Records, 1900-1993 (bulk 1930-1980).

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Wharton School. Industrial Research Unit.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bezanson, Anne.

Palmer, Gladys L. (Gladys Louise).

Palmer, Gladys L.

Davis, Hiram S. (Hiram Simmons), 1903-.

Davis, Hiram S.

Northrup, Herbert R. (Herbert Roof), 1918-2007.

Northrup, Herbert R.

Balderston, C. Canby.

Taylor, George W. (George William), 1901-1972.

Taylor, George W.

Sociology--Research.

Sociology.

Sociology--Study and teaching--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Economics--Study and teaching--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Economics.

African Americans--Employment.

African Americans.

Labor turnover.

Labor mobility--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

Labor mobility.

Labor mobility--Connecticut--New Haven.

Labor mobility--Illinois--Chicago.

Labor mobility--California--Los Angeles.

Labor mobility--California--San Francisco.

Labor mobility--Pennsylvania--Norristown.

Labor mobility--Ohio--Columbus.

Unemployment.

Employment stabilization.

Construction workers.

Affirmative action programs.

Discrimination in employment.

Working class.

Wages--Construction workers.

Wages.

Food industry and trade--Employees.

Food industry and trade.

University of Pennsylvania--Faculty.

University of Pennsylvania.

Genre:

News releases.

Press clippings.

Correspondence.

Pamphlets.

Serial publication.

Statistics -- tables.

Physical Description:

63 Cubic ft.

Arrangement:

The collection has been divided into fourteen series: I. Administrative file, 1928-1993; II. Black employment--construction, 1961-1978; III. Black employment--correspondence and clippings, 1957-1977; IV. Black employment--various industries, 1939-1975; V. Census file, 1931-1961; VI. Employment and unemployment studies, 1914-1963; VII. Labor studies, 1922-1964; VIII. Methodology and problems, 1930-1959; IX. Miscellaneous research files, 1923-1975; X. Mobility studies, 1928-1965; XI. Reference material, 1924-1961; XII. Regional economy file, 1924-1961; XIII. Research publications, 1925-1962; XIV. Wages studies, 1900-1964. Except for the Research publications series, which is arranged chronologically by the publication date, each series has been arranged alphabetically.

Place of Publication:

1900-1993

Biography/History:

The Industrial Research Unit of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1921 as the Industrial Research Department with a mission to "study the economic and social problems of business." Sponsored by the Trustees of the University and financially assisted by the Carnegie Corporation, the Department worked in close relationship with a group of representative Philadelphia firms, which furnished data for research and analysis. From its inception to World War II, the Department, under the direction of two faculty members, Joseph H. Willits and Anne Bezanson, attracted world-wide attention for its pioneering studies of industrial relations. Its research results were well received by employer associations, government agencies, and international organizations. Major research associates working under the two directors during this period were C. Canby Balderston, Hiram S. Davis, Eleanor L. Dulles, Marion Elderton, W. E. Fisher, Miriam Hussey, Gladys L. Palmer, and George W. Taylor.

Budgetary problems after the War caused a restructuring of the institution. In 1953, the Department became a unit of the Wharton School's Department of Industry (later known as the Department of Management). Gladys L. Palmer was appointed director of the newly formed Industrial Research Unit. The Unit made new progress in areas of labor mobility, pricing, and productivity. In 1964, Herbert R. Northrup succeeded Palmer as IRU director. Under his leadership, the Unit gained resources to fund new initiatives. By the summer of 1968, the Unit completed two book series, the Racial Policies of American Industry series and the Studies of Negro Employment, and established three new series--the Labor Relations and Public Policy Series, the Multinational Industrial Relations Series, and the Manpower and Human Resources Studies.

The Unit was renamed "The Center for Human Resources" in 1990. Instead of the traditional area of industrial relations, the present institution focuses more on the study of human resources and labor and personnel management. Organizationally, the Center comprises four major groups for research and consultation services. These include the Research Advisory Group, the Multinational Research Advisory Group, the Financial Employee Relations Study Group, and the Labor Relations Council. The Center issues news letters to its corporate members and makes the proceeds part of its income.

Summary:

The collection documents the research work the Wharton Industrial Research Unit undertook from the 1920s to 1970s. The Administration series contains an "Industrial research history file," which includes records of all major activities the department carried on each year from 1922 to 1985. The material in this file consists of department meeting minutes, important correspondence and internal memos, planning documents, research project progress reports and summaries, fund proposals, and the department's statements on its mission and history for various purposes.

The bulk of the collection is made up of research files, which fall into three major groups: studies in the 1930s and 1940s of labor, wages, employment and unemployment; the mobility study in the 1940s and 1950s; and the study of black employment in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Employment and unemployment studies cover a wide range of interest. The series includes such sub-series as the study of domestic employment, the study of employment patterns at the household level, the hosiery industry study, the study of individual income and family expenditure, the Philadelphia study, the self-employment study, the study of skilled workers at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and the study of women in labor force. The Philadelphia Navy Yard "Tool-maker" study represents the only file in this collection that originated from the work of Anne Bezanson, one of the founders of the research institution.

The Labor and Wages studies were closely related to the employment and unemployment studies. The two series provide valuable information in such areas as the five-day week in the railway industry, child labor law, labor market study, labor union policies, and statistics of earnings in different locations or by occupations.

The Mobility studies consist of the six-city mobility study and three minor projects--the Columbus (Ohio) study, the Illinois study, and the Norristown (Pennsylvania) study. The six-city project files include original investigation schedules or transcription cards that record various aspects of the work history of thousands of male and female workers interviewed in Chicago, Los Angeles, New Haven, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and St. Paul. The files also include material that analyzes factors that affected work attachment and contributed to labor mobility, geographical, vertical, or occupational. The files of the three local mobility studies are similar in nature.

The black employment studies from the 1960s to the 1970s concern a large variety of industries. The "Black employment--construction" series deals with the nation-wide enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act exclusively in the industry of construction. Major locations examined include Boston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, New York City, Omaha (Nebraska), Peoria (Illinois), Philadelphia, Rochester (New York), St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The "Black employment--various industries" series documents the results of affirmative action in such industries as aerospace, iron and steel, petrol refining, pulp and paper, rubber, and textile. The collection contains in a separate series correspondence and clippings regarding the promotion of equal opportunity in a dozen or so selected industries, among them farm implement, food, meat, oil, supermarket, and utilities.

The products of numerous research projects sponsored by the Industrial Research Unit from 1923 to 1975 can be found in the Miscellaneous research files series and the Research publications series. The former contains mainly unpublished papers on individual research topics while the latter comprises both published monographs and research serial publications.

This collection also holds a wealth of reference and informational material. The Census file contains data, national or local, gathered by the institution from the thirties on in connection with its current research interest in labor, employment, and personal or family earnings. Discussions of methodology problems that appeared in industrial relations studies are well documented. The Reference material series consists of publications, unpublished papers, and notes, divided by subject into three categories--black employment, labor and employment, and wage and earnings. Finally, the Regional economy file concentrates on the development of regional economy in various localities both inside and outside the country.

Related Collections:

Gladys Palmer/Philadelphia Labor Market Study Collection. Temple University. Urban Archives. Philadelphia.

Wharton School. Industrial Research Unit Records. Hagley Museum and Library. Wilmington, DE.

OCLC:

1346384575

Online:

Finding aid