The Edward A. Ross Papers, 1859-1969, are organized in the following series:
- A. Correspondence, 1869-1966
- B. Diaries and Travel Notes, 1883-1938
- C. Subject File, 1900-1956
- D. Writings, 1879-1948
- E. Teaching File, 1893-1941
- F. Photographs, circa 1870-1930
- G. Clippings and Ephemera, 1882-1969
Series A, Correspondence; Series D, Writings; and Series G, Clippings and Ephemera are comprehensive in their documentation of Ross's life and career. The correspondence, in particular, offers insights into his formative years, education, reform activities, and professional career. His correspondence with academic colleagues documents his own shift of interest from economics to sociology, and the development of sociology as a separate academic discipline. Also covered is Ross's prominent involvement in a number of reform, political, and professional issues including monetary reform, academic freedom, immigration restriction, eugenics, birth control, temperance, and civil liberties. Ross's travels to foreign lands are covered in the correspondence, but are most thoroughly documented in Series B, Diaries and Travel Notes. However, on these journeys he established an interest and made contacts which often lasted the rest of his life. In particular the correspondence reflects long-term interest in China, India, and Russia.
Additional information on Ross's early life and education is found in a few diaries and accounts of university study from the 1880s in Series B, and some early student compositions in Series D, Writings. Series D also includes a very comprehensive collection of Ross's articles and speeches. The Subject File, Series C, covers only a few distinct issues, principally the Stanford dismissal and the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. The Teaching File, Series E, contains material such as syllabi and examinations which relate directly to Ross's teaching responsibilities. In addition to pictures of Ross and his family, Series F, Photographs, contains numerous pictures from Ross's travel in South America and a few relating to research on living conditions in Milwaukee.
More information on each of these series is provided below.
INDEX TO CORRESPONDENCE
An index to the correspondence in Series A appears on reel 40 of the microfilm. It shows the names of addressees and signers (except Ross himself) of all letters and documents, each followed by a list of dates of all items addressed to or signed by them. No entries have been made under Ross's name since he is either signer or addressee of virtually every letter in the series.
Entries are primarily for personal names; they were made for organizations only when items had no individual as addressee or signer. No distinction is made in the index between incoming and outgoing letters. Further explanation of the content and format of the index is included at the beginning of reel 40.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPERS
Series A. Correspondence, 1859-1966
1859-1906
Correspondence for these early years is sparse and generally limited to incoming letters. Most of the 1859-1874 letters are to/from Ross's mother, Rachel Ellsworth Ross, and reflect the family's difficult life in the Midwest. Following his mother's death in 1874 and his father's death eighteen months later, Ross's family ties dissolved and only occasional letters appear from step-brother Frank Goudy, and half-brother Willie Goudy. However, after 1876, and especially after Ross entered Coe College in 1882, there are many letters to and from his foster mother, Mary D. Beach. The Coe College years also include the first letters of two long-time friends and correspondents: Jennie Martin and James E. Barber (sometimes spelled Barbour), who first wrote from Kansas and later from Providence, Rhode Island, where he was in the ministry. Barber's letters regularly discuss issues such as religion, politics, and social problems. After graduating from Coe in 1886, Ross taught two years at Fort Dodge (Iowa) Collegiate Institute. At Fort Dodge, Ross for the first time was criticized for his alleged radicalism. “You are charged,” wrote Luther Dodd on September 19, 1887, “with being tinctured with the skepticism of a Spencer, etc.”
Ross studied and traveled in Europe, 1888-1889, returned to attend Johns Hopkins, 1890-1891, and between 1891 and 1900 held teaching positions at the University of Indiana, Cornell University, and Stanford University. His letters to Mary Beach during this period continue to describe his activities, goals, and motivations. Incoming correspondence documents the meteoric rise of Ross's early career and becomes increasingly professional in nature. Academic conferences and addresses, salaries, publications, departmental politics, placement, and the American Economic Association are among the topics discussed. Correspondents begin to include leading economists and sociologists such as Richard T. Ely, who continued to advise his former student, Simon N. Patten, Edwin R.A. Seligman, Albion W. Small, F.W. Taussig, and Thorstein Veblen. Ross's 1896 publication, Honest Dollars, is the topic of many letters, and others in 1898-1899 concern his sabbatical in Europe. In 1900 there is correspondence, especially with Richard T. Ely, concerning publication of Social Control. However, in the late 1890s the primary topic is Ross's conflict with Stanford University which resulted in his ouster in 1900. His academic freedom case became a “cause celebre” and made him a national figure. Included in the series are communications from Stanford president David Starr Jordan, and many letters sympathetic to Ross's side of the case. Stanford professors Morton A. Aldrich, Frank A. Fetter, George Elliott Howard, William H. Hudson, H.B. Lathrop, C.N. Little, Arthur O. Lovejoy, and David E. Spencer resigned in sympathy with Ross and the series includes correspondence with all but Spencer.
Ross joined the University of Nebraska faculty in 1901 and remained until 1906. Much of the correspondence for this period concerns the publication of two books, Social Control (1901) and Foundations of Sociology (1905), numerous magazine articles, and his increased academic and popular recognition. Letters of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Charlotte Perkins Gilman praise his work; noted British economist John A. Hobson consulted him when planning a lecture tour of the United States, and Roscoe Pound became a frequent correspondent. The subject of eugenics is mentioned in a July 24, 1906 letter from N.M. Hays of the United States Department of Agriculture. Although Ross apparently declined membership on the Department's Committee on Eugenics, the field later became of prime interest to him. There is still extensive correspondence from Richard T. Ely, culminating in his invitation to have Ross join the University of Wisconsin faculty in the fall of 1906.
1907-1918
Correspondence regarding publications, speaking engagements, placement, and professional meetings continues to dominate the material from Ross's early years at the University of Wisconsin. In these years his primary publishers were the Century Company for books and Century Magazine for articles. Ross engaged in regular correspondence with editors Douglas Z. Doty, Dana H. Ferrin, Robert U. Johnson, and others regarding publication arrangements and revisions. During this period Ross also undertook the first of his foreign travels and popular related writing projects, visiting China (1910), South America (1913-1914), and Russia (1917). Many letters concern these trips. A number of individuals including Arthur W. Calhoun, a former Ross student and radical professor who was always at odds with college officials, sociologist Seba Eldridge, and travel writer Harry A. Franck each began life-long correspondence with Ross. Old friend James E. Barber also continued to correspond regularly.
In 1907 and 1908 there is much correspondence with former University of Nebraska colleagues regarding the internal politics of that institution. Evidence of Ross's interest in eugenics is documented in a September 10, 1908 letter from H. W. Anderson, President of the California State Eugenics Association. His general interest in the field of education is conveyed in correspondence with Anna Garlin Spencer, Milton Fairchild, and others.
Material from January 1910 documents the controversy over Ross's role in the University of Wisconsin campus visits of Emma Goldman and Parker H. Sercombe. There is little correspondence for the rest of 1910 as Ross was in China investigating social conditions from February to September. The contacts he established at that time with missionaries, diplomats, businessmen, and educators, such as Julean Arnold, Grace B. Service, D.L. Anderson, and others, continued for years.
The Changing Chinese, the first of many popular travel books written by Ross, and numerous articles based on his China trip were published in 1911. These publications, coinciding with the revolution of Sun Yat Sen, proved most timely and resulted in many letters from readers of the works. Theodore Roosevelt, an acknowledged Ross reader, wrote regarding population limitation and Chinese exclusion on July 11 and October 31, and Grace B. Service wrote a lengthy description of the revolution filed at November 10. Other significant correspondence from 1911 includes a January 22-23 letter from the San Francisco Examiner detailing accusations made by David Starr Jordan regarding “the Stanford incident” of a decade earlier; and communications with Clark W. Hetherington discussing the value of playgrounds and other public recreation facilities. Laura Cornelius Kellogg, a militant American Indian reformer and a member of the Oneida tribe who studied at the University of Wisconsin from 1907 to 1908, is first mentioned in a letter to Maurice H. Needham dated June 29, 1911.
Probably due to a strong distrust of newspapers, Ross became involved in the Potentia movement beginning in about 1912. The Potentia idea was “to acquire an income through the rental of its protective trademark” and to use both income and trademark “in disseminating through the press the opinions of eminent and disinterested men of science,” on important public issues (Ross to Geddes Smith, March 2, 1922). There is regular correspondence between Ross and Potentia movement founder Niels Gron from 1912 until 1925.
Eugenics and immigration, inexorably linked, continued to be of primary interest to Ross, who received letters in 1912 from the Eugenics Club of Madison, Wisconsin and from O.E. Baker, author of the “Eugenics Bulletin” of the United States Department of Agriculture. Apparently prompted by Prescott F. Hall of the Immigration Restriction League, Ross wrote to Woodrow Wilson on November 19, 1912, urging that a strong advocate of immigration restriction be appointed to head the Department of Commerce and Labor. Other notable correspondents for the year included Oliver Wendell Holmes, Roscoe Pound, and Joseph Fels.
Correspondence dating from 1913 is not extensive, as Ross departed for South America in July and returned the following January. Noteworthy communications for the year include a nineteen-page letter from Julean Arnold to Thomas Hotchkiss concerning graft (“the squeeze”) in the Chinese Customs Bureau; and correspondence of Judson King and Oklahoma Senator Robert L. Owen about the National Government League. Much correspondence from this year also deals with the settling of Lester Frank Ward's literary estate. Although he was not the executor, Ross handled part of the estate, as evidenced in correspondence with Emily Palmer Cape, James Quayle Dealey, Sarah (“Sate”) Simons, and G.P. Putnam & Sons publishers.
Ross's interest in eugenics is further reflected in 1914 correspondence with Joseph Lee of the Immigration Restriction League concerning the Burnett Bill to institute a reading test for immigrants. Ross was also in communication with the Eugenics Record Office, as shown in correspondence with H.H. Laughlin. Correspondents on the topic of American Indian reforms for 1913 and 1914 include Laura Cornelius Kellogg, Joseph B. Lockey of the Pro-Indigena Association, and F.A. McKenzie. Roberta Hodgson, a graduate student preparing a dissertation on blacks, began a long correspondence with Ross at approximately this time. Cora Mell Patten of the Chautauqua Circuit also wrote frequently. Letters regarding China appear from Julean Arnold, W.A. Hemingway, and R. Talbot.
In 1914 and 1915 Ross served as president of the American Sociological Society and much correspondence concerned that organization. The Society's Congress on Immigration, which convened in conjunction with the Panama Pacific Exposition, is documented in correspondence with James A. Barr. Other business of the organization is covered in extensive correspondence with Scott E.W. Bedford and Glen Levin Swiggett. As American Sociological Society president, Ross corresponded with prominent women educators Emily Balch, Mary E. Woolley, and Anna Garlin Spencer; and with J.P. Lichtenberger, J. Williams, and Franklin H. Giddings regarding the academic freedom case of Scott Nearing of the University of Pennsylvania.
Numerous other issues are represented in single and small groups of 1915 and 1916 letters. Following is a list of some of these topics with the names of correspondents involved with them:
- American Institute of Social Service (Horace G. Hoadley, Josiah Strong, and William B. Patterson)
- an international conference dedicated to ending World War I (Henry Ford)
- the Committee of Sixty on National Prohibition (Irving Fisher)
- the Burnett Immigration Bill (Representative John M. Nelson, Nathaniel M. Pratt, and John H. Wigmore)
Exchanges with eminent Argentinian sociologist Ernesto Quesada also began at about this time.
Correspondence of 1917 and 1918 is extensive and dominated by the subject of Ross's trip to Russia made under the auspices of the American Institute for Social Service. Preparations for the July-December journey are reflected in exchanges with Nathaniel M. Pratt, General Secretary of the Institute, as well as letters of introduction from University of Wisconsin President Charles R. Van Hise, Isaiah Bowman of the American Geographical Society, and other notables. In a February 16, 1918 letter to Rudolph M. Binder of the Institute, Ross explained how the November Revolution impeded his mission. A twenty-three page report of his trip is enclosed in an April 1, 1918 letter to Binder. At about this time he began a life-long correspondence with Franklin A. Gaylord of the YMCA International Committee, whom he met in Russia. He frequently communicated with James Abbott of the Century Company regarding his work, Russia in Upheaval, which appeared in 1918.
Ross's interest in immigration is reflected in 1917 and 1918 exchanges with Sidney L. Gulick of the League for Constructive Immigration Legislation and Prescott F. Hall. Other interesting topics are covered in the following 1918 letters: April 8 to J.L. Highsaw supporting minimum wage boards; May 8 to Hazel Griffin on women in the job market; and May 23 from Louis D. Froelick of the American Asiatic Association, and August 31 from S.G. Way of the Chinese Nationalist League regarding China and Asia. There is relatively little information on the war and related domestic issues. Exceptions are letters of Joyce O. Hertzler describing his military experiences, and of O.C. Wentin, Assistant Secretary of the League to Enforce Peace, regarding activities of that group.
1919-1929 [1]
Foreign travel and related writing projects, and immigration restriction and eugenics remain frequent topics of correspondence in the 1919-1929 period. In these years Ross also took interest in birth control (Margaret Sanger is a regular correspondent) and became involved, at least in an honorary capacity, with a host of liberal and reform related organizations. Old contacts James E. Barber, Harry A. Franck, and Roscoe Pound continue to correspond and Ross begins a regular correspondence with Russian emigre sociologist Pitrim A. Sorokin.
Even more than in years prior to 1919-1929, correspondence is taken up with publication of Ross's own works and those he edited. Ross's primary publisher was the Century Company and he corresponded frequently with its officials including Dana H. Ferrin, James Abbott, and Lyman B. Sturgis. About 1919 he also became editor of the Century Social Science Series of college textbooks. In this capacity he corresponded with authors including Willystine Goodsell, Katherine L. Lenroot, J.P. Lichtenberger, Emma O. Lundburg, H.A. Millis, and David Hutton Webster.
Ross's interest in higher education is documented in a May 10, 1919 letter to Edward A. Fitzpatrick, Secretary of the Wisconsin State Board of Education, suggesting the establishment of a revolving fund enabling Wisconsin high school students to attend college in-state regardless of their parents' income. The dismissal of University of California, Berkeley Professor Ira W. Howerth is discussed in letters of September 20 and 30, 1919, when the case was referred to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Committee on Academic Freedom. During 1919 Ross also began corresponding with Jerome Davis, while continuing exchanges with former Stanford colleague Lucile Eaves, then of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, and Sidney L. Gulick. The 1919 correspondence also reveals Ross's views on a variety of contemporary issues: Bolshevism (A.L. Sugarman of the Socialist Party of Minnesota); Russia (H.H. Fuller); universal military training (B.A. McGee); equal pay for equal work done by women (Elizabeth Eddy); extending espionage and sedition laws into peace-time (Albert DeSilver and Senator Medill McCormick); raids under the Lusk Committee (Raymond Robins); and Chinese politics and government (C.G. Dittmer).
Correspondence dating from January through August 1920 continues to be extensive, but decreases considerably from September through December, when Ross took a leave of absence in New York City to study the Soviet regime. During 1920 Ross defended himself against charges that he had any revolutionary Socialist connections in letters to George C. Sellery and Richard T. Ely. His contacts and experience in China also continued to produce correspondence, and eugenics resurfaces in the 1920 correspondence with Charles B. Davenport, Chairman of the National Research Council's Eugenics Committee.
Ross's old “cause,” the Potentia movement, seemed to enjoy a resurgence in 1921 as he communicated with Niels Gron, A.S. Lloyd, and Charles Stewart Davison. Noteworthy correspondence with Margaret Sanger also increased, although Ross chose to remain aloof from her American Birth Control Conference, partly due to concern that the University of Wisconsin might be adversely affected by a backlash of Catholic voters influencing the state legislature (see letter of October 25). Immigration restriction, another aspect of population control, is documented in letters to Miles J. Martin and Dwight H. Porter. Ross's focus on China was also renewed in 1921, as he became head of Wisconsin in China (see enclosure to July 11 Allen P. Child letter for an explanation of this organization) and in correspondence with John L. Childs, University of Wisconsin representative in Beijing, and James D. Campbell.
A new trend which emerges in the early 1920s and continues for many years is an increase in Ross's committee work for various organizations, particularly “honorary” work or “lending his name.” In 1921, for example, Ross accepted Robert M. La Follette's invitation to join the National Council of the People's Legislative Service; responded positively to J.W. Beatson, becoming a member of the National Economic League; agreed to join the Education Committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in a letter to Stephen Duggan; and wrote to Samuel Gompers agreeing to serve on a disarmament committee for an international conference for arms limitation and Pacific problems.
Beginning in 1922 and continuing for the rest of the 1920s, there is a marked decrease in the volume of correspondence. From June through August 1922, Ross travelled in Mexico and there is little material from that three-month period. The trip became the basis for a series of articles published in The New Republic, (see exchanges with editor Herbert Croly), and for The Social Revolution in Mexico published in 1923. The contacts which Ross established on his 1917 Russian trip led to interesting exchanges five years later with Alexander Koulisher, an emigre seeking a professorship in the United States, and Alexander Guidony (many Guidony letters are in Russian).
Preparations for Ross's investigative trip to Portuguese East Africa (Angola) mark the 1923 correspondence. Further preparations, the trip itself, and the controversy over Ross's published findings are the subjects of many 1924-1926 letters. Ross's scathing Report on Employment of Native Labor in Portuguese Africa appeared in 1925. The Portuguese government apparently threatened to bring suit, and officials at the American State Department refused to vouch for Ross. There was fear that the missionaries who had cooperated with Ross would bear the brunt of Portugal's wrath, and ultimately Ross believed that his efforts at reform were in vain. For information on these events and issues see especially the correspondence of Amandus Johnson, A.G. Murray, Arthur J. Orner, Andrew Reid, C.K. Simango, and A.L. Warnshuis, and a May 24, 1924 interview with D.A. Hastings.
Other significant correspondents for the 1923-1925 period include Zechariah Chafee regarding free speech and radicalism; Roger N. Baldwin on the ACLU; Franklin A. Gaylord covering Indian nationalism; Upton Sinclair discussing “literature for emancipation of the workers;” Robert De. C. Ward and Arthur Fisher on Japanese immigration; Ben L. Reitman of “The Hobo College” in Chicago regarding his experiment on the “Homeless Man problem;” and long-time friends and associates James E. Barber, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Roscoe Pound.
Ross's public stand on the birth control issue changed during 1926 as evidenced by his correspondence with Margaret Sanger and Anne Kennedy. Other notable correspondents include: Cameron J. Davis on Protestant mission work; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn regarding fascism; M. Matsuhasi discussing women's education in the United States; R.R. Marett, a friend from Ross's Berlin days; Edna McCaull Bohlman, co-author of Civic Sociology; and Indians I.B. Sen, Radhakamal Mukerjee, and Haridas T. Muzumdar.
Long-standing concerns of immigration, eugenics, and over-population, are documented in 1927. Restricted immigration is endorsed in a January 4 letter to the President, Senate, and House of Representatives, while the National Origins Standard is supported in a February 23 letter to Senator David A. Reed. Ross's view of eugenics is summarized in a September 22 communication to Leon F. Whitney of the American Eugenics Society, Inc.
Extensive travel, particularly during the latter half of the year, accounts for the limited correspondence from 1928. Ross spent part of the summer in Mexico, then began a seven-month around-the-world tour as Educational Director of the Floating University. From the Orient, University of Wisconsin sociologist John L. Gillin wrote to Ross with observations on the Chinese Nationalist army in Shanghai and independence for the Philippines. In a June 14 letter to Paxton Hibben, biographer of William Jennings Bryan, Ross noted the great orator's lack of intellectual prowess and made other judgments. The death of long-time friend James E. Barber is mentioned in an August 29 letter from L.P. Barbour.
Ross did not return to Madison from his world tour until mid-June 1929. However, a May 22 letter to the editor of The Chicago Tribune defended the Floating University against charges of being unorganized and non-educational. The creation of a separate Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin is documented in a June 5 letter from John L. Gillin. A chapter in World Drift entitled “What the Films are Doing to our Children” evidently occasioned exchanges with William H. Short of the National Committee for Study of Social Values in Motion Pictures and George J. Hecht of The Parents Magazine.
1930-1936
There is a marked increase in the volume of correspondence for this period. Considerable numbers of letters continue to be devoted to Ross's own publications and to the Century Social Science Series he edited. As in the past, correspondence with Dana H. Ferrin is the key to Ross's publishing and editing activities. In addition he corresponded with authors including Emory S. Bogardus, Jerome Davis, and Horace B. Hawthorn. Academic responsibilities such as recommendations and placement, and correspondence related to Ross's travels remain prominent in the series. A number of individuals including Arthur W. Calhoun, Harry A. Franck, Zona Gale, Radhakamal Mukerjee, Haridas T. Muzumdar, Kathrene Pinkerton, and Margaret Sanger were still regular correspondents. In addition, Upton Sinclair, Mildred C. Smith of the Open Forum Speakers Bureau and S W. Stookey of Coe College wrote often.
Continuing and even expanding in the 1930-1936 period is Ross's participation in and/or membership on the governing boards of numerous liberal, reform, and scientific organizations. Listed below are some of these organizations and in parentheses are the names of people with whom Ross corresponded about the organization.
- American Civil Liberties Union (Roger N. Baldwin)
- American Committee Against War and Fascism (Ralph M. Compere)
- American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky (John Dewey and Norman Thomas)
- American Eugenics Society (Guy Irving Burch)
- Brookwood Labor College (A.J. Muste)
- Civic Education Service (Walter E. Myer)
- Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America (Hubert C. Herring)
- Committee to Invite Mahatma Gandhi to the United States (Frederick B. Fisher)
- Institute for the Study of Mercenary Crime (Ernest D. MacDougall)
- Intercollegiate Association for Study of the Alcohol Problem (John H. Shouse)
- League for the Organization of Progress (Rudolf Broda) National Economic League (J.W. Beatson)
- National Education Association Committee on Social Economic Objectives (H.A. Allan)
- The People's Lobby (John Dewey and Benjamin C. Marsh)
- Population Reference Bureau (Guy Irving Burch)
- Public Ownership League of America (Carl D. Thompson)
- Victor L. Berger National Foundation (Clarence Darrow)
- Wisconsin Conference of Social Work (Aubrey Williams)
- Wisconsin Temperance Education (C.E. O'Beirne and Charles L. Hill)
- World Tomorrow Peace Meetings (Kirby Page)
Not unexpectedly, the Depression is also a frequent topic of correspondence. Letters of Arthur W. Calhoun in particular hit upon this topic. There are many letters from unemployed professors seeking employment at the University of Wisconsin.
In a bizarre off-shoot from his interest in motion pictures and morality, Ross became involved in 1930 with Major Frank Pease, “manager” of the United Technical Directors Association (not to be confused with F.S. Pease Jr. of the Century Company who also corresponded with Ross in 1930). Major Frank Pease, an anti-Semitic, militaristic fanatic, used one of Ross's letters to create the false impression that Ross opposed the pacifist film, All Quiet on the Western Front. The situation was brought to Ross's attention by letters from Creighton Peet of The Outlook and Jessie Jack Hooper of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.
One of the highlights of 1931 occurred in mid-March when Ross was honored by Alpha Kappa Delta for twenty-five years of service at the University of Wisconsin. Many colleagues and former students unable to attend his dinner forwarded letters of congratulations. Due in part to a doctor's order to rest, Ross sailed to Tahiti in February 1932. Fourteen pages of observations from this trip are enclosed in a March 25, 1935 M.M. Taylor letter. On April 6, 1932, while Ross was still in Tahiti, his wife, Rosamund Simons Ross, died. The 1932 correspondence contains more personal and family letters than other years, partially due to Mrs. Ross's death.
As chairman of the National Popular Government League's Roosevelt Campaign Committee, Ross became actively involved in the 1932 presidential election. This work is documented in exchanges with League founder Judson King and with Melvin D. Hildreth of the National Progressive League for Franklin D. Roosevelt. A number of other issues and topics are covered in single or small numbers of letters: independence for India (John Haynes Holmes); conditions in Russia, including collectivization and Bolshevism (Jerome Davis); and the Depression in Arkansas (William E. Zeuch).
Birth control, an issue which had long interested Ross, took on additional significance during an era of unemployment and bread lines. He viewed the problem in terms of class conflict, as he explained in a June 13, 1933 letter to Stella Hanau of the Birth Control Review. A June 10 letter from H.K. Hanson regards birth control legislation in Wisconsin and there are scattered references to Ross's participation in a losing 1933 legislative battle on the subject. Eugenics, forever associated with birth control to Ross, was the subject of an Associated Press clipping enclosed with a November 9, 1933 letter from Milton Fairchild. The wire service credited Ross with plans for breeding a “perfect race” by mentally and physically testing couples who wished to marry before issuing wedding permits. The scheme is cloaked in New Deal terminology referring to “a sort of 'new deal' for humanity or a 'superior race recovery program.'”
Much of the 1934 correspondence, including exchanges with Alexander R. Hohlfeld, Glenn Frank, Howard Becker, and F. Stuart Chapin, concentrated on efforts to bring sociologist Leopold Von Wiese from Nazi Germany to the University of Wisconsin as a visiting Carl Schurz Professor. During the same period, Ross, Becker, and Charles A. Ellwood communicated about resigning from the German Sociological Society to protest the Nazis. The summer of 1934 was highlighted by Ross's trip to Russia, as well as to Scandinavia, and to Eastern and Southern Europe. Arrangements are documented in exchanges with H.H. Powers and William M. Barber. After returning to the United States in September, he continued to correspond with William Coolagin, a Leningrad student, regarding living conditions in Russia. Ross reflected on his trip in letters to David Hutton Webster and Drexel A. Sprecher. In issue-related 1934 correspondence, Ross wrote on January 22 to Henry Pratt Fairchild suggesting a world project to study whether the crossing of the races should be restrained as in India and the American South; on March 23 to William English Walling regarding capitalism; on October 19 to Janet Crittenden Buck about David Starr Jordan as an educator; and on December 14 to Norman A. Kahl on the subject of old-age pensions.
The Ross material for 1935 reflects his involvement in a move to reinstate University Extension Professor Albert E. Croft (see letters of Croft, Florence E. Fell, Frank O. Holt, and others). In an August 15 letter old friend Charlotte Perkins Gilman explained her imminent suicide. Arrangements for his 1936 trip to Mexico, as well as 1938 travel to Australia and New Zealand, are discussed in exchanges with Hubert C. Herring and William M. Barber. “Current events” and topics which figure in the sociologist's 1935 correspondence include: the effects of the Depression on family life (Ernest R. Groves); the academic freedom case of Walter Terpenning (Paul F. Voelker); protestation of political murders in Nazi Germany (Hans Luther); and newspapers and public opinion (W. Ryland Boorman). Ross's December 28 speech criticizing the Hearst newspaper chain, delivered as incoming honorary president of Pi Gamma Mu, elicited much response. The writing of his autobiography also occupied Ross during 1935 and brought him in contact with his former teacher and life-long correspondent, S.W. Stookey, as well as Anita Newcomb McGee, daughter of Johns Hopkins professor Simon Newcomb.
Ross published more during 1936 than he had in over a decade. He frequently corresponded with Mary F. Anderson of the World Book Company, and he continued his editorial work for D. Appleton-Century (successor to the Century Company). His autobiography, Seventy Years of It, generated comments from many readers following its appearance in September. In addition, Ross's fight against the Hearst newspaper chain gained momentum and resulted in much correspondence after it was noted by Oswald Garrison Villard in The Nation of January 15. The academic freedom case of Jerome Davis, a professor at the Yale Divinity School and Ross's long-time friend, figured prominently in the 1936 correspondence. In addition to Davis, Ross's correspondents regarding the matter include George A. Douglas, Oliver Hart Bronson, Colston E. Warne, Luther A. Weigle, and Luther L. Bernard. Meanwhile, the forced resignation of University of Wisconsin President Glenn Frank is discussed in letters of December 17 and 31 to George A. Douglas and E. Allison Grant respectively.
1937-1966
After thirty-one years as Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Ross retired in 1937. He remained active professionally for several years, lecturing, attending meetings, and maintaining his office and some secretarial help. He also continued his travel and related writing projects and his participation in numerous liberal and reform-related organizations. Consequently the volume of correspondence remains high through about 1940. Thereafter, the number of letters is greatly diminished.
Ross's increased involvement in the controversial American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky may be considered the focal point of the 1937 correspondence. This work brought him in touch with Melville Stewart, Mauritz A. Hallgren, Katharine D. Lumpkin, John Dewey, Suzanne LaFollette, Judson King, Felix Morrow, George Novack, and others. Ross also served on the Wisconsin Peace Council (see George Collins correspondence); and the Advisory Board of the National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia (see Charles Francis Potter letters). In addition, Ross continued to receive letters from readers of his autobiography. Other noteworthy correspondence includes exchanges with Jerome Davis concerning his academic freedom case; a letter to Senator Lewis Schwellenbach regarding radio freedom; and one to Senator James F. Brynes about the Senate Committee on Civil Liberties.
From February through early September 1938, Ross journeyed to Australia. Descriptions of his final trip abroad are recorded in letters to his daughter-in-law, Gertrude. In 1939 Ross taught summer school at Northwestern University, as reflected in correspondence with Arthur J. Todd. In addition during 1939, he received many requests for his lecture “Fifteen Weeks in Australia.”
Ross's life-long interest in eugenics is also documented in the 1939 material. On May 15 he wrote a three-page letter to the Madison Capital Times endorsing compulsory sterilization of “mental defectives,” while sterilization and a “Race Betterment Conference” are discussed in a June 1 communication to Emil Leffler. He also received a letter from Dorothy D. Walton and Anna E. Morehouse of the Wisconsin Race Conservation Committee. In other 1938 and 1939 correspondence, Ross renewed friendships from Iowa days with DeWitt L. Pelton and E.V. Tuttle, reminded Mahatma Gandhi of their 1925 and 1928 visits in a letter of recommendation for Haridas T. Muzumdar, and received a complaint from Leon Trotsky about an unpleasant encounter with a Mrs. Harris, for whom Ross had written a letter of introduction.
During 1940, Ross became Chairman of the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a post he held for ten years. Although primarily an honorary position, it resulted in substantial amounts of correspondence. The case of thirteen University of Michigan students dismissed because of their anti-war stand is documented in correspondence with Alexander Ruthven, Ernest Goodman, Owen A. Knox, and Paul Allen. Oklahoma Governor Leon C. Phillips and Arthur Garfield Hays are among correspondents concerned with the academic freedom case of Stuart Streeter of Southeastern (Oklahoma) State College.
With the possible exception of ACLU material, there is only scattered significant correspondence after 1939. Personal highlights of 1940 include the unveiling of Ross's portrait at an honorary dinner held at the University of Wisconsin and his marriage to Helen Forbes. Both events generated congratulatory messages. In the early 1940s the Gettelman Bill, which banned minority parties from the ballot in Wisconsin and was specifically aimed at the Communist Party, was discussed in letters of Thomas E. Casey of the Wisconsin State Conference on Social Legislation, and Governor Julius Heil. Ross corresponded with Franz Boas, David C. Shelton, Roger N. Baldwin, and Robert W. Dunn regarding the case of Earl Browder, imprisoned head of the American Communist Party. In a May 2, 1941 letter to Henry W. Bragdon, Ross describes Woodrow Wilson's teaching years at Johns Hopkins University.
The establishment of a chapter of Pi Gamma Mu at North Carolina College for Negroes (Durham) is discussed in 1945 correspondence with Joseph H. Taylor and Leroy Allen. In 1946, Ross continued to work on his final manuscript, “Aphorisms of a Sociologist” (published as “Capsules of Social Wisdom” in the journal Social Forces), and sent it out for review to Judson T. Landis, Ray E. Baber, and others. Throughout later years he corresponded with old acquaintances including Arthur W. Calhoun, Dana H. Ferrin, Karyl Kanet Chipman, Raymond Robins, and Upton Sinclair.
From Ross's death in 1951 the series skips to 1958 when letters regarding the naming of a University of Wisconsin residence hall for Ross are included. From 1959 to 1966 nearly all the letters are between Ross's biographer Julius Weinberg and Ross's son Gilbert.
Series B. Diaries and Travel Notes, 1883-1938
Diaries and travel notes consist of diaries and transcripts, notes, and notebooks, which document Ross's student years and later travel. Organization of the series is chronological and the contents list below shows the dates and, in many cases, the topics of the diaries and notebooks.
A diary kept while attending Coe College (1883-1887) and the transcript of a diary kept at the University of Berlin (1888-1889), record his early intellectual development and views of society. However, most of the material in the series is related to trips taken from 1910 to 1938, including observations of China, Africa, South America, and Russia. His many travel books are based, in part, on these notes.
For Ross's 1913-1914 trip to South America there are two sets of volumes. The titled volumes (see contents list) record day-to-day activities and observations, while the untitled volumes are summaries probably drawn together as an early draft for publication. Five volumes which he wrote in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution are particularly significant since there is no correspondence from Ross during this 1917-1918 trip. Notes, dated December 9, 1917, on an interview with Leon Trotsky are included in volume IV of the Russian trip diaries. Two notebooks dating from a 1924 trip to Portuguese East Africa (Angola), sponsored by the International Missionary Council to Investigate Compulsory Labor Conditions, are also noteworthy.
Ross recorded two trips within the United States. His observations of Chicago factories, circa 1910, include impressions of Armour Company, U.S. Steel, and the McCormick Works twine mill. Topics include treatment of women workers, labor conditions, and unions. There is also a diary of travels through New York and New England, circa 1914, with points of comparison of different sections of the United States.
Series C. Subject File, 1900-1956
This alphabetically arranged series contains a variety of material, regarding several distinct facets of Ross's career, and an attempt by friends to raise a memorial fund after his death. The file headings shown in the contents list below are generally descriptive of the content of this series.
The “Academic Freedom” and “American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky” files are particularly interesting. The former pertains to Ross's dismissal from Stanford in 1900 as well as to the case of Jerome Davis, a Yale Divinity School professor denied tenure in 1936. Ross was a member of the Trotsky Committee, and the records regarding that group form the largest component of the series. Depositions, transcripts, reports, and press releases are included, while Ross's correspondence with the organization's secretary, Suzanne LaFollette, and others is located in Series A, Correspondence.
Series D. Writings, 1879-1948
Writings are subdivided into student compositions and notes, articles and speeches, and book drafts and files. The chronologically organized student compositions and notes, 1879-1891, include the libretto for an operetta, Yawnmore, written by Ross, and his notes from graduate school class lectures by Richard T. Ely and Woodrow Wilson while at Johns Hopkins.
Articles and speeches consist of popular and professional journal publications and addresses on a variety of topics, such as sociology, travel, temperance, and over-population, as well as book reviews. A few articles of interest to Ross, but not written by him, are also included. There is occasionally more than one version of the same item. Multiple dates on the contents list below indicate that there is more than one dated version. The material is arranged alphabetically and the contents list shows all titles.
Book drafts and files consist primarily of annotated typescripts but also include book reviews (many additional reviews of Ross's works are found in Series G, Clippings and Ephemera), sales statistics, outlines, notes and notebooks, and other related material. Published and unpublished works are included. The material is arranged alphabetically, and the titles are shown in the contents list. Unnumbered chapters and related material are filed after the numbered chapters. Dates refer to the date of the material, not necessarily the same as the date of book publication.
The amount of documentation varies greatly among the works with some files, such as that for Changing America, consisting of only a few book reviews. Two works, Civic Sociology/”Sociology for Everybody” and Principles of Sociology, are extensively documented. The identity of the former manuscript is uncertain as, towards the end of his life, Ross revised Civic Sociology (revision unpublished) and wrote, but never published, “Sociology for Everybody.” Due to overlaps in subject matter, these drafts are difficult to distinguish from one another. It is also possible that some of the material may relate to a revision of Social Control begun about the same time but never finished. There are also missing chapters and chapters with the same number but different titles and contents for Civic Sociology/”Sociology for Everybody.” The draft of Principles of Sociology, the lengthiest in the series, probably relates to the 1938 edition and is nearly complete. The manuscript is based in part on lectures and notes, 1926-1939, included with the chapters.
Series E. Teaching File, 1893-1941
These records consist of detailed syllabi, examinations, and other material related to courses in economics and sociology taught by Ross. Much of the file predates his arrival at the University of Wisconsin in 1906. Ross's early teaching posts at Stanford and the University of Nebraska, where he taught introductory level courses, as well as advanced classes, such as “Railroad Problems” and “Bad Government,” are well documented. Records from his Wisconsin period reflect increasing specialization within the field of sociology and include the syllabus for a class on South America. Also included is material on a summer class Ross taught at Northwestern University after his retirement from the University of Wisconsin.
Series F. Photographs, circa 1870-1930 and undated
The photographs include formal and candid pictures of Ross and his family; those from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin Visual Materials Archive's “Name File” were microfilmed and others were added to the collection later. Also on the microfilm and also available in original form are three sets of pictures related to his professional career. These include two groups of photos from Ross's travels in South America, 1913-1914, and a small number of photos of slum living conditions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1909.
Series G. Clippings and Ephemera, 1882-1969
The content of this series is primarily newspaper clippings, although invitations, announcements, broadsides, programs, and other types of materials are also included. The series is made up of seven volumes of scrapbooks and a separate chronologically arranged set of clippings. The first scrapbook volume consists exclusively of reviews of several of Ross's books. The other volumes cover his college years in the United States and Germany and his early professional career. There are a great many clippings on the Stanford dismissal and the silver issue. The contents list below shows the dates, and sometimes the topics, covered in the scrapbooks.
