mufs045 Alexander E. Cance Papers, 1911-1958 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Guy A. McLain Jr. and Kenneth Fones-Wolf. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA
2003

University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Steven Cartier. 2003-07-22 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu167 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Alexander E. Cance Papers, 1911-1958 Finding Aid FS 45 Compiled by Guy A. McLain Jr. and Kenneth Fones-Wolf 1983, 1985 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003 University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Cance, Alexander E. Alexander E. Cance Papers 1911-1958 FS 45 6 boxes 2.75 linear ft. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when it was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College who also worked briefly for Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover, as well as the United States Department of Agriculture. Includes biographical materials, correspondence concerning Cance's role in the agricultural cooperative movement, addresses, articles (both in typescript and published), lectures, book reviews, typescript of a Carnegie study of factors in agricultural economics, a summary of a U.S. Senate report of which he was co-author, "Agricultural Cooperation and Rural Credit in Europe," and research material. No documentation of his role as a delegate to the Hoover Conference on Economic Crisis, 1920, or his position as Supervisor of Market Research with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1922. English. Biographical Note

Alexander E. Cance, Professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts, was born in 1874 in Wisconsin. In 1891 he graduated from the academy of Gale College, Galesville, Wisconsin, and taught physics, mathematics, and science through the next year (1892). From there he went to Macalester College of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he received his B.A. in 1896. For the next three years (1896-1899) he taught Mathematics, Greek, Latin, and English Literature at Avalon College, Missouri. In 1900 he taught Mathematics at Diploma Teachers College, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Cance then spent three years teaching on the high school level, first at Ganesville, Wisconsin (1901), then as Principal of the Industrial and Farm School, Asheville, North Carolina (1902-1904). Cance then returned to Wisconsin, where he earned the M.A. in Psychology and Education (1906) and his Ph.D. in Economics (1908) from the University of Wisconsin.

In the fall of 1909 Cance came to the Massachusetts Agricultural College and initiated his work in Agricultural Cooperation. By 1910 he had organized the first course in "Cooperation in Agriculture" to be offered in the United States. In 1912 he was made the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, a post he retained until 1935.

Dr. Cance also served in a variety of roles outside the University. In 1913 he was appointed to President Woodrow Wilson's Committee of Seven to Study Cooperation and Credit in Europe. While serving on this committee he visited cooperative leaders in fourteen countries and assisted in the editing of the four volumes published by the U.S. Senate in 1914. In 1916 the Bureau of the Census selected Cance to make a field study and report on Agriculture in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Directly after the end of World War I, Cance served with the Army Education Corps as Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Beaune, France (1919). Here he taught courses in Agricultural Economics to American servicemen stationed in France. Upon his return to the United States in 1920 he was selected as a delegate to the Hoover Conference on the Economic Crisis, where he served as a member of the Committee for the Agricultural Report. In 1922 he was made Supervisor of Market Research for the United States Department of Agriculture in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. This was to be Cance's last extended absence from the Massachusetts Agricultural College; he dedicated the rest of his career to expanding the college.

Dr. Cance retired in June 1942 from Massachusetts State College (formerly the Massachusetts Agricultural College). He was honored with a D.Sc. by his Alma Mater, Macalester College, in June 1948. The Institute of Cooperation honored him at its 1948 session in Amherst for his lifetime service to the cooperative movement.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers document Alexander Cance's distinguished career as professor and Head of the Agricultural Economics Department at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. They include biographical material, a small amount of correspondence (largely professional), addresses, typescripts of articles, an annotated typescript of his book Agricultural Marketing (1916), publications, book reviews, lectures, press notices, research material, lectures and articles by others on agricultural cooperation and economics, and newsclippings.

Well-documented and representing the bulk of the collection are Cance's writings. They include a substantial number of addresses (1925-1934; n.d.), articles both in typescript (1912-1926; n.d.) and published (1911-1925), lectures (n.d.), book reviews (1912-1932), and the Carnegie Study of Factors in Agricultural Economics (1914).

Other materials include: a Senate Report of the American Commission Investigating Cooperative Agriculture in Europe, entitled "Agricultural Cooperation and Rural Credit in Europe" (1914); a small amount of correspondence concerning Cance's role in the agricultural cooperative movement; and some miscellaneous research material.

Largely absent from this collection, with the exception of a few of his lectures, are materials related to his role as a teacher. In addition, these papers include no documentation of Cance's activities as a delegate to the Hoover Conference on Economic Crisis (1920), or his position as Supervisor of Market Research with the United States Department of Agriculture (1922).

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into two series:

Series 1. Writings, 1910-1948, n.d. Series 2. Research Files, 1909-1949

The collection is open for research.

 Preferred Citation

Cite as: Alexander E. Cance Papers (RG 40/11 Cance). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired prior to 1972.

Processed by Guy A. McLain Jr, Kenneth Fones-Wolf, 1983 and 1985.

 Search Terms Cance, Alexander E. Agricultural economics--Massachusetts. Agriculture--Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Agricultural Economics. University of Massachusetts Amherst--Faculty. Cance, Alexander E. Series 1. Writings1910-1948, n.d. 1 1 Biographical materials n.d. 1 2 Memoirs of an Irresponsible Executive n.d. 1 3 Correspondence 1945-1948 1 4-9 Addresses 1911-1934 1 10-11 Articles 1911-1928 1 12-13 Articles-Typescripts 1910-1919 2 14 Articles-Typescripts 1920-1933 2 15 Book reviews 1912-1932 2 16-17 Book typescripts 1916, n.d. 2 18 Carnegie Study report 1914 2 19 Course Lectures n.d. 2 20 Course Outlines 1917-1931 2 21 Press notices n.d. 2 22-24 Writings-Typescripts n.d. Series 2. Research Files1909-1949 3 1 Agricultural Economics-Research 1925 3 2-3 Agricultural Production 1909-1934 3 4 Agricultural Production Costs 1916 3 5 Agricultural Subsidies 1917 3 6 Agricultural Survey- Belchertown 1912 3 7 Agricultural-Massachusetts 1913-1925 3 8 American Inst. of Cooperation 1932 3 9 Banks and Agriculture 1916 3 10-11 Bibliographies 1914-1949 3 12 Capper-Volstead Act 1922 3 13 Connecticut Valley Tobacco Growers Assoc. 1917-1929 3 14 Consumers' Societies 1915 3 15 Cooperation-Massachusetts 1918-1928 3 16 Cooperative Associations-Massachusetts 1914-1934 3 17-18 Cooperative Legislation 1913-1934 4 19-20 Cooperative Legislation-Massachusetts 1913-1937 4 21 Country Life 1927 4 22 County Farm Bureau 1914-1919 4 23 Credit Unions 1914-1918 4 24 Dairy Planning 1925-1929 4 25 Disarmament 1926-1933 4 26 Egg Selling Exchange 1914 4 27 Farm Accounting 1914-1919 4 28 Farm Labor 1912-1916 4 29 Farm Labor Cooperatives 1912-1914 4 30 Farmers' Commercial Assoc. n.d. 4 31-32 Farmers' Cooperative Exchanges 1914-1922 4 33-34 Food Marketing Research 1916-1928 4 35 Food Supply 1917 4 36 Fruit Growers' Cooperatives 1915-1917 4 37 Immigrants 1911-1916 4 38 Labor Problems 1918 5 39 Land Banks 1915-1917 5 40 Land Depreciation 1913-1914 5 41 Land Tenure 1911-1922 5 42 Land Utilization 1916-1917 5 43 Livestock Planning 1920-1925 5 44 Manufacturing Investment 1918 5 45 Massachusetts Dairymen's Assoc. 1932 5 46 Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Assoc. 1920-1923 5 47 New England Agricultural Survey n.d. 5 48 New England Dairies 1926-1932 5 49 New England Institute of Cooperation 1928 5 50 New England Milk Producers' Assoc. 1916-1922 5 51 Polish Corporation Store 1911 5 52 Principles of Cooperation 1915-1923 5 53 Rural Credit 1915-1917 5 54-56 Rural Credit Conditions 1916 5 57 Rural Credit Legislation 1916 5 58-59 Rural Problems 1920 5 60 Rural Social Life 1917-1925 5 61 Sovereigns of Industry 1911 5 62 State Aid to Agriculture 1915-1920 6 63 Statistics-Massachusetts 1910-1925 6 64 Student Papers n.d. 6 65 Surveys 1915-1920 6 66 Tobacco Marketing 1927 6 67 Vegetable Marketing Cooperatives 1916-1917 6 68 Vermont Cooperative Creameries 1920 6 69 World Agriculture Society 1919 6 70 YMCA War Work 1918