Research Guides: Social Security: Get to know J. Douglas Brown

Who was J. Douglas Brown?

As part of the centennial celebration of Princeton University’s Industrial Relations Section, this exhibit showcases the work of labor economist, and Princeton economics professor, J. Douglas Brown (1898-1986).

As one of four staff consultants, Brown was instrumental to the President’s “Committee on Economic Security”, chaired by Sec. Labor Frances Perkins, in drafting the original bill for the national pension system. Throughout his decade of service to the Federal government, Brown remained a dedicated member of the Princeton faculty, serving as Director of the Industrial Relations Section, and later as the Dean of Faculty. In the latter part of his career, he took on the role of the first Provost of Princeton University.

Contributing to significant changes to original Act

Sec. Treasury Henry Morgenthau Diary Social Security - Part 1
In 1939 before first payments were to take place, the Advisory Council of the Social Security Board proposed changes to the formulas to advance payments. In this diary, The Advisory Council, of which J. Douglas Brown was its chairman, discuss disbursement with Morgenthau.

Press Release - FDR 4th anniversary Social Security Act, 1939
In this Press Release from the FDR Archives, FDR describes the significant work that the Advisory Council on Social Security was able to accomplish to amend the original Act. Insurance benefits were able to extend to workers in some occupations not previously covered. FDR states his hope to extend to workers in all occupations.

Discover the Oral History interviews with key people who drafted the original plan for old-age insurance

Oral history interview with J. Douglas Brown, 1965
Chairman of Advisory Council, Subcommittee of Senate Finance Committee; Social Security Board, 1937-38; advisory councils, 1947-48, 1957-58, 1963-64; efforts toward old age insurance legislation; impressions of Edwin Witte, Barbara Armstrong, Murray Latimer.
Oral history interview with Barbara Armstrong, 1965
Social Insurance Commission, California, 1915-19; attempts to get social and health insurance; INSURING THE ESSENTIALS, 1932; consultant on unemployment insurance and old age insurance, Committee on Economic Security, 1934; detailed account of preparatory work for social security legislation: effect of the Depression, Wisconsin plan, separation of taxing and spending provisions, constitutionality, relationship with insurance industry, Treasury Dept., Edwin Witte, J. Douglas Brown, Arthur Altmeyer, Senator Robert La Follette, and others.

J. Douglas Brown and WWII

J. Douglas Brown and the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University contributed to study and research on manpower for the war effort. Brown writes to John Gilbert Winant, Chairman of the Social Security Board and Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO), about working with the Office of Production Management. In this letter, Brown details the developments of the policy and labor supply plans for the United States at the time.

Letter to John Winant
From the FDR Archives

J. Douglas Brown's Bibliography

Selected Bibliography on Social Security of Works Authored By or in Honor of J. Douglas Brown

Brown, J. Douglas. An American Philosophy of Social Security: Evolution and Issues. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.
Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University Department of Economics and Social Institutions. J. Douglas Brown: A Record of Service: Printed for the Friends of the Industrial Relations Section on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of J. Douglas Brown's Directorship. Self-published, June 1951.
Brown, J. Douglas. Genesis of Social Security In America. Princeton: Industrial Relations Section, 1969.
Brown, J. Douglas. "Before the Presidential Steel Board: Statement of Professor J. Douglas Brown Relating to Social Security Benefits." United Steelworkers of America, CIO and Certain Steel Production and Fabrication Companies. New York: Pandick Press, Inc., August 6, 1969.
Brown, J. Douglas. "Foreword to Social Security: Selected List of References on Unemployment, Old Age and Health Insurance." In Bibliographies Volume IV 1930-1938, by Helen Baker, Librarian. Princeton: Industrial Relations Section, October. 1, 1936.
Brown, J. Douglas. "The Idea of Social Security." Bureau of Old Age Survivors Insurance, November 7, 1957.
Bowen, William G., Frederick H. Harbison, Richard A. Lester, and Herman M. Somers. The Princeton Symposium on The American System on Social Insurance: Its Philosophy, Impact, and Future Development. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968.
Brown, J. Douglas. Essays on Social Security. Princeton: Industrial Relations Section, 1977.

Click here to access the full Library Catalog to Brown's works