Register of the Vervon Orval Watts papers

Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff

Hoover Institution Library and Archives

434 Galvez Mall

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305-6003

hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu

URL: http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives

Title: Vervon Orval Watts papers

Date (inclusive): 1920-1983

Collection Number: 83064

Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 23 manuscript boxes (9.2 Linear Feet)

Abstract: Correspondence, speeches and writings, notes, instructional materials, research materials, clippings, and other printed matter relating to economic conditions in the United States and economic theory, especially laissez-faire economics.

Creator: Watts, Vervon Orval, 1898-

Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Access

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Use

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Acquisition Information

Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1983.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Vervon Orval Watts papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Biographical Note

1898 March 25	Born, Manitoba, Canada
1918	Graduated from University of Manitoba
1923	M.A., Harvard University
1939	Economic counsel, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
1944	Author, Do We Want Free Enterprise?
1946	Editorial director, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
1952	Author, Away From Freedom
1954	Author, Union Monopoly
1955	Author, United Nations: Planned Tyranny
1963-1984	Director of economic education and chairman of the Division of Social Studies, Northwood University
1976	Author, Politics vs. Prosperity
post-1923	Ph.D., Harvard University
circa 1925-1939	Taught at various colleges and universities, including Clark University, Harvard University, Wellesley, Antioch College, Carlton College, Claremont Men's College, Pepperdine University, and Campbell College
1938	Author, Why Are We So Prosperous?
1967	Author, Free Markets or Famine
1993	Died, Palm Springs, California

Scope and Content of Collection

The Vervon Orval Watts papers document the life and career of a conservative economist, academic, and opinion maker. An early critic of the New Deal, Watts maintained a lifelong commitment to laissez-faire principles, opposing government intervention in the economy and most social welfare programs. He sought to popularize these ideas by communicating them to a broad audience. His papers are largely comprised of writings, research materials, writings by others, and printed matter.

The extensive Speeches and Writings series contains many of Watts' articles, speeches, and pamphlets, as well as several monographs that he wrote or edited. The series also includes work that Watts did as a publicist and speechwriter for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, including the texts of many lectures that he gave. The collection also has an extensive Subject File, comprised largely of clippings and articles, that reflects Watts' many research interests. Prior to serving as an economic advisor to organizations, Watts had a long teaching career, and the Academic File contains course materials, lecture notes, and syllabi relating to classes he taught at several institutions. Additionally, the academic file has a number of materials from Watts' time as a student, including papers that he wrote, as well as reading and lecture notes.

The collection also has a significant number of Speeches and Writings by Others, mainly on economic issues. There are also many pamphlets collected by Watts in the Printed Matter series, largely written by conservative authors.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Free enterprise

Economics

Economists

United States -- Economic conditions

Biographical File 1940, 1944

box 1, folder 1

Certificate of appreciation 1944

box 1, folder 2

Clipping 1944

box 1, folder 3

Flyer 1940

Correspondence 1922-1983

General 1931-1974

box 1, folder 4

A-F 1937-1974

box 1, folder 5

G-K 1937-1961

box 1, folder 6

L-P 1931-1959

box 1, folder 7

Q-Z 1937-1961

box 1, folder 8

Letters to the editor 1935-1960

box 1, folder 9

Unidentified 1935-1960

box 1, folder 10

American Provident Society 1944

box 1, folder 11

Anti-Defamation League 1955

box 1, folder 12

Ayres, Leonard P. 1933

box 1, folder 13

Babcock, Mary Elizabeth 1961

box 1, folder 14

Bell, Charles R. 1958-1959

box 1, folder 15

Binkley, Harold 1923

box 1, folder 16

Blumenthal, Sidney 1945

box 1, folder 17

Braden, Spruille 1958

box 1, folder 18

Buck, Walter H. 1945

box 1, folder 19

Buffet, Howard 1947

box 1, folder 20

Call, Joseph L. 1957-1958

box 1, folder 21

Carver, T. N. 1941-1947

box 1, folder 22

Chodorov, Frank 1947

box 1, folder 23

Clise, J. W. 1957-1959

box 1, folder 24

Congress of Freedom, Inc. 1959

box 1, folder 25

Courtney, William H., 1950

box 1, folder 26

Cowling, Donald J. 1961

box 1, folder 27

Crane, George W. 1958-1961

box 1, folder 28

Crane, Jasper E. 1961

box 1, folder 29

Davis, Ralph 1958

box 1, folder 30

Edwards, Le Roy M. 1943

box 1, folder 31

Fairchild, Fred Rogers 1946-1947

box 1, folder 32

Fick, Samuel L. 1944

box 1, folder 33

Freedom School, Inc. 1958-1961

box 1, folder 34

Fulton, James A. 1949

box 1, folder 35

Gipson, J. H. 1945-1957

box 1, folder 36

Hart, Merwin K. 1957-1958

box 1, folder 37

Hart, William 1945

box 1, folder 38

Hazlitt, Henry 1949

box 1, folder 39

Hiestand, Edgar W. 1958-1961

box 1, folder 40

Hodgson, R. T. 1945

box 2, folder 1

Hoff, Trygve J. B., 1946-1949

box 2, folder 2

Hoiles, R. C. 1955-1959

box 2, folder 3

Johnson, Fred H. 1958

box 2, folder 4

Jones, Frederick W. 1946

box 2, folder 5

Kershner, Howard E. 1955-1959

box 2, folder 6

Kohlberg, Alfred 1955

box 2, folder 7

Kooser, Ernest O. 1945

box 2, folder 8

Kuchel, Thomas H. 1961

box 2, folder 9-10

Lane, Rose Wilder 1944-1957

box 2, folder 11

LeFevre, Robert 1955

box 2, folder 12

Lombard, Norman 1945

box 2, folder 13

Lowe, Dorothy 1922-1924

box 2, folder 14

Luten, Daniel B. 1936

box 2, folder 15

MacArthur, Harold 1961

box 2, folder 16

Macbeth, Norman 1945

box 2, folder 17

Mann, William D. 1957-1961

box 2, folder 18

Marion, Guy E. 1939

box 2, folder 19

Maughmer, G. F., 1946

box 2, folder 20

Mickey, Karl B. 1945

box 2, folder 21

Mullendore, William C. 1944-1952

box 2, folder 22

Murata, Toshio 1958

box 2, folder 23

Nystrom, Paul H., 1943

box 2, folder 24

Pew, J. Howard 1961

box 2, folder 25

Phillips, Charles W. 1945

box 2, folder 26

Radcliffe, Harry S. 1945

box 2, folder 27

Rapp, Robert 1955

box 2, folder 28

Read, Leonard E. 1942-1955

box 2, folder 29

Retail Controllers Association 1945

box 2, folder 30

Richardson, Annice 1955

box 2, folder 31

Robb, John C. 1958

box 2, folder 32

Rogers, Robert G. 1958

box 3, folder 1

Rorty, M. C. 1933-1934

box 3, folder 2

Russell, John Henry 1961

box 3, folder 3

Saxon, O. Glenn 1962

box 3, folder 4

Schwarz, Fred 1983

box 3, folder 5

Sexson, Paul A. 1944

box 3, folder 6

Shamer, G. P. 1955

box 3, folder 7

Shelly, Thomas J. 1958

box 3, folder 8

Shelton, James E. 1946

box 3, folder 9

Sheppard, G. A. 1958

box 3, folder 10

Sheridan, J. Paul 1958

box 3, folder 11

Slaton, John M. 1945

box 3, folder 12

Smith, Walter B. 1951

box 3, folder 13

Smoot, Dan 1957

box 3, folder 14

Southern California Edison Co. 1951

box 3, folder 15

Spahr, Walter E. 1958

box 3, folder 16

Spurgeon, W. H., Jr. 1958

box 3, folder 17

Stephens, Guy C. 1945

box 3, folder 18

Thompson, Joseph S. 1945

box 3, folder 19

Trippet, Oscar A. 1945

box 3, folder 20

Turner, W. Homer 1958

box 3, folder 21

Untereiner, Ray E. 1943-1945

box 3, folder 22

Watts, Mr. (father) undated

box 3, folder 23

Winans, Paul 1946

box 3, folder 24

Wright, John S. 1945

box 3, folder 25

Young, Clyde L. 1937-1944

Speeches and Writings 1930-1983

Columns

box 3, folder 26

Christian Economics 1951-1952

box 3, folder 27-28

Southern California Business Review 1939-1941

box 3, folder 29

Yellow Springs News 1932-1936

box 3, folder 30

"The American Mollusk," undated

box 3, folder 31

Article on banking undated

box 3, folder 32

Article on communism undated

box 3, folder 33

Article on interest rates and production undated

box 3, folder 34

Article on mass production undated

box 3, folder 35

"Buying Power Must Circulate," undated

box 3, folder 36

"Economic Rehabilitation," undated

box 3, folder 37

"An Economist's Reaction to the Proposals of Wm. P. Hapgood," undated

box 3, folder 38

"Fallacies," undated

box 3, folder 39

"Keynesism or Keynesianism," undated

box 4, folder 1

"Money and Free Markets," undated

box 4, folder 2

"An Old, Old Story!," undated

box 4, folder 3

"Principles of Economics," undated

box 4, folder 4

"On Selfishness and Progress," undated

box 4, folder 5

"Social Inequality," undated

box 4, folder 6

Speech on agriculture undated

box 4, folder 7

"We Are Paying the Bill Now!," undated

box 4, folder 8

"What Price Inflation?," undated

box 4, folder 9

"When Enterprise Was a Privilege," undated

box 4, folder 10

Writing on economics undated

box 4, folder 11

Article on international payments 1930

box 4, folder 12

"A Defense of Capitalism," 1930

box 4, folder 13

"When Will Prices Stop Rising?," 1933 June 24

box 4, folder 14

"Capital and Wages," 1936

box 4, folder 15

"The Meaning of Freedom," 1936

box 4, folder 16

"New Deal Bureaucracy," 1936

box 4, folder 17

"The Significance of the Republican Convention," 1936

box 4, folder 18

"The Tennessee Valley Authority," 1936

box 4, folder 19

"Technics and Civilization," 1936 January

box 4, folder 20

"The New Deal and the Negro," 1936 June 8

box 4, folder 21

"Government and the People," 1936 June 26

box 4, folder 22

"Liberalism," 1936 June 26

box 4, folder 23

"The New Deal and Freedom," 1936 June 26

box 4, folder 24

"The President's 'Cure' for Unemployment," 1936 June 26

box 4, folder 25

"Spiritual and Moral Aspects of Business ('Material') Prosperity," 1936 June 26

box 4, folder 26

Writing on Karl Marx 1937 January 24

box 4, folder 27

Finding Words for Common Sense 1938

box 4, folder 28-29

Why Are We So Prosperous? 1938

box 4, folder 30

"The Ham-and-Eggers Call It 'The Banana-Peel Movement,'" 1939

box 4, folder 31

"Ham-and-Eggers Know Their 'Warrants' Will Be 'Hot,'" 1939

box 4, folder 32

"Some Hurdles for the Economics Teacher," 1939 February

box 4, folder 33

Article on inequality and Henry Wallace 1940

box 4, folder 34

Lecture outlines, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 1940

box 4, folder 35

Report of the Committee on Production for Use 1940

box 4, folder 36

"War Lessons for the United States," 1940 May

box 5, folder 1

"Discussion," 1941 December

box 5, folder 2

Article on price fixing 1942

box 5, folder 3

"Price Freezing," 1942

box 5, folder 4

"Prospects for New Industries in Southern California," 1942 July

box 5, folder 5

"The New Deal-Nature and Origins," 1943 March 12

box 5, folder 6

"Post-war Boom or Collapse," lecture outline 1943 July 19

box 5, folder 7

"Post-war Boom or Depression?," 1943 December

box 5, folder 8

The Twilight of Free Enterprise 1944 November 2

box 5, folder 9

"Free Enterprise Is Free," 1945 April

box 5, folder 10

"Robin Hood Economics Not What the United States Wants," 1945 April

box 5, folder 11

Remarks 1945 May 13

box 5, folder 12

"Promoting Communism through Currency Inflation," 1945 June 19

box 5, folder 13

Article on housing shortage 1946

box 5, folder 14

"So You Believe in Rent Control?," 1946

box 5, folder 15

"Writer Scores Silly Tommy-Rot of Communism," 1946 February

box 5, folder 16

"Terminate Price Control," 1946 March

box 5, folder 17

"Collectivist Fallacies," speech outline 1946 March 12

box 5, folder 18

"Dealing with Collectivism," 1946 June 17

box 5, folder 19

"Mr. Dewey's Farm Program," 1948

box 5, folder 20

"Money, Currencies, and Credit in Free Markets," 1950

box 5, folder 21

Lectures, Southern California Edison Co. 1950

box 5, folder 22

"Capitalism," 1950 March 25

box 5, folder 23

Away from Freedom 1952 Winter

box 5, folder 24

"Hönan och guldäggen," 1954

box 5, folder 25

The United Nations: Road to War 1955 Spring

box 5, folder 26

"When Will Prices Stop Rising?," 1957 June 24

box 5, folder 27

"Recent Developments of New Economic Theories Relevant to Problems of Public Policy: Keynesian Economics," 1960

box 6, folder 1-2

"When Enterprise Was a Privilege," 1960

box 6, folder 3

Should We Strengthen the United Nations? 1961 Winter

box 6, folder 4

Economize-or Perish! 1964 Winter

box 6, folder 5

"As a Man Thinks...," 1965 December

box 6, folder 6

"Away from Freedom," 1966

box 6, folder 7

"Why Humans Must Be Free," 1966 March

Free Markets or Famine 1967, 1974

box 6, folder 8

1967 edition

box 7, folder 1

1974 edition

box 7, folder 2

"From Sovereign Governments to Sovereign Individuals," 1967

box 7, folder 3

Hunger Need Not Be 1967

box 7, folder 4

Reactions to President Nixon's Address to the Nation 1969 November 3

box 7, folder 5

"John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: Marxian Ideology Wrapped in Obscenity," 1970

box 7, folder 6

"The 'New Economics' and Marxian Socialism," 1971 March 21

box 7, folder 7

"Are Schools Necessary?," 1971 July

box 7, folder 8

"The Northwood Idea," 1973 March

box 7, folder 9

"Industrialism: Friend or Foe?," 1973 April

box 7, folder 10

"Closing the Generation Gap," 1973 July

box 7, folder 11

"Business and Its Image," 1974 July

box 7, folder 12

"Diplomas versus Education," 1975

box 7, folder 13

"The Law," 1975 August

box 7, folder 14

"Capitalism: Definition-Origins-Dynamics," 1975 October

box 7, folder 15

"Moral Law and Freedom," 1976 January

box 8, folder 1

Politics vs. Prosperity 1978

box 8, folder 2

"The Economics and Politics of Inflation," 1983 March

Transcripts 1941-1942

Scope and Contents note

"Common Sense Hour" radio programs.

box 8, folder 3

General 1941-1942

box 8, folder 4

Nos. 1-7 1941

box 8, folder 5

Nos. 8-13 1941

box 8, folder 6

Nos. 14-19 1941

box 8, folder 7

Nos. 20-25 1941

box 8, folder 8

Nos. 26-31 1942

box 9, folder 1-30

Notes 1920-1940

Academic File 1917-1976

Student career 1917-1932

box 10, folder 1-2

Lecture and reading notes 1924-1930

box 10, folder 3

Papers 1917-1922

Ph.D thesis 1931-1932

box 10, folder 4-7

Drafts and fragments 1931

box 11, folder 1-2

Complete 1932

box 11, folder 3

Syllabus 1929

Teaching career 1930-1977

box 11, folder 4

Correspondence 1930-1976

box 11, folder 5-7

Course readers 1970-1977

box 12, folder 1-5

Course readers 1970-1977

box 13, folder 1

Course readers 1977

box 13, folder 2

Examination questions, assignments, and course requirements 1963

box 13, folder 3

Lecture notes and outlines 1935-1960

box 13, folder 4

Reports 1937-1939

box 13, folder 5-6

Syllabi 1935-1936

Subject File 1933-1979

box 13, folder 7

Advertising 1940-1970

box 13, folder 8

Agriculture 1942-1979

box 13, folder 9

Alberta stamp scrip 1935-1939

box 13, folder 10

Anti-poverty programs 1971-1976

box 14, folder 1

Antitrust and monopolies 1955-1979

box 14, folder 2

Automobile insurance 1937-1941

box 14, folder 3

Banking 1976-1979

box 14, folder 4

Big business 1977-1979

box 14, folder 5

Books 1962-1979

box 14, folder 6

Bretton Woods agreement 1945-1946

box 14, folder 7

Bureaucracy 1940-1979

box 14, folder 8

California Club 1943

box 14, folder 9

Civil rights 1974

box 14, folder 10

Collectivism 1950-1979

box 14, folder 11

Communism 1954-1979

box 14, folder 12

Consumerism 1974-1979

box 14, folder 13

Crime 1976-1979

box 14, folder 14

Culture 1972

box 14, folder 15-16

Disarmament 1961-1975

box 14, folder 17

Education 1943-1979

box 14, folder 18

Employment 1943-1948

box 14, folder 19

Energy 1973-1979

box 14, folder 20

Ethics 1962-1979

box 14, folder 21

Family 1972-1979

box 15, folder 1

Foreign aid 1968-1979

box 15, folder 2

Foreign relations 1950

box 15, folder 3-5

Foreign trade 1943-1974

box 15, folder 6

Free enterprise 1943-1979

box 15, folder 7

Freeman magazine 1951

box 15, folder 8

Gold standard 1978-1979

box 15, folder 9

Government ownership and regulation 1943-1979

box 15, folder 10

Government spending 1976-1979

box 15, folder 11

Great Britain 1940-1979

box 15, folder 12-14

"Ham and Eggs" plan 1938-1941

Scope and Contents note

Relates to the old-age pension movement in California in the 1930s. Includes correspondence.

box 16, folder 1

Health care and medicine 1941-1979

box 16, folder 2

Housing 1946

box 16, folder 3-4

Income statistics 1948-1976

box 16, folder 5

Industrial Revolution 1968-1978

box 16, folder 6

Inflation 1974

box 16, folder 7

Investments 1976

box 16, folder 8

John Birch Society 1961

box 16, folder 9

Keynes, John Maynard 1976-1979

box 16, folder 10

Law 1978-1979

box 16, folder 11-12

Minimum wage laws 1948-1974

box 16, folder 13

National Recovery Administration 1933-1934

box 16, folder 14

News media 1976-1979

box 16, folder 15

Office of Price Administration 1943-1945

box 16, folder 16

Optimism 1978-1979

box 16, folder 17

Planning 1942-1979

box 16, folder 18

Politics 1936-1979

box 17, folder 1-4

Politics 1936-1979

box 17, folder 5

Pollution and environmentalism 1973-1979

box 17, folder 6

Population and food 1974-1979

box 17, folder 7

Price controls 1941-1979

box 17, folder 8

Profits 1978-1979

box 17, folder 9

Progress 1976

box 17, folder 10

Psychology 1973-1979

box 17, folder 11

Racism 1976-1979

box 17, folder 12-13

Religion 1953-1979

box 17, folder 14

Rising prices 1978-1979

box 18, folder 1

Science 1971-1974

box 18, folder 2-5

Segregation 1955-1975

box 18, folder 6-8

Social security 1950-1979

box 18, folder 9

Soviet Union 1946-1979

box 19, folder 1

Taxes 1943-1979

box 19, folder 2

Terrorism 1977-1979

box 19, folder 3

Unemployment 1955-1979

box 19, folder 4

Unions and labor relations 1940-1979

box 19, folder 5

United Nations 1955-1979

box 19, folder 6

Wages 1939-1979

box 19, folder 7

Women's liberation 1973-1979

Speeches and Writings by Others 1927-1980

box 19, folder 8

Adams, Claris 1943

box 19, folder 9

Babson, David L. 1968

box 19, folder 10

Bleiberg, Robert M. 1975

box 19, folder 11

Borders, Irvin 1946

box 19, folder 12

Byoir, Carl 1942

box 19, folder 13

Carpenter, Wayne 1971

box 19, folder 14

Carson, Clarence B. 1971

box 19, folder 15

Carver, T. N. (Thomas Nixon) 1935-1950

box 19, folder 16

Davenport, John A. 1975

Friedman, Milton and George J. Stigler 1946

box 19, folder 17

"The Current Housing Problem: Ceilings or Roofs?," article drafts 1946

box 20, folder 1

Editorial comments and correspondence 1946

Scope and Contents

Includes letter from Ayn Rand to William C. Mullendore.

box 20, folder 2

Fromm, Erich 1973

box 20, folder 3

Harper, F. A. 1945

box 20, folder 4

Greenwald, David 1966

box 20, folder 5

Harper, Roland M. 1939

box 20, folder 6

Hazlitt, Henry 1945-1948

box 20, folder 7

Hoffman, Paul G. 1938-1943

box 20, folder 8

Hoiles, R. C. 1947

box 20, folder 9

Lage, Gerald M. 1973

box 20, folder 10

McCracken, Paul W. 1980

box 20, folder 11

Mowrer, O. Hobart 1961

box 20, folder 12

Mullendore, William C. 1950-1951

box 20, folder 13

North, Gary 1975

box 20, folder 14

Petro, Sylvester 1964

box 20, folder 15

Read, Leonard 1942

box 20, folder 16

Rorty, M. C. 1933

box 20, folder 17

Rose, Tom 1975

box 20, folder 18

Summers, Brian 1974

box 20, folder 19

Shafer, Ronald G. 1972

box 20, folder 20

Szasz, Thomas S. 1961-1967

box 20, folder 21

Terborgh, G. W. 1929

box 20, folder 22

Tibbetts, Carleton B. 1942

box 20, folder 23

Tugwell, Rexford G. 1927-1935

Graphic Materials 1922, 1938

box 20, folder 24

Cartoons for Why Are We So Prosperous? 1938

box 20, folder 25

Photographs depicting Dorothy Lowe 1922

Printed Matter 1929-1979

box 21

Monographs 1934-1976

box 19, folder 18

Pamphlets 1929-1976

box 20, folder 26-27

Pamphlets 1929-1976

box 22

Pamphlets 1929-1976

box 23

Serial issues 1942-1979