Ernest G. Draper

Ernest G. Draper
Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
In office
March 30, 1938 – September 1, 1950
PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byJoseph A. Broderick
Succeeded byEdward L. Norton
Personal details
Born(1885-05-13)May 13, 1885
Washington, D.C.
DiedApril 30, 1954(1954-04-30) (aged 68)
EducationAmherst College
(BA,MA)

Ernest Gallaudet Draper or Ernest G. Draper (1885-1954) was an author, an assistant secretary of commerce at the United States Department of Commerce, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from March 30, 1938 until he had retired at the end of his term on September 1, 1950.

Early life and career

Draper was born in 1885 in Washington, DC. Upon completing his bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1906, he worked as a clerk in New York City.

From 1912 to 1920, he became president of American Creosoting Company, a company that used creosote to preserve railroad ties for the railroads of the early 1900s.[1] However, the years 1918 to 1919 required him to take time from his company to serve as senior grade lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force during World War I. As an officer in the Navy, he wrote the naval textbook Lectures in Navigation[2] and the official report A Plan for Maintaining the Naval Auxiliary Reserve After the War.[3] From his experience in writing the lectures in sea navigation, he wrote the 1919 book Navigating the Ship which was published by the publishing company David Van Nostrand.[4][5]

He later became treasurer and vice president of the Hills Brothers Company, a date packing company, during the years 1920 to 1935. In 1934, he became a member of the National Labor Board; and in 1936, he had completed his masters of arts degree from Amherst College.[6]

Career

On August 5,1935, Draper was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as assistant secretary of commerce at the United States Department of Commerce. U.S. Commerce Secretary Daniel C. Roper (1933-1938) had stated:[7]

Mr. Draper has been a valuable member of the Business Advisory Council[a] and thus has developed an appreciation of the common problems which the government and business are endeavoring to work out in harmony.

He was later appointed by President Roosevelt to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, and started as member of the board on March 30, 1938. As a member of the Board, Draper focused on the role of small business. He published Small Business and Its Credit Problem in The Washington Post and Goods and Dollars in World Trade in the 1944 Federal Reserve Bulletin. He has on multiple occasions represented the Board before United States Congress as well as in academic settings.

He was a member of the following organizations:[8][9]

He had held the following positions:[9][7]

Bibliography

Books/Articles by Ernest G. Draper
Title Media Role Year
Navigating the Ship[10] Book Author 1920
Can Business Prevent Unemployment Book Co-author 1935
Small Business and Its Credit Problem[11] Article Author 1939
Methods of Minimizing the Effect of Business Depression on the Working Forces[12] Book Co-author 1941
Goods and Dollars in World Trade[13] Article Co-author 1944
Stirring Times, 1941-1949[4] Book Co-author 1949

Notes

  1. ^ The Business Council was created by Commerce Secretary Roper and investment banker Sidney Weinberg. The original name of the organization was the Business Advisory Council for the United States Department of Commerce

References

  1. ^ wcihs (2014-03-02). "American Creosote Company". Marion Illinois History Preservation. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  2. ^ Draper, Ernest Gallaudet (2008-12-28). Lectures in Navigation.
  3. ^ "Proceedings - December 1918 Vol. 44/12/190". U.S. Naval Institute. 1918-12-01. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  4. ^ a b "Ernest Gallaudet Draper papers, circa 1919-1955". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
  5. ^ Navigating the ship; a series of lessons in elementary navigation based upon a course of lectures, recently used at the Officer's Material School, Naval Auxiliary Reserve, by Ernest G. Draper.
  6. ^ Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve: Ernest Gallaudet Draper
  7. ^ a b TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (1935-08-06). "E.G. DRAPER NAMED AS AIDE TO ROPER; Roosevelt Appoints New York Business Man as Assistant Secretary of Commerce". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  8. ^ Times, Special to The New York (1954-05-01). "ERNEST G. DRAPER: Former Member of Federal Reserve Board is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
  9. ^ a b Federal Reserve History: Ernest G. Draper
  10. ^ Ernest Gallaudet Papers
  11. ^ Small Business and Its Credit Problem by Ernest G. Draper
  12. ^ "Methods of minimizing the effect of business depression on the working forces | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  13. ^ Ernest G. Draper & Walter R. Gardner, 1944. "Goods and dollars in world trade," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Nov, pages 1049-1053.