EH.N: ANN: Princeton Economics Records Processing Project Completed

[Daniel J. Linke]

Princeton Economics Records Processing Project Completed

Over 1,100 feet of records providing insights into 20th century 
economic history available

PRINCETON, N.J. -Princeton University's Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript 
Library has completed a two-year project to process all of its 
economics-related public policy collections to modern standards. 
Twenty-eight collections, totaling over 1,100 linear feet, were 
processed through the generous support of the John Foster and Janet 
Avery Dulles Fund and a grant from the National Historical 
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Electronic finding aids 
for each collection are available on its website for researchers: 
http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/index.html

These collections provide a rich resource about American economic 
thought and policies in the 20th century and the impact of American 
economic policy and the ideas of some of the leading economic 
thinkers on the emerging world economy, especially in developing 
nations. The collections as a whole document economic activity that 
spans the globe, including every settled continent. The main subjects 
documented by the papers are public and international finance, 
economic development, and economic policy, as well as monetary 
policy, policies during World War I and II, business history, and 
demography. These records provide insight into the economic debates 
that thrived during the 20th century, whether they be the 
establishment or disavowal of the gold standard, international 
monetary policy and free trade, the various approaches to what was 
called Third World development (including population control), or 
means to alleviate depression and/or inflation. In a time when free 
market ideas are ascendant, these collections bear testament that the 
path was neither linear nor smooth.

The collections document both the theory and practical application of 
economics and include the papers of scholars, United States 
government officials, advisors to governments throughout the world, 
bankers, lawyers, businessmen, a policy advocacy group, and 
organizations devoted to economic development. Among the important 
collections are the papers of Edwin W. Kemmerer, advisor to many 
countries on monetary policy during the 1920s; Jacob Viner, one of 
the most prominent economic scholars of the 20th century; Nobel 
Laureate W. Arthur Lewis; and Albert O. Hirschman, a leading scholar 
in the field of economic development. Records of prominent 
organizations were also processed as part of the project including 
the records of Development and Resources Corporation, a for-profit 
corporation involved in economic development around the world, 
including a substantial project in Iran; Women's World Banking, a 
non-profit international financial institution that facilitates the 
participation of women entrepreneurs in the modern economy; and the 
Economists' National Committee on Monetary Policy, an advocacy group 
for monetary policy, especially for the gold standard, in the United 
States.

The project began in October 2005 with the hiring of project 
archivist Adriane Hanson to oversee the work on the 28 collections. 
She was joined in January 2006 by special collections assistant 
Christopher Shannon and a small group of student assistants. In two 
years, the team arranged and rehoused all 28 collections, ranging in 
size from 1 box to 450 boxes. Hanson wrote finding aids and catalog 
records for each of the collections, which are now available online 
to aid researchers in discovering and utilizing these rich resources.

Further information on the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library can be 
obtained at http://www.princeton.edu/mudd.


Daniel J. Linke
University Archivist and Curator of Public Policy Papers
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
Princeton University
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540

609-258-6345
609-258-3385 (fax)
http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/