Search

Records, 1915-1980,of the department of economics of the University of Michigan; contain files of chairmen, Isaiah Sharfman, Gardner Ackley, and Warren Smith, including minutes of staff meetings, research materials, and administrative records; also papers collected and interviews conducted by Marjorie Brazer with present and past faculty of the department in connection with its centennial.

The bulk of the Department of Economics records, covering the period 1950-1980, contain files of the chairmen, Isaiah Sharfman, Gardner Ackley, and Warren Smith. Included are executive committee and staff meeting minutes, budgets, faculty appointments, schedules, salaries, and reports on building needs. Additional materials cover the work of various centers and professional organizations.

Professor of economics at University of Michigan, referee with National Railroad Adjustment Board, member and chairman of various emergency and arbitration boards under Railroad Labor Act. Professional papers largely concerning his work toward the settlement of labor disputes, the publication of his books, his work on establishing a Zionist movement in Michigan, 1914-1918, especially in correspondence with Louis D. Brandeis and Horace M. Kallen; and photographs.

The Sharfman papers have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Professional activities; Writings; Addresses and Lectures; Other activities and interests; and University of Michigan.

Physicist, University of Michigan professor, dean of the graduate school; correspondence, writings, speeches, organizational files, audio-visual materials.

Although the Ralph A. Sawyer collection includes materials relating to all phases of his career, beginning with his studies at the University of Chicago in 1918-1919, the strength of the files are for those activities outside of the University of Michigan, notably his work with the U.S. Navy laboratories, Joint Task Force One, the American Institute of Physics, and the Optical Society of America. Files dealing with his University of Michigan activities are less complete as these materials will be found with the records of those units which Sawyer headed.

University of Michigan teacher and administrator, economist, labor mediator, and member of boards of various universities, Jewish educational, social, and welfare agencies, and public official. Series in collection include: Biographical/Personal, Correspondence, Jewish Organizations, University of Michigan, Other Organizational Activities, Appearances, Writings, Newspaper Clippings and Press Releases, and University of Wisconsin Student Notebooks and Papers, 1924-1926. Subjects covered in collection pertain to his activities as economist and authority on matters of labor economics, social security, and unemployment insurance. Also documented is his involvement with various Jewish social and philanthropic organizations, including ORT, B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Hebrew University, and to his work as Advisor on Jewish Affairs to General Lucius Clay. Correspondents in the collection include public figures from government, labor, universities, Jewish organizations, and philanthropic agencies.

The papers of William Haber, covering the period since his education at the University of Wisconsin in the 1920s until his death in 1988, have come to the library in several accessions beginning in 1978. Because of the fullness of Haber's career and the fact that he worked out of different offices, this half century of documentation was surprisingly well organized although somewhat broken up because files had been retired at different times. In 1992, the collection was reprocessed and the opportunity was taken to bring together sequences of files that had been separated. There are still some inconsistencies in the filing but these have been explained and described in the Series Description that follows.

The collection has been arranged into ten series. Although Haber and his secretarial staff never classified his files in these terms, the series headings were given to draw like materials together and to provide a rational framework for thinking about and using the various Haber files. The series are: Biographical/Personal; Correspondence; Jewish Organizations; University of Michigan; Other Organizational Activities; Appearances; Writings; Scrapbooks, clippings, etc.; Miscellaneous; and University of Wisconsin Files.