Overview
Seymour Edwin Harris (1897-1974), economist, teacher, author, and public servant, was the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University from 1957 to 1964. The collection documents Harris's career as an economist and public servant helping to formulate national economic policy by advocating for increased government spending and the lowering of taxes to address economic problems in the United States. Harris served in the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson presidential administrations.
Dates
- Creation: 1905-1977
Creator
- Harris, Seymour Edwin, 1897-1974 (Person)
Researcher Access
Open for research; some access restrictions apply. Requires review by archivist.
Extent
4.74 cubic feet ((13 document boxes, 4 pamphlet binders, 3 folders, 2 volumes) )This collection includes letters, reprints, manuscripts, and pamphlets, documenting the career of Seymour E. Harris as an economist and public servant, particularly in the presidential administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, helping to formulate national economic policy. Detailed is Harris's interaction with prominent politicians, historians, economists, and colleagues. Also included are letters from Harris to family members, including his first wife, Ruth Black Harris, and his second wife, Dorothy Marshall Harris, and photographs of Harris and others. There are very few records in this collection documenting Harris's experiences in the Harvard University Department of Economics.
Biographical note on Seymour Edwin Harris
Seymour Edwin Harris (1897-1974), economist, teacher, author, and public servant, was the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University from 1957 to 1964. Harris, along with Alvin Hansen, Paul Samuelson, and John Kenneth Galbraith, at Harvard popularized the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, which advocated for increased government spending and lowering taxes to address economic problems in the United States.
Harris earned his BA (1920) and PhD (1926) from Harvard University. Beginning his teaching career at Princeton University as an instructor in 1920, Harris returned to Harvard as an instructor in 1922 and to pursue graduate work in economics. After receiving his doctorate, Harvard promoted Harris to a lecturer in 1927, assistant professor in 1933, associate professor in 1936, and full professor in 1945. Harris was appointed Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy in 1957. Between 1955 and 1959, Harris chaired Harvard's Department of Economics. When Harris retired from Harvard in 1963, he became chair of the economics department at the University of California, San Diego.
During World War II, Harris worked in the Board of Economic Warfare and the Office of Price Administration. He was an economic advisor in the presidential campaigns of Senator's Adlai E. Stevenson (1956) and John F. Kennedy (1960). After Kennedy's election, Harris served as chair of a panel of economic consultants, which met weekly with the Secretary of Treasury. Harris was also a chief economics consultant in the Johnson Administration.
Harris was a prolific author, writing more than fifty books. His interests ranged throughout economics, from international monetary policy to finance during the French Revolution. He studied the cost of medical care, the cost of higher education, and problems of the New England textile industry.
Harris married Ruth Black on September 3, 1923; they had no children. After Ruth died in 1965, Harris married Dorothy Marshall on April 27, 1968.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in three series:
- Correspondence files, 1905-1977
- _____ Correspondence, [circa 1945-1974] (HUGFP 52.10)
- _____ Correspondence and other records, [circa 1957-1965] (HUGFP 52.12)
- _____ Family correspondence, 1905-1977 (HUGFP 52.56)
- Photographs from the Seymour E. Harris collection, [circa 1945-1974] (HUGFP 52.10 p gb)
- Writings by Seymour E. Harris, [circa 1930-1974)
- _____ Manuscripts and near-print writings, [circa 1930-1974] (HUGFP 52.50)
- _____ Correspondence and worksheets related to The Economics of Harvard, 1965 (HUGFP 52.55)
- _____ My Wife Ruth,1966 (HUGB H158.55 A, B, gb)
- _____ Addresses, [circa 1930-1974] (HUGB H158.71 gb)
- _____ Reprints and pamphlets, [circa 1930-1974] (HUGB H158.72)
- _____ Newspaper clippings, [circa 1945-1965] (HUGB H158.72.1)
- _____ Book reviews written by Seymour E. Harris, [circa 1930-1974] (HUGB H158.73 gb)
Acquisition Information
Specific acquisition information, when available, is noted at the series level.
- Gift of Seymour E. Harris, 1966 April (HUGB H158.55 A, B, gb)
- Transferred from the University of California (San Diego), 1983 September 12; Accession: 09867.
- Transferred from Harvard University Littauer Library, 1988 April 11; Accession: 11373.
- Transferred from Harvard University Littauer Library, 1992 September 1; Accession: 12515.
- Gift of Joyce Rabin Farber, 2006 April 21; Accession 17339.
References
- Montgomery, Paul L. "Seymour E. Harris, Economist and Adviser to Presidents, Dies." The New York Times (October 29, 1974) : 40.
- "Seymour Edwin Harris." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994.
Processing Information
This finding aid was created in September 2020 by Dominic P. Grandinetti.
Information for this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories, reference sources, and container management data. The collection was not re-examined.
Processing and arrangement details of each series are noted at the series level.
Dates and titles supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.
In all respects, the archivist attempted to retain and preserve the original arrangement and existing relationships of the documents, as established by Seymour E. Harris.
Alma ID
990006048410203941
Creator
- Harris, Seymour Edwin, 1897-1974 (Person)
- Title
- Harris, Seymour E., 1897-1974. Papers of Seymour E. Harris, 1905-1977: an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua75020
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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