Brigadier General Francis A. Walker Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

One of the most prominent figures in the history of American economics, Francis Amasa Walker (1840-1897) served in the Union Army during the Civil War; he was eventually brevetted as a brigadier general. Walker, who sought to establish the "scientific" status of economics, was a pioneer in using statistical data to illustrate economic arguments. During his career, he was the first lecturer on economics at Johns Hopkins (1876), Superintendent of the U.S. Census (1880), an economics professor at Yale (1872-1889), U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1871-1872), President of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and first President of the American Economic Association (AEA), which awards the "Francis A. Walker Medal" to leading economists for lifetime achievements every five years. Best known for his theories on wages and profits and his advocacy of international bimetallism, Walker wrote a number of articles and books, including International Bimetallism, published in 1896.