University of Chicago. Social Science Research Committee. Records
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- University of Chicago. Social Science Research Committee. Records
- Dates
- 1923-1964
- Language
- Documents in English
- Size
- 11.5 linear feet (23 boxes)
- Repository
-
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research CenterUniversity of Chicago Library1100 East 57th StreetChicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.
- Abstract
- The records of the University of Chicago Social Science Research Committee contain minutes, budgets, financial statements, correspondence, and reports related to the administration of research projects supported by the Committee and its predecessor, the Local Community Research Committee (1923-1930).
Information on Use
Access
No restrictions.
Citation
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Social Science Research Committee. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Historical Note
The Local Community Research Committee was established in 1923 with an initial grant of $21,000 from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial. This grant was supported by subsequent annual direct and matching grants amounting to nearly half a million dollars by 1931. The first members of the Committee were chairmen of five University departments concerned with social science research: Albion W. Small (Sociology and Anthropology); Charles E. Merriam (Political Science); Leon C. Marshall (Political Economy); James H. Tufts (Philosophy); and Andrew C. McLaughlin (History). Harry A. Millis (Political Economy) served as secretary of the Committee from 1924 to 1926, after which Leonard D. White (Political Science) was appointed to the part-time position of Executive Secretary. Significant projects completed or initiated with the support of the LCRC from 1923 to 1930 included Charles Merriam and Harold Gosnell on voting patterns; Ernest W. Burgess on delinquency; Quincy Wright on the causes of war; Simeon Leland on public finance; Vivien Palmer on neighborhoods; and Bessie Louise Pierce on the history of Chicago. The work of the LCRC culminated in the dedication of the Social Science Research Building in December, 1929, and the publication of a collaborative report, Chicago: An Experiment in Social Science Research (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929).
In 1930, the LCRC was renamed the Social Science Research Committee and Donald Slesinger was brought from Yale University's Institute of Human Relations to become the full-time Executive Secretary, replacing Leonard White, who had resigned to resume his teaching career. Following suggestions made by White before his departure, a Social Science Research Council representing all appropriate University departments and professional schools was created to provide general direction and advice, while supervision of the research program was lodged in a small executive Committee consisting of Slesinger and four faculty members: Edith Abbott, Charles Merriam, Harry A. Millis, and Edward Sapir. Additional committees and sub-committees were established as needed to monitor the progress and insure the completion of individual projects.
Primary financial support for the Social Science Research Committee came from the Rockefeller Foundation, which had absorbed the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in 1929, from the Division of the Social Sciences, and from the University's general research funds; as had been the case with the LCRC, additional funds were received from local organizations, foundations, and occasional private gifts. Scholars whose work was supported by the Committee after 1930 included Ernest W. Burgess, L. L. Thurstone, Fay-Cooper Cole, William F. Ogburn, Charles E. Merriam, Frank H. Knight, Louis Wirth, Robert J. Havighurst, Hans J. Morgenthau, and John U. Nef, among others. The tenth anniversary of the Social Science Research Building provided an opportunity to survey the accomplishments of the University's social science research effort through a series of commemorative round-table discussions, the proceedings of which were published in Eleven Twenty-six: A Decade of Social Science Research (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1940). The Social Science Research Committee was superceded in 1970 by the Social Sciences Divisional Research fund.
Scope Note
The Social Science Research Committee maintained its files in eight general categories. The names of these categories, as well as the titles of individual folders, have been retained in the archival organization of the records.
Series I: Minutes, records the activities of both the Local Community Research Committee and the Social Science Research Committee from 1923 to 1957.
Series II: Financial consists of budgets and financial statements arranged chronologically by year, followed by folders containing material on matched funds (5:1) and the Committee's payroll (5:2).
Series III: Correspondence is miscellaneous in character and includes notes to Committee members and project directors, memoranda, announcements, and reports.
Series IV: Committees. The committees in this series represent only a fraction of those established by the SSRC to monitor progress on individual research projects. In addition to Government Finance, the History of Chicago, and Local Community Research, other such committees included those on Meat Packing, the Causes of War, Citizens' Police, Organized Crime, Personality Studies, Standards of Measurement and Municipality Reporting, Negroes, the Census, and the Lie Detector.
Series V: Annual Reports and Internal Studies. The LCRC and SSRC compiled annual reports to the President of the University (8:1-3) and to the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial and Rockefeller Foundation (8:10-9:7). In addition, periodic comprehensive reviews of Committee policy and activities (8:4, 7-9) provided a basis for the reassessment of research objectives. The memoranda prepared by Leonard D. White (9:9) guided the reorganization of the Local Community Research Committee in 1930.
Series VI: Projects, General Reports and Requests, consists of general yearly summaries of research projects undertaken and requests for funding of existing or future projects.
Series VII: Project, Individual Reports, consists of files on individual research projects arranged chronologically and by the name of the research director. These files contain reports on yearly expenses, and may also include accounts of research progress and copies of proposals for additional work.
Series VIII: Publications. Records in this series concern books derived from research sponsored by the LCRC and SSRC and subsequently published with Committee subventions.
Processing Information note
This collection was surveyed as part of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium's Survey Initiative on 2010 February 1 by Bergis Jules and Lauren Kalal.
Indexed Terms
Indexed Terms
INVENTORY
- Title
- 1923-1928
- Title
- 1925-1926
- Title
- 1926-1927; 1927-1928
- Title
- 1928-1929
- Title
- 1929-1930
- Title
- 1930-1931
- Title
- 1931-1932
- Title
- 1932-1933
- Title
- 1933-1934
- Title
- 1934-1935
- Title
- 1935-1950
- Title
- 1951-1957
- Title
- 1931-1932
- Title
- 1932-1933
- Title
- 1933-1934
- Title
- 1934-1935
- Title
- 1935-1936
- Title
- 1936-1937
- Title
- 1937-1938
- Title
- 1938-1939
- Title
- 1939-1940
- Title
- 1940-1941
- Title
- 19411942
- Title
- 1942-1943
- Title
- 1943-1944
- Title
- 1944-1945
- Title
- 1923-1924; 1925-1926
- Title
- 1926-1927; 1927-1928
- Title
- 1928-1929; 1929-1930
- Title
- 1930-1932
- Title
- 1932-1933
- Title
- 1932-1934
- Title
- 1934-1935
- Title
- 1935-1936
- Title
- 1936-1937
- Title
- 1937-1938
- Title
- 1938-1939
- Title
- 1939-1940
- Title
- 1940-1941
- Title
- 1941-1942
- Title
- 1942-1943
- Title
- 1943-1944
- Title
- 1944-1945
- Title
- 1945-1946
- Title
- 1946-1947
- Title
- Matching Funds, 1924-1940
- Title
- Payroll, 1939-1941
- Title
- 1928-1934
- Title
- 1935-1937
- Title
- 1938-1940
- Title
- 1941-1946
- Title
- 1947-1949
- Title
- 1950-1954
- Title
- 1955-1957
- Title
- 1958-1964
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, annual reports, 1931-1934
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, articles and speeches, 1930-1932
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, budget, 1926-1939
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, Cermak Committee (Committee of 33), 1931
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, Cost of Government in Illinois project, 1928
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, Institute, 1930
- Title
- Government Finance, Committee on, progress reports, 1928-1932
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, architecture, 1931-1932
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, bibliography, 1928
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, correspondence, 1930-1936
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, financial, 1936-1941
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, minutes, 1931-1933
- Title
- History of Chicago, Committee on, progress reports, 1929-1941
- Title
- Local Community Research, Sub-Committee on, 1934
- Title
- Annual Report to the President, 1923-1924
- Title
- Annual Report to the President, 1927
- Title
- Annual Report to the President, 1935
- Title
- Five Year Report, 1927-1932
- Title
- Manual of Administrative Practice, [1928]
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E., Informal Memorandum on Social Research, 1938
- Title
- Research Activities, Review and Study, 1938
- Title
- Research Activities, Review and Study, 1945
- Title
- Research, Expenditure, and Results, 1923-1927
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, correspondence, 1940-1941
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, reports to, 1924-1925
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, reports to, 1924-1934
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, reports to, 1926-1927, 1928-1929
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, reports to, 1929-1930
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, reports to, 1941-1945
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, requests for support from 1940-1941
- Title
- Rockefeller Foundation, requests for support from, 1941-1945
- Title
- Social Science Research Council (New York), reports to, 1937-1938
- Title
- White, Leonard D., memoranda on reorganization of the Local Community Research Committee, 1929, 1930
- Title
- 1924-1931
- Title
- 1924-1942
- Title
- 1931-1932
- Title
- 1932-1933
- Title
- 1933-1934
- Title
- 1934-1935
- Title
- 1935-1936
- Title
- 1936-1937
- Title
- 1937-1938
- Title
- 1938-1939
- Title
- 1939-1940
- Title
- 1940-1941
- Title
- 1940-1942
- Title
- 1942-1943
- Title
- 1943-1944
- Title
- 1947
- Title
- 1934-1935
- Title
- 1935-1936
- Title
- 1936-1937
- Title
- 1937-1938
- Title
- 1938-1939
- Title
- 1939-1940
- Title
- 1940-1941
- Title
- 1941-1942
- Title
- 1942-1943
- Title
- 1943-1944
- Title
- 1944-1945
- Title
- 1945-1946
- Title
- 1946-1947
- Title
- 1947-1948
- Title
- 1958-1960
- Title
- Mints, Lloyd W.
- Title
- Wooddy, Carroll H.
- Title
- Bruce, Andrew A.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Cole, Fay-Cooper
- Title
- Thurstone, Louis L.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W., and Vivien Palmer
- Title
- Ridley, Clarence E.
- Title
- Abbott, Edith
- Title
- Sutherland, Edwin H.
- Title
- Wright, Chester W.
- Title
- Blumer, Herbert
- Title
- Davis, Michael
- Title
- Millis, Harry A., and Paul Kellogg
- Title
- Schuman, Frederick L.
- Title
- Duddy, Edward A.
- Title
- Freeman, Frank N.
- Title
- Haile, Berard
- Title
- Kyrk, Hazel
- Title
- Millis, Harry A.
- Title
- Mints, Lloyd W.
- Title
- Sutherland, Edwin H.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Buswell, Guy T.
- Title
- Cottrell, Leonard S.
- Title
- Eggan, Frederick
- Title
- McLaughlin, Andrew C.
- Title
- Newcomb, Charles S.
- Title
- Schuman, Frederick L.
- Title
- Slesinger, Donald
- Title
- Sutherland, Edwin H.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Breckenridge, Sophonisba P.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Cole, Fay-Cooper
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Embree, John
- Title
- Heer, Clarence
- Title
- Kyrk, Hazel
- Title
- Lang, Richard O,
- Title
- Lasswell, Harold D.
- Title
- Ogburn, William F.
- Title
- Radcliffe-Brown, A. R.
- Title
- Viner, Jacob
- Title
- Blumer, Herbert
- Title
- Busswell, Guy T.
- Title
- Hauser, Philip M.
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Ogburn, William F.
- Title
- Schmitt, Bernadotte E.
- Title
- Schuman, Frederick L.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Blumer, Herbert
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Cole, Fay-Cooper
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Jernagan, Marcus W.
- Title
- Millis, Harry A.
- Title
- Park, Robert E.
- Title
- Warner, W. Lloyd
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Morrison, John A.
- Title
- Ogburn, William F.
- Title
- Opler, Morris E.
- Title
- Palyi, Melchior
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Craven, Avery O.
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Title
- Gulliksen, Harold
- Title
- Holzinger, Arthur W.
- Title
- Kornhauser, Arthur W.
- Title
- Lange, Oskar
- Title
- Leland, Simeon E.
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Millis, Harry A.
- Title
- Nef, John U.
- Title
- Ogburn, William F.
- Title
- Stouffer, Samuel A.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Wright, Quincy
- Title
- Cole, Fay-Cooper
- Title
- Dean, Joel
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Gosnell, Harold F.
- Title
- Harbison, Frederick H.
- Title
- Holzinger, Karl J.
- Title
- Jones, Wellington D.
- Title
- Jordan, Wilbur K.
- Title
- Knight, Frank H.
- Title
- Koos, Leonard V.
- Title
- Lewis, H. Gregg
- Title
- Mints, Lloyd W.
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Viner, Jacob
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Eggan, Frederick
- Title
- Gosnell, Harold F.
- Title
- Harbison, Frederick H.
- Title
- Leites, Natan C.
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Sherman, Mandel
- Title
- Craven, Avery O.
- Title
- Gulliksen, Harold
- Title
- Hughes, Everett C.
- Title
- Ireland, Philip W.
- Title
- Johnson, T. Walter
- Title
- Knight, Frank H.
- Title
- Koos, Leonard V.
- Title
- Lange, Oskar
- Title
- MacNair, Harley F.
- Title
- Nef, John U.
- Title
- Edwards, Newton, and Herman G. Richey
- Title
- Jordan, Wilbur K.
- Title
- Lange, Oskar
- Title
- Pierce, Bessie Louise
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Warner, W. Lloyd, and Robert J. Havighurst
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Title
- Havighurst, Robert J.
- Title
- Holzinger, Karl J.
- Title
- Hughes, Everett C.
- Title
- Leland, Simeon E.
- Title
- Marschak, Jacob
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Morgenthau, Hans J.
- Title
- Pritchett, Charles H.
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Thurstone, Louis L.
- Title
- White, Leonard D.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis, and Charles E. Merriam
- Title
- Andrews, T. G.
- Title
- Bendix, Reinhard
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W., and Robert J. Havighurst
- Title
- Craven, Avery O.
- Title
- Davis, Allison
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Title
- Harbison, Frederick H.
- Title
- Havighurst, Robert J.
- Title
- Holzinger, Karl J.
- Title
- Hughes, Everett C.
- Title
- Johnson, T. Walter
- Title
- Knight, Frank H.
- Title
- Lange, Oskar
- Title
- Leland, Simeon E.
- Title
- Marschak, Jacob
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Morgenthau, Hans J.
- Title
- Nef, John U.
- Title
- Pierce, Bessie Louise
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Schultz, Theodore W.
- Title
- Schultz, Theodore W., and Jacob Marschak
- Title
- Thurstone, Louis L.
- Title
- Viner, Jacob
- Title
- Warner, W. Lloyd, and Robert J. Havighurst
- Title
- White, Leonard D.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Berelson, Bernard R.
- Title
- Boorstin, Daniel J.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W., and Robert J. Havighurst
- Title
- Craven, Avery O.
- Title
- Davis, Allison
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Edwards, Newton, and Herman G. Richey
- Title
- Finer, Herman
- Title
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Title
- Grodzins, Morton
- Title
- Harbison, Frederick H.
- Title
- Henry, William E., and Caroline Tryon
- Title
- Hughes, Everett C.
- Title
- Hughes, Everett C., and Sol Tax
- Title
- Jernegan, Marcus W.
- Title
- Leland, Simeon E.
- Title
- Marschak, Jacob
- Title
- Marschak, Jacob, and Theodore W. Schultz
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Millis, Harry A.
- Title
- Morgenthau, Hans J.
- Title
- Nef, John U.
- Title
- Pierce, Bessie Louise
- Title
- Pritchett, Charles H.
- Title
- Reeves, Floyd W.
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Rogers, Carl R.
- Title
- Schultz, Theodore W.
- Title
- Slotkirw James S.
- Title
- Thurstone, Louis L.
- Title
- Warner, W. Lloyd, and Robert J. Havignurst
- Title
- White, Leonard D.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Berelson, Bernard R.
- Title
- Boorstin, Daniel J.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W.
- Title
- Burgess, Ernest W., and Robert J. Havighurst
- Title
- Craven, Avery O.
- Title
- Cronbach, Lee J.
- Title
- Davis, Allison
- Title
- De Sebastian
- Title
- Douglas, Paul H.
- Title
- Drell, Bernard
- Title
- Finer, Herman
- Title
- Goldhamer, Herbert
- Title
- Gottschalk, Louis
- Title
- Grodzins, Morton
- Title
- Hamilton, Earl J.
- Title
- Harbison, Frederick H.
- Title
- Hardin, Charles M.
- Title
- Havighurst, Robert J.
- Title
- Henry, William E., and Caroline Tryon
- Title
- Jackson, W. Turrentine
- Title
- Jernegan, Marcus W.
- Title
- Johnson, D. Gale, and Theodore W. Schultz
- Title
- Leiserson, Avery
- Title
- Marschak, Jacob, et al.
- Title
- Merriam, Charles E.
- Title
- Millis, Harry A.
- Title
- Moore, Barrington
- Title
- Morgenthau, Hans J.
- Title
- Nef, John U.
- Title
- Ogburn, William F.
- Title
- Pierce, Bessie Louise
- Title
- Redfield, Robert
- Title
- Rippy, J. Fred
- Title
- Rogers, Carl R.
- Title
- Rothfels, Hans
- Title
- Schultz, Theodore W.
- Title
- Simson, Otto von
- Title
- Slotkin, James S.
- Title
- Tax, Sol, and Everett C. Hughes
- Title
- Thurstone, Louis L.
- Title
- White, Leonard D.
- Title
- Whyte, William F.
- Title
- Wirth, Louis
- Title
- Contracts and royalty statements, 1926-1941
- Title
- Correspondence with the University of Chicago Press, general, 1936-1941
- Title
- Correspondence with the University of Chicago Press, general, 1948-1954
- Title
- Correspondence with the University of Chicago Press, policy and administration, 1936-1944
- Title
- Ph.D. dissertations published, 1941-1942
- Title
- Problems of faculty in publication, 1941
- Title
- Program for publication, 1932-1936
- Title
- Publications lists, 1938-1942
- Title
- Publications lists, 1942-1944
- Title
- Publications lists, 1944-1945
- Title
- Survey of publications, 1928-1930
- Title
- Survey of publications, 1930-1941
- Title
- F. M. Fryxell, The Physiography of the Region of Chicago, 1927