Colston Estey Warne (August 14, 1900 – May 20, 1987) was a professor of economics and one of the founders of

Consumers Union A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

(along with Arthur Kallet), in 1936. He served as president of the board of directors from 1936 to 1979. He also served as President of the International Organization of Consumers Unions (IOCU) from 1960 to 1970, which later became Consumers International under Rhoda Karpatkin. He was the father of Barbara Newell.

Early life

Warne was born in 1900 in the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

region of New York. His father managed a country store, farmed, and participated in the local Presbyterian church. Warne attended nearby

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

where in 1921 he graduated with a master's degrees in economics. While there he met his future wife, Frances Lee Corbett, who was studying

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

. He also began studying the writings of

Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist who, during his lifetime, emerged as a well-known critic of capitalism. In his best-known book, ''The Theory of the Leisure Class'' ...

. In 1925 Warne earned a doctorate in political economy from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He taught at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

and later became professor of economics at Amherst College from 1930 until his retirement in 1969. At Amherst, his courses on labor history were highly popular during the 1930s. After World War II, he participated in the required sophomore American Studies course, where he edited several of the "Problems in American Civilization" anthologies produced in that course and widely imitated. After his retirement, under President John William Ward, Amherst awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Un-American Activities

He testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, when it investigated charges of Communism in the consumer movement. Speaking in 1954 to have

removed from the list of subversive organizations, Warne said, "I am an upstate New York Yankee... I am not a Communist."

Recognition

He is an Ordo Honoris brother of the

Kappa Delta Rho Kappa Delta Rho (), commonly known as KDR, is an American college social fraternity, with 84 chapters (35 of which are active) spread out over the United States, primarily in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Kappa Delta Rho's open motto is "' ...

fraternity, having initiated into the Beta chapter at Cornell University.

Death

Warne died May 20, 1987 in

Bedford, Massachusetts Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History ''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...

References

Sources