Richard T. Ely | |
|---|---|
 Ely around 1910, at the University of Wisconsin | |
| Born | (1854-04-13)April 13, 1854 Ripley, New York, U.S. |
| Died | October 4, 1943(1943-10-04) (aged 89) Old Lyme, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Hill Cemetery |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Doctoral advisor | Karl Knies |
| Other advisors | Johann Bluntschli |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Political economy |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral students | |
| Notable students | |
Richard Theodore Ely (April 13, 1854 – October 4, 1943) was an Americaneconomist, author, and leader of theProgressive movement who called for moregovernment intervention to reform what it saw as the injustices ofcapitalism, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education,child labor, andlabor unions.
Ely is best remembered as a founder and the first Secretary of theAmerican Economic Association, as a founder and secretary of the Christian Social Union, and as the author of a series of widely read books on theorganized labor movement,socialism, and other social issues. He also promoted views on eugenics, redlining, andrace suicide.[1]
Ely was born in 1854 inRipley,New York, the oldest child of Ezra Sterling and Harriet Gardner (Mason) Ely.[2][3] He grew up on his family's 90-acre farm nearFredonia, New York, carrying wood, milking cows, churning butter, and picking rock in the fields. He later recalled that life on the farm taught him much.[4] Richard's father was a self-taught engineer, and young Richard helped him lay out a railroad inPennsylvania.[3] But Richard's father was not a successful farmer, relying too much on questionable ideas from popular farm magazines rather than local experience. Fluctuating prices further complicated farming.[4]
Richard's father was a devoutPresbyterian who avoided tobacco, allowed no work or play on Sunday, and refused to growhops because they would have been used to make beer. Yet he read poetry and studied Latin. Ely's mother painted and taught art in the local teachers' college. Ely transferred his affiliation to theEpiscopal Church in college, and through his life remained devout and active.[4]
Ely attendedColumbia University inNew York City, from which he received abachelor's degree in 1876 and amaster's degree in 1879.[5][6] The same year, he received aDoctor of Philosophy degree ineconomics from theUniversity of Heidelberg,[7] where he studied withKarl Knies, who belonged to thehistorical school of economics,[8] andJohann Kaspar Bluntschli.[9] He also received aDoctorate of Laws fromHobart College in 1892.[8]
Ely was a professor and head of thepolitical economy department atJohns Hopkins University from 1881 to 1892.[10]
In 1885, Ely was a founder of theAmerican Economic Association, serving until 1892 as the group's Secretary.[10] He also served a term as president of the organization from 1899 to 1901.[10] The AEA Distinguished Lecture series was formerly known as the Richard T. Ely Lecture; it was renamed in 2020.[11] Ely also foundedLambda Alpha International in 1930. Its purposes included the encouragement of the study ofland economics at universities; the promotion of a closer affiliation between its members and the professional world of land economics; and the furtherance of the highest ideals of scholarship and honesty in business and the universities. Ely is known as the "Father of Land Economics".
In April 1891, Ely was a founder and the first Secretary of theChristian Social Union, a membership organization advocating the application ofChristian principles to social problems.[12]
From 1892 until 1925, he was professor of Political Economy and director of the School of Economics, Political Science, and History at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1894,Oliver Elwin Wells,Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin andex officio member of theUniversity's Board of Regents, attempted to expel Ely from his chair at Wisconsin for purportedly teachingsocialistic doctrines. This effort failed, with theWisconsin stateBoard of Regents issuing a ringing proclamation in favor ofacademic freedom, acknowledging the necessity of freely "sifting and winnowing" competing claims.[13]
In 1906, Ely co-founded theAmerican Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) with other economists.[14]
In 1925, Ely moved toNorthwestern University inChicago, where he accepted a position as professor of economics. He remained at Northwestern until retiring in 1933.[10]
Although regarded as a radical by his detractors on the political right,[15] Ely in fact opposed socialism. "I condemn alike," he declared, "that individualism that would allow the state no room for industrial activity, and that socialism which would absorb in the state the functions of the individual."[16] He argued that socialism was not needed, and "the alternative of socialism is our complex socio-economic order, which is based, in the main, upon private property." He warned that the proper "balance between private and public enterprise" is "menaced by socialism, on the one hand, and byplutocracy, on the other."[17]
Ely's critique of socialism made him a political target of the socialists themselves. In his 1910 bookTen Blind Leaders of the Blind, Arthur Morrow Lewis acknowledged that Ely was a "fair opponent" who had "done much to obtain a hearing for [socialism] among the unreasonable", but charged he was merely one of those "bourgeois intellectuals" who were "not sufficiently intellectual to grasp the nature of our position."[18]
Ely was a product of the German historical school with an emphasis on evolution to new forms, and never accepted themarginalist revolution that was transforming economic theory in Britain and the U.S. He was strongly influenced byHerbert Spencer and strongly favored competition overmonopoly orstate ownership, with regulation to "secure its benefits" and "mitigate its evils". What was needed was "to raise its moral and ethical level."[19] But whereas Spencer believed that free competition was best served by deregulation and a smaller state, Ely believed that more regulation and a more interventionist state was the policy to follow. Also onsocial Darwinism, Spencer believed that the state should not get involved in supporting one ethnic group over another, while Ely believe the state should support white "Nordic" people against people of other races (in line with the opinions of his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin,Edward Alsworth Ross andCharles R. Van Hise).[citation needed]
Ely favoredeugenics, arguing the "unfit" should be kept from reproducing.[20] He argued that blacks were "for the most part grownup children, and should be treated as such."[20] Ely was an advocate forredlining (which entails racial segregation and discrimination in real estate), and has been considered influential in the institutionalization of redlining practices in the United States.[21]
Ely did support labor unions and opposed child labor, as did many leaders of theProgressive Movement, and also some conservatives, such asMark Hanna. Ely was close to theSocial Gospel movement, emphasizing that the Gospel of Christ applied to society as a whole, not merely individuals; he worked hard to convince churches to advocate on behalf of workers. Ely strongly influenced his friendWalter Rauschenbusch, a leading spokesman for the Social Gospel.
DuringWorld War I, Ely worked to build popular support for the American war effort, taking part in the activities of theLeague to Enforce Peace. He headed the committee of arrangements for a "Win the War Convention" held in Madison on November 8–10, 1918.[22] Ely's political activities during World War I included his campaign against SenatorRobert M. La Follette. Though a Progressive, La Follette did not support the war, and so Ely regarded him as unfit for office. Ely tried to have him removed from theUnited States Senate and end his influence in Wisconsin politics.
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Ely edited Macmillan'sCitizen's Library of Economics, Politics, and Sociology andSocial Science Textbook Series and Crowell'sLibrary of Economics and Politics. He was a frequent contributor to periodical literature, both scientific and popular.[23]
Richard Ely died inOld Lyme, Connecticut, on October 4, 1943, and was buried atForest Hill Cemetery in Madison. A large portion of his library was purchased byLouisiana State University and is now a part of LSU's Special Collections division. Ely's papers are housed at theWisconsin Historical Society.
The American Economic Association instituted the annual "Richard T. Ely Lecture" in 1960 in his memory, which, unlike the Association's other honors, is open to non-American economists. It was renamed the AEA Distinguished Lecture series in 2020.[24]
His former home, now known as theRichard T. Ely House, is on theNational Register of Historic Places.[25]
The television seriesProfiles in Courage did an episode in 1964 titled "Richard T. Ely" about the "sifting and winnowing" incident. Ely was played byDan O'Herlihy; Wells byEdward Asner; and Ely's attorney, former CongressmanBurr Jones, byLeonard Nimoy.[26]
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Media related toRichard Theodore Ely at Wikimedia Commons
