertising executive. She was founder and president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency. Hooper was also an author and avid collector of books and art. Correspondence, books, photographs, and notes in the collection reflect Hooper's personal life between the 1920s and 1970s. Correspondence, memorandum, records, layouts, and mockups describe the professional work of Frances Hooper, Inc., between the 1940s and 1970s. The major accounts of Frances Hooper Inc. included the Wrigley Company, the related Good Teeth Council for Children, and the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.

Horton, Horace Everett, Notes on the Manufacturing of Glucose, Grape Sugars and Starches

Volume one contains manuscript laboratory notes and diagrams. Volume two contains Rockford Sugar Refining Company records, laboratory notes, notes, manuscripts, typescripts, and photographs. Volume three contains plant designs, blueprints, floorplans, notes, and correspondence. Volume four contains notes, diagrams, and blueprints.

Hoselitz, Bert F., Papers

Bert F. Hoselitz (1913-1995), economist, researched and taught at the University of Chicago from 1945 until 1978. An interdisciplinary pioneer, his research focused principally on cultural and sociological factors in economic development. The Papers contain materials related to research projects, professional correspondence, teaching materials as well as documents, correspondence and manuscripts related to his involvement in the Norman Wait Harris Foundation, the journal Economic Development and Cultural Change and the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.

Hyde Park Historical Society. Hyde Park Co-op. Records

The Hyde Park Cooperative Society was founded in 1932. Based on Rochdale cooperative principles, it operated food stores in Hyde Park between 1933 and 2008. The Co-op was involved in many charitable and educational activities in the neighbourhood, including cooperative housing and other retail ventures. The Hyde Park Co-op records include administrative records, correspondence, pamphlet literature, books, photographs, audiovisual and digital material, and artifacts. The collection spans 1915-2008, with the bulk of material devoted to the period between 1934 and 2008.

Kaplan, Norman Maurice. Papers

Norman Maurice Kaplan, economist, professor. The Norman Maurice Kaplan Papers consist of course notes, syllabi, and miscellaneous papers in economics collected during Kaplan's graduate years at the University of Chicago. The papers also contain notes from courses at Stanford University and the Graduate School of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kluit, Adriaan, Dictata ad Statisticam, zeu Amnem administrationem publicam & Oeconomicam, totius Belgii nostri

Manuscript study on the public and economic administration of the Netherlands. Delivered as lectures at the University of Leiden, 1806-1807.

Klutznick, Philip M. Papers

Philip M. Klutznick, businessman, philanthropist, diplomat, government official and Jewish leader. The Philip M. Klutznick Papers comprise 175.5 linear feet and include correspondence, manuscripts, notes, published materials, photographs, scrapbooks, architectural plans, awards and mementos and audio and video recordings. The papers document Klutznick's career as a real estate developer, philanthropist, United Nations representative in the 1950s and 1960s, President of B'nai B'rith, 1953-59 and the World Jewish Congress, 1977-1979, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1979-1981 and leader of the American and international Jewish community.

Knight, Frank Hyneman. Papers

Frank Hyneman Knight (1885-1972) was an economist, professor, social philosopher, and author. The collection includes biographical material and documents pertaining to Knight's education; correspondence; copies of his publications; drafts of published and unpublished essays and articles, public lectures, and criticism; course lecture notes and classroom materials; and writings by others collected by Knight. The papers primarily document Knight's writing, lecturing, and career as a professor of political economics and related social sciences at the University of Chicago, as well as his role as one of the founders of the "Chicago school" of economics.

Kramer, Ferdinand. Papers

Ferdinand Kramer (1901-2002), real estate developer, devoted much of his life to projects for urban renewal and housing integration on Chicago's South Side. The papers include correspondence and speeches on issues of urban development, as well as materials relating to his work as a member of Urban American Inc., and as a developer for the Dearborn Park development in Chicago's South Loop. The collection also includes an autograph collection, and a small amount of correspondence of Ferdinand Kramer's father, Adolf Kramer.

Krug, Fr. V., Correspondence

Four autograph letters, signed, from Fr. V. Krug, Philadelphia, to Samuel Williston, button manufacturer, East Hampton, Massachusetts. Topic of letters relates to the button trade.

Lange, Oskar. Papers

Oskar Lange, economist, professor, ambassador. The Oskar Lange Papers consist of an untitled manuscript, reprints of several articles by Lange, a press release, and a letter to Lange from Maynard Krueger dated January 30, 1941.

Laughlin, James Laurence. Papers

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.

Leacock, Stephan Butler. Papers

Stephan Butler Leacock (1869-1944), economist and humorist. This collection contains a humorous essay on the University of Chicago, a paper on Prussian taxation, notes from a course in U. S. financial history, and a thesis on the subject of laissez-faire.

Leland, Simeon E. Papers

Simeon E. Leland, economist, professor. The Leland Papers consist of a pamphlet, a reprint, and typescripts of Leland’s work on topics such as financing World War II, property tax, and inflation.

Llewellyn, Karl N. Papers

Karl N. Llewellyn (1893-1962) was a scholar of jurisprudence and a major proponent of the school of legal realism. He practiced law and taught at Yale and Columbia before arriving at the University of Chicago Law School in 1951. He worked on American Indian law, and was one of the leading drafters of the Uniform Commercial Code. The collection includes material pertaining to Karl N. Llewellyn's research, writing, and teaching; material relevant to his professional activities; writings of others collected by Llewellyn; correspondence; personal ephemera; papers of family members; photographs, audio recordings and transcripts; and videos. Materials date between 1890 and 1983, with the bulk of the material dating between 1914 and 1962.

Lorie, James. Papers

James Lorie, professor of business administration. The James Lorie Papers consist of correspondence, articles, two course syllabi, and an elaborately designed tribute booklet.

Manufacturers of Toledo. Committee on Smoke Abatement. Majority Report of the Investigating Committee

Typescript report with handwritten annotations on the prevalence and control of industrial smoke. Presented at the Manufacturers of Toledo meeting, 1892 Dec. 12. Includes clipping from The Chicago Tribune, "Year's Smoke War," 1892 Dec. 17.

Mayo-Smith, Richmond. Papers

Richmond Mayo-Smith, 1854-1901, was a professor of political economy at Columbia University, and author of Emigration and Immigration, 1890; Statistics and Sociology, 1895; and Statistics and Economics, 1899. The collection, mainly transcripts, includes general correspondence, letters to his parents and wife, miscellaneous personal documents, newspaper reviews, obituaries and letters of condolence to Mrs. Mayo-Smith.

Mentschikoff, Soia. Papers

This collection contains the papers of Soia Mentschikoff, law professor at the University of Chicago, Dean of the Law School at the University of Miami, and one of the chief drafters of the Uniform Commercial Code. The collection includes correspondence, articles, legal documents, teaching materials, and drafts and revisions of the Code. Material in the collection dates from 1913-1987, with the bulk dating from 1950-1984.

Metzler, Lloyd A. Papers

Lloyd Appleton Metzler (1913-1980) was an economist, professor, and author. He was a faculty member of the University of Chicago from 1947 until his death. The collection includes manuscripts, typescripts, and notes for unidentified books; a draft of his Harvard thesis; and reprints of Metzler's articles for The Review of Economic Statistics and Econometrica. The materials date approximately from the 1940s to the 1950s.

Miller, Merton H. Papers

Merton H. Miller was an economist, faculty member of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, consultant, director of financial organizations, and free-market activist. Materials in this collection include drafts, publications, correspondence, research material, administrative records, and teaching material. This collection documents Miller's prolific writing and research, including his pioneering research in finance theory, for which he won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1990. Also included are records of his teaching and administrative activities at University of Chicago, speeches and public appearances, and work for professional organizations and corporations.

Native American Educational Services. American Indian Business Association. Records

American Indian Business Association (AIBA), a Chicago non-profit which offered employment and training services to American Indian people. The AIBA was a consortium of 10 Illinois Indian Associations, each of which was represented on the Consortium Board whose meetings and associated documents are found in the collection. The AIBA worked with NAES College on the Job Training Partnership Act, and this collection also contains some papers and other items created by NAES. The collection forms part of the archives of Native American Educational Services.

Notgeld. Collection

Notgeld (or "emergency money") monetary notes produced by various German municipalities, companies, and individuals between 1914 and 1923. Many banknotes feature elaborate color illustrations depicting local landmarks, legends, or attractions. The Notgeld collection dates from 1914 to 1923 with the bulk of items issued between 1918 and 1922.

Paepcke, Walter P. Papers

The Walter P. Paepcke Papers consist of 72 linear feet and include biographical material, correspondence, subject files, financial documents, publications, scrapbooks, ledgers, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The collection also includes information pertaining to the Container Corporation of America, a business founded by Walter Paepcke in 1926. In addition to materials that refer to Paepcke's paperboard container business, the papers also document some of his philanthropic, cultural, and educational interests. Included among them is the Goethe Bicentennial Foundation, which organized a festival in 1949 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Included among Paepcke's other cultural and educational activities are materials relating to the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The AIHS, founded in 1950, became an intellectual and cultural center of continuing education that provided seminars, lectures, and forums conducted by leaders in commerce, industry, science, education, religion, and government.

Palyi, Melchior. Papers

Melchior Palyi, economist and professor. The papers contain correspondence, manuscripts, book reviews, articles, lectures, off-prints, clippings, biographical material, radio broadcasts, tape recordings, a film, books, copies of the newsletter Bulletin, and pamphlets. Papers document Palyi's work as a conservative economist.

Patton, Phyllis J. Container Corporation of America. Collection

Print publications, calendars, and coasters produced by the Container Corporation of America between 1936 and 1983.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company. Archive

Founded in Chicago in 1864 by Canadian immigrant Richard Robert Donnelley, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company is a leading global provider of printing and print-related services. The archive contains business records, product samples and promotional material, biographical files and personal papers, historical writings and oral histories, artifacts, and thousands of documentary photographs. While the material in this collection is concentrated in the twentieth century, the content of the archive spans over 140 years of RR Donnelley's development, and contextualizes the company within both the history of printing and the history of Chicago.

Reid, Margaret G. Papers

Margaret Gilpin Reid (1896-1991) was a Professor of Home Economics and Economics at the University of Chicago between 1951 and 1961. Reid was one of the first economists to theorize the economic contributions of non-market activities such as housework. Her work during the 1930s, which argued the household was a site of production as well as consumption, has been cited as an important forerunner to the "New Home Economics" of the 1960s. This collection contains Reid's research data and drafts of her books and papers. It also contains cards, clippings, professional and personal correspondence, and writings by other scholars. Material spans 1904-1990, concentrated in the 1930s through the early 1980s.

Rosenwald, Julius. Papers

Julius Rosenwald, businessman and philanthropist. The papers of Julius Rosenwald contain correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, memorabilia, and a 1963 Rosenwald family tree. The collection documents Rosenwald's deep sense of social responsibility and commitment to philanthropic and civic endeavors, in particular his support of rural schools for African Americans, higher education, Jewish charities, and medical care. The collection also includes reports and minutes of the Julius Rosenwald Fund (1928-1933) and sixteen scrapbooks containing correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia that reflect Rosenwald's progressive reform activities, including support for the Tuskegee Institute, Howard University, World War I relief efforts in Illinois, and early development of the NAACP.

Rosenwald, Samuel. Papers

Samuel Rosenwald (1828-1899) was father of businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. He immigrated from his Jewish community in Bünde, Germany to the United States as a young man and worked as a merchant and salesman. He eventually moved to Springfield, Illinois, in 1861 with his new wife, Augusta (Hammerslough) Rosenwald. He managed a successful clothing store in Springfield which specialized in uniforms for Union soldiers during the Civil War. He bought a house near Abraham Lincoln’s house and became an active member in the business and Jewish communities of Springfield. This collection consists primarily of personal papers from 1830-1986 and business papers from 1862-1886. Most documents are written in English but a few of the personal papers are written in German.

Ruml, Beardsley. Papers

Beardsley Ruml (1894-1960), probably best know for his "Pay - As - You - Go" income tax plan, also achieved distinction as an educator, trust administrator, business executive, and advisor to commerce, industry, education, and government, particularly in the field of financial and fiscal policy. In addition, he was a prolific writer and much in demand as a speaker, both on general subjects of social and economic interest and on his fields of specialization.

Say, Jean Baptiste. Collection

Jean-Baptiste Say (1767 –1832) French economist. Best known for Say’s Law, he was a strong voice in the liberal tradition, arguing in favor of competition, free trade, and deregulation. The collection contains a series of correspondence between Say and a number of influential French writers of the time. The letters are mostly undated, though the dates available show the letters date from 1794 to 1821.

Schultz, Arthur W. Papers

Advertising executive Arthur W. Schultz (A.B. 1967) joined the staff of Foote, Cone & Belding Communications as an account management trainee in 1948, working his way up to chief executive officer of the company in 1970. The speeches, correspondence, business records, and other material in this collection document Arthur W. Schultz's career as an advertising executive, and also includes material broadly related to Foote, Cone & Belding, and founder Fairfax M. Cone.

Simons, Henry C. Papers

Henry Calvert Simons (1899-1946) Economist and Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Chicago. The Simons Papers include correspondence, manuscripts and biographical materials.

Slaney Family. Notebooks on Gas and Machinery

This collection contains forty notebooks from three generations of the Slaney family, gas meter manufacturers and gas engineers active in the Mid-Atlantic area. John M. Slaney Sr., who emigrated to the U.S. in 1829, was among the first gas meter manufactures in the country. The notebooks consist mostly of clippings and manuscript notes on societal, legislative, scientific, and technological information related to gas and machinery in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It also contains correspondence, diagrams, charts, photographs, and business information related to the manufacturing of gas meters, as well as a list of gas companies in the U.S. Materials in the collection date from 1810-1910, and the bulk of the material dates from 1870-1900. Crerar Manuscript 397.

Slotkin, Elizabeth J. Papers

Elizabeth J. Slotkin, labor economist and statistician. The collection consists of one folder of material, dating from the period 1957-1959. It consists of a paper written by Elizabeth J. Slotkin on new industrial employees and correspondence relating to that paper.

Stirn, Ernest W. and Henry J. Papers

Ernest W. Stirn received an MA in history from the University of Chicago in 1922 and later worked as a statistical consultant for businesses and the government. From 1931 to 1943 he was involved with the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Bankruptcy Reorganization. The University of Chicago Press published a bibliography he had prepared on Robert LaFollette (1937). Among the papers are letters written to and by his father, Henry J. Stirn, printer and expert on the collecting of old violins and stamps.

University of Chicago. Department of Economics. Records

Contains alphabetical subject files of Leon C. Marshall (1912-1929), qualifying examinations (1947-1952), comprehensive examinations (1934-1947), and files of Theodore W. Schultz (1930-1962).

Veblen, Thorstein. Papers

Thorstein Veblen, economist, writer, teacher. The Thorstein Veblen Papers consist primarily of personal correspondence. The collection also includes an off-print of the article, "Some Neglected Points in the Theory of Socialism," and notes titled "Spencer's Principles of Sociology (manuscript and typescript).

Wilson, Thomas E. Family. Collection

The Wilson family was a prominent Chicago business family in the early half of the 20th century. Wilson & Co. meatpacking business was founded by Thomas Edward Wilson and evolved over the years to include the manufacture of sporting goods, pharmaceuticals, and industry chemicals. The majority of the collection contains biographical information, personal ephemera, correspondence, and photographs belonging to two generations of the Wilson family. The collection also includes a small amount of company records for Wilson & Co. and its subsidiary, Wilson Sporting Goods. Materials date between circa 1850 and 2005, with the bulk of the material dating between 1900 and 1950.