Guide to the Aaron Director Papers 1918-2001


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Table of Contents

• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Citation
• Biographical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY
• Series I: Correspondence
• Series II: Research and Writing
• Series III: George J. Stigler Collection
• Series IV: Personal
• Series V: Oversize Materials and Photographs

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Director, Aaron. Papers [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Biographical Note

Aaron Director was born September 21, 1901 in Charterisk, Russia, in what is now the Ukraine. He immigrated with his family to Portland, Oregon in 1913. He attended Yale University, graduating with a degree in economics in 1924 after only three years. Director later attended the University of Chicago, earning a graduate degree in economics and teaching introductory courses in the Department of Economics. In 1946, he was appointed to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School, where he began applying principles of economics to the study of law. Through collaborations with his brother-in-law Milton Friedman, Henry Simons, and George Stigler, Director asserted a tremendous influence on a broad range of legal scholarship. With this work, he became closely associated with the Chicago School of Economics, a free-market methodology at the basis of the World Bank’s policies in the 1980s and 1990s. Among Director’s students were federal judges Richard Posner, Robert Bork, and Frank Easterbrook.

Throughout his career, Director maintained a strong collaborative impulse in his writing and teaching. He famously co-taught a course with future law school dean and Attorney General Edward H. Levi in the 1950s. In the course, Director would use economic data and methods to challenge Levi’s legally-reasoned conclusions. Though his publication list is short, Director’s influence can be seen in the writings of many Chicago economists and legal scholars. Said George Stigler, "Most of Aaron’s articles have been published under the names of his colleagues."

With Ronald Coase, Director founded the Journal of Law and Economics in 1958. In 1962, he helped to found the Committee on a Free Society. Perhaps Director’s greatest legacy is his thorough consideration of antitrust policy, advocating a laissez-faire system in which market forces, rather than governmental regulations, guide economic competition.

After retiring from the Law School in 1965, Director relocated to California and took a position at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He died September 11, 2004, at his home in Los Altos Hills, California.

Also represented in these papers is Director’s colleague George J. Stigler (1911-1991). Stigler, the 1982 Nobel Laureate in Economics, worked out his theories of public regulation in large part through conversations and debates with Director in the 1960s. After Stigler’s death, Director and Milton Friedman presented monetary gifts in excess of one million dollars to the University of Chicago Economics Department in Stigler’s honor. These gifts led to the establishment of the George J. Stigler Professorship in Economics at the University.

Scope Note

The Aaron Director Papers consist of five series. Series I contains personal and professional correspondence from the years 1940 to 1997. Series II holds notes and drafts from 1933 to 1994. These documents include various legal decisions, economic data, course notes, and drafts of formal papers. Series III includes drafts, notes, articles, and correspondence attributed to Director’s close friend and colleague, George J. Stigler. Series IV contains personal material relating to the lives of Director and his family. Series V contains oversized materials including photographs and other personal material transferred from Series IV.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

Coase, Ronald. Papers

Levi, Edward H. Papers

Simons, Henry C. Papers

Stigler, George. Papers

University of Chicago. Department of Economics. Records

University of Chicago. Law School. Records

Subject Headings

• Director, Aaron
• Coase, R.H. (Ronald Harry)
• Friedman, Milton, 1912-
• Stigler, George Joseph, 1911-
• University of Chicago. Law School
• Monetary policy

INVENTORY

Series I contains personal and professional correspondence. Topics include discussions and position statements on American monetary policy, the hiring of Ronald Coase by the University of Buffalo, and details of the University of Chicago’s Law-Economics program of the early 1960s. Additionally, the series contains a small amount of correspondence relating to the Journal of Law and Economics in the 1950s and 1960s.

Series II is comprised of Director’s writing, research and teaching material from 1933 to 1994, as well as similar material from some of his students and colleagues These documents include drafts of papers and lectures, course notes and syllabi, collections of statistical data, court decisions, and reading notes and summaries. Dated materials are placed first, followed by undated materials.

Series III contains material collected by Director, related to the work of his colleague George J. Stigler (1911-1991). The materials in this series comprise a small collection of Stigler’s drafts, articles, and correspondence dating from 1932 until his death in 1991. Additionally, this series contains notes and correspondence relating to the founding of the Stigler Professorship in the University of Chicago’s economics department. These materials are organized chronologically, with undated materials placed at the end of the series.

Series IV contains material related to the personal lives of Director and his family. Among the materials collected here are Director’s certificate of marriage to Maude Katherine Hill and Maude’s will and death certificate. Additionally, the series contains various memorabilia from Director’s international travels. The series also includes a folder containing contracts and correspondence relating to Director’s faculty appointments at the University of Chicago from 1952 to 1969. Oversize personal material and photographs can be found in Series V.

Series IV: Personal

Series V contains a certificate presented to Director by the governor of Texas on May 5, 1963. It also holds folders containing photographs of Director, his wife, Maude Katherine Hill Director, and Joel Seidman.