 | The University of Virginia record April 15, 1936 |  |
STUDIES IN PROGRESS
1. Western Lands and the Revolution
By Thomas P. Abernethy, Associate Professor of History
The value and extent of the public lands rendered this one of the most important
questions dealt with by the legislatures of the Revolutionary and Early
Republican periods. The statutes passed in this connection throw unimpeachable
light upon the struggle between democracy and privilege which went on in the
new States. Speculations, sponsored by individuals or chartered land companies,
often give an insight into important political situations and the motives of public
officials. It is with the hope of discovering some of the secret springs of Virginian
politics during this important period that the study of the land question is
undertaken.
2. Experimental Study of Human Instincts
By Wayne Dennis, Assistant Professor of Psychology.
In spite of an enormous literature concerning human instincts, practically the
only experimental investigations of instinctive human responses are those of Watson.
may have been as yet undeveloped. The present project will utilize older
subjects. The difficulty of making certain that the responses to be observed, such
as responses to strangers, to animals, to the sea, etc., have not been influenced by
training will be met by a careful selection of subjects from among hospitalized
children, institutionalized children, and children from isolated communities. When
techniques are developed and a general knowledge of instinctive responses acquired,
the problem can be widened to include a comparison of racial and social groups.
3. Scientific Interests in the Old South
By T. Cary Johnson, Jr., Associate Professor of History.
In working up this project an attempt will be made to answer, among others,
such questions as the following: What was the effect of the agricultural philosophies
of Jefferson's day, with their all-embracing interests, in stimulating a genuine
enthusiasm for science? Did the achievements in some special field by Southerners,
as for instance in geology by LeConte, or in hydrography by Maury, or in
ornithology by Audubon, or in anesthetics by Long, develop from this earlier
scientific curiosity by any discernible process of differentiation? How widespread
was this curiosity in regard to natural phenomena? What effect did it have on
schools and colleges? And what effect on ante-bellum religious beliefs? What
were its contributions to material well-being in the form of useful inventions?
What part did Southerners play in preparing for the Industrial Era and in bringing
about the Machine Age? These are some of the questions to be answered in
a volume of moderate size.
4. The Executive Power in Virginia
By G. W. Spicer, Associate Professor of Political Science.
In this study the development of the office of Governor of Virginia will be
traced through its various stages, and a critical estimate given of the desirability
of the changes which it has undergone. Finally, special emphasis will be given to
the present status of this office in its relation to the legislative function, the
judicial function, the administrative function, political leadership, etc. In short,
the object of this study will be to tell in a critical manner, the story of the
government of Virginia as it revolves about the office of the Governor.
5. Guide to Manuscript Sources and Collections in Virginia
By Lester J. Cappon, Archivist and Research Associate in History.
The need of a guide to manuscripts in Virginia, to bring to light for the
research student materials hitherto unknown in libraries, government offices, and
in private hands, led to the inception of this project to make a State-wide inventory
of all original records available or which can be made accessible. This
survey includes detailed lists of records in the State, county, and city archives,
in college and university libraries, and in historical societies; also the original
record books and papers of business houses, churches and lodges, schools, banks,
public utilities, and other organizations. The survey also includes a list of Virginia
newspaper files throughout the State. A card index by county is kept so
that the information can be re-organized later for publication. In addition to the
survey, the archivist is collecting manuscripts for the Library of the University
where they are cataloged and filed for research work.
6. The Institutionalization in Roanoke, Virginia
By Floyd N. House, Professor of Sociology, Frank W. Hoffer, Associate
Professor of Sociology, and Dorothy Hayens Wheeler, Research Assistant
in Sociology.
This study is a unit of a comprehensive and thorough social study of the
community of Roanoke and environs, which the authors are planning to make,
and which will present a concrete and realistic picture of the social and cultural
life of the people of Roanoke, and of the various social classes and smaller groups
of which the community as a whole is composed. It is planned to focus the comprehensive
study around three major topics: (1) the ecology of the community—
the spatial distribution of population and institutions, and trends of change in that
distribution—suburban expansion, development of outlying sub-centers, and the
like; (2) the history and functioning of institutions—schools, churches, welfare
agencies, governmental institutions, business institutions, and the many other institutionalized
forms of social life which develop in a community the size of
Roanoke; (3) the nature and trend of cultural life.
7. Economic Theory in the Crucible
By Abraham Berglund, Professor of Commerce and Business Administration
and William H. Wandel, Research Associate in Economic Theory.
The study of Economic Theory in the Crucible is proceeding along the line
of making a close analytical and comparative inquiry into the doctrines of leading
economists, both academic and lay, of the last quarter century. The analysis includes
a consideration of the scope of the scientific field adopted or assumed by
these economists, their approaches and methods, their assumptions and postulates
with some notes as to the validity of these, and their conceptions of value and
distribution. The comparisons are drawn to discover whatever unity may exist
either in doctrines, in emphasis, or in divergence from the more conventional theory,
conventional theory being taken to signify not the use of a standard but merely
the recognition of the existence of certain fairly well defined schools: the Classical
and the Austrian.
8. History of Taxation in Virginia Since 1776
By Tipton R. Snavely, Professor of Economics, and Emory Q. Hawk, Research
Associate in Economics.
The purpose of this study is to give a factual account and interpretation of
the development of taxation in Virginia from the end of the Colonial Period. Some
forty years ago, Professor William Z. Ripley, of Harvard University, published
a financial history of Virginia from the beginning of the Colony to the year 1776.
A similar study has not been published for the subsequent period, although it
has long been evident that there is urgent need to bring the history of taxation
down to date. Dr. William H. Stauffer, economist for the Virginia State Tax
Department, recently published a volume bearing upon current aspects of taxation
in the State, but no treatise exists covering the period from 1776 to the appearance
of Dr. Stauffer's monograph.
9. The Supervision and Control of Virginia State Banks
By Allan G. de Gruchy, Research Associate in Commerce.
One of Virginia's important economic problems is the proper control of her
banking system, and it is the purpose of this investigation to indicate where it is
possible to improve the present system of State bank supervision. The investigation
falls into three divisions: 1. historical background; 2. analysis of the legal
status of State bank supervision; 3. present system of State bank supervision in
Virginia. The conclusion is reached that State banking in Virginia is still largely
uncontrolled banking. In the hope of instituting a more satisfactory control of the
State banking system, the writer will offer a number of suggestions which would
materially strengthen Virginia's system of supervising and controlling the State
banks.
10. Roanoke: A Study in Population
By Frank W. Hoffer, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Floyd N. House,
Professor of Sociology.
During the next few years there will be prepared a number of semi-separate
studies of social conditions in Roanoke, Virginia. Among these contemplated
studies are the following: (1) a detailed study of the population of Roanoke by
census tracts and other areas, and of the history of the natural areas of the city;
(2) the nature and trend of cultural life in Roanoke; (3) the care of the aged in
Roanoke; (4) divorce and family disorganization in Roanoke; (5) a statistical
study, supplemented by some analysis of individual cases, of the post-school careers
of Roanoke high school students of the years 1920-24; and (6) a study of crime
and delinquency in Roanoke.
11. A History of the Classical World
By Stringfellow Barr, Professor of History.
It is proposed to write this study on the hypothesis that the classical culture
which sprang from the worship of the Olympian deities, developed in Greece
after the Dorian invasions, reached its cultural height in Periclean Athens, was
taken over by the Roman Republic and spread by that Republic and by the
Roman Empire throughout western Europe, coming to an end in the west with
the barbarian invasions, should be treated as a unit. This, no historian has attempted
to do to the present time.
12. History of the Southern Iron Industry, Especially Since 1865
By Lester J. Cappon, Acting Assistant Professor of History.
An interpretation of the iron industry from the point of view of the significant
part it has played in the development of the so-called "New South."
13. Parliamentary Government in France, Its History, Theory and Practice
By R. K. Gooch, Professor of Political Science.
It is at present a commonplace that democratic government is seriously on
trial and that its defenses which remain among the great powers are to be found
in France, in Great Britain, and in the United States. Where democratic government
has been overthrown or most bitterly attacked, it had existed in the parliamentary
form. Moreover, such governments, as is in general true in Europe,
classic or English form. Almost the only serious study of parliamentary government
in general, that of an Alsatian scholar, denominates the French variant
parliamentary government "in its inauthentic form" and the English parliamentary
government "in its true form." During the crisis of last year, M. Doumergue
made serious proposals for the constitutional changes calculated to make the
French system as nearly like the English as possible. Contrary to expectations,
the reforms failed of acceptance. The political forces which caused existing
French institutions to persist are almost certainly forces which are interconnected
with the nature of these institutions and their vast influence in the world.
These institutions and forces undoubtedly deserve searching study. Moreover,
they clearly can be understood only in proper historical perspective.
14. Influence of the Newspaper Press on Anglo-German Relations, 18901914
By Oron J. Hale, Assistant Professor of History.
The object of this study is to estimate the significance of the newspaper
press in transforming the friendly relations existing between these two Powers
in 1890, into a state of chronic hostility, which characterized their public relations
after the turn of the century. The questions of naval rivalry, economic
rivalry, and political opposition have been intensively investigated, but no adequate
or even cursory examination of the rôle played by the press has been
undertaken until now.
15. The Influence of the Depression upon National Economic Policy in
the United States.
By D. C. Hyde, Associate Professor of Economics.
There is a general feeling that the present depression will leave a permanent
mark upon the evolution of national economic policy in the United States. The
attitude of individuals on this question seems to be inevitably coloured by their
economic faith and background. At a time when emergency measures seem to be
giving place to more permanent policies it is considered well to undertake an impartial
investigation into the nature of the changes in policy during the last five
years.
16. The Effects of the Separation of Tax Sources in Virginia
By Tipton R. Snavely, Professor of Economics, and J. J. Corson, III, Research
Associate in Economics.
The purpose of this study is to make an investigation of the results, both to
the State and the localities, of the Byrd Plan of Tax Revision in Virginia. It is
desired to make a statistical inquiry concerning the amounts of revenue lost and
gained to the State government, as well as to the local subdivisions, under the
law which segregates real estate and tangible personal property to the localities.
It is believed that sufficient time has elapsed since the segregation plan in Virginia
was established to permit objective inquiry into its general effects.
17. The Rationalization of Electricity Supply in Great Britain
By Melvin G. de Chazeau, Associate Professor of Commerce and Business
Administration.
This study will attempt to evaluate the effects of the British scheme on production
costs, prices to consumers, and the use of electricity by industry, farms and
domestic consumers. Also it will ascertain whether the plan—private ownership of
generating stations, with public control of their operation and extension, and private
ownership and operation of distributing organizations—has been able to overcome
the problems inherent in that relationship.
18. Cocke of Bremo: A Plantation Puritan
By Armistead C. Gordon, Jr., Associate Professor of English.
This biographical study of John Hartwell Cocke, who was associated with
Thomas Jefferson in the founding of the University of Virginia will reconstruct a
portrait of the versatile planter against the background of a Piedmont Virginia
plantation throughout the first two-thirds of the 19th century—the period of his
mature career.
19. Pre-Cultural Elements in Human Behavior
By Wayne Dennis, Assistant Professor of Psychology.
An account of human responses and tendencies as they exist prior to attempts
to make them conform to a particular culture. Evidence will come in the main
from deaf-blind cases, from children reared in partial isolation such as Caspar
Hauser, the Savage of Aveyron and other "wild children," from diary accounts of
child development which have been kept by individual observers, and from recent
experimental studies including those conducted by the author with the aid of the
Institute.
| The University of Virginia record April 15, 1936 | |