Philip H. Cornick papers, 1922-1971.
Collection Number: 3287

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Philip H. Cornick papers, 1922-1971.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
3287
Abstract:
Correspondence, pamphlets, charts, speeches, reports, published and unpublished manuscripts, and other printed material relating to Philip Cornick's research and writings in the fields of land economics, taxation, land use, urban planning, and public works planning. Materials cover many areas across the country, including Tennessee, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts, New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Also includes materials concerning Henry George's "single tax," forest taxation, the Regional Plan Association, the International Fraternity of Lambda Alpha, and land assessment.
Creator:
Cornick, Philip H. (Philip Henry), 1883-1971.
Quanitities:
31 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Philip Cornick received his bachelors degree from the University of Tennessee in 1903, later becoming head of the land department of the Bank of Sonora, Mexico. During World War I he served as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers. After the war, he joined the faculty of Columbia University as a research specialist on the staff of the Institute of Public Administration. He remained with the institute when it became an independent research institution and served as a senior researcher until his retirement in 1947. Frequently on loan from the institute to the Federal Housing Authority and the Tennessee Valley Authority, he conducted a TVA study in the 1930s that led to many reforms in its administrative practices. Cornick also helped a number of states reform real estate taxes and develop land value taxation codes. He was an opponent of Richard T. Ely's land speculation theories; he led the Henry George movement for land value taxation and free trade. Member, International Fraternity of Lambda Alpha, New York Chapter.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Correspondence, pamphlets, charts, speeches, reports, published and unpublished manuscripts, and other printed material relating to Philip Cornick's research and writings in the fields of land economics, taxation, land use, urban planning, and public works planning. Materials cover many areas across the country, including Tennessee, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts, New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Also includes materials concerning Henry George's "single tax," forest taxation, the Regional Plan Association, the International Fraternity of Lambda Alpha, and land assessment.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

Philip H. Cornick Papers, #3287. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

SUBJECTS

Names:
Ely, Richard T. (Richard Theodore), 1854-1943.
George, Henry.
Regional Plan Association
Lambda Alpha International. New York Chapter
Tennessee Valley Authority
Places:
Massachusetts.
Maine.
New York (N.Y.)
Newark (N.J.)
Ohio.
Tennessee.
Subjects:
Land economics.
Economists.
Taxation.
Urban renewal.
Real property -- Valuation.
Real property tax.
Public works.
Land use -- Effect of taxation on.
Land use -- Economic aspects.
Land use.
City planning.
Form and Genre Terms:
Speeches.
Charts.

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Box listing
Box 1
Files, 1921-1925 and
1921-1925, 1935-1944
Scope and Contents
Include file folders of handwritten charts, lists, correspondence, reports, pamphlets and statistical data graphs on such subjects as "Foreclosed Properties in Boston and Lowell, Mass."; "Analysis of Tangible Personal Estate Taxable in 1940," "Tax Rates"; "Manufacturing Wage Earners"; and "Liscenses and Misc. Revenues." There are also four large folders of "Working Papers," field notes, preliminary reports, statistics and correspondence on topics such as "Forest Taxation," "New Orleans Survey - Debt and Misc. Revenue Assessments," and "Charleston Survey, Assessed Values, Misc. Revenues, Bonded Debt and Deficit Funding."
Box 2
Single Tax,
1991-1967
Scope and Contents
Pamphlets, books, and printed material on Henry George and the single tax are included in this box. There is also printed material on related topics such as land and land values, economic and social systems, housing and a book on Joseph Fels, some of which are published by the Robert Schalkenbah Foundation with which Mr. Cornick was connected.
Box 3
Publications and Consultations,
1923-1948
Scope and Contents
The consulting work done by Philip Cornick for the states of New York, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusettes, resulted in the published books and reports found in this box. Two reports for the state of New York, "Report of the New York State Commission for the Revision of Tax Laws" and a "Review of Local Gov't, 1945-1955"; one for New Jersey, "Report on a Survey of the Organization and Administration on the Gov't of New Jersey" and a report, "State Administrative Consolidation in Maine," plus material on land value and debt round out this box.
Box 4
Research,
1921-1958
Scope and Contents
Include books, pamphlets, reports and other literature useful as background material on such subjects as land tenancy, taxation, planning, transportation studies, housing, debt and workers
Box 5
Files,
1930-1961
Scope and Contents
Loose papers in random order occupy much of this box. Some of this relates to the topic of assessments and there are memos from the Special Commission on Real Estate Taxation on which Cornick sevred, plus printed and handwritten Manuscripts and speeches, mostly by Philip Cornick. Of interest would be a personal correspondence with Charles J. Finger, author and officer of the Ohio River and Columbus Railroad Co., 1901-1909. Several file folders also occupy this box, including such titles as, "On His Majesty's Service," "Illinois (Farms)," a paper by Alan C. Finsel and "Baltimore Policy Survey, 1937." A box contained herein includes local government financial data and is titled "Towns outside Metropolitan District 1943
Box 6
Files,
1949-1966
Scope and Contents
This box includes letters, handwritten charts, file folders, memorandum and other printed material. The correspondence was primarily letters from Lawrence Purdy. The file folders include the subjects "My Unfinished Manuscripts on Land Values and How to Measure Them" and "Bowmar, Heydecker Comments on Mason Gaffney's Proposal to Lincoln Foundation for Study of Land Values." Also copies of The Henry George News from 1946-1966 are included as well as material on taxation, population, and real estate
Box 7
Files,
1930-1961
Scope and Contents
File folders entitled "Misc. Manuscripts on Theory and Appraisal of Land Values," which includes correspondence with Frederick M. Babcock, Real Estate Consultant and Mitchell S. Lurio, President of the Henry George School; a "Report on Hospital Operations in Trenton, N.J.," "Lecture notes - Columbia University, 1919," the "Pittsburgh Graded Tax Plan" and the "Westchester Co. Survey" are indicators of the files, dated in the 1930's found in this box
Box 8
Files,
1923-1949
Scope and Contents
File folders, large folders, printed material, maps and handwritten charts and lectures are included. The file folders deal with such subjects as "Population Trends - In General [?] in Cities and Towns of Mass., In Holyoke - Gillim Study" (1910-1944) and "Dun and Bradstreet - Tax Delinqency orginal publication, analysis, supplementary data by Hinckley and others" (1930-1943). The large folders include "Bottomly and Cavanagh" (taxation and revenue system in Boston) and "Letter of Transmittal, Copies of Bills" (1938) among other subjects. Among the printed material are land committee reports, handwritten maps and charts, handwritten lectures of 1923-1929 and materials dealing with tax collection and real estate. The box also includes city maps of Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Yonkers and Richmond
Box 9
PHC - Files, R.I. etc.,
1891-1945
Scope and Contents
File folders here include charts, figures, working papers and correspondence on town surveys done on the state of Rhode Island in the 1943-1945 period and titled "Distribution of Taxable Property by Classes throughout the State, 1945," and "Analysis of Revenue Expenditures in Rhode Island by Population Groups...1943." Also included in the list of file folders are ones on "Employees and Payrolls of Local Government," "Assessed Valuation in Boston by Wards" and some reports on assessment. Page proofs for a study, "Subdivision in N.Y. State Metroploitan Areas" and a gallery proof for a publication, "Rural Land Classifications" are also listed herein
Box 10
Research and Forest Taxation,
1915-1932
Scope and Contents
This box consists primarily of pamphlets. The subjects include "Forest Taxation Inquiry" (1928-1932), "State Forestry Laws" (1915-1921), "Reforestation" (1923), forest conservation and taxation, Dept. of Conservation reports (1919-1921) and a Committee on Tax Investigation Report (1921-1923). Also included is a book, (1921).
Box 11
Files,
1910-1956
Scope and Contents
This box includes 13 file folders covering subjects such as "Building Material" and "Population Material" (handwritten charts), "Real Estate Taxation and Collection" (1941-1944), "Tax Appeal Decision - Decreases in Valuating by County Assessors, Also Decrease in AV's over $100,000 and some under $100,000," and "Per Capita Costs of Social Government by Functions, Studies by Costello and Fox on Boston, By Hinckley on Haverhill" among others, mainly on taxation. Large folders in the box dealt with subjects including "Philadelphia Gross Income Tax Data," "New York - Debt Laws," "Brief in School Board Case" (1945) and property tax on Tennessee. Handwritten charts deal with distribution of wage earners in Mass. (1909-1940) and "Trends in Assessed Values in Cities and Towns of Rhode Island." Maps include those of Los Angeles, Rochester, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicage, and Sullivan County
Box 12
Writing and Correspondence,
1929-1945
Scope and Contents
Include writings of Philip Cornick in varying states of preparation; four books, one entitled Premature Subdivision and Its Consequences,. 1938; a Manuscript "Report for the Board of Education, City of Yonkers," other misc. on taxation, rent and land prices, notes for a speech and "Selected Items from Lecture Notes... used at MIT May 13, 1943," some correspondence and an incompleted paper on Land Value, taxation, boxed
Box 13
Research,
1916-1938
Scope and Contents
This box includes material on local government, studies on electricity, housing, land appraisals and ordinances, assessment methods and public finance. Tax bulletins, Farm Economics Bulletins and income tax laws are also included. Copies of Reedy's Mirror from 1920-1925, a 1938 "Mapping Program for New York State" and "Instruction to Assessors" from 1916, 1919, and 1921 are also in this box
Box 14
Research,
1922-1947
Scope and Contents
Primarily included are pamphlets on labor, housing, city planning, natural resources, real estate and land valuation, taxation and state and city information. Among these are the "Survey of Low-Rent Housing Needs" of Providence, R.I. (1941), several Dept. of Labor annual reports (1935, 1943, 1944), several Natural Resources studies, metropolitan sewer reports and "Manual of Public Works Records and Administrative Practice." Also included were "City Plans of White Plains" (1928), Real Estate Magazine (1922), Industrial Canada (1927), "Distribution of State Collection Taxes Shared with Cities and Towns" of Mass. (1944), "Tax Delinquency in Illinois with Particular Reference to Cook County" (1939), the Tax Institute's Publication Tax Policy (1939, 1944), and the National Muncipal Review(1936, 1944). Among articles of city and state information were a complete market analysis of Dallas and the great Southwest, "New York State Conference of Mayor's" report (1939), Municipal Practice in European Cities, "The Illinois Revenue System" (1981-1936), "Your State" and the Almanac of Rhode Island, four copies of Government Research Bulletin (1942), The American Political Science Review (1942), and the "President's Committee on Administrative Management" (1937)
Box 15
Phi Lambda Alpha, Regional Plan Assoc., Book Reviews,
1931-1962
Scope and Contents
Informational bulletins and other printed matter concerning the Regional Plan Assoc., Directory and Blank binder containing roster, history, By-laws and constitution of Lambda Alpha Fraternity and such books as Muelder and Delo: are found in this box
Informational bulletins and other printed matter concerning the Regional Plan, Assoc., Directory and Black binder containing roster, history, By-Laws and constitution of Lambda Alpha Fraternity and such books as Muelder and Delo: Years of This Land, Renne: Land Economy and Ely and Wehrwein: Land Economics are found in this box
Box 16
Additional,
1915-1925
Scope and Contents
Includes folders of statistical material, field sheets, office cards and printed forms, tax lists, magazine articles, all concerning property assessment in such places as Buffalo and Yonkers, N.Y., Chicago, and such Texas cities as Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and San Antonio and special assessments for Charlestown, S.C., and Watertown, N.Y.
Box 17
Additional,
1934-1948
Scope and Contents
Loose newsletters and memos from governmental bureaus and commissions on Taxation, land use and assessments; studies, his and others on property tax in Mass., "Report on Property Tax"; material on Tennessee, pamphlets, tourist brouchers and working papers for the Tax Revision Commission, State of Tennessee, 1948 and some correspondence
Box 18
Additional,
1952-1965
Scope and Contents
Printed material is found in this box, falling into two main categories. The pamphlet Tax Institute Bookshelf for 1952-1965, represents a large portion of the contents, while reports of the National Resources Planning Board on Housing, Industrial research, urban planning, land classification, and planning of municipal public works fill the box. One misc., item is Toor: New Guide to Mexico, ca. 1957
Box 19
Additional,
1902-1961
Scope and Contents
A box of printed material. Publications of the American Institue for Economic Research with such titles as "Where are we going?" and "What Will Tomorrow's Opportunities Be?," books such as Gulick: American Foresty Policy, Tax Institute renderings with such titles as "Taxation and Buisness Concentration, "Financing Metroploitian Government," and "Management's Stake in Tax Administration" are indicators. Pamphlets on "Investment Trusts and Funds," "Land Reform," and "Laws - City of Yonkers" and 5x8 cards, handwritten with such sample headings as "Santa Rosa Co. Spec. School District" are of interest. Two issues of the University of Tennessee Yearbook for years 1902 and 1903, the latter the year of Mr. Cornick's graduation from the institution, round out the material here
Box 20
Additional,
1921-1942
Scope and Contents
This additional material includes printed matter, pamphlets and a book. The printed material deals with public works planning, land use, natural resource conservation, and land valuation. Also included are materials on tax delinquency, indebtedness, exemptions and single tax (1939-1941), and "Insured Mortgage Portfolio" (1942). The pamphlets deal with housing, land, tax labor, and economy. Included are "Apartment House Increases and Attitudes Toward Home Ownership" (1931), several different pamphlets on real estate taxes, "The Valuation of Vacant Land in Suburban Areas" (1931), "A Legislative Framework for the Philosophy of Henry George," The Tax Digest (1928, 1929), "The Single-Tax Complex" (1924), The Labor Situation in Great Britain (1940), The Agricultural Crisis and Its Causes (1921), The Journal of Political Economy (1924, 1926), and the Government Research Bulltein (1941). Included also was a book, National Institute of Public Administration
Box 21
Additonal,
1911-1926
Scope and Contents
Includes file folders filled with charts, tax rolls, reports and graphs on such topics as "Assessment Rolls, Publication of " 1922-1925, "Cleveland," "Farm Land Values, 1919-1922," Pittsburgh Plan," a graded tax law and "Sistema Hidalgo-Mexican Assessment System." Also pamphlets and newsletters such as the New York State Planning News and the Clients Service Bulletin. Bound reports found here include "Mining Properties of New Mexico," Mine Taxation" and "Local Planning and Zoning for New York State"
Box 22
Additional,
1938-1948
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence, handwritten notes, printed materilas, pamphlets, large folders and fourteen file folders. The correspondence consisted of letters to and from Milton Eisenhower as well as other letters on land use and planning. In the box also were handwritten notes on county revenue and taxes and reports of the State of New Yok, school districts and financial reports of the National Resources Land Committee. The printed materials dealt with Municipalities - Finances, Bridge Preservation, New York City and the Constitution of the State of New York, school districts and financial reports of Rhode Island. Pamphlets included: The Planner's Journal (1939), The Freeman (1939) and The Bond Buyer (1939). The large folders included Governmental Research Bulletin, Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, Inc.'s report on Examination of Accounts and Cornick's "Working's Papers." The file folders included "Tennessee Study - General Plans of Tax System Plans" (1948), "General Info on Assessment Procedure" (1947-1948), "General Laws and Cross Section Analyses," "Shelby County and Memphis" (1947-1948), "General Supporting Data - The Property Tax" and "Davidson County and City of Nashville" (1946-1947). These dealt primarily with taxes of various kinds, assessment, and delinquency
Box 23
Additonal,
1934-1969
Scope and Contents
Topics of material herein include assessment, characterized by assessed value tables, "Instructions for Assessors (Lansing, Mich. 1949)" and hand and typewritten chapters of a report of assessment of property , by Cornick; 1950-1960; a school district sudy "Ohio" and several file folders with such titles of interest as "North Jersey Transit District" and "Metropolitian Area Problems - Cinncinnati." A card file of aprroximately 1000 3x5 cards listing counties and towns in the U.S. and leaveing space for such information as census, population, area and density of population. Also, three pocket sized notebooks, one a digest of Personal Life Insurance, and the other two a directory of N.Y.C. Officials 1959 and a Lambda Alpha Directory (1969) plus printed matter put out by the Tax Policy League conclude this box.
Box 24
Additional,
1901-1950
Scope and Contents
This additional box of material includes pamphlets and books. Pamphlets include Aggregates of Polls, Properties, and Taxes, Etc., Estimating Forest Insect Damage, A National Plan for American Forestry (1933), Proceedings of the Third Southern Forestry Congress (1921), Tax Institute Bookshelf (1946-1949), Tax Policy (1946-1950), The Planners Journal (1941-1943) and Planning for the Post-Defense Land Use Agreements (1941). Books were the Dictionary of Modern Economics (1948), Modern Government in a Colonial City (1932), The City for the People (1901), Taxation in Australia (1925), American Planning and Civic Annual (1935) and The Real Trouble with the Farmers (1924)
Box 25
Additional,
1920-1961
Scope and Contents
Includes much printed material, such things as issues of the New York State Planning News, Planners Journal, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, and articles on property taxes, Charles J. Finger, Range conservation and land reserves. Two boxes of 5x8 cards, arranged by state and then county, some dated, and handwritten notes, and figures on urban pollution can also be found here
Box 26
Additional,
1950-1964
Scope and Contents
Includes books, pamphlets and bound volumes, many of which wee published by the Tax Institute with such titles as Financing Education in the Public Schools, Reappraisal of Buissness Taxation, Wartime Problems of State and Local Finance, and How Should Corporations Be Taxed? Two American history books, Faulkner: America, and Gavian: The American Story, copies of the Tax Institution Bookshelf and Ely: Taxation in American States and Cities are significant here
Box 27
Additional,
1938-1945
Scope and Contents
Includes three loose-leaf notebooks put out by the Tax Institute, "Tax Policy - Binder for Printed Material 1940-1942," newsletters, Taxes for Democracy and Tax Policy and one envelope "Urban Land Institute, Study, Manhattan Island," a mimeographed manuscript by Homer Hoyt
Box 28
Additional,
1915-1945
Scope and Contents
File folders, herein include material on Hamilton County, Ohio reappraisals in 1924, fire protection maps of the Adirondack (N.Y.) Forest, asssessments of Newark, N.J., and correspondence, and blueprints for a "Formula for Computing Values of Irregular Lots" put out by the New Jersey State Board of Taxes and Assessments in 1925. Printed material is found on such topics as taxation, zoning, a publication by the Regional Plan, The Building of the City, Planning Journal for 1940-1945 and a publication on Housing by Homer Hoyt. There is also one card file, Box I, 5x8 cards, by states, (Alabama to Michigan), see also Box 25
Box 29
Additonal,
1922-1967
Scope and Contents
This box of additional material includes pamphlets, books, printed material, and file fodlers. The books include Premature Subdivison and Its Consequences (1938), Tax Yields: 1940 , Tax Yields 1941 , and Taxation's New Frontier (1961). Pamphlets in the box include Diversification in Buisness Activity, pamphlets dealing with the growth of Wilmington, Del., Northern New Jersey, and St. Louis, Capital Gains Taxation, Special Commission on Real Estate Taxation and Related Matters (1945), The American Journal of Economics and Sociology (1953, 1959), The Henry George News (1958-1967), The Analyst (1959-1962), and copies of Land and Liberty from 1949 through 1967. Printed material dealt with "The Structure of the American Economy" (1940), taxation (handwritten charts on taxation, property tax and tax policies, and tax exemption), "Capitalistic Revolt 1960), State Legislatures Progress Report" (1966) and handwritten "If Henry George Were Writing Today." Among the file folders were "City of Yonkers - P.R. Election Data" (handwritten charts of votes), "Seligman's - Shifting and Incidence of Taxation," Taxable Property Time Series by Major Classes - Yonkers, N.Y., Madison, Wisconsin, Brisbane, Australia, New York City - Selected Sections of three Burroughs (incomplete)" and "Miscellaneous Pamphlets and Articles with a Bearing on Assessment of Real Estate and/or Land"
Box 30
Additional,
1915-1965
Scope and Contents
Includes printed material such as the reports of the State of New York, Revision of Tax Laws, 1920-1935; books re: Finances of NYC ca. 1928, Mineral Resources of the U.S. ca. 1915, and such topics as tax incentives, subdivision regulations, and state and local tax on buisness; and pamphlets from the Tax Institue: Tax Policy, Henry George News, local planning and zoning and state aid for education