February 13, 2024
Consumer Movement Archives awards research funding to Grace Beals
K-State Libraries' Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections has presented Cornell University doctoral student Grace Beals with the Consumer Movement Archives Research Award.
Generously funded by an endowed gift from Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse, the $4,000 award provides support for researchers to visit the Consumer Movement Archives. Established in 1987 with support from the Morse family, the Consumer Movement Archives provides a national repository to preserve and provide access to the collections of leaders, activists and organizations involved in efforts to protect consumers.
Beals' doctoral research examines how Americans have become reliant on credit to make ends meet when the labor market and welfare state fall short. Her dissertation seeks to understand why consumers have focused on credit as a solution to financial challenges and the implications of that choice.
"I plan to use the archives to piece together the story of how consumer advocates and special interest groups decided on specific forms of regulation for fringe credit products, such as payday loans," said Beals. "There is an interesting political story behind what seems like super dry financial regulation."
Richard L. D. Morse, a professor and the head of K-State's department of family economics from 1955 to 1983, and again a professor from 1983 to 1987, endeavored to protect consumer rights for more than 50 years with a special emphasis on federal and state protections for people in the areas of truth-in-savings and truth-in-lending. Thanks to this award, a new generation of scholars is benefiting from his life's work.
Questions about the Consumer Movement Archives and its collections can be directed to Thomas Bell, curator, at thosbell@k-state.edu.