Carroll Davidson Wright (1840-1909)
Immigration to the US Resources
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| Title page of The Slums of Baltimore, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia, by Carroll Davidson Wright, 1894. |
Carroll Davidson Wright was an internationally known statistician and labor expert. He served as the first US commissioner of the Bureau of Labor from 1884 to 1902 and as chief of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, the first such bureau in the US, from 1873 to 1888. In an era of intense labor disputes stimulated in large part by the enormous influx of immigrants into the labor force, Wright's statistical approach to the analysis of labor issues served as objective scientific data for the emerging labor reform debates of the period. By presenting human conditions in statistical format, Wright's method of analysis contributed greatly to the emerging study of social science in the areas of sociology, economics, law, and business.
Born in Dunbarton, New Hampshire, the third of seven children, Wright was educated in public schools, and later worked as a schoolteacher while studying law. In 1862, Wright abandoned his studies to enlist as a private in the Union army. During his time in the 14th New Hampshire Regiment, he rose to the rank of colonel, and, during General Philip Henry Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign, he served as the general's adjutant. At the close of the war, he returned to New Hampshire to complete his law studies, then moved to Massachusetts to set up practice, where he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1871.
In 1873, at the urging of Massachusetts Governor Emory Washburn, who was concerned that politics were endangering its existence, Wright took charge of the recently established Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor. Wright's studies on working conditions were highly praised for their nonpartisan analysis. To gather comparative data, Wright traveled throughout the US and Europe. He also headed the 1875 Massachusetts census, noted as the most comprehensive US population study of the time.
As the first commissioner of the federal Bureau of Labor, Wright developed a bureau of economic research, dedicated to the study of all movements for the improvement of labor conditions, and oversaw the 11th Federal Census. While he served as commissioner, 34 US states established labor bureaus. Wright was also an active political influence in the major labor disputes of the time. Appointed by President Cleveland to serve as chairman of the commission to investigate the Pullman Strike of 1894, Wright earned praise for his success in defusing what has been described as one of the most dangerous strikes in US labor history. During the Anthracite Strike of 1902, which threatened a national energy crisis, Wright served on President Roosevelt's commission to investigate and mediate the dispute among the miners and operators.
Wright organized the National Association of Bureau Chiefs, serving as its president from 1885 to 1905, and also served as president of the American Statistical Association, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Social Science Association. As an educator, Wright taught and lectured at Catholic University, Columbian College (later George Washington University), Harvard, John Hopkins, Michigan, Dartmouth, and Vassar; and published over 350 titles, including studies, manuscripts, books, and articles. Wright retired as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor in 1902 and served as president of Clark College in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1902 until his death in 1909.
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Listed below are digital resources from the Immigration to the US collection by, about, or related to Carroll Davidson Wright. These resources represent only a selection of what exists on these topics. More physical materials on these topics may be available at the owning repositories, some of which are open to the public.
Analysis and Index of All Reports Issued by Bureaus of Labor Statistics in the United States Prior to November 1, 1892. Washington: G.P.O. 1893
Building and Loan Associations. Washington: G.P.O. 1894.
Cost of Living and Retail Prices of Food. Washington: G.P.O., 1904.
Gould, E.R.L. The Housing of the Working People. Washington: G.P.O. 1895.
Health Statistics of Women College Graduates: Report of a Special Committee of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co. 1885
Industrial Education. Washington: G.P.O., 1893.
The Italians in Chicago: a Social and Economic Study. Washington: G.P.O., 1897.
Leiby, James. Carroll Wright and Labor Reform: The Origin of Labor Statistics. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960
Massachusetts. Commission on Industrial and Technical Education. Report. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1906
Regulation and Restriction of Output. Washington: G.P.O. 1904.
Strikes and Lockouts. 1887, 1894, 1901, 1906. Washington: G.P.O.: 1888-1907.
Wages and Cost of Living. Washington: G.P.O., 1904.
Wages and Hours of Labor. Washington: G.P.O., 1905.
Working Women in Large Cities. Washington: G.P.O. 1889.
Work and Wages of Men, Women and Children. Washington: G.P.O. 1897
Wright, Carroll Davidson. Art in Industry. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1886
Wright, Carroll Davidson. Comparative Wages, Prices, and Cost of Living. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing. Co. 1889
Wright, Carroll Davidson. The Working Girls of Boston. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1889.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. A Report on Marriage and Divorce in the United States, 1867-1886. Washington: G.P.O., 1889.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. The Slums of Baltimore, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia: prepared in compliance with a joint resolution of the Congress of the United States, approved July 20, 1892. Washington: G.P.O., 1894.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. The Working of the Department of Labor. Washington, D.C.: [s.n.], 1901.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. The Value and Influence of Labor Statistics. Washington, D.C.: [s.n.], 1901.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. The Practical Value of Skill and Art in Industry. Baton Rouge: The Advocate, official journal of the State of Louisiana. 1902.
Wright, Carroll Davidson. "Value and Influence of Labor Statistics," in Exhibit of the U.S. Bureau of Labor at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Washington: G.P.O., 1904. Pgs. 1087-1096.
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