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David Hamilton Papers

 Collection
Identifier: UNMA-111

Scope and Content Note

This small collection contains the papers of former UNM economics professor David Hamilton. It includes records from the Economics Department, the Faculty Club, and the American Studies committee, and a speech delivered by Hamilton at the 1970 forum on “How to Save the University."

Dates

  • 1949-1977

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print and photographic material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publication or distribution.

Biographical Note

David Hamilton taught economics at the University of New Mexico from 1949 to 1987. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 31, 1918, he earned his MA from the University of Pittsburgh in 1941 and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 1951. His areas of expertise included consumer and institutional economics and he was also an interdisciplinary scholar who taught classes in social studies and researched the evolutionary roots of economic behavior. Books authored by Hamilton include The Consumer in Our Economy (1962), A Primer on the Economics of Poverty (1968), and Cultural Economics and Theory: The Evolutionary Economics of David Hamilton (2009). The first of these set off a firestorm of controversy when it was published as an upper division textbook during the early 1960s, a period when the Cold War red-baiting of the 1950s reappeared with new vigor. Hamilton reflects in his history of the UNM Economics Department (1989) that “for reasons that remain somewhat obscure" critics accused him and his book of being “dangerous" and “subversive." This prompted University President Thomas Popejoy to make a famous speech in support of academic freedom to the New Mexico American Legion in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Extent

1 Cubic Foot (1 Box)

Abstract

This small collection contains the papers of former UNM economics professor David Hamilton. It includes records of the Economics Department, the Faculty Club, and the American Studies committee, and a speech delivered by Hamilton at the 1970 forum, “How to Save the University."
Title
Finding Aid of the David Hamilton Papers, 1949-1977
Status
Completed
Date
© 2012
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451