The University of Virginia record :: March 15, 1930

EDWIN ANDERSON ALDERMAN, Ph.B., D.C.L., LL.D.	President of the University
JOHN LLOYD NEWCOMB, B.A., C.E.	Assistant to the President
ARMISTEAD MASON DOBIE, M.A., LL.B., S.J.D.	Professor of Law
WILSON GEE, M.A., Ph.D.	Professor of Rural Economics and Rural Sociology
TIPTON RAY SNAVELY, M.A., Ph.D.	Professor of Economics
FLOYD NELSON HOUSE, M.A., Ph.D.	Professor of Sociology
FRANK ARTHUR GELDARD, M.A., Ph.D.	Associate Professor of Psychology

Research Staff

LESTER JESSE CAPPON, M.A., Ph.D.	Research Associate in History
ROLAND CLARK DAVIS, B.A.	Research Assistant in Psychology
FRANK TRAVER DE VYVER, M.A.	Research Assistant in Labor Problems
HUGH NELSON FULLER, B.A., LL.B.	Associate Research Professor of Criminal Procedure
DELBERT MARTIN MANN, B.A., M.A.	Research Associate in Sociology
TAYLOR MUSSER, M.A., Ph.D.	Research Associate in Finance
WILLIAM HAMLIN WANDEL, B.S.	Research Assistant in Insurance

Establishment.—The announcement was made by President Alderman
to the Rector and the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia during
the commencement exercises in June, 1926, that the Laura Spelman Rockefeller
Memorial had made a grant of $137,500 to the University for research in the
field of the social sciences; economics, government, sociology, history, psychology,
philosophy and related subjects. The grant extends over a five-year period,
$27,500 becoming available each of the years from July 1, 1926, through June
30, 1931.

The work under the provisions of the grant has been organized as an
Institute for Research in the Social Sciences. The President of the University,
the Assistant to the President, the members of the University faculty of professorial

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rank in the schools of History, Economics, Government, Jurisprudence,
Philosophy, Psychology, Rural Social Economics, and Sociology, and the employed
personnel constitute the membership of the Institute.

As outlined in the resolutions which were adopted by the Institute, "the
duty of this Institute shall be to promote research effort, both individual and
group, in the Social Sciences at the University of Virginia—at the outset
primarily in the field of Virginia problems. It shall further be the function
of the Institute to consider any matter that concerns the development of the
Social Sciences in the University of Virginia, making recommendations thereon
to the President of the University."

Social Science Building.—The Institute is housed in one of the original
Jefferson buildings of the University formerly known as the Old Medical Building.
The interior of the structure has been thoroughly repaired and put in
excellent condition for the activities of the Institute. Provision is made for
office space and equipment for the research workers, and also a general office
has been set up where supplies and secretarial assistance are provided.

Scope of Research Effort.—The grant to the University of Virginia is
being utilized at the outset primarily for research into a number of vital
economic and social problems in the life of the State. It has chosen this field
for two reasons. First, because Virginia is in a changing period in its history,
and needs full light on its problems to direct as wisely as possible the current
of transition. And secondly, the University of Virginia realizes that it is a
State University and desires to relate itself more and more intimately with
the people and the life of the State in general, feeling that such a relationship
will be mutually beneficial. However, the work of the Institute in its
full development will not be limited to the field of Virginia problems but large
provision will be made for scholarly research in the broader phases of social
science research without respect to geographical boundaries.

The research in the Institute is carried on as the professor's own research
project assisted by well-trained research workers. The plan is to limit the number
of problems to be studied, and to do these thoroughly, and in a way that
will make the investigations of an immediate or ultimate usefulness in the life
of the State, as well as constituting contributions to the broader field of social
science research. A definite portion of the grant is being allotted for the publication
of the studies when completed.

PUBLICATIONS

The following publications represent the research projects so far completed
by the Institute:

Monograph No. 1

A Statistical Study of Virginia

By Wilson Gee, Professor of Rural Economics and Rural Sociology, and
John J. Corson, III, Research Assistant in Rural Social Economics.

201 pages, 184 tables, 18 charts.

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Monograph No. 2

Counties in Transition, A Study of County Public and Private Welfare Administration
in Virginia.

By Frank William Hoffer, Associate Research Professor of Public Welfare.
256 pages, 13 charts and figures, 3 maps.

Monograph No. 3

Rural Depopulation in Certain Tidewater and Piedmont Areas of Virginia

By Wilson Gee, Professor of Rural Economics and Rural Sociology, and
John J. Corson, III, Research Assistant in Rural Social Economics.

104 pages, 59 tables, charts, maps.

Monograph No. 4

Life Insurance in Virginia

By Charles Newton Hulvey, Associate Professor of Commercial Law, and
William Hamlin Wandel, Research Assistant in Insurance.

162 pages, 58 tables, 7 charts.

Monograph No. 5

Public and Private Welfare, Roanoke, Virginia

By Frank William Hoffer, Associate Research Professor of Public Welfare.

141 pages, 49 tables, 14 maps, 11 charts, and 29 illustrations.

Monograph No. 6

Research in the Social Sciences: Edited by

Wilson Gee, Director of the Institute and Professor of Rural Economics
and Rural Sociology.

305 pages.

INVESTIGATIONS IN PROGRESS—1929-1930

1. Bibliography of Virginia History Since 1865, by Dumas Malone,
Professor of History, and Lester J. Cappon, Research Associate in History.—
A critical bibliography of the literature of Virginia history since the Civil
War which includes a survey chiefly of official publications of Federal and
State governments and other source materials, and monographs, local histories,
biographies, southern newspapers and periodicals.

2. Rural and Urban Living Standards in Virginia, by Wilson Gee,
Professor of Rural Economics and Rural Sociology, and William H. Stauffer,
Associate Research Professor of Rural Social Economics.—A comparative
analysis of living standards among representative urban and rural groups
in Virginia to ascertain whether there are wide differences between these
groups and, if so, in what measure the variations occur.

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3. The Government of the Virginia County, by Wylie Kilpatrick, Research
Professor of Government.—An analysis of the county mechanism as
an administrative organization and as a political agency, the functions performed
separately or concurrently with associated units, historical antecedents,
the personnel problem, legislation at county seats, and the adaptation
of local rural areas to public needs.

4. Community Studies, by Floyd N. House, Professor of Sociology, in
cooperation with the Cooperative Education Association of Virginia.—An
intensive survey of several typical communities which is expected to develop
later into a regional study of the State.

5. Distribution of the Tax Burden in Virginia, by Tipton R. Snavely,
Professor of Economics, and William H. Stouffer, Associate Research Professor
of Economics.—This study represents an endeavor to ascertain the
relative tax burden affecting business and industrial activities, including agriculture,
functioning within the State through a comparison of the net earnings
of the respective industrial and business types with the taxes which
they are called upon to pay. It is assumed that income is the most equitable
basis for making comparisons of the relative tax burdens.

6. Labor in the South, by Abraham Berglund, Professor of Commerce,
G. T. Starnes, Associate Professor of Commerce and Business Administration,
and Frank T. de Vyver, Research Assistant in Labor Problems.—A
study of the wage-earning classes of the South and their living conditions and
problems, labor laws and labor movements.

7. Fire and Casualty Insurance, by Charles N. Hulvey, Associate Professor
of Commercial Law, and William H. Wandel, Research Assistant in
Insurance.—A study of prominent modern problems in the property insurance
field, with particular emphasis on their relation to the state.

8. Currency, Credit and Crises in Virginia Since 1860, by Alvis Kincaid,
Professor of Commerce and Business Administration, and Taylor Musser,
Research Associate in Finance.—A study of the financial reconstruction
in the State to ascertain just where the credit institutions of Virginia stand
today and the processes by which they arrived at their present status.

9. Survey of Criminal Justice in Virginia, by Armistead M. Dobie, Professor
of Law, F. D. G. Ribble, Professor of Law, and Hugh N. Fuller,
Associate Research Professor of Criminal Procedure.—A study of the criminal
situation in Virginia which will be done as a part of a wide movement now
on to work out the causes of the so-called crime wave and the available
remedies in the light of these facts.

10. Regionalism in France, by Robert K. Gooch, Professor of Political
Science.—A study of the French method of decentralizing government, with
emphasis on two fundamental problems: (1) The relationship of the executive
and the legislature in the central government, and (2) the relationship
of the government of localities to the central government.

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11. A History of Philosophy, by Albert G. A. Balz, Professor of
Philosophy.—A text designed mainly for graduate study.

12. Bibliography of Southern History Since 1865, by Dumas Malone,
Professor of History, and Lester J. Cappon, Research Associate in History.—
A critical bibliography of the literature of southern history since the Civil
War, which includes a survey of official publications of Federal and State
governments and other source materials, and monographs, local histories,
biographies, southern newspapers and periodicals.

13. Virginia Jail and Police Court System, by Floyd N. House, Professor
of Sociology, Frank W. Hoffer, Associate Professor of Sociology, and
Delbert M. Mann, Research Associate in Sociology.—A comprehensive study
of the historical development of the Virginia jail; the personnel and procedure
of the police and magistrates' courts; case histories of typical jail
prisoners; with special attention to the physical equipment and buildings for
detention of prisoners.

14. A Psychological Study of the Population of Certain Areas of the
Blue Ridge, by George O. Ferguson, Jr., Professor of Psychology and Education,
Frank A. Geldard, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Roland C.
Davis, Research Associate in Psychology.—An investigation of the relative
importance of heredity and environment in maintaining the present level of
culture in the mountain regions.

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