Inventory of the Southern Economic Journal Records, 1937-2003

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Historical Note

The Southern Economic Journal began as the publication of the Southern Economic Association. The first issue was released in October 1933 under editor Malcolm H. Bryan from editorial offices at the University of Georgia. Publication was soon suspended due to financial difficulties, but was resumed with the October 1935 issue after the Association entered into a joint publication agreement with the University of North Carolina. Beginning with the October 1997 issue, the publication agreement with the University of North Carolina ceased. Jonathan Hamilton of the University of Florida Graduate School of Business became editor, taking over from Vincent Tarascio.

Although the Journal originally was intended to examine Southern economics, over the years its focus shifted from the American South to more general economic topics. A significant proportion of the authors published in the Journal, roughly half, are located in the South.

Collection Overview

The records deposited in 1997 cover the period during which the Southern Economic Journal was affiliated with the University of North Carolina; the original accession begins in 1937 and ends with the Journal's move to the University of Florida in the fall of 1997. The collection has since grown to include records through 2003. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence with authors of articles submitted to the journal, but there are also records concerning the Southern Economic Journal's financial and administrative operations, including correspondence, ledgers, bank statements, subscription information, and other materials.

Materials relating to accepted articles include letters, drafts of articles, and other items. These materials has been arranged in two series: in the first series, materials are sometimes filed by the month in which they were received and sometimes in the month of the article's publication; materials in the second series are arranged entirely by the article's month of publication.

There are also materials relating to articles about which publication decisions had not been made by the time the Journal moved to the University of Florida. There is also material relating to articles that were rejected.

Administrative files include general correspondence, article submission log sheets, records relating to exchange advertising, records relating to specific vendors, and other files. Financial records include papers relating to the Journal's business affairs.

Organization of Collection

Series Descriptions

Series 1 is chiefly comprised of correspondence with authors whose articles on economics were accepted for publication. The original arrangement of the records as received has been retained. Note that correspondence may be filed either in the month in which it was received or in the month of publication of the issue in which the article appeared. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the surname of the author. Other folders correspond to sections of the journal: Book Reviews, Books Received, Personnel Notes (also referred to as Notes), Presidential Address, etc. Files marked "miscellaneous" usually contain, among other items, lists of authors and articles in the issue published in that particular month.