Oscar Phelps Austin

Oscar Phelps Austin (27 July 1847 – 6 January 1933 ) was an American statistician. The earlier years of his life were spent in journalism, and he served as reporter, editor, and correspondent.

Life and career

Early life Austin was born in Newark, Illinois, to Benjamin Austin, a farmer and state legislator of Nebraska and Emeline Phelps.

Career Austin moved to Chicago in 1871 to start his journalism career. By 1873, he moved to Cincinnati and continued his journalism career there until 1881. To further his writing career, he moved to Washington D. C., where he became a correspondent for Metropolitan dailies. He helped edit campaign documents for the Republican National Committee.

Austin was appointed chief of the Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor on May 9, 1897 When the Bureau of Statistics was merged into the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in 1912, Austin became its assistant chief.

From 1903 to 1914, Austin was a professor of commerce and statistics at George Washington University. He then became statistician of the foreign trade department of the National City Bank in New York City. He wrote about the commerce of nations and continents, comparisons of colonial systems, and national debts.

Marriage and children While in Cincinnati, Austin meet and married Anna May Richardson (21 May 1854 - 10 June 1938), daughter of John Richardson and Mercy Maria Ames. Oscar and Anna had one daughter. Florence May Austin (10 December 1875 - 8 February 1942). Florence never married.

Published works Uncle Sam's Secrets: A Story of National Affairs for the Youth of the Nation, 1897 ... Uncle Sam's Soldiers: A Story of the War with Spain, 1898 Colonial Systems of the World, 1899 Commercial South and Central America, 1899 Great Canals of the World, 1899 Commercial Africa, 1900 Submarine Telegraphs of the World, 1900 Colonial Administration, 1901 Commercial Alaska, 1901 Commercial China, 1903 Commercial Japan, 1903 Historical Map of the United States, 1903 Commercial India, 1904 Steps in the Expansion of Our Territory, 1904 Commercial Prize of the Orient, 1905 Annual Review of the Foreign Commerce of the United States, 1913 Economics of World Trade, 1916 Trading with the Far East, 1920 Course in Foreign Trade, Volumes 1-12 Studies on the World's Commerce Steps on the Expansion of Our Territory Trading with Our Neighbors in the Caribbean Uncle Sam's Boy at War: An American Boy Sees the European War Uncle Sam's Children: A Story of Life in the Philippines

Elections of Memberships Academy of Political and Social Science American Association for the Advancement of Science International Colonial Institute International Union of Comparative Jurisprudence and Political Economy Washington Economic Society Secretary of The National Geographic Society Associate Editor of The National Geographic Society