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Frank W. Notestein Papers, 1930-1977: Finding Aid
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Summary Information
MC184
Biography of Frank W.
Notestein
Description
Arrangement
Subject Headings
Contents List
Navigate by series: 6
Summary Information
Creator:
Notestein, Frank W. (Frank Wallace), 1902-
Abstract:
Frank W. Notestein contributed significantly to the science of demography and to a better understanding of
population problems in world affairs. The Frank W. Notestein Papers contain correspondence, speeches, and
writings documenting the research, ideas, career and leadership roles of this former Princeton professor, director of
the Office of Population Research, and president of the Population Council.
Size:
13.3 linear feet (32 boxes)
Call number:
MC184
Location:
Princeton University Library. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
Public Policy Papers.
Princeton, New Jersey 08540 USA
Language(s) of material:
English.
Storage note:
This collection is stored onsite at the Mudd Manuscript Library.
Biography of Frank W. Notestein
Frank W. (Wallace) Notestein contributed significantly to the science of demography and to a better understanding of
population problems in world affairs, notably through his work on family planning and population control. Born in Alma,
Michigan in 1902, Notestein received his undergraduate degree from the College of Wooster in 1923. He earned his PhD
in Economics from Cornell University in 1927 and was an Economics instructor there from 1926-1927. From 1927
through 1928, Notestein worked abroad as a fellow of the Social Sciences Research Council. He began work for the
Milbank Memorial Fund, an endowed national foundation that supports nonpartisan analysis, study, and research on
significant issues in health policy, as a research assistant and then became a member of its technical staff from 1929
through 1936, working on differential fertility, the total genetic contribution to the next generation.
In 1936, Notestein began as a Lecturer at Princeton University. At the same time, he developed and directed the Office
of Population Research (OPR) at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with funding from
the Milbank Memorial Fund. The OPR focused on the study of the interrelation of population growth and change in
underdeveloped areas and on the social and psychological factors affecting fertility in the American family. By 1941,
Notestein had attained full professorship as the Director of the OPR and as a professor of Demography, holding both
titles until his resignation in 1959. Notestein remained as “Acting Director” of the OPR for the fall 1959 term while his
successor, Ansley J. Coale, took a sabbatical. After Notestein’s resignation, he remained involved at Princeton as a
“Visiting Senior Demographer” through 1963. In addition, he was a “Visiting Lecturer in Public and International Affairs,”
at Princeton beginning in 1968. He maintained both positions until June 1982.
Notestein’s resignation from full professorship and director of the OPR at Princeton allowed him to become the president
of the Population Council (PC) until 1968. The PC was founded in 1952 by John D. Rockefeller III to study and promote
understanding of the scientific aspects of population change throughout the world by fostering scientific theory and
research in social, economic and medical fields. Notestein had been a trustee of the PC since its establishment.
Along with Notestein’s positions at Princeton and the PC, he was the organizer and first director of the Population
Division of the United Nations, 1946-1948. In 1955 he advised India’s Minister of Health on population policies and
beginning a population center for training and research on demography in India. He chaired the Technical Advisory
Committee on Population for the 1950 United States Census and was a member of the 1960 United States Census
Committee.
Notestein was a co-editor of the Population Index, a bibliography of population literature that was the official
publication of the Population Association of American and the OPR from 1936-1957. He co-authored Controlled Fertility
in 1940 and The Future Population of Europe and the Soviet Union in 1944, as well as authoring numerous journal
publications. Notestein was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the American Sociological Association, and the American Statistical Association. He was a
member of the American Eugenics Society, the American Philosophical Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, the
International Statistical Institute, the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, the Population
Association of America, and the Century Association.
Notestein married Daphne Limbach in 1927; they had no children. He passed away in 1983.
Description
The Frank W. Notestein Papers document his position as a leader in the field of population and fertility research through
his involvement at Princeton University as the Director of the Office of Population Research and as a faculty member
(although the papers do not include substantial information on his classes or students), as well as through his work
with the Population Council and the Population Association of America. It also documents his significant advisory role to
both the United Nations and the United States Government. The Frank W. Notestein Papers include mostly typewritten
letters and notes to and from Notestein, as well as some handwritten information, including demographic research, and
typewritten and printed copies of papers and speeches. Dr. Ansely J. Coale, Notestein’s successor at the OPR, also
contributed significantly to this group of papers through his own correspondence and reports.
Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about individual series.
Arrangement
Access
The collection is open for research use.
Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be
requested from the Curator of the Public Policy Papers. Any copyright vested in Frank W. Notestein has passed to
Princeton University; researchers are responsible for determining any other copyright questions.
Related Materials
Works Cited
Material within the Notestein Papers, notably from the Personal Series, provided the information for the biography
on Notestein.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jennifer Cole in October 2005. Finding aid written by Jennifer Cole in October
2005.
Descriptive Rules Used
Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.
Encoding
Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Jennifer Cole on November 22, 2005.
Finding aid written in English.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Frank W. Notestein Papers, Box and Folder Number; Public Policy
Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Subject Headings
These materials have been indexed in the Princeton University Library online catalog using the following terms. Those
seeking related materials should search under these terms.
Berelson, Bernard, 1912-
Coale, Ansley J.
Lorimer, Frank, 1894-
Taeuber, Irene B. (Irene Barnes), 1906-1974
Council on Foreign Relations
Milbank Memorial Fund.
Population Association of America.
Population Council
Princeton University
Princeton University- -Faculty.
Princeton University. Office of Population Research.
Rockefeller Foundation
United Nations
United States- -Census, 17th, 1950.
United States- -Census, 18th, 1960.
United States. Bureau of the Census
Population Index
Demography
Fertility
Population
Population research
Correspondence.
Lectures.
Notes.
Publications.
Reports.
Browse other finding aids related to the following terms:
American history/20th century
Demography
Princeton University
Contents List
Series 1: Correspondence, 1930-1977
(8.8 Linear Feet in 21 boxes)
American Association for the Advancement of Science Short Courses, 1971-1972 Box 1, Folder 9
Committee on Population Growth and the American Future, 1971-1972 Box 3, Folder 6
Johns Hopkins University - Population and Family Health, 1968-1970 Box 6, Folder 8
Population Council - Directors' Staff Meeting Minutes, 1967-1971 Box 10, Folder 4
Population Council - Scientific Foundations of Population Policy Meeting, 1970 Box 10, Folder 8
Princeton University - Faculty Committee on Public Lectures, 1954-1957 Box 11, Folder 9
Publications, 1968-1971
Box 12, Folder 10
(Correspondence Regarding Reprints)
Rockefeller Foundation - Natural Sciences and Agriculture, 1950-1952 Box 14, Folder 5
Taeuber, Dr. Irene B. - "The Population of Japan," 1952-1959 Box 16, Folder 5
U.N. Advisory Committee of Experts on Global Population Strategy, 1972-1974 Box 17, Folder 2
Chronological File
N - Z, 1966
Box 19, Folder 7
(PC Staff, Cables)
P - Z, 1967
Box 20, Folder 2
(PC Staff, Cables, Board of Trustees, and Misc.)
Miscellaneous Correspondence
Lectures Notes - Princeton University Navy, History, and Economics Lectures, 1937-
Box 22, Folder 1
1944
"Population Growth in Relation to Problems of Economic Development," 1959 Box 22, Folder 14
"Mortality, Fertility, the Size-Age Distribution and the Growth Rate," 1960 Box 23, Folder 3
"How Shall We Cope With The Problem of Population Growth," 1960 Box 23, Folder 5
Introduction for the Three Essays to be published by the New American Library, 1960 Box 23, Folder 7
"Population Growth and Problems of Technologically Underdeveloped Countries," 1961 Box 23, Folder 8
Conference on Population Problems and Foreign Policy, 1961 Box 23, Folder 9
National Defense College, Canada - Lectures, etc., 1953-1970 Box 23, Folder 11
"7 Billion People by the Year 2000," 1962-1963 Box 23, Folder 13
"2,000 A.D. 7,000,000,000 People! Must It Be," 1963 Box 23, Folder 15
Sloan Hospital 75th Anniversary, New York, 1963-1964 Box 23, Folder 17
"Problems of Population Growth and Social Engineering," 1965 Box 24, Folder 3
First International Conference on Family Planning Programs, Geneva, 1964-1966 Box 24, Folder 5
"Seeking Solutions to the Problems of Population Growth," 1966 Box 25, Folder 13
International Study and Research Institute, New York, December 14, 1967 Box 26, Folder 12
"The Population Council and the Demographic Crisis of the Less-Developed World" -
Box 27, Folder 13
Article for Demography, 1968-1969
University of Delaware, "The Challenge of Man's Future," 1970 Box 27, Folder 14
U.S.S.R. Tour, Population Studies Centers in U.S., 1970 Box 27, Folder 19
Department of State Agency for International Development, 1969-1970 Box 27, Folder 21
UNA - Ad Hoc Committee Demographic Aspects of Economic Development, 1970 Box 28, Folder 2
University of North Carolina Population Center and School of Public Health, 1970-1971 Box 28, Folder 5
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1969-1970 Box 28, Folder 8
"Population Size and Consumption in Relation to Environment," 1971 Box 29, Folder 1
Office of Population Research Anniversary Party Remarks, 1971 Box 29, Folder 2
"Intrinsic Vital Rates & Stable Age," 1971-1972 Box 29, Folder 3
"Population, Growth and Movements of Probably," for Scribners Dictionary, undated Box 29, Folder 4
"To Our Child on Its 20th Birthday" - Population Council, 1972 Box 29, Folder 7
"Population: A Survey of Facts, Prospects, and Problems," 1973 Box 29, Folder 9
"Costs and Benefits of Population Growth and Population Programs," 1973 Box 29, Folder 10
Committee for Observance of World Population Year, 1974 Box 29, Folder 15
Committee for Observance of World Population Year, 1975 Box 29, Folder 16
Miscellaneous
Correspondence regarding Charts, Maps for published works, 1943-1956 Box 30, Folder 9
Manpower Reports - Basic Data for Charts, 1942-1943 Box 31, Folder 6
Nanking Population Table 7A, 7 B-C, 7 D-E, undated Box 31, Folder 16
Nanking Population Table 12-A & 12-B, undated Box 31, Folder 21
Nanking Population Table 15-A & 15-B, undated Box 31, Folder 24
Rockefeller Report - Copies of Charts and Maps, undated Box 32, Folder 3
Miscellaneous Research