Title: John R. Commons Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1832-2005 (bulk 1894-1938)

Creator:

• Commons, John R. (John Rogers), 1862-1945

Call Number: U.S. Mss 21A; PH 3757; Micro 925; M98-040; M2003-114; M2006-064; M2009-095

Quantity: 6.2 c.f. (17 archives boxes), 24 reels of microfilm (35 mm), and 351 photographs (1 archives box); plus additions of 1.8 c.f., and 29 photographs

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, dating mainly from 1894-1938, of John R. Commons, an economist, labor historian, expert on government regulation, and long-time University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty member. The files best document Commons' research interests including labor history, labor economics, an unemployment compensation plan for the Chicago clothing market, banking and monetary reform, and the regulation of interstate commerce. Also covered are government and private organizations connected with those research interests such as the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, American Bureau of Industrial Research, Carnegie Institution, National Bureau of Economic Research, National Monetary Association, Stable Money Association, United States Commission on Industrial Relations, Wisconsin Industrial Commission, and Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Note:

The Original Collection portion of this collection is also available on microfilm.

The originals of some of the microfilmed papers are held by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives.

Some materials are only available on microfilm.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us00021a

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John R. Commons, economics professor at the University of Wisconsin, was one of America's most eminent scholars in the fields of labor history and economics. Born in Hollandsburg, Ohio, in October 1862, Commons' life followed no familiar pattern in his rise to great distinction among American economists. Commons attended Oberlin College, following the tradition set by his mother. Earning his way through college as a typesetter, Commons did not graduate until the age of 26. After graduation, he attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University where he studied under the direction of Richard T. Ely. At Johns Hopkins, Commons acquired a strong base for the study of political economics. After his graduate studies, Commons engaged in a range of activities, which included teaching sociology and economics at Wesleyan University, Oberlin College, Indiana University, and Syracuse University. Commons made use of current investigations as material for class work and kept his teaching hours at a minimum, for he felt he had no great ability for teaching and considered himself a failure. Mild mannered, small in stature, frail in health with a low voice, and slow of speech, he did not fit student images of a great lecturer, though he later proved his competency.

In 1899, Commons began to work with the National Industrial Commission in connection with a study of the effects of immigration on unionism in the clothing industry and in coal mining. He also became assistant secretary of the National Civic Federation, a conciliatory body composed of representatives of labor and management. As a member of these two organizations, Commons began work relating to taxation, and to labor conciliation and collective bargaining. Then in 1904 Commons accepted a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin and joined Richard T. Ely in editing the Documentary History of American Industrial Society. This was the start of a new career as a scholar and teacher for Commons. Work on the Documentary History lasted until 1910, during which time he wrote, taught graduate courses part time, and became involved in Wisconsin politics. Commons applied innovative approaches to teaching his graduate seminar which grew in size and became increasingly successful. Economic theory was not presented in the standard form, but philosophical insight was incorporated, as well as students' ideas. Over time Commons' seminar became one of the outstanding features of the graduate curriculum. In addition his advice and cooperation were repeatedly sought by both state and federal governments. In Wisconsin he drafted the civil service bill of 1905, the public utility law of 1907, and a variety of other reform bills.

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 5 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (U.S. Mss 21A, PH 3757, Micro 925): Original Collection, 1859-1967
• Part 2 (M98-040): Additions, 1916-1931
• Part 3 (M2003-114): Additions, 1832-1998
• Part 4 (M2006-064): Additions, 1920-1927
• Part 5 (M2009-095): Additions, 1918-1925, 2005

Acquisition Information

Presented by the University of Wisconsin, Department of Economics, 1939, 1957 and 1976; Mrs. Alfred Briggs, Madison, Wisconsin, 1953; Mark Perlman, Baltimore, Maryland, 1961; E.W. Morehouse, Princeton, New Jersey, 1962; Anne Commons Polisar, Ithaca, New York, 1981 and 1984; and transferred from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library, 1976 and 1987. Additions also presented by Warren J. Samuels, 1998, 2006 and 2009, and with Lisa Polisar, 2003. Accession Number: M61-216, M62-160, M62-214, M76-447, M81-686, M84-038, M87-219, M98-040, M2003-114, M2006-064, M2009-095

Processing Information

Original Collection processed by P. Bloch and M.J. Evans, January 23, 1978 (reprocess); revision to finding aid by Alison E. Bridger, May 31, 2011.

U.S. Mss 21A/Micro 925	Part 1 (U.S. Mss 21A, PH 3757, Micro 925): Original Collection, 1859-1967 Physical Description: 6.2 c.f. (17 archives boxes), 24 reels of microfilm (35 mm), and 351 photographs (1 archives box)  Scope and Content Note The papers are divided into eight series: CORRESPONDENCE, CHICAGO CLOTHING MARKET UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE MATERIALS, RESEARCH FILES, SPEECHES AND ARTICLES, BOOKS AND ARTICLES, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, UNIVERSITY FILES, and VISUAL MATERIALS. The papers document not only Commons' involvement in the field of economics, specifically industrial and labor relations, but also the development of Commons' numerous publications which have had a valuable influence on modern economic thought. The CORRESPONDENCE series, 1859-1967 (bulk 1894-1938), is arranged chronologically. Among the correspondents are Richard T. Ely, professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, and later at the University of Wisconsin; J.B. Andrews, member of the American Bureau of Industrial Research; U.B. Phillips, professor at Tulane University and associate editor of Documentary History of American Industrial Society; H.W. Furnam, member of the Carnegie Institution, professor at Yale and member of the American Economic Association; R.M. Easley, secretary of the National Civic Federation; Robert F. Hooey, professor at the University of Chicago; V. Evert Macy, president of the National Civic Foundation and foremost in civic work in New York; Helen Sumner (later Mrs. Robert Morse Woodbury), researcher for the Documentary History of American Industrial Society; R.M. La Follette; Norman Lombard, president of the Stable Money Association; Clara Commons, John R. Commons' sister, secretary, and research assistant; and Selig Perlman, graduate student under Commons and later faculty member in the economics department at the University of Wisconsin. An index to the correspondents can be found at the beginning of the series. The CHICAGO CLOTHING MARKET UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE MATERIALS series, 1920-1928, relate to a plan conceived by Commons and tested in one Chicago industry. Commons began to expand his ideas concerning unemployment in 1921. His plan would make employers responsible for their own unemployed workers, instead of placing the burden on society. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers called for a market “fund” wherein contributions of all establishments and all employees would be merged in a common fund and paid to all unemployed clothing workers. Employers contended that separate establishment funds ought to be created so they would not be responsible for unemployment funds that would go to their competitors' employees. Finally, the union agreed to management's position and Commons' plan provided for “establishment funds” with separate boards of administration. After the plan was administered in the Chicago clothing market, Commons brought all of the proceedings, agreements and records (the material in this series) to Madison where he and his students worked on drafting and devising the first state unemployment insurance bill, adopted by Wisconsin in 1932. The materials in the RESEARCH FILES series, 1904-1937, are the result of Commons' research on projects for state and federal government agencies. These projects cover a multitude of economic subjects which are presented in a variety of written forms such as notes, newspaper clippings, leaflets and pamphlets, government and committee reports, mailing lists, minutes and financial accounts of various economic organizations, bills and other legislative drafts, legal decisions concerning economic issues, statistical charts and surveys, correspondence, telegrams, government bulletins and publications. The material is organized alphabetically, and includes files on topics ranging from the American Bureau of Industrial Research to the Wisconsin Bureau of Economic Research. The SPEECHES AND ARTICLES series, 1908-1933, include those presented at formal gatherings relating to topics such as labor problems, industrial relations, child labor, and price stabilization. The BOOKS AND ARTICLES series, circa 1905-circa 1933, includes manuscript copies of Reasonable Value by Commons (1925), chapters 1, 3, 6, and 8-13. This book presents ideas concerning the concept that “reasonable value” is purely objective. Many applications of the ideas set down in this book are found in two of Commons' other works, Legal Foundations of Capitalism (1924) and Institutional Economics (1934). This material also contains various versions of Reasonable Value annotated by E.W. Morehouse; Morehouse's analysis of “Cost and Surplus Elements in Wages,” developed on the basis of “Methods of Analysis in Reasonable Value;” and correspondence, 1925-1926, relating to Reasonable Value. Extracts from cases cited in Legal Foundations of Capitalism, are found among the manuscripts. There are also articles by Commons relating to topics such as “Farm Price and the Value of Gold,” and “Efficiency and the Value of Gold.” There is an outline, notes and correspondence on American labor history concerning the collection of materials for a Documentary History of Labor Movements in the United States. The NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS series, 1887-1943, relate to Commons' work and writing, his unemployment insurance plan and his life in general. Also includes scrapbooks of articles arranged chronologically and topically. The UNIVERSITY FILE series, 1908-1967 (bulk 1920-1938), includes a variety of correspondence, records, and special studies relating to intramural activities of Commons at the University of Wisconsin, 1919-1936. In addition, there is post-Commons material, 1945-1967, relating to special funds, the Labor Research Library and other matters. Also included are student papers, 1908-1929, consisting of term papers, seminar papers, theses and reports submitted to Commons by his students. The papers are arranged alphabetically by the students' last names. Most of the papers were submitted for Commons' courses “Public Value” and “Value and Valuation.” These courses dealt with a comparison of legal and economic theories of value. Other student papers written for course work dealt with such topics as labor unions, labor legislation, labor management, and immigration. The VISUAL MATERIALS series, circa 1881-1934, consists of photographs including portraits and snapshots in an album assembled by Commons' son. Photographs include images from throughout the early life of the son, of family homes and from family events.
	Series: Correspondence
Box/Folder   1/1 Reel   1-5	Index to correspondents
Box/Folder   1/2-7 Reel   1-5	1859, 1894 September 22-1911 December
Box/Folder   2/1-5 Reel   1-5	1912 January-1916 December
Box/Folder   3/1-6 Reel   1-5	1917 January-1927 June 1
Box/Folder   4/1-7 Reel   1-5	1927 June 2-1936 December
Box/Folder   5/1 Reel   1-5	1937 January-December
Box/Folder   5/2 Reel   1-5	1938-1944, 1957, 1959-1962, 1967, undated
	Series: Chicago Clothing Market Unemployment Insurance Materials	⇧
	Accounts
Box/Folder   6/1 Reel   6	Benefits paid, 1924 June-1925 February
Box/Folder   6/2 Reel   6	Expenditures, 1924 January-1925 May
	Financial Statements
Box/Folder   6/3 Reel   6	Daily, 1924 October-1925 September
	Monthly
Box/Folder   6/4-5 Reel   6	Board #1, 1924-1928 February
Box/Folder   6/6-7 Reel   6	Independent firms, 1924 October-1928 February
Box/Folder   7/1-2 Reel   7	Tailor Contractors, 1924 October-1928 February
Box/Folder   7/3 Reel   7	Miscellaneous, 1923 November-1925 March
Box/Folder   7/4 Reel   7	Articles and statements made by Commons relating to unemployment insurance, 1924-1925
Box/Folder   7/5 Reel   7	Audit of insurance funds, 1923 May-1924 November
Box/Folder   7/6 Reel   7	Bibliographies of unemployment insurance materials, 1924, undated
Box/Folder   7/7 Reel   7	Board of Trustees meeting minutes, 1923 October-1925 April
	Correspondence
Box/Folder   7/8 Reel   7	Hart, Shaffner and Marx, 1923-1925
Box/Folder   7/9 Reel   7	Squires, B.M., Treasurer of the insurance board, 1920-1925
Box/Folder   8/1 Reel   7	Employment in the Chicago market, 1924 May-December
Box/Folder   8/2 Reel   7	Heck and Huber Laws
Box/Folder   8/3 Reel   8	Rules, agreements, and procedures, 1922-1924
Box/Folder   8/4-9 Reel   8	Trade Board and Board of Arbitration decisions, circa 1922-1925
	Series: Research Files	⇧
Box/Folder   9/1 Reel   9	American Bureau of Industrial Research, 1904-1919 Scope and Content Note: Work reports, pamphlets, and accounts.
Box/Folder   9/2 Reel   9	American Economic Association mailing list, 1921
Box/Folder   9/3 Reel   9	Bank Crisis of 1907 and 1937 Scope and Content Note: Drafts of suggested proclamations and recommendations for changes.
Box/Folder   9/4 Reel   9	Bank laws, 1931 Scope and Content Note: Suggestions for changing Wisconsin bank law.
Box/Folder   9/5 Reel   9	Board of Trade, 1931 Scope and Content Note: Legislation relating to creation and dissolution of a board of trade.
Box/Folder   9/6 Reel   9	British strike of 1926, circa 1926 Scope and Content Note: Notes.
Box/Folder   9/7 Reel   9	Bureau of Social Science, 1917-1918 Scope and Content Note: Notes.
Box/Folder   9/8 Reel   9	Collective Bargaining, 1926 Scope and Content Note: Legislation drafts sent to Commons for comment.
Box/Folder   9/9 Reel   9	Committee on Banking and Currency, 1926 Scope and Content Note: Manuscript copies of works used by Commons in preparing his testimony before that committee of the House of Representatives.
Box/Folder   9/10 Reel   9	Consumer Credit Scope and Content Note: Draft legislation and notes on credit unions.
Box/Folder   9/11 Reel   9	Cooperative Society Scope and Content Note: Maps, booklet and testimony presented to Congress favoring rail connections between Topolobampo, Mexico, and Norfolk, Virginia, by A.K. Owen.
Box/Folder   9/12 Reel   9	Credit Policy, 1928 Scope and Content Note: Paper on the subject of bank credit expansion.
Box/Folder   9/13 Reel   9	Dennison, H.S. (Massachusetts paper products manufacturer), Conversation with, 1923 September 20 Note: Concerning prices.
Box/Folder   9/14 Reel   9	Debts, Foreign, circa 1923-1927 Scope and Content Note: A suggested outline for a paper on war debts and trade.
Box/Folder   9/15 Reel   9	Federal Reserve Board, 1925-1929 Scope and Content Note: Materials relating to stability of prices including correspondence, pamphlets and clippings.
Box/Folder   9/16 Reel   10	Government railroads, undated Scope and Content Note: Notes.
Box/Folder   9/17 Reel   10	Industrial Relations and Democracy, 1904, 1918-1919 Scope and Content Note: Notes on question of industrial relations in democracies.
Box/Folder   9/18 Reel   10	Labor Seminar, circa 1930 Scope and Content Note: Notes.
Box/Folder   10/1 Reel   10	Labor Survey of Wisconsin, 1919 Note: Done by Commons for the Milwaukee Journal.
Box/Folder   10/2 Reel   10	Mexican Situation, 1927 Note: Land, oil property rights.
Box/Folder   10/3 Reel   10	Minimum Wage Bill, 1923-1927 Scope and Content Note: Correspondence and draft legislation pertaining to a minimum wage bill.
Box/Folder   10/4 Reel   10	National Monetary Association, 1923 Scope and Content Note: Materials concerning price controls.
Box/Folder   10/5 Reel   10	Money, Credit, Banking, 1923 Scope and Content Note: Papers and notes by Commons relating to control of price levels by changing discount and rediscount rate.
Box/Folder   10/6 Reel   10	National Bureau of Economic Research, 1920-1927 Scope and Content Note: Treasurer's reports, accounts, charter, and bylaws.
Box/Folder   10/7 Reel   10	Postal Rates, 1918 Scope and Content Note: Various materials presenting a point of view opposed to the raising of rates on periodicals.
Box/Folder   10/8 Reel   10	Public Power Commission, (St. Lawrence), 1931 Scope and Content Note: Recommendations for creation of a power commission.
Box/Folder   10/9 Reel   10	Public Employment Offices in Wisconsin, 1920 Scope and Content Note: A brief history.
Box/Folder   10/10 Reel   10	Public Utilities, 1931-1932 Scope and Content Note: Correspondence, notes, draft legislation relating to the Public Utilities Corporation bill of 1931 in Wisconsin.
Box/Folder   10/11 Reel   11	Research Institute of Washington, D.C., 1926-1927 Scope and Content Note: Notes on price stability.
Box/Folder   10/12 Reel   11	Research Accounts, 1919-1931 Scope and Content Note: Traveling expenses, staff salaries, and accounts of expenses for research projects undertaken from 1919 to 1931.
Box/Folder   10/13 Reel   11	Small loans, 1929, 1931 Scope and Content Note: Draft legislation, data, and miscellaneous materials relating to interest and availability of small loans.
Box/Folder   11/1 Reel   11	Stable Money, 1926 Scope and Content Note: Draft legislation, statements before Congressional hearings.
Box/Folder   11/2 Reel   11	Strikes, 1912-1914 Scope and Content Note: Commons' comments on a paper submitted by J. Hunter, entitled “The General Strike.”
Box/Folder   11/3 Reel   11	Taxation, 1930-1931 Scope and Content Note: Papers and correspondence relating to taxation.
Box/Folder   11/4 Reel   11	Unemployment, 1931 Scope and Content Note: Recommendations for unemployment compensation laws in Wisconsin?
Box/Folder   11/5 Reel   11	Unemployment Insurance, 1931-1932 Scope and Content Note: Comparisons and notes made between Gross and Nixon unemployment insurance bills.
Box/Folder   11/6 Reel   11	University of Wisconsin Faculty Salaries, 1920 Scope and Content Note: Study of cost of living in Madison and faculty salaries by Commons.
Box/Folder   11/7 Reel   11	Wages in the United States, 1920 Scope and Content Note: Notes.
Reel   11	Wisconsin Tariff Investigation, 1929 Note: Only on microfilm.
	Series: Speeches and Articles	⇧
Box/Folder   13/5-6 Reel   17-18	Speeches and articles, 1908, 1911-1925 Scope and Content Note: By Commons relating to topics such as labor problems, industrial relations, child labor and price stabilization.
Box/Folder   14/1-3 Reel   17-18	Speeches and articles, 1926-1933, undated
	Series: Books and Articles	⇧
	Reasonable Value
	Manuscript typescript
Box/Folder   12/1 Reel   12	Chapters 1 and 3
Box/Folder   12/2 Reel   12	Chapters 6, 8 and 9
Box/Folder   12/3 Reel   12	Chapters 10-12
Box/Folder   12/4 Reel   13	Chapters 12 (revised) and 13
Box/Folder   12/5 Reel   13	Morehouse, Edward W., annotations
Box/Folder   12/6 Reel   13	Miscellaneous manuscripts and analysis from Morehouse Files
Box/Folder   13/1 Reel   13	Correspondence, 1925 May 30-1926 December 10
Box/Folder   13/2 Reel   14	American Labor History, 1905-1906 Scope and Content Note: Notes of G.E. McNeil and Labor Party.
	Legal Foundations of Capitalism
Box/Folder   13/3 Reel   14	Extracts, cases 23-73
Box/Folder   13/4 Reel   14	Extracts, cases 74-107
	Series: Newspaper Clippings	⇧
Box/Folder   14/4 Reel   21	Clippings relating to the United States Commission on Industrial Relations and its Chairman, Frank P. Walsh, volume 1, 1915 January 10-September 16
Box/Folder   15/1 Reel   22	Clippings relating to Commons' works, unemployment insurance, and Commons generally, 1906-1936
Reel   15-17	Chronological file scrapbooks, 1887-1943 Note: Only available on microfilm.
Reel   19-21	Topical file scrapbooks, circa 1892-1938 Note: Only available on microfilm.
	Series: University Files	⇧
Box/Folder   15/2 Reel   22	Advisors transcripts, 1910-1930
Box/Folder   15/3 Reel   22	Americanization professor, 1918
Box/Folder   15/4 Reel   22	Businessmen's conference, 1931 May 18-19
Box/Folder   15/5 Reel   22	Commencement, 1925-1933
Box/Folder   15/6 Reel   22	Commons Memorials, 1932, 1938, 1966-1967
	Course materials
Box/Folder   15/7 Reel   22	Bibliographies and reading lists, 1911, 1921-1928, undated
Box/Folder   15/8 Reel   22	“Capitalism & Socialism,” 1923 Note: Stenographic transcript of lectures.
Box/Folder   15/9 Reel   22	Economics of Collective Action, 1947-1950 Note: Publication arrangements.
Box/Folder   15/10 Reel   22	Economics, Department of, 1929-1936
Box/Folder   15/11 Reel   22	Examinations, 1928-1932
Box/Folder   15/12 Reel   22	Exposition, 1925
Box/Folder   15/13 Reel   22	Extension Division, 1926, 1930
Box/Folder   15/14 Reel   22	Four Quarter System Committee, 1916-1918
Box/Folder   15/15 Reel   22	Frank, Glenn, President
Box/Folder   15/16 Reel   22	Friday Nighters, 1923-1926
Box/Folder   15/17 Reel   23	Grades, 1922-1938
Box/Folder   15/18 Reel   23	Graduate Committee, 1929-1932
Box/Folder   16/1 Reel   23	Graduate School, 1927-1931
Box/Folder   16/2 Reel   23	Industrial Relations courses
Box/Folder   16/3 Reel   23	Industrial Relations lecture series, 1925-1935
Box/Folder   16/4 Reel   23	Industrial Summer School, 1922-1935
Box/Folder   16/5 Reel   23	Instructional reports, 1915-1936
Box/Folder   16/6 Reel   23	Jerome, Harry, Department of Economics, 1929-1934
Box/Folder   16/7 Reel   23	Lectures, 1925-1934
Box/Folder   16/8 Reel   23	Legislative scholarships, 1932
Box/Folder   16/9 Reel   23	M.A. degree matters, 1920-1932
Box/Folder   16/10 Reel   23	McCaffrey, M.E., Secretary to the Regents, 1932-1934
Box/Folder   16/11 Reel   23	McElroy, affairs, 1918
Box/Folder   16/12 Reel   23	Miscellaneous University matters, 1925-1934
Box/Folder   16/13 Reel   23	Ph.D. matters, 1926, 1931
Box/Folder   16/14 Reel   23	Registrar, 1921-1928
Box/Folder   16/15 Reel   23	Research Committee, 1921-1928
Box/Folder   16/16 Reel   23	Research fellowship, 1921
Box/Folder   16/17 Reel   23	Scholarship Committee, 1927-1932 Note: Macklin, Gillan and Commons.
Box/Folder   16/18 Reel   23	Sellery, G.C., Dean, 1926-1932
Box/Folder   16/19 Reel   23	Senior theses, 1922
Box/Folder   16/20 Reel   23	Slichter, C.S., Dean, 1927-1934
	Student research papers, 1908-1929
Box/Folder   16/21 Reel   24	Barr-Clague
Box/Folder   17/1 Reel   24	Cornell-Hale
Box/Folder   17/2 Reel   24	Hoover-Lewis
Box/Folder   17/3 Reel   24	MacMillin-Sparkman
Box/Folder   17/4 Reel   24	Troxell-Zeuch
Box/Folder   17/5 Reel   24	University Club, 1924-1934
PH 3757/Micro 925	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
Reel   24	Portraits and snapshots, circa 1881-1934, undated Note: Only available on microfilm?
Box/Folder   1/1-30 Reel   24	Family album, 1894-1930
M98-040	Part 2 (M98-040): Additions, 1916-1931 Physical Description: 0.1 c.f. (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1916-1931, of 13 speeches, lectures, and articles by Commons.	⇧
Folder   1 Item   1	“The Evolution of Industry,” 1916 February 14
Folder   1 Item   2	Speech made before School Supervisors, Assembly Chamber, 1919 August 5
Folder   1 Item   3	“Democracy in Action,” 1919 October 10
Folder   1 Item   4	“Commercial Revolution,” Lecture before Mr. Perlman's Class, 1920 July 16
Folder   1 Item   5	“The Courts and the Job,” Lecture before Mr. Perlman's Class, 1920 July 27
Folder   1 Item   6	“The Law of Collective Bargaining,” 1920 October 20 Note: Personal, not for publication.
Folder   1 Item   7	Notes on the “Four Functions in Economic Theory,” 1924 November 28
Folder   1 Item   8	“Law and Economics,” 1925 January 7
Folder   1 Item   9	Notes on “Analytic and Functional Economics,” 1926 May
Folder   1 Item   10	“World Depressions,” 1931 May 9
Folder   1 Item   11	“Aftalion, A.,” undated
Folder   1 Item   12	“Bank Credit,” undated
Folder   1 Item   13	“Economic Cycles,” undated
M2003-114	Part 3 (M2003-114): Additions, 1832-1998 Physical Description: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 29 photographs (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1832-1998, consisting of biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, and writings. The biographical materials consist of genealogical and biographical records, including some nineteenth century documents and letters. The correspondence includes letters to and from John R. Commons, his family members, and his colleague Selig Perlman. The writings include “Investigational Economics,” “Capitalism and Socialism,” and “The Definition of Price.” A published version of “Investigational Economics” edited by Warren Samuels is also included. Additionally, there are manuscripts of Commons' son, John A. Commons, and documentation regarding his disappearance and reappearance. The photographs consist of family members, particularly of John R. Commons, his wife, and children.	⇧
	Family and personal correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	Commons, Ellen (daughter-in-law) personal correspondence, 1935-1957
Box   1 Folder   2	Commons, John A. to Anne Commons (granddaughter), 1944-1945
Box   1 Folder   3	Commons, John R. to Ellen Commons, 1936-1945
Box   1 Folder   4-5	Commons, John R. to Selig Perlman, 1928, 1941-1945, undated
Box   1 Folder   6	Commons, Rachel (daughter) to Ellen Commons, 1935-1936
	John A. Commons materials
Box   1 Folder   7	Commons, Ellen, official correspondence regarding John A. Commons disappearance, 1936-1940
Box   1 Folder   8	News clippings regarding John A. Commons reappearance, 1944-1945
Box   1 Folder   9	Documents related to John A. Commons, 1911-1957
Box   1 Folder   10-13	Manuscripts, undated
	Commons biographical information
Box   1 Folder   14	Family history, 1832-1957, undated
Box   1 Folder   15	Clippings concerning the death of John R. Commons, 1945
Box   1 Folder   16	Biographical information about John R. Commons, 1945-1950
Box   1 Folder   17	Labor Hall of Fame, 1989
	John R. Commons manuscripts and writings
Box   1 Folder   18	Copyrights of John R. Commons's books, 1934-1967
Box   2 Folder   1-2	“Investigational Economics”: manuscript, undated
Box   2 Folder   3	“Investigational Economics,” edited and published by Warren Samuels, 1998
Box   2 Folder   4	“Capitalism and Socialism”: manuscript, 1925
Box   2 Folder   5	“The Definition of Price”: manuscript, 1929
	Visual Materials
PH Box   5 Folder   1	Commons family photographs, circa 1900-1957
M2006-064	Part 4 (M2006-064): Additions, 1920-1927 Physical Description: 0.1 c.f. (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1920-1927, consisting of class papers of Commons while a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and as an instructor at Yale Law School (Summer 1926). The papers include examination questions from classes such as “Labor History and Socialism” and “Labor Legislation,” and two student papers for an assignment on “The Correlation of Law and Economics” at Yale.	⇧
M2009-095	Part 5 (M2009-095): Additions, 1918-1925, 2005 Physical Description: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)  Scope and Content Note: Additions, 1918-1925, 2005, including a bound edition of Reasonable Value, possibly unpublished manuscript drafts, drafts of articles, correspondence, a collection of readings bound into two volumes, and published and unpublished articles written by others. Also included is a book review from the American Economic Review Commons published in 1927 as well as an undated image of Commons' son, John A. Commons.	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Commons, John A., image
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence: Warren Samuels regarding “Capitalism and Socialism”
Box   1 Folder   3	“Labor in 1921”
Box   1 Folder   4	“The Federal Reserve System and Price Stabilization”
Box   1 Folder   5	“From Materialistic and Psychological to Institutional Economics”
Box   1 Folder   6	“Earning a Living Yesterday and Today: The Evolution of Industrial Classes”
Box   1 Folder   7	Hobson's Economics of Unemployment
Box   1 Folder   8	Anglo-American Law and Economics
Box   1 Folder   9	Reasonable Value drafts, 1924, 1927 April
Box   1 Folder   9	Reasonable Value Chapter 1 draft, 1926 December
Box   1 Folder   10	Reasonable Value bound, to be revised, 1925 April
Box   1 Folder   10	Chapter VI: “Method of Inquiry” from Reasonable Value
Box   1 Folder   11	“Why American Trade Unionists are Opposed to the Incorporation of Trade Unions”
Box   1 Folder   12	“A Truly Economic Concept of Real Wages”
Box   1 Folder   13	“Futurity and Property,” 1928
Box   1 Folder   14	Chapter XII: “Willingness,” bound, 1928
Box   1 Folder   15	Chapter XII: “Willingness”
Box   1 Folder   16	Book Review, from American Economic Review, 1927
Box   2 Folder   1	Chapter II: “John Locke”
Box   2 Folder   2	Chapter IV: “Home and Scarcity”
Box   2 Folder   3	Chapter V: “Adam Smith”
Box   2 Folder   4	Chapter VIII: “Scarcity and Efficiency”
Box   2 Folder   5	Chapter X: “Capital, Credit, Prices”
Box   2 Folder   6	Chapter XI: “Futurity and Property”
Box   2 Folder   7	Chapter II: “Hedonist Theories”
Box   2 Folder   8	Chapter III: “Quesnay”
Box   2 Folder   9	Chapter VIII: “Money and Bank Debts”
Box   2 Folder   10	Chapter VII: “Malthus”
Box   2 Folder   11	Chapter XXIV: “Capital Labor Administration from Territorial to Economic Government”
Box   2 Folder   12	Value
Box   2 Folder   13	Labor
Box   2 Folder   14	Physical Theories
Box   2 Folder   15	Unidentified manuscripts
Box   2 Folder   16	Published articles by others
Box   2 Folder   17	Unpublished manuscripts by others