Walker, Francis Amasa, 1840-1897
Dates
- Existence: 1840 July 2 - 1897 January 5
Biography
Francis Amasa Walker, 1840-1897, A.B. 1860, Amherst College, served as the third President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1881-1897. Raised in Boston, Walker would study in Amherst, MA and in 1861 would volunteer as a Union staff officer -- eventually promoted to brigadier general -- during the Civil War [2].
Walker relocated to Washington DC in 1869, working as chief of the Bureau of Statistics at the Treasury. From this experience, he was appointed as the superintendent of the U.S. census in 1870, and later in 1880 as well [2]. During this time, In 1871-1872, Walker also served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs under President Ulysses S. Grant [2]. He compiled and published his official reports, as well several separate publications, into his 1874 book, The Indian Question. The writings provide a considerably racist view on Native American affairs and helped to maintain oppressive reservation policies.
Afterward, Walker became a professor of political economy at Yale University from 1873-1881. There he published his book,The Wages Question, an effort to disprove the wage-fund doctrine notion and further propose his own residual theory that later became a foundation for marginal productivity theory of distribution [3].
He was married to Exene Evelyn Stoughton in 1865 until his death in 1897. They had five sons and two daughters together. Alongside his tenure at MIT, Walker would also act as the President of the American Statistical Association, (1883-1897) and of the American Economic Association (1885–92) [3].
1."Francis Amasa Walker, 1840-1897" MIT Libraries (October 2020)
2. Simson Garfinkel, "Walker and the 'Indian Question'" MIT Technology Review (August 2021)
3. "Francis A. Walker" Britannica Encylopedia (January 2023)
Occupations
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
Correspondence, MIT, 1881 - 1889
Correspondents include Edward W. Greenleaf, George Holmes Howison, William Ripley Nichols, and Francis Amasa (General) Walker.
Davis R. Dewey papers
Francis Amasa Walker papers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Francis A. Walker Memorial Service Committee records
The collection consists of letters accepting and declining invitations to attend a memorial service for MIT President Francis Amasa Walker held in October 1897. Also included is a record book “report” created by the committee to document the planning of the memorial service.