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© 2015 University of Chicago Library
Series VII contains student evaluative material, restricted until 2067, and financial and personnel records, restricted until 2037. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Hoselitz, Bert F. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Bert F. Hoselitz was born Berthold Frank Hoselitz in Vienna, Austria in 1913. He received his doctor of law degree in 1936 from the University of Vienna. He left Austria in 1938, traveling first to England, then to the U.S., where he taught briefly at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana. He enrolled in the University of Chicago , receiving an M.A. in Economics in 1945. Hoselitz joined faculty at Chicago as an instructor in 1945, and became emeritus in 1978.
Hoselitz advocated interdisciplinary scholarship and his work pushed the common wisdom within economics at the time by considering the role of cultural and sociological factors on economic development. In pursing this line of inquiry, he developed professional relationships with scholars around the globe, though particularly in Asia, and participated in both a research and advisory capacity for a broad spectrum of academic research projects that spanned traditionally distinct social science disciplines. In 1962, Hoselitz supervised a pair of National Science Foundation sponsored studies examining the social and economic entailments of developments in science and technology within Asia, primarily India. At a broader level, he was also active in efforts to bring diverse social science disciplines into conversation with one another. In 1958 began participating in an editorial and authorial capacity for the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
Hoselitz’s scholarly activities were not confined to academic research and teaching. He was also active and engaged in policy discussions concerning development and the developing world. In the early phase of his career Hoselitz participated in an array of applied research projects, advising work and professional associations related to economic development and development policy more broadly. For example, he wrote for the United Nations on issues related to economic development, beginning with a 1952 technical-assistance mission to El Salvador, and in the late fifties he served on a team of advisors to the government of India concerning the plan for the national capital region.
In addition to his global professional engagements, Hoselitz also remained an active participant and organizer in the scholarly community of his home institution at Chicago. In 1952 Hoselitz founded the Research Center in Economic Development and Cultural Change at Chicago as well as the affiliated interdisciplinary journal Economic Development and Cultural Change, published through the University of Chicago Press. Hoselitz served as editor from the journal’s inception until 1985. He also served on the committee of the Norman Wait Harris Memorial Foundation based at the University of Chicago which focuses on issues of international interest and works to facilitate the exchange of knowledge about the diverse peoples of the world. In this capacity, Hoselitz organized visits by lecturers, funded conferences and facilitated the foundation’s publishing efforts.
Considered an interdisciplinary pioneer and an expert on the social and cultural dimensions of economic development, Professor Emeritus Bert Hoselitz died in Chicago on February 14, 1995.
The collection consists of 27.25 linear feet, housed in 55 boxes, and spans a period between 1923 and 1987. The bulk of materials were produced between 1950 and 1976 and document the professional life of Bert F. Hoselitz. The collection consists primarily of files related to research on economic development both carried out by himself and others, his extensive professional correspondence, course materials composed or collected by Hoselitz and materials associated with his participation in several collaborative scholarly projects and organizations.
The collection is organized into seven series.
Series I: Research and Project Records contains files documenting Hoselitz's research projects and professional engagements. Materials include various notes, copies of reports on economic data, typescript drafts either produced or collected by Hoselitz as well as copies of papers delivered at conferences and other supplemental materials.
Series II: Professional Correspondence contains correspondence related to Hoselitz's many professional engagements. This is by far the largest series and includes diverse materials that intersect with all aspects of Hoselitz’s professional life.
Series III: Course Materials documents Hoselitz's role as a teacher of Economics and Social Sciences. It contains collected instructional materials and notes pertaining to courses taught by Hoselitz, as well as several folders of course materials produced by Oskar Lange, Jacob Viner, and Frank Knight. Also included is a typed transcript of audio-taped recordings of an economics course likely taught by Hoselitz. However, the identity of the instructor remains unconfirmed.
Series IV: Norman Wait Harris Foundation contains materials pertaining to Hoselitz’s participation in the Norman Wait Harris Memorial Foundation at the University of Chicago. This includes notes and minutes of committee meetings, administrative correspondence for organizing Harris lectures and publishing the work of participants. Additionally, there are copies of several published volumes connected to the Harris lectures.
Series V: International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences contains materials from Hoselitz’s service as an Associate Editor for the International Encyclopedia of Social Science. These include proposals, workbooks for associate editors and several thick typescript drafts of entries related to economic development.
Series VI: Collected Manuscripts consists of typescripts of texts written by Hoselitz and others, particularly by students whose work he supervised
Series VII: Restricted Materials contains graded student papers, letters of recommendation, student grade sheets and University of Chicago financial and personnel-related documents.